224 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I March 13, 1690. 
desire to testify to him how his past services are valued, and at the 
request of the Committee Sir. Woodgate made known that wish to some 
of the oldest supporters of the Society, but no general appeal was made, 
in order that what was being done should be kept strictly private, as 
was the cate. In a short time subscriptions to the amount of nearly 
£3G were leciived, and the presentation decided on consisted of a gold 
watch, a “• Tantalus ” stand for the sideboard, and an inscription on 
vellum. The two articles first named bore inscriptions setting forth 
why they were given, and on the vellum the same was stated, with the 
subscribers’ names appended. This last, which was mounted and 
framed, was quite an artistic production, and in the bordering was 
introduced a faithful representation of the flower which gives its name 
to the Society under notice. It was designed and executed by Mr. 
E. Woodhouse, at 37, Market Place, Kingston. 
The presentation was made last Saturday evening at the “ Kingston 
Hotel,” in the presence of about thirty out of the forty-five subscribers 
to the testimonial, amongst whom were all the lady patronesses and 
Sir Whittaker Ellis. The last named had hoped to be present on the 
occasion, but was not able to compass it. Following the usual custom 
there was first a sitting around the “ board,” which was well spread, but 
not extravagantly, and among the two dozen present at that function 
were several who assisted at the birth of the Kingston and Surbiton 
Chrysanthemum Society, and still take an interest in its welfare. 
G. C. Sherrard, Esq., J.P., the President of the Society, was the Chair¬ 
man of the evening, and on behalf of the donors he made the pre¬ 
sentation most gracefully, and the recipient of the gifts acknowledged 
them very feelingly .—(^Kingston and Surbiton News.') 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 
[Read at a meeting of the Cardiff Gardeners' Association hy Mr. Kettlewell.] 
Landscape gardening is the highest branch of the art of gardening, 
inasmuch as the materials with which a landscape gardener works 
include all the noblest features of the country. It has respect to small 
plots as well as large and extended tracts of land—from half an acre 
attached to a villa residence, as well as to 20 or 100 acres attached to a 
mansion, and reaching out to a large park. It differs from ordinary 
gardening or forestry, inasmuch as it relates more to the first laying 
out of the land, to the arrangement and the adaptation of it, so as to 
set it forth to the best advantage, which the gardener or forester is 
afterwards to keep in order. Taking the art of landscape gardening 
generally there seem to me to be three most important features which 
will make or mar the picture, and it is in these that we discern the 
talent and taste and ability of the true landscape gardener. These three 
features are—1, The grouping and arranging of trees or shrubs, whether 
singly or in masses. 2, The undulating of the ground where necessary- 
3, The finishing off of the whole. With reference to the first point— 
namely, that of the arrangement of shrubs, Mr. Loudon says that “there 
is one essential difference between the landscape gardener and the land¬ 
scape artist which should never be lost sight of by the former, and this 
is that toe materials with which he works are always changing, while 
those of the artist are fixed.” Now this is especially the case in planting, 
as the trees introduced by the landscape gardener vary in height and 
form year by year, and in colour every season, so that he must know 
and take into consideration all these changes when he is planting, and 
even with all due thought and consideration there is yet a degree of 
uncertainty in Nature’s growth. A tree, you will allow, is itself the 
noblest object of inanimate nature, .and trees or shrubs, whether in 
masses or singly, produce, or help to produce nearly all the grand effects. 
What care, skill, and knowledge of the h.abits and in the planting of 
trees is then required by those who seek to produce a like result in 
garden scenery ; and more than that, bj' those who seek to prune Nature 
of some of its roughness, and with the aid of art to add a more polished 
scenery to the foreground of the picture. Further on I hope to again 
say a few words in different p'aces on planting. 
I now come to the second important feature, that of undulation. 
The greatest charm of undulation lies in its softness .and freedom ; 
the lines should melt away into each other. Angularity, sharpness, or 
straightness are entirely out of place ; correctness of eye, a nice judgment, 
and considerable taste are therefore required to produce a pleasing and 
finished result. Undulation, if delicately and cleverly applied, takes 
away that appearance of stiffness, and want of character and variety, 
which are often discernible in grounds that have been laid out by 
unskided hands. With regard to my third point, that of finish, 1 refer 
to the clever and judicious distribution of the various parts of a design, 
the gradual transition from one point to another without any apparent 
interruption, the unobtrusive and almost imperceptible blending of one 
style with another, the perfect levels, the graceful curves of walks where 
curved, the accurate lines where straight. 
