ENGLISH GARDENS 1 
By R. CLIPSTON STURGIS 
FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 
> with English architecture the chief interest centers 
about the simpler work, the homely quality of which di- 
Jk rectly appeals to one, so the smaller and less pretentious 
English gardens seem in every way most perfect. There one 
finds no question of the rival claims of formal and informal 
school, of Italian, French or English styles, but merely a nat¬ 
ural common-sense adaptation of means to an end, a direct 
meeting of needs. In the great Italian and French gardens 
one feels the presence of a complete and studied scheme, and 
also of a conscious effort for effect. As exponents of the art 
and science of landscape gardening, French and Italian ex¬ 
amples are distinctly superior to the English ; but for mere, 
lovable beauty fitting the needs of true country-lovers, nothing 
can approach the English garden. 
In many periods of English gardening the influence of 
foreign styles and fashions has been felt, and has to a certain 
extent modified the planning and planting of grounds; but 
except in those places which have attempted grandeur, one 
finds no purely scholastic work. The earliest work of which 
we have any perfect knowledge is that which was influenced 
by the Italian Renaissance. When Inigo Jones and Sir Chris¬ 
topher Wren introduced the balance of classic planning and 
the detail of classic work, the gardens developed on similar 
lines. This period gave us the formal terrace, the walled gar¬ 
dens, the bowling-greens, the clipped hedges, and the intelli¬ 
gent use of architectural accessories which mark the majority 
of good English gardens. The general character of this work 
1 This article was a paper prepared merely for a short address to fellow architects and 
makes no pretense to anything but the most cursory survey of this most delightful and 
inexhaustible study. The article was not written with a view to being illustrated, so that 
the photographs now published do not bear any very close relation to the text. It is hoped, 
however, that they may give some idea, clearer than I can convey in words, of the charm 
of the English work. 
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