,,garden-,,craft                        
,,old ,,and ,,new                       
,,by ,,the ,,late                       
,,john ,d4 ,,sedding                    
,,with ,,memorial ,,notice ,,by ,,the   
,,rev4 ,e4 ,f4 ,,russell      ,,with    
,,nine ,,illustrations      ,,new       
,,edition      ,,london     ,,kegan     
,,paul1 ,,trench1 ,t,r,ue,b,n,e,r       
,,co41 ,,ltd4     ,,paternoster ,,house1
 ,,charing ,,cross ,,road     #ahie     
,illustration3 ,a ,,garden ,,enclosed4  
,,preface4   ,what am ,i to say for my  
book8 asks ,mr ,stevenson in the        
,preface to ,an ,inland ,voyage4 ,caleb 
and ,joshua brought back from ,palestine
 a formidable bunch of grapes2 alas6 my 
book produces naught so nourishing2 and1
 for the matter of that1 we live in an  
age when people prefer a definition to  
any quantity of fruit4  ,as this apology
 is so uncalled for in the case of this 
fruitful little volume1 ,i would venture
 to purloin it1 and apply it where it is
 wholly suitable4 ,here1 the critic will

 say1 is an architect who makes gardens 
for the houses he builds1 writing upon  
his proper craft1 pandering to that     
popular preference for a definition of  
which ,mr ,stevenson speaks1 by offering
 descriptions of what he thinks a fine  
garden should be1 instead of useful     
figured plans of its beauties6  ,and    
yet1 to tell truth1 it is more my       
subject than myself that is to blame if 
my book be unpractical4 ,once upon a    
time complete in itself1 as a brief     
treatise upon the technics of gardening 
delivered to my brethren of the         
,art-worker's ,guild a year ago1 the    
essay had no sooner arrived with me at  
home1 than it fell to pieces1 lost      
gravity and compactness1 and became a   
garden-plaything--a sort of gardener's  
open letter1 to take loose pages as     
fancies occurred4 ,so have these errant 
thoughts1 jotted down in the broken     
leisure of a busy life1 grown solid     
unawares and expanded into a            
would-be-serious contribution to        

garden-literature4  ,following upon the 
original lines of the ,essay on the ,for
 and ,against of ,modern ,gardening1 ,i 
became the more confirmed as to the     
general rightness of the old ways of    
applying ,art1 and of interpreting      
,nature the more ,i studied old gardens 
and the point of view of their makers2  
until ,i now appear as advocate of old  
types of design1 which1 ,i am persuaded1
 are more consonant with the traditions 
of ,english life1 and more suitable to  
an ,english homestead than some now in  
vogue4  ,the old-fashioned garden1      
whatever its failings in the eyes of the
 modern landscape-gardener 7great is the
 poverty of his invention71 represents  
one of the pleasures of ,england1 one of
 the charms of that quiet beautiful life
 of bygone times that ,i1 for one1 would
 fain see revived4 ,and judged even as  
pieces of handicraft1 apart from their  
poetic interest1 these gardens are      
worthy of careful study4 ,they embody   
ideas of ancient worth2 they evidence   

fine aims and heroic efforts2 they      
exemplify traditions that are the net   
result of a long probation4 ,better     
still1 they render into tangible shapes 
old moods of mind that ,english         
landscape has inspired2 they testify to 
old devotion to the scenery of our      
native land1 and illustrate old attempts
 to idealise its pleasant traits4       
,because the old gardens are what they  
are--beautiful yesterday1 beautiful     
to-day1 and beautiful always--we do well
 to turn to them1 not to copy their     
exact lines1 nor to limit ourselves to  
the range of their ornament and effects1
 but to glean hints for our             
garden-enterprise to-day1 to drink of   
their spirit1 to gain impulsion from    
them4 ,as often as not1 the forgotten   
field proves the richest of pastures4   
,j4 ,d4 ,s4      ,,the ,,croft1 ,,west  
,,wickham1 ,,kent1     ,oct4 #h1 #ahij4 
,,memoir4   ,the ,manuscript of this    
book was placed complete in the hands of
 his publishers by ,john ,sedding4 ,he  

did not live to see its production4  ,at
 the wish of his family and friends1 ,i 
have1 with help from others1 set down   
some memories and impressions of my     
friend4  ,my acquaintance with ,john    
,sedding dates from the year #ahge4 ,he 
was then #cg years of age1 and had been 
practising as an architect almost       
exclusively in the ,south-,west of      
,england4 ,the foundations of this      
practice were laid by his equally       
talented brother1 ,edmund ,sedding1 who1
 like himself1 had received his training
 in the office of ,mr ,street4 ,edmund  
died in #ahfh1 and ,john took up the    
business1 but his clients were so few1  
and the prospect of an increase in their
 number so little encouraging1 that he  
left ,bristol and came to ,london1 and  
here ,i first met him4 ,he had just     
taken a house in ,charlotte ,street1    
,bedford ,square1 and the house served  
him on starting both for home and       
office4  ,the first years in ,london    
proved no exception to the rule of first

 years1 they were more or less a time of
 struggle and anxiety4 ,john ,sedding's 
happy1 buoyant nature1 his joy in his   
art1 and invincible faith in his        
mission1 did much to carry him through  
all difficulties4 ,but both at this     
time1 and all through his life1 he owed 
much1 very much1 to the brave           
hopefulness and wise love of his wife4  
,rose ,sedding1 a daughter of ,canon    
,tinling1 of ,gloucester1 lives in the  
memory of those who knew her as an      
impersonation of singular spiritual     
beauty and sweetness4 ,gentle and       
refined1 sensitive and sympathetic to an
 unusual degree1 there was no lack in   
her of the sterner stuff of             
character--force1 courage1 and          
endurance4 ,john ,sedding leaned upon   
his wife2 indeed1 ,i cannot think of him
 without her1 or guess how much of his  
success is due to what she was to him4  
,two days before his death he said to   
me1 ,i have to thank ,god for the       
happiest of homes1 and the sweetest of  

wives4  ,many will remember with        
gratitude the little home in ,charlotte 
,street1 as the scene of some of the    
pleasantest and most refreshing hours   
they have ever known4 ,john ,sedding had
 the gift of attracting young men1      
artists and others1 to himself1 and of  
entering speedily into the friendliest  
relations with them4 ,he met them with  
such taking frankness1 such unaffected  
warmth of welcome1 that they surrendered
 to him at once1 and were at once at    
ease with him and happy4  ,on ,sundays1 
when the religious duties of the day    
were over1 he was wont to gather a      
certain number of these young fellows to
 spend the evening at his house4 ,no one
 of those who were privileged to be of  
the party can forget the charming       
hospitality of these evenings4 ,the     
apparatus was so simple1 the result so  
delightful2 an entire absence of        
display1 and yet no element of perfect  
entertainment wanting4 ,on these        
occasions1 when supper was over1 ,mrs   