I will now divide my paper into three parts, and say a few words 
with reference—firstly to the general styles and principles of landscape 
gardening ; secondly, to a few special subjects, embracing flower 
gardens. Rose gardens, kitchen gardens, water and lakes, rockeries, 
parks, and lodges ; and thirdly, I will give a cursory sketch of the out¬ 
line of work in laying out a place, and offer a few suggestions as to the 
practical treatment of walks, drainage, and planting. 
There are three principal kinds of style recognised in landscape 
gardening. 1. The old formal or geometrical style where a garden is 
treated entirely as a work of art— e.g., the Dutch garden. 2. The 
mixed, irregular, or gardenesque style, where more agreement with 
Nature is courted, through the aid of Art is still sought and valued, 
3. The picturesque style, the distinctive characteristic of which is 
extreme naturalness. 
The old formal or geometrical style is that which an architect would 
doubtless prefer, as it subordinates everything to the house, and is an 
attempt to carry out the principles common to both itself and architec¬ 
ture. Although this style has often been condemned as unnatural and 
absurd, it should not be looked upon as an attempt to imitate Nature, 
as a famous writer on the subject has well said, but as a display of the 
power of Art over Nature, and should therefore be judged like every 
other work of man by the end in view. It is a style admirably fitted to 
distinguish the garden scenery of the man of wealth from that of the 
common fortuitous scenery of the country around, and is utilised for 
that object. The geometrical style, however, has many inherent 
beauties of its own, as for instance that of a broad avenue. Who is 
there with any taste for the beautiful who has not been struck by the 
beauty and dignity of some of our old English avenues ? The distinc¬ 
tive features of the geometrical style of landscape gardening are straight 
walks or walks branching off at right angles, beds formed in circles, 
segments of circles, ovals, oblongs, angles, or parallelograms, flights of 
steps, balustraded walls, terrace banks, raised platforms, sunken panels, 
exotic forms of vegetation, symmetry, correspondence of parts and 
gaiety of tone. The forms of Nature which are the most suitable for 
this style are those which are the most artificial in appearance, if it may 
be so expressed, as for instance round-headed standards, upright or 
fastigiate shrubs. Araucaria imbricata, Irish Yews, Junipers (species of). 
Arbor Vitas, Cypress, Cedar of Lebanon, species of Cytisus treated as 
standards, and many others. Purely town gardens can be treated in 
this style with great effect—that is, with terrace walks, flights of steps, 
sunken panels, vases filled with flowers and shrubs ; but as a rule thi^ 
style is only suitable for large gardens where the house or mansion is of 
the Grecian, Roman, or Italian style of architecture. It also is a most 
costly style, as it requires lawns to be the most perfect levels, grass, 
beds, and masses to be in the highest state of preservation. 
The mixed or gardenesque style, as it has been termed, has as one of 
its most characteristic features curved or serpentine lines. Smoothness 
and freedom from angles are among its numerous indications, while the 
beauty and gracefulness of its lines are its chief object. This, however, 
does not entirely forbid the use of straight lines, but they must be in. 
connection with the house or some subordinate building, such as a 
greenhouse or conservatory. It blends .and interfuses Art with Nature, 
prunes Nature of its roughness by means of Art, drawing from each 
their most appropriate and agreeable elements, the grace of Nature 
without its ruggedness, the refinement of Art without its stiffness. 
The last style in landscape gardening is that which has been named 
and worthily so too, the picturesque, a style which recognises no kind of 
symmetry or order, treating, as it does with broken ground, curious and 
bold forms of vegetation, rushing w.ater, old ruins stained by time and 
age, and which yet possesses an indescribable wild grace so captivating to- 
the eye. 
The mixed style, with a little help from the geometrical and pic¬ 
turesque, is that which is best suited for small gardens, but care should 
be taken that one style only predominates, the other styles being quietly 
blended and introduced as subordinate features. 
To turn to the general principles, simplicity demands first considera¬ 
tion. A design can be essentially simple without being crude and bald ; 
intricate without being mazy. As simp’icity is an element of true 
beauty, so also is it of the highest taste. A garden should be more or 
less simple in its arrangements according to its size and position, the 
lines all graceful, the decorations elegant. Intricacy brings into play a 
something beyond, a something more to explore, a newness of scenery, 
brought about by the clever grouping of plants, whet’ner in masses or 
specimens, thus giving a charming variety of aspect. 
Convenience is another principle which should be carefully studied. 
However tastefully a garden may be laid out it loses all its charm if 
comfort and convenience have not been provided for. Compact com- 
