62 
HENDERSON’S PICTURESQUE GARDENS 
THE SUNKEN “DUTCH” GARDEN 
Sunken Gardens are so called because they are situated some- 
what below the level of the lawn or grounds. The typical or arti- 
ficially formed Sunken Garden — an example of which we give on 
this page — is also known as the "Dutch” Garden, having its origin 
in an imitation of some of the old gardens of Holland, where the 
land is so uniformly level that to correct the defects of a flat pros- 
pect artificial verdure- 
clothed terraces or mounds 
of sand were created. 
These were sometimes 
walled with red brick on 
the cultivated side, thus 
supplying greater oppor- 
tunity for varied effects, 
and besides partially 
shielded the enclosures 
from the effects of the 
wind. 
Imitation "Dutch” Gar- 
dens are usually placed 
either in the rear or at 
the side of the house and 
at the foot of a sloping 
lawn, though the charming 
and novel plan is some- 
times adopted of breaking 
a too broad monotonous 
sweep of level lawn by 
forming therein a small 
sunken plot, which does 
not interfere with the vista 
as groupings of trees, 
shrubbery, etc., might do. 
A Sunken Garden so sit- 
uated should not be too 
large, but leave plenty of 