,sedding usually played for us with     
great discernment and feeling the       
difficult music of ,beethoven1 ,grieg1  
,chopin1 and others1 and sometimes she  
sang4 ,more than one friendship among   
their guests grew out of these happy    
evenings4  ,in course of time the       
increase of his family and the          
concurrent increase of his practice     
obliged him to remove1 first his office 
to ,oxford ,street1 and later on his    
home to the larger1 purer air of a      
country house in the little village of  
,west ,wickham1 ,kent4 ,this house he   
continued to occupy until his death4    
,work of all kinds now began to flow in 
upon him1 not rapidly1 but by steady    
increase4 ,his rich faculty of          
invention1 his wide knowledge1 his skill
 in the manipulation of natural forms1  
the fine quality of his taste1 were     
becoming more and more known4 ,he       
produced in large numbers designs for   
wall-papers1 for decoration1 and for    
embroidery4 ,these designs were never   

repetitions of old examples1 nor were   
they a rechauffe of his own previous    
work4 ,something of his soul he put into
 all that he undertook1 hence his work  
was never commonplace1 and scarcely     
needed signature to be known as his1 so 
unmistakably did it bear his stamp1 the 
marque de fabrique1 of his              
individuality4  ,i have known few men so
 well able as he to press flowers into  
all manner of decorative service1 in    
metal1 wood1 stone or panel1 and in     
needlework4 ,he understood them1 and    
could handle them with perfect ease and 
freedom1 each flower in his design      
seeming to fall naturally into its      
appointed place4 ,without transgressing 
the natural limits of the material      
employed1 he yet never failed to give to
 each its own essential characteristics1
 its gesture1 and its style4 ,flowers   
were indeed passionately loved1 and most
 reverently1 patiently studied by him4  
,he would spend many hours out of his   
summer holiday in making careful studies

 of a single plant1 or spray of foliage1
 painting them1 as ,mr ,ruskin had      
taught him1 in siena and white1 or in   
violet-carmine and white4 ,leaves and   
flowers were1 in fact1 almost his only  
school of decorative design4  ,this is  
not the place to attempt any formal     
exposition of ,john ,sedding's views on 
,art and the aims of ,art4 ,they can be 
found distinctly stated and amply1 often
 brilliantly1 illustrated in his        
,lectures and ,addresses1 of which some 
have appeared in the architectural      
papers and some are still in            
manuscript4#a ,but short of this formal 
statement1 it may prove not             
uninteresting to note some characters of
 his work which impressed us4  ,footnote
 #a3 ,it is much to be wished that these
 ,lectures and ,addresses should be     
collected and published4  ,following no 
systematic order1 we note first his     
profound sympathy with ancient work1 and
 with ancient work of all periods that  
might be called periods of living ,art4 

,he never lost an opportunity of        
visiting and intently studying ancient  
buildings1 sketching them1 and measuring
 them with extraordinary care1          
minuteness1 and patience4 ,on one       
occasion1 writes ,mr ,lethaby1 when we  
were hurried he said1 ',we cannot go1 it
 is life to us4' ,a long array of       
sketch-books1 crowded with studies and  
memoranda1 remains to bear witness to   
his industry4 ,in spite of this         
extensive knowledge1 and copious record 
of old work1 he never literally         
reproduced it4 ,the unacknowledged      
plagiarisms of ,art were in his judgment
 as dishonest as plagiarisms in         
literature1 and as hopelessly dead4 ,he 
used old forms1 writes ,mr ,longden1 in 
a plastic way1 and moulded them to his  
requirements1 never exactly reproducing 
the old work1 which he loved to draw and
 study1 but making it his starting-point
 for new developments4 ,this caused     
great difference of opinion as to the   
merit of his work1 very able and skilful

 judges who look at style from the      
traditional point of view being         
displeased by his designs1 while others 
who may be said to partake more of the  
movement of the time1 admired his work4 
,his latest and most important work1 the
 ,church of the ,holy ,trinity1 ,sloane 
,street1 is a case in point4 ,it has    
drawn out the most completely opposed   
judgments from by no means incompetent  
men2 denounced by some1 it has won the  
warmest praise from others1 as1 for     
instance1 from two men who stand in the 
very front rank of those who excel1     
,william ,morris has said of it1 ,it is 
on the whole the best modern interior of
 a town church2 and the eminent painter1
 ,e4 ,burnes-,jones1 writing to ,john   
,sedding1 writes3 ,i cannot tell you how
 ,i admire it1 and how ,i longed to be  
at it4 ,speaking further of this        
sympathy with old work1 ,mr ,longden1   
who knew him intimately1 and worked much
 with him1 writes1 ,the rather rude     
character of the ,cornish granite work  

in the churches did not repel him1      
indeed1 he said he loved it1 because he 
understood it4 ,he has made additions to
 churches in ,cornwall1 such as it may  
well be imagined the old ,cornishmen    
would have done1 yet with an            
indescribable touch of modernness about 
them4 ,he also felt at home with the    
peculiar character of the ,devonshire   
work1 and some of his last work is in   
village churches where he has made a    
rather ordinary church quite beautiful  
and interesting1 by repairing and       
extending old wooden screens1 putting in
 wooden seats1 with an endless variety  
of symbolic designs1 marble font and    
floor1 fine metal work1 simple but      
well-designed stained glass1 good       
painting in a reredos1 all1 as must be  
with an artist1 adding to the general   
effect1 and falling into place in that  
general effect1 while each part is found
 beautiful and interesting1 if examined 
in detail4  ,the rich ,somersetshire    
work1 where the fine stone lends itself 

to elaborate carving1 was very          
sympathetic to ,sedding1 and he has     
added to and repaired many churches in  
that county1 always taking the fine     
points in the old work and bringing them
 out by his own additions1 whether in   
the interior or the exterior1 seizing   
upon any peculiarity of site or position
 to show the building to the best       
advantage1 and never forgetting the use 
of a church1 but increasing the         
convenience of the arrangements for     
worship1 and emphasizing the sacred     
character of the buildings on which he  
worked4  ,in his lectures to ,art       
students1 no plea was more often on his 
lips than the plea for living ,art1 as  
contrasted with shop ,art1 or mere      
antiquarianism4 ,the artist is the      
product of his own time and of his own  
country1 his nature comes to him out of 
the past1 and is nourished in part upon 
the past1 but he lives in the present1  
and of the present1 sharing its spirit  
and its culture4 ,john ,sedding had     

great faith in the existence of this art
 gift1 as living and active in his own  
time1 he recognised it reverently and   
humbly in himself1 and looked for it and
 hailed it with joy and generous        
appreciation in others4 ,hence the value
 he set upon association among ,art     
workers4 ,les gens d'esprit1 says ,m4   
,taine1 speaking of ,art in ,italy1     
n'ont jamais plus d'esprit que          
lorsqu'ils sont ensemble4 ,pour avoir   
des oeuvres d'art il faut d'abord des   
artistes1 mais aussi des ateliers4      
,alors il y avait des ateliers1 et en   
outre les artistes faisaient des        
corporations4 ,tous se tenaient1 et dans
 la grande societe1 de petites societes 
unissaient etroitement et librement     
leurs membres4 ,la familiarite les      
rapprochait2 la rivalite les            
aiguillonnait4#b  ,footnote #b3         
,philosophie de l'art en ,italie 7p4    
#afb74--;,h4 ,,taine4  ,he gave         
practical effect to these views in the  
conduct of his own office1 which was as 

totally unlike the regulation           
architect's office1 as life is unlike   
clockwork4  ,here is a charming interior
 from the pen of his able chief         
assistant and present successor1 ,mr ,h4
 ,wilson3--  ,i shall not readily forget
 my first impressions of ,mr ,sedding4  
,i was introduced to him at one of those
 delightful meetings of the ,art        
,workers' ,guild1 and his kindly        
reception of me1 his outstretched hand1 
and the unconscious backward impulses of
 his head1 displaying the peculiar      
whiteness of the skin over the prominent
 temporal and frontal bones1 the playful
 gleam of his eyes as he welcomed me1   
are things that will remain with me as  
long as memory lasts4  ,soon after that 
meeting ,i entered his office1 only to  
find that he was just as delightful at  
work as in the world4  ,the peculiar    
half shy yet eager way in which he      
rushed into the front room1 with a smile
 and a nod of recognition for each of   
us1 always struck me4 ,but until he got 

to work he always seemed preoccupied1 as
 if while apparently engaged in earnest 
discussion of some matter an            
under-current of thought was running the
 while1 and as if he were devising      
something wherewith to beautify his work
 even when arranging business affairs4  
,this certainly must have been the case1
 for frequently he broke off in the     
midst of his talk to turn to a board and
 sketch out some design1 or to alter a  
detail he had sketched the day before   
with a few vigorous pencil-strokes4     
,this done1 he would return to business1
 only to glance off again to some other 
drawing1 and to complete what would not 
come the day before4 ,in fact he was    
exactly like a bird hopping from twig to
 twig1 and from flower to flower1 as he 
hovered over the many drawings which    
were his daily work1 settling here a    
form and there a moulding as the impulse
 of the moment seized him4  ,and though 
at times we were puzzled to account for1
 or to anticipate his ways1 and though  

