1 6 
HERBACEOUS GARDEN 
the measurements may give an idea of right 
proportion. Even so they may not appeal to 
all. One of our great gardeners “ can’t abide ” 
a clipped hedge, and while to others it repre- 
sents all that is reposeful and most full of 
charm, an image of distortion is all that it 
presents to him. 
A plan is given (p. 194) of my herbaceous 
garden, but were I to lay this out now, I should 
make all the grass paths 5, 6, or even 8 feet 
wide rather than 3 feet, which in a length of 
over 100 feet looks too narrow, though in a 
smaller garden it might be well enough. The 
grass walk below the wall is far more dignified 
in its width of 8 feet. 
I was once taken to see what was described 
to me as an old-world garden in New York 
State. I had had an overdose of well-heads 
and marble seats, and was looking forward to 
the change. Never shall I forget my horror 
at being taken into a large expanse of garden 
laid out with stone and marble ornaments, 
statues, seats, well-heads, and looking like a 
mason’s yard. I was then told that the yew 
hedges which had been the feature of the place 
had all died in the exceptionally hard winter, 
leaving the statuary, etc. (far too numerous 
anyhow), standing out in unrelieved nakedness. 