the work was often hindered by them1 we 
would not have had it otherwise4  ,those
 'gentillesses d'oiseaux1' as ,hugo     
says1 those little birdy ways1 so       
charming from their unexpectedness1 kept
 us constantly on the alert1 for we     
never quite knew what he would do next4 
,it was not his custom to move in beaten
 tracks1 and his everyday life was as   
much out of the common as his inner     
life4 ,his ways with each of us were    
marked by an almost womanly tenderness4 
,he seemed to regard us as his children1
 and to have a parent's intuition of our
 troubles1 and of the special needs of  
each with reference to artistic         
development4  ,he would come1 and taking
 possession of our stools would draw    
with his left arm round us1 chatting    
cheerily1 and yet erasing1 designing    
vigorously meanwhile4 ,then1 with his   
head on one side like a jackdaw         
earnestly regarding something which did 
not quite please him1 he would look at  
the drawing a moment1 and pounce on the 

paper1 rub all his work out1 and begin  
again4 ,his criticism of his own work   
was singularly frank and outspoken even 
to us4 ,i remember once when there had  
been a slight disagreement between us1  
,i wrote to him to explain4 ,next       
morning1 when he entered the office1 he 
came straight to the desk where ,i was  
working1 quietly put his arm round me1  
took my free hand with his and pressed  
it and myself to him without a word4 ,it
 was more than enough4  ,he was1        
however1 not one of those who treat all 
alike4 ,he adapted himself with singular
 facility to each one with whom he came 
in contact2 his insight in this respect 
was very remarkable1 and in consequence 
he was loved and admired by the most    
diverse natures4 ,the expression of his 
face was at all times pleasant but      
strangely varied1 like a lake it        
revealed every passing breath of emotion
 in the most wonderful way1 easily      
ruffled and easily calmed4  ,his eyes   
were very bright and expressive1 with   

long lashes1 the upper lids large1 full1
 and almost translucent1 and his whole  
face at anything which pleased him lit  
up and became truly radiant4 ,at such   
times his animation in voice1 gesture1  
and look was quite remarkable1 his talk 
was full of felicitous phrases1 happy   
hits1 and piquant sayings4  ,his was the
 most childlike nature ,i have yet seen1
 taking pleasure in the simplest things1
 ever ready for fun1 trustful1          
impulsive1 and joyous1 yet easily cast  
down4 ,his memory for details and things
 he had seen and sketched was           
marvellous1 and he could turn to any one
 of his many sketches and find a tiny   
scribble made twenty or thirty years    
ago1 as easily as if he had made it     
yesterday4  ,his favourite attitude in  
the office was with his back to the     
fireplace and with his hands behind him1
 head thrown back1 looking at1 or rather
 through one4 ,he seldom seemed to look 
at anyone or anything1 his glance always
 had something of divination in it1 and 

in his sketches1 however slight1 the    
soul of the thing was always seized1 and
 the accidental or unnecessary details  
left to others less gifted to concern   
themselves with4  ,his love of symbolism
 was only equalled by his genius for it1
 old ideas had new meanings for him1 old
 symbols were invested with deeper      
significance and new ones full of grace 
and beauty discovered4 ,in this his     
intense1 enthusiastic love of nature and
 natural things stood him in good stead1
 and he used ,nature as the old men did1
 to teach new truths4 ,for him as well  
as for all true artists1 the universe   
was the living visible garment of ,god1 
the thin glittering rainbow-coloured    
veil which hides the actual from our    
eyes4 ,he was the living embodiment of  
all that an architect should be1 he had 
the sacred fire of enthusiasm within1   
and he had the power of communicating   
that fire to others1 so that workmen1   
masons1 carvers could do1 and did       
lovingly for him1 what they would not or

 could not do for others4 ,we all felt  
and still feel that it was his example  
and precept that has given us what      
little true knowledge and right feeling 
for ,art we may possess1 and the pity is
 there will never be his like again4    
,he was not one of those who needed to  
pray ',lord1 keep my memory green1'     
though that phrase was often on his     
lips1 as well as another delightful old 
epitaph3      ',bonys emonge stonys lys 
ful steyl     ,quilst the soules        
wanderis where that ,god will4'#c       
,footnote #c3 ,in ,thornhill ,church4   
,this delightful and assuredly entirely 
faithful picture is in itself evidence  
of the contagion of ,john ,sedding's    
enthusiasm4  ,beyond the inner circle of
 his own office1 he sought and welcomed 
the unfettered co-operation of other    
artists in his work2 in the words of a  
young sculptor1 he gave us a chance4 ,he
 let them say their say instead of      
binding them to repeat his own4 ,god had
 ,his message to deliver by them1 and he

 made way that the world might hear it  
straight from their lips4  ,the same    
idea of sympathetic association1        
fraternite genereuse--confiance         
mutuelle--communaute de sympathies et   
d'aspirations1 has found embodiment in  
the ,art ,workers' ,guild1 a society in 
which artists and craftsmen of all the  
,arts meet and associate on common      
ground4 ,john ,sedding was one of the   
original members of this ,guild1 and its
 second ,master4  ,of his connection    
with the ,guild the ,secretary writes3  
,no member was ever more respected1 none
 had more influence1 no truer artist    
existed in the ,guild4 ,and ,mr ,walter 
,crane3 ,his untiring devotion to the   
,guild throughout his term of office1   
and his tact and temper1 were beyond    
praise4  ,it must not be inferred from  
these facts that ,john ,sedding's       
sympathies were only for the world of   
,art1 art-workers1 and art-ideals4 ,he  
shared to the full the ardour of his    
,socialist friends1 in their aspirations

 for that new order of more just        
distribution of all that makes for the  
happiness of men1 the coming city which 
hath foundations whose builder and maker
 is ,god4 ,he did not share their       
confidence in their methods1 but he     
honoured their noble humanity1 and      
followed their movements with interest  
and respect1 giving what help he could4 
,the condition of the poor1 especially  
the ,london poor1 touched him to the    
quick sometimes with indignation at     
their wrongs1 sometimes with deep       
compassion and humbled admiration at the
 pathetic patience with which they bore 
the burden of their joyless1 suffering  
lives4 ,his own happy constitution and  
experience never led him to adopt the   
cheap optimism with which so many of us 
cheat our conscience1 and justify to    
ourselves our own selfish inertness4    
,the more ample income of his last years
 made no difference in the simple       
ordering of his household1 it did make  
difference in his charities4 ,he gave   

money1 and what is better1 gave his     
personal labour to many works for the   
good of others1 some of which he himself
 had inaugurated4  ,john ,sedding was an
 artist by a necessity of his nature4   
,god made him so1 and he could not but  
exercise his gift1 but apart from the   
satisfaction that comes by doing what we
 are meant for1 it filled him with      
thankfulness to have been born to a     
craft with ends so noble as are the ends
 of ,art4 ,to give pleasure and to      
educate are aims good indeed to be bound
 by1 especially when by education we    
understand1 not mind-stuffing1 but      
mind-training1 in this case the training
 of faculty to discern and be moved by  
the poetry1 the spiritual suggestiveness
 of common everyday life4 ,this brought 
his calling into touch with working     
folk4  ,as a man1 ,john ,sedding        
impressed us all by the singular and    
beautiful simplicity and childlikeness  
of his character1 a childlikeness which 
never varied1 and nothing1 not even the 

popularity and homage which at last     
surrounded him1 seemed able to spoil it4
 ,he never lost his boyish spontaneity  
and frankness1 the unrestrained         
brightness of his manners and address1  
his boyish love of fun1 and hearty1     
ringing laugh4 ,mr ,walter ,crane speaks
 of his indomitable gaiety and spirits  
which kept all going1 especially in our 
country outings4 ,he always led the fun1
 writes ,mr ,lethaby1 at one time at the
 head of a side at 'tug of war1' at     
another1 the winner in an 'egg and spoon
 race4' ,his very faults were the faults
 of childhood1 the impulsiveness1 the   
quick and unreflecting resentment       
against wrong1 and the vehement         
denunciation of it4 ,he trusted his     
instincts far more than his reason1 and 
on the whole1 his instincts served him  
right well1 yet at times they failed    
him1 as in truth they fail us all4      
,there were occasions when a little     
reflection would have led him to see    
that his first rapid impressions were at

 fault1 and so have spared himself and  
others some pain and misunderstanding4  
,let a thing appear to him false1       
unfair1 or cowardly1 he would lower his 
lance and dash full tilt at it at once1 
sometimes to our admiration1 sometimes  
to our amusement when the appearance    
proved but a windmill in the mist1      
sometimes to our dismay when--a rare    
case--he mistook friend for foe4  ,no   
picture of ,john ,sedding could be      
considered at all to represent him which
 failed to express the blameless purity 
of his character and conduct4 ,i do not 
think the man lives who ever heard a    
tainted word from his lips4 ,there was  
in him such depth and strength of moral 
wholesomeness that he sickened at1 and  
revolted against the unseemly jest1 and 
still more against the scenes1 and      
experiences of the sensuous 7to use no  
stronger word7 upon which in the minds  
of some1 the artist must perforce feed  
his gift4 ,with his whole soul he       
repudiated the idea that ,art grew only 

as a flower upon the grave of virtue1   
and that artists could1 or desired to1  
lay claim to larger moral licence than  
other less imaginative men4  ,i have    
kept till last the best and deepest that
 was in him1 the hidden root of all he  
was1 the hallowing of all he did4 ,i    
mean his piety--his deep1 unfeigned     
piety4 ,in his address at the annual    
meeting of the ,confraternity of the    
,blessed ,sacrament1 a singularly       
outspoken and vigorous exhortation to   
laymen to keep their practice abreast of
 their faith1 he used the following     
words3 ,in the wild scene of #aith      
century work1 and thought1 and passion1 
when old snares still have their old    
witchery1 and new depths of wickedness  
yawn at our feet1 when the world is so  
wondrous kind to tired souls1 and       
neuralgic bodies1 and itself pleads for 
concessions to acknowledged weakness2   
when unfaith is so like faith1 and the  
devil freely suffers easy acquiescence  
in high gospel truth1 and even holds a  

magnifying-glass that one may better see
 the sweetness of the life of the ',son 
of ,man1' it is well in these days of   
sloth1 and sin1 and doubt1 to have one's
 energies braced by a 'girdle of ,god'  
about one's loins6 ,it is well1 ,i say1 
for a man to have a circle of religious 
exercises that can so hedge him about1  
so get behind his life1 and wind        
themselves by long familiarity into his 
character that they become part of his  
everyday existence--bone of his bone4   
,out of his own real knowledge and      
practice he spoke these words4 ,the     
circle of religious exercise1 the girdle
 of ,god1 had become for him part of his
 everyday existence4 ,i can think of no 
better words to express the unwavering  
consistency of his life4 ,it is no part 
of my duty to tell in detail what and   
how much he did1 and with what          
whole-heartedness he did it4  ,turning  
to outward things1 every associate of   
,john ,sedding knew his enthusiasm for  
the cause of the ,catholic revival in   

the ,english ,church4 ,it supplied him  
with a religion for his whole nature4   
,no trouble seemed too great on behalf  
of it1 though often his zeal entailed   
upon him some material disadvantage4    
,again and again ,i have known him give 
up precious hours and even days in      
unremunerated work1 to help some        
struggling church or mission1 or some   
poor religious community4 ,it was a joy 
to him to contribute anything to the    
beauty of the sanctuary or the solemnity
 of its offices4 ,from the year #ahgh to
 #ahha he was sidesman1 from #ahhb to   
#ahhi churchwarden of ,st4 ,alban's1    
,holborn1 doing his work thoroughly1 and
 with conspicuous kindliness and        
courtesy4 ,it was one of the thorns to  
the rose of his new life in the country 
that it obliged him to discontinue this 
office4 ,for eleven years he played the 
organ on ,sunday afternoons for a       
service for young men and maidens1 few  
of whom can forget the extraordinary    
life and pathos that he was wont by some

 magic to put into his accompaniment to 
their singing4  ,this present year1     
#ahia1 opened full of promise for ,john 
,sedding4 ,in a marvellously short time 
he had come hand over hand into public  
notice and public esteem1 as a man from 
whom excellent things were to be        
expected1--things interesting1 original1
 and beautiful4 ,mr ,burne ,jones       
writes3 ,my information about ,sedding's
 work is very slight1--my interest in   
him very great1 and my admiration too1  
from the little ,i had seen4 ,i know    
only the church in ,sloane ,street1 but 
that was enough to fill me with the     
greatest hope about him 444 ,i saw him  
in all some half-dozen times--liked him 
instantly1 and felt ,i knew him         
intimately1 and was looking forward to  
perhaps years of collaboration with him4
  ,work brought work1 as each thing he  
did revealed1 to those who had eyes to  
see1 the gift that was in him4 ,at ,art 
,congresses and all assemblies of ,art  
,workers his co-operation was sought and

 his presence looked for1 especially by 
the younger men1 who hailed him and his 
words with enthusiasm4 ,to these        
gatherings he brought something more and
 better than the sententious wisdom1 the
 chill repression which many feel called
 upon to administer on the ground of    
their experience4#d ,he put of the fire 
that was in him into the hearts that    
heard him1 he made them proud of their  
cause and of their place in it1 and     
hopeful for its triumph and their own   
success4 ,it was a contribution of      
sunshine and fresh air1 and all that is 
the complete opposite of routine1       
red-tape1 and the conventional4         
,footnote #d3 ,qu'est-ce l'experience8  
,une pauvre petite cabane construite    
avec les debris de ces palais d'or et de
 marbre appeles nos illusions4--,joseph 
,roux4  ,we who have watched his        
progress have noticed of late a         
considerable development in his literary
 power1 a more marked individuality of  
style1 a swifter and smoother movement1 

a richer vocabulary1 and new skill in   
the presentation of his ideas4 ,he was  
exceedingly happy in his illustrations  
of a principle1 and his figures were    
always interesting1 never hackneyed4 ,a 
certain bonhomie in his way of putting  
things won willing hearers for his      
words1 which seemed to come to meet us  
with a smile and open1 outstretched     
hands1 as the dear speaker himself was  
wont to do4 ,something of course of the 
living qualities of speech are lost when
 we can receive it only from the cold   
black and white of print1 instead of    
winged and full of human music from the 
man's own lips4 ,yet1 in spite of this1 
unless ,i am mistaken1 readers of this  
book will not fail to find in it a good 
deal to justify my judgment4  ,it seems 
to have taken some of his friends by    
surprise that ,john ,sedding should     
write on ,gardens4 ,they knew him the   
master of many crafts1 but did not count
 ,garden-craft among them4 ,as a matter 
of fact1 it was a love that appeared    

late in life1 though all along it must  
have been within the man1 for the       
instant he had a garden of his own the  
passion appeared full grown4 ,every     
evening between five and six1 save when 
his work called him to distant parts1   
you might have seen him step quickly out
 of the train at the little station of  
,west ,wickham1 run across the bridge1  
and greeting and greeted by everybody1  
swing along the shady road leading to   
his house4 ,in his house1 first he      
kissed his wife and children1 and then  
supposing there was light and the       
weather fine1 his coat was off and he   
fell to work at once with spade or      
trowel in his garden1 absorbed in his   
plants and flowers1 and the pleasant    
crowding thoughts that plants and       
flowers bring4  ,after supper he        
assembled his household to say evening  
prayers with them4 ,when all had gone to
 rest he would settle himself in his    
little study and write1 write1 write1   
until past midnight1 sometimes past one1

 dashing now and again at a book upon   
his shelves to verify some one or other 
of those quaint and telling bits which  
are so happily inwoven into his text4   
,one fruit of these labours is this book
 on ,garden-craft4  ,but ,i have        
detained the reader long enough4 ,all is
 by no means told1 and many friends will
 miss1 ,i doubt not1 with disappointment
 this or that feature which they knew   
and loved in him4 ,it cannot be helped4 
,i have written as ,i could1 not as ,i  
would1 within the narrow limits which   
rightly bound a preface4  ,how the end  
came1 how within fourteen days the hand 
of ,god took from our midst the much    
love1 genius1 beauty which ,his hand had
 given us in the person of ,john and    
,rose ,sedding1 a few words only must   
tell4  ,on ,easter ,monday1 ,march      
#cjth1 ,john ,sedding spent two hours in
 ,london1 giving the last sitting for   
the bust which was being modelled at the
 desire of the ,art ,workers' ,guild4   
,the rest of the day he was busy in his 

garden4 ,next morning he left early for 
,winsford1 in ,somersetshire1 to look   
after the restoration of this and some  
other churches in the neighbourhood4    
,winsford village is ten miles from the 
nearest railway station ,dulverton2 the 
road follows the beautiful valley of the
 ,exe1 which rising in the moors1       
descends noisily and rapidly southwards 
to the sea4 ,the air is strangely chill 
in the hollow of this woody valley4     
,further1 it was ,march1 and ,march of  
this memorable year of #ahia4 ,lines of 
snow still lay in the ditches1 and in   
white patches on the northern side of   
hedgerows4 ,within a fortnight of this  
time men and cattle had perished in the 
snow-drifts on the higher ground4  ,was 
this valley the valley of death for our 
friend1 or were the seeds of death      
already within him8 ,i know not4 ,next  
morning1 ,wednesday1 he did not feel    
well enough to get up4 ,his kind        
hostess1 and host1 the ,vicar of the    
parish1 did all that kindness--kindness 

made harder and therefore more kind by  
ten miles' distance from a railway      
station--could do4 ,john sent for his   
wife1 who came at once1 with her baby in
 her arms4 ,on ,saturday at midnight he 
received his last ,communion4 ,the next 
day he seemed to brighten and gave us   
hopes4 ,on ,monday there was a change   
for the worse1 and on ,tuesday morning  
he passed away in perfect peace4  ,at   
the wish of his wife1 his grave was     
prepared at ,west ,wickham4 ,the ,solemn
 ,requiem1 by her wish also1 was at the 
church he loved and served so well1 ,st4
 ,alban's1 ,holborn4 ,that church has   
witnessed many striking scenes1 but few 
more impressive than the great gathering
 at his funeral4 ,the lovely children's 
pall that ,john ,sedding had himself    
designed and ,rose ,sedding had         
embroidered1 covered the coffin1 and on 
the right of it in a dark mass were     
gathered his comrades of the ,art       
,workers' ,guild4  ,the tragedy does not
 end here4 ,on that day week1 at that   

very same hour and spot1 beneath the    
same pall1 lay the body of his dear and 
devoted wife4  ,side by side1 near the  
tall elms of the quiet ,kentish         
churchyard1 the bodies of ,john and     
,rose ,sedding are sleeping4 ,the spot  
was in a sense chosen by ,rose ,sedding1
 if we may use the term 'choice' for her
 simple wish that it might be where the 
sun shines and flowers will grow4 ,the  
western slope of the little hill was    
fixed upon1 and already the flowers they
 loved so well are blooming over them4  
,among the papers of ,rose ,sedding was 
found1 pencilled in her own handwriting1
 the following lines of a #agth century 
poet3      ',tis fit one flesh one house
 should have1     ,one tomb1 one        
epitaph1 one grave2     ,and they that  
lived and loved either     ,should dye1 
and lye1 and sleep together4#e          
,footnote #e3 ,the words ',tis fit one  
flesh one house should have1 c41 form   
part of the epitaph of ,richard         
,bartholomew and his wife in the parish 

church of ,burford4  ,how strange that  
the words should have found in her own  
case such exact fulfilment4      ,e4 ,f4
 ,,russell4      ,,st ,,alban',s        
,,clergy ,,house1     ,,brooke ,,street1
 ,,holborn4     ,june #ahia4  ,it stands
 thus3--      ,lo ,hudled up1 ,together 
lye     ,gray ,age1 ,greene ,youth1     
,white ,infancy4     ,if ,death doth    
,nature's law dispence1     ,and        
reconciles all difference1     ',tis fit
 ,one ,flesh ,one ,house should have1   
,one ,tombe1 ,one ,epitaph1 ,one ,grave2
     ,and they that lived and loved     
either     ,should dye and ,lye and     
sleep together4     ,goe ,reader1       
whether goe or stay1     ,thou must not 
hence be long away4     ,,contents4     
,,chap4                                 
,,page          ,i4 ,,the ,,theory ,,of 
,a ,,garden                             
#a         ,,ii4 ,,art ,,in ,a ,,garden 
#bh        ,,iii4 ,,historical ,,and    
,,comparative ,,sketch                  
#da         ,,iv4 ,,the ,,stiff ,,garden

                                  #gj   
,v4 ,,the ,,landscape-,,garden          
#ih         ,,vi4 ,,the ,,technics ,,of 
,,gardening                        #acc 
,,vii4 ,,the ,,technics ,,of ,,gardening
 7,,continued7          #aec       ,,on 
,,the ,,other ,,side4      ,,viii4 ,a   
,,plea ,,for ,,savagery                 
#ahc        ,,ix4 ,,in ,,praise ,,of    
,,both                                  
#bjb     ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations4   
,a ,,garden ,,enclosed                  
,,frontispiece      ,,plan ,,of ,,rosary
 ,,with ,,sundial                  ,,to 
,,face ,p4 #aef      ,,plan ,,of        
,,tennis ,,lawn1 ,,terraces1 ,,and      
,,flower     ,,garden                   
#aeh      ,,general ,,plan ,,of ,,the   
,,pleasaunce1 ,,villa     ,,albani1     
,,rome                                  
#afj      ,,plan ,,showing ,,arrangement
 ,,of ,,sunk ,,flower     ,,garden1     
,,yew ,,walk1 ,,and ,,tennis ,,court    
#afd      ,,plan ,,of ,,sunk ,,flower   
,,garden ,,and ,,yew     ,,hedges       

#aff      ,,plan ,,showing ,,arrangement
 ,,of ,,fountain1     ,,yew ,,walk1     
,,and ,,flower ,,beds ,,for ,a          
,,large ,,garden                        
#ahj      ,,perspective ,,view ,,of     
,,garden ,,in ,,the ,,preceding         
,,plan                                  
#ahj      ,,perspective ,,view ,,of ,a  
,,design ,,for ,a ,,garden1     ,,with  
,,clipped ,,yew ,,hedges ,,and ,,flower 
,,beds                                  
#ahb     ,,garden-,,craft     ,,chapter 
,i4  ,,on ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,a        
,,garden4      ,come hither1 come       
hither1 come hither2         ,here shall
 he see         ,no enemy     ,but      
winter and rough weather4   ,some       
subjects require to be delineated       
according to their own taste4 ,whatever 
the author's notions about it at        
starting1 the subject somehow slips out 
of his grasp and dictates its own method
 of treatment and style4 ,the subject of
 gardening answers to this description3 
you cannot treat it in a regulation     

manner4 ,it is a discursive subject that
 of itself breeds laggard humours1      
inclines you to reverie1 and suggests a 
discursive style4  ,this much in defence
 of my desultory essay4 ,the subject1 in
 a manner1 drafts itself4 ,like the     
garden1 it1 too1 has many aspects1 many 
side-paths1 that open out broken vistas 
to detach one's interest and lure from  
the straight1 broad terrace-platform of 
orderly discourse4 ,at first sight1     
perhaps1 with the balanced beauty of the
 thing in front of you1 carefully       
parcelled out and enclosed1 as all      
proper gardens are1 the theme may appear
 so compact1 that all meandering after  
side-issues may seem sheer wantonness4  
,as you proceed1 however1 it becomes    
apparent that you may not treat of a    
garden and disregard the instincts it   
prompts1 the connection it has with     
,nature1 its place in ,art1 its office  
in the world as a sweetener of human    
life4 ,true1 the garden itself is hedged
 in and neatly defined1 but behind the  

garden is the man who made it2 behind   
the man is the house he has built1 which
 the garden adorns2 and every man has   
his humours2 every house has its own    
conditions of plan and site2 every      
garden has its own atmosphere1 its own  
contents1 its own story4  ,so now1      
having in this short preamble discovered
 something of the rich variety and      
many-sidedness of the subject1 ,i       
proceed to write down three questions   
just to try what the yoke of            
classification may do to keep one's feet
 within bounds3 7#a7 ,what is a garden1 
and why is it made8 7#b7 ,what          
ornamental treatment is fit and right   
for a garden8 7#c7 ,what should be the  
relation of the garden to the house8    
,forgive me if1 in dealing with the     
first point1 ,i so soon succumb to the  
allurements of my theme1 and drop into  
flowers of speech6 ,to me1 then1 a      
garden is the outward and visible sign  
of man's innate love of loveliness4 ,it 
reveals man on his artistic side4       

,beauty1 it would seem1 has a magnetic  
charm for him2 and the ornamental       
display of flowers betokens his bent    
for1 and instinctive homage of beauty4  
,and to say this of man in one grade of 
life is to say it of all sorts and      
conditions of men2 and to say it of one 
garden is to say it of all--whether the 
garden be the child of quality or of    
lowliness2 whether it adorn castle1     
manor-house1 villa1 road-side cottage or
 signalman's box at the railway siding1 
or ,japanese or ,british tea-garden1 or 
,babylonian terrace or ,platonic grove  
at ,athens--in each case it was made for
 eye-delight at ,beauty's bidding4 ,even
 the ,puritan1 for all his gloomy creed 
and bleak undecorated life1 is          
,romanticist here2 the hater of outward 
show turns rank courtier at a pageant of
 flowers3 he will dare the devil at any 
moment1 but not life without flowers4   
,and so we have him lovingly bending    
over the plants of his home-garden1     
packing the seeds to carry with him into

 exile1 as though these could make      
expatriation tolerable4 ,there is not a 
softer trait to be found in the         
character of these stern men than that  
they should have been sensible of their 
flower-roots clinging among the fibres  
of their rugged hearts1 and have felt   
the necessity of bringing them over sea 
and making them hereditary in the new   
land4 7,hawthorne1 ,our ,old ,home1 p4  
#gg47  ,but to take a higher point of   
view4 ,a garden is1 in many ways1 the   
mute gospel it has been declared to be4 
,it is the memorial of ,paradise lost1  
the pledge of ,paradise regained4 ,it is
 so much of earth's surface redeemed    
from the scar of the fall3      ,who    
loves a garden still keeps his ,eden4   
,its territories stand1 so to speak1    
betwixt heaven and earth1 so that it    
shares the cross-lights of each4 ,it    
parades the joys of earth1 yet no less  
hints the joys of heaven4 ,it tells of  
man's happy tillage of his plot of      
ground1 yet blazes abroad the infinite  

abundance of ,god's wide husbandry of   
the world4 ,it bespeaks the glory of    
earth's array1 yet publishes its        
passingness4#f  ,footnote #f3 ,think of 
a paradise not like this of ours with so
 much pains and curiosity made with     
hands--says ,evelyn1 in the middle of a 
rhapsody on flowers--eternal in the     
heavens1 where all the trees are trees  
of life1 the flowers all amaranths2 all 
the plants perennial1 ever verdant1 ever
 pregnant1 and where those who desire   
knowledge may taste freely of the fruit 
of that tree which cost the first       
gardener and posterity so dear4 7,sylva1
 ,of ,forest-trees1 p4 #adh47  ,again4  
,the punctual waking of the flowers to  
new life upon the ruin of the old is    
unfavourable to the fashionable theory  
of extinction1 for it shows death as the
 prelude of life4 ,nevertheless1 be it  
admitted1 the garden-allegory points not
 all one way2 it is1 so to speak1 a     
paradox that mocks while it comforts4   
,for a garden is ever perplexing us with

 the riddle of the painful earth1 ever  
challenging our faith with its          
counter-proof1 ever thrusting before our
 eyes the abortive effort1 the          
inequality of lot 7two roses on a single
 stem1 the one full-blown1 a floral     
paragon1 the other dwarfed and          
withered71 the permitted spite of       
destiny which favours the fittest and   
drives the weak to the wall--ever       
preaching1 with damnable iteration1 the 
folly of resisting the ills that warp   
life and blight fair promise4  ,and yet 
while this is so1 the annual spectacle  
of spring's fresh repair--the awakening 
from winter's trance--the new life that 
grows in the womb of the tomb--is happy 
augury to the soul that passes away1    
immature and but half-expressed1 of     
lusty days and consummate powers in the 
everlasting garden of ,god4 ,it is this 
very garden's message1 the best is yet  
to be1 that smothers the self-pitying   
whine in poor ,david ,gray's ,elegy#g   
and braces his spirit with the tonic of 

a wholesome pride4 ,to the human flower 
that is born to blush unseen1 or born1  
perchance1 not to bloom at all1 but only
 to feel the quickening thrill of       
,april-passion--the first sweet         
consciousness of life--the electric     
touch in the soul like the faint        
beatings in the calyx of the rose--and  
then to die1 to die not knowing what it 
was to live--to such seemingly cancelled
 souls the garden's message is trust1   
acquiesce1 be passive in the ,master's  
hand3 the game of life is lost1 but not 
for aye--      444 ,there is life with  
,god     ,in other ,kingdom of a sweeter
 air3     ,in ,eden every flower is     
blown4  ,footnote #g3 ,my ,epitaph4     
,below lies one whose name was traced in
 sand--     ,he died1 not knowing what  
it was to live2     ,died while the     
first sweet consciousness of manhood    
,and maiden thought electrified his     
soul3     ,faint beatings in the calyx  
of the rose4     ,bewildered reader1    
pass without a sigh     ,in a proud     

sorrow6 ,there is life with ,god1       
,in other ,kingdom of a sweeter air2    
,in ,eden every flower is blown4 ,amen4 
,david ,gray 7,a ,poet's ,sketch-book1  
,r4 ,buchanan1 p4 #ha47  ,to come back  
to lower ground1 a garden represents    
what one may call the first simplicity  
of external ,nature's ways and means1   
and the first simplicity of man's       
handling of them1 carried to            
distinction4 ,on one side we have       
,nature's unpremeditated art surpassed  
upon its own lines--,nature's tardy     
efforts and common elementary traits    
pushed to a masterpiece4 ,on the other  
side is the callow craft of ,adam's     
'prentice han'1 turned into scrupulous  
nice-fingered ,art1 with forcing-pits1  
glass-houses1 patent manures1 scientific
 propagation1 and the accredited rules  
and hoarded maxims of a host of         
horticultural journals at its back4     
,or1 to run still more upon fancy4 ,a   
garden is a place where these two whilom
 foes--,nature and man--patch up a peace

 for the nonce4 ,outside the garden     
precincts--in the furrowed field1 in the
 forest1 the quarry1 the mine1 out upon 
the broad seas--the feud still prevails 
that began as our first parents found   
themselves on the wrong side of the gate
 of ,paradise4 ,but      ,here contest  
grows but interchange of love--  here   
the old foes have struck a truce and are
 leagued together in a kind of idyllic  
intimacy1 as is witnessed in their      
exchange of grace for grace1 and the    
crowning touch that each puts upon the  
other's efforts4  ,the garden1 ,i have  
said1 is a sort of betweenity--part     
heaven1 part earth1 in its suggestions2 
so1 too1 in its make-up is it part      
,nature1 part man3 for neither can      
strictly say ,i made the garden to      
disregard the other's share in it4      
,true1 that behind all the contents of  
the place sits primal ,nature1 but      
,nature to advantage dressed1 ,nature in
 a rich disguise1 ,nature delicately    
humoured1 stamped with new qualities1   

furnished with a new momentum1 led to   
new conclusions1 by man's skill in      
selection and artistic concentration4   
,true1 that the contents of the place   
have their originals somewhere in the   
wild--in forest or coppice1 or meadow1  
or hedgerow1 swamp1 jungle1 ,alp1 or    
plain hillside4 ,we can run each thing  
to earth any day1 only that a change has
 passed over them2 what in its original 
state was complex or general1 is here   
made a chosen particular2 what was      
monotonous out there1 is here mixed and 
contrasted2 what was rank and ragged    
there1 is here taught to be staid and   
fine2 what had a fugitive beauty there1 
has here its beauty prolonged1 and is   
combined with other items1 made of      
imagination all compact4 ,man has taken 
the several things and transformed them2
 and in the process1 they passed1 as it 
were1 through the crucible of his mind  
to reappear in daintier guise2 in the   
process1 the face of ,nature became1 so 
to speak1 humanised3 man's artistry     

conveyed an added charm4  ,judged thus1 
a garden is1 at one and the same time1  
the response which ,nature makes to     
man's overtures1 and man's answer to the
 standing challenge of open-air beauty  
everywhere4 ,here they work no longer in
 a spirit of rivalry1 but for the       
attainment of a common end4 ,we cannot  
dissociate them in the garden4 ,a garden
 is man's transcript of the woodland    
world3 it is common vegetation ennobled3
 outdoor scenery neatly writ in man's   
small hand4 ,it is a sort of            
twin-picture1 conceived of man in the   
studio of his brain1 painted upon       
,nature's canvas with the aid of her    
materials--a twin-essay where ,nature's 
444 primal mind     ,that flows in      
streams1 that breathes in wind  supplies
 the matter1 man the style4 ,it is      
,nature's rustic language made fluent   
and intelligible--,nature's garrulous   
prose tersely recast--changed into      
imaginative shapes1 touched to finer    
issues4  ,what is a garden8 ,for answer 

come hither3 be ,fancy's guest a moment4
 ,turn in from the dusty high-road and  
noise of practical things--for      ,not
 wholly in the busy world1 nor quite    
,beyond it1 blooms the garden that ,i   
love2  descend the octagonal steps2     
cross the green court1 bright with great
 urns of flowers1 that fronts the house2
 pass under the arched doorway in the   
high enclosing wall1 with its gates     
traceried with rival wreaths of beaten  
iron and clambering sprays of jasmine   
and rose1 and1 from the vantage-ground  
of the terrace-platform where we stand1 
behold an art-enchanted world1 where the
 alleys with their giddy cunning1 their 
gentle gloom1 their cross-lights and    
dappled shadows of waving boughs1 make  
paths of fantasy--where the water in the
 lake quivers to the wind's soft        
footprints1 or sparkles where the       
swallows dip1 or springs in jets out of 
shapely fountain1 or1 oozing from bronze
 dolphin's mouth1 slides down among     
moss-flecked stones into a deep dark    

pool1 and is seen anon threading with   
still foot the careless-careful curved  
banks fringed with flowering shrubs and 
trailing willows and brambles--where the
 flowers smile out of dainty beds in the
 sunny ecstasy of sweet madness--where  
the air is flooded with fragrance1 and  
the mixed music of trembling leaves1    
falling water1 singing birds1 and the   
drowsy hum of innumerable insects'      
wings4  ,what is a garden8 ,it is man's 
report of earth at her best4 ,it is     
earth emancipated from the commonplace4 
,earth is man's intimate                
possession--,earth arrayed for beauty's 
bridal4 ,it is man's love of loveliness 
carried to excess--man's craving for the
 ideal grown to a fine lunacy4 ,it is   
piquant wonderment2 culminated beauty1  
that for all its combination of telling 
and select items1 can still contrive to 
look natural1 debonair1 native to its   
place4 ,a garden is ,nature aglow1      
illuminated with new significance4 ,it  
is ,nature on parade before men's eyes2 

,flodden ,field in every parish1 where  
on summer days she holds court in lanes 
of splendour1 beset with pomp and       
pageantry more glorious than all the    
kings'4  ,why is a garden made8         
,primarily1 it would seem1 to gratify   
man's craving for beauty4 ,behind fine  
gardening is fine desire4 ,it is a plain
 fact that men do not make beautiful    
things merely for the sake of something 
to do1 but1 rather1 because their souls 
compel them4 ,any beautiful work of art 
is a feat1 an essay1 of human soul4     
,someone has said that noble dreams are 
great realities--this in praise of      
unrealised dreams2 but here1 in the fine
 garden1 is the noble dream and the     
great reality4  ,here it may be objected
 that the ordinary garden is1 after all1
 only a compromise between the common   
and the ideal3 half may be for the lust 
of the eye1 yet half is for domestic    
drudgery2 half is for beauty1 half for  
use4 ,the garden is contrived a double  
debt to pay4 ,yonder mass of foliage    

that bounds the garden1 with its winding
 intervals of turf and look of          
expansiveness1 it serves to conceal     
villadom and the hulking paper-factory  
beyond2 that rock-garden with its       
developed geological formation1 dotted  
over with choice ,alpine plants1 that   
the stranger comes to see4 ,it is       
nothing but the quarry from whence the  
stone was dug that built the house4     
,those banks of evergreens1 full of     
choice specimens1 what are they but on  
one side the screen to your kitchen     
stuff1 and on the other side1 the former
 tenant's contrivance to assist him in  
forgetting his neighbour8 ,even so1 my  
friend1 an it please you6 ,you are of   
those who1 in ,sainte-,beuve's phrase1  
would sever a bee in two1 if you could6 
,the garden1 you say1 is a compromise   
between the common and the ideal4 ,yet  
nobility comes in low disguises4 ,we    
have seen that the garden is wild       
,nature elevated and transformed by     
man's skill in selection and artistic   

concentration--wild things to which     
man's art has given dignity4 ,the common
 flowers of the cottager's garden tell  
of centuries of collaboration4 ,the     
flowers and shrubs and trees with which 
you have adorned your own grounds were  
won for you by the curiosity1 the       
aspiration1 the patient roaming and     
ceaseless research of a long list of old
 naturalists2 the design of your garden1
 its picturesque divisions and beds1 a  
result of the social sense1 the faculty 
for refined enjoyment1 the constructive 
genius of the picked minds of the       
civilised world in all ages4 ,the       
methods of planting approved of to-day1 
carrying us back to the                 
admirably-dressed grounds of the ancient
 castles and abbeys1 to the love of     
woodland scenery1 which is said to be a 
special characteristic of ,teutonic     
people1 which is evidenced in the early 
,english ballads2 to the slowly acquired
 traditions of garden-masters like      
,bacon1 ,temple1 ,evelyn1 ,gilpin1 and  

,repton1 as well as to the idealised    
landscapes of ,constable1 ,gainsborough1
 ,linnell1 and ,turner2 it is1 in fact1 
the issue of the practical insight1 the 
wood-craft1 and idealistic skill of     
untold generations4  ,in this matter of 
floral beauty and garden-craft man has  
ever declared himself a prey to the     
malady of the ideal2 the ,japanese will 
even combine upon his trees the tints of
 spring and autumn4#h ,but everywhere1  
and in all ages of the civilised world1 
man spares no pains to acquire the      
choicest specimens1 the rarest plants1  
and to give to each thing so acquired   
the ideally best expression of which it 
is capable4 ,it is as though            
,eden-memories still haunted the race   
with the solicitude of an inward voice  
that refused to be silenced1 and is     
satisfied with nothing short of the     
best4  ,footnote #h3 ,this strange      
combination of autumn and spring tints  
is a very usual sight in ,japan4444 ,it 
is worth noting that in ,japan a tree is

 considered chiefly for its form and    
tint1 not for use4444 ,i heard the      
cherry-trees were now budding1 so ,i    
hurried up to take advantage of them1   
and found them more beautiful than ,i   
had ever imagined4 ,there are at least  
fifty varieties1 from delicately tinted 
white and pink to the richest rose1     
almost crimson blossom4--,alfred ,east's
 ,trip to ,japan1 ,universal ,review1   
,march1 #ahij4  ,and yet1 as some may   
point out1 this homage of beauty that   
you speak of is not done for nought2    
there enters into gardening the spirit  
of calculation4 ,a garden is a kind of  
investment4 ,the labour and forethought 
man expends upon it must bring adequate 
return4 ,for every flower-bed he lays   
down1 for every plant1 or shrub1 or tree
 put into the ground1 his word is ever  
the same1      ,be its beauty     ,its  
sole duty4  ,it was not simply to       
gratify his curiosity1 to serve as a    
pretext for adventure1 that the gardener
 of old days reconnoitred the globe1    

culled specimens1 and spent laborious   
days in studying earth's picturesque    
points2 it was with a view to the       
pleasure the things would ultimately    
bring4 ,and why not6 ,had man not served
 so long an apprenticeship to ,nature on
 her freehold estate1 the garden would  
not so directly appeal to our           
imaginations and command our spirits4 ,a
 garden reveals man as master of        
,nature's lore2 he has caught her       
accents1 rifled her motives2 he has     
transferred her bright moods about his  
own dwelling1 has tricked out an ordered
 mosaic of the gleanings of her woodland
 carpet2 has1 as it were1 stereotyped   
the spontaneous in ,nature1 has         
entrapped and rendered beautifully      
objective the natural magic of the outer
 world to gratify the inner world of his
 own spirit4 ,the garden is1 first and  
last1 made for delectation's sake4  ,so 
we arrive at these conclusions4 ,a      
garden is made to express man's delight 
in beauty and to gratify his instincts  

for idealisation4 ,but1 lest the        
explanation savour too much of          
self-interest in the gardener1 it may be
 well to say that the interest of man's 
investment of money and toil is not all 
for himself4 ,what he captures of       
,nature's revenues he repays with usury1
 in coin that bears the mint-mark of    
inspired invention4 ,this artistic      
handling of natural things has for      
result the world's fresh ornament1#i and
 for plant1 shrub1 or tree subject to   
it1 it is the crowning and completion of
 those hidden possibilities of          
perfection that have lain dormant in    
them since the world began4  ,an artist 
has been defined as one who reproduces  
the world in his own image and likeness4
 ,the definition is perhaps a little    
high-flown1 and may confer an           
autobiographical value to an artist's   
performances that would astonish none   
more than himself4 ,yet if the thought  
can be truthfully applied anywhere1 it  
is where it occurred to ,andrew         

,marvell--in a garden4  ,footnote #i3   
,if you look into our gardens annexed to
 our houses 7says ,william ,harrison in 
,holinshed's ,chronicles7 how wonderful 
is their beauty increased1 not only with
 flowers1 which ,columella calleth      
,terrena ,sydera1 saying ',pingit et in 
varias terrestria1 sydera flores1' and  
variety of curious and costly           
workmanship1 but also with rare and     
medicinable herbs4444 ,how ,art also    
helpeth ,nature in the daily colouring1 
doubling and enlarging the proportions  
of our flowers it is incredible to      
report1 for so curious and cunning are  
our gardeners now in these days that    
they presume to do1 in a manner1 what   
they list with ,nature1 and moderate her
 course in things as if they were her   
superiors4 ,it is a world also to see   
how many strange herbs1 plants1 and     
annual fruits are daily brought unto us 
from the ,indies1 ,americans1           
,taprobane1 ,canary ,isles1 and all     
parts of the world1 the which1 albeit   

that his respect of the constitutions of
 our bodies1 they do not grow for us    
7because ,god hath bestowed sufficient  
commodities upon every country for her  
own necessity7 yet for delectation's    
sake unto the eye1 and their odoriferous
 savours unto the nose1 they are to be  
cherished1 and ,god also glorified in   
them1 because they are ,his good gifts1 
and created to do man help and service4 
,there is not almost one nobleman1      
gentleman1 or merchant that hath not    
great store of these flowers1 which now 
also begin to wax so well acquainted    
with our evils that we may almost       
account of them as parcel of our own    
commodities4--7,from ,elizabethan       
,england1 pp4 #bf-g47      ,the mind1   
that ocean where each kind     ,does    
straight its own resemblance find2      
,yet it creates1 transcending these1    
,far other worlds and other seas1       
,annihilating all that's made     ,to a 
green thought in a green shade4  ,and   
where can we find a more promising      

sphere for artistic creation than a     
garden8 ,do we boast of fine ideas and  
perceptions of beauty and powers of     
design6 ,where can our faculties find a 
happier medium of expression or a       
pleasanter field for display than the   
garden affords8 ,nay1 to have the ideas1
 the faculties1 and the chance of their 
exercise and still to hold back were a  
sin6 ,for a garden is1 so to speak1 the 
compliment a man of ideas owes to       
,nature1 to his friends1 and to himself4
  ,many are the inducements to          
gardening4 ,thus1 if ,i make a garden1  
,i need not print a line1 nor conjure   
with the painter's tools1 to prove      
myself an artist4 ,again1 a garden is   
the only form of artistic creation that 
is bound by the nature of things to be  
more lovely in realisation than in the  
designer's conception4 ,it is no mere   
hint of beauty--no mere tickling of the 
fancy--that we get here1 such as all    
other arts 7except music7 are apt to    
give you4 ,here1 on the contrary1 we are

 led straight into a world of actual    
delights patent to all men1 which our   
eyes can see1 and our hands handle4     
,more than this2 whilst in other spheres
 of labour the greater part of our      
life's toil and moil will1 of a surety1 
end as the wise man predicted1 in vanity
 and vexation of spirit1 here is instant
 physical refreshment in the work the   
garden entails1 and1 in the end1 our    
labour will be crowned with flowers4    
,nor have ,i yet exhausted the scene of 
a garden's pleasures4 ,a man gets       
undoubted satisfaction in the very      
expression of his ideas--the joy of the 
deed--in the sense of ,nature's happy   
response1 the delight of creation1#aj   
the romance of possibility4  ,footnote  
#aj3 ,here is ,emerson writing to       
,carlyle of his new plaything--a piece  
of woodland of forty acres on the border
 of ,walden ,pond4 ,in these ,may       
mornings1 when maples1 poplars1 walnut1 
and pine are in their spring glory1 ,i  
go thither every afternoon and cut with 

my hatchet an ,indian path thro' the    
thicket1 all along the bold shore1 and  
open the finest pictures4 7,john        
,morley's ,essays1 ,emerson1 p4 #cjd47  
,but1 as ,mr ,morley points out1 he     
finds the work too fascinating1 eating  
up days and weeks2 nay1 a brave scholar 
should shun it like gambling1 and take  
refuge in cities and hotels from these  
pernicious enchantments4  ,some joy     
shall also come of the identity of the  
gardener with his creation4#aa ,he is at
 home here4 ,he is intimate with the    
various growths4 ,he carries in his head
 an infinity of details touching the    
welfare of the garden's contents4 ,he   
participates in the life of his plants1 
and is familiar with all their humours2 
like a good host1 he has his eye on all 
his company4 ,he has fine schemes for   
the future of the place4 ,the very      
success of the garden reflects upon its 
master1 and advertises the perfect      
understanding that exists between the   
artist and his materials4 ,the sense of 

ownership and responsibility brings him 
satisfaction1 of a cheaper sort4 ,his   
the hand that holds the wand to the     
garden's magic2 his the initiating      
thought1 the stamp of taste1 the style  
that gives it circumstance4 ,let but his
 hand be withdrawn a space1 and1 at this
 signal1 the gipsy horde of weeds and   
briars--that even now peer over the     
fence1 and cast clandestine seeds abroad
 with every favouring gust of           
wind--would at once take leave to pitch 
their tents within the garden's zone1   
would strip the place of                
art-conventions1 and hurry it back to   
its primal state of unkempt wildness4   
,footnote #aa3 ,i like your ,essays1    
said ,henry the ,third to ,montaigne4   
,then1 sire1 you will like me4 ,i am my 
,essays4  ,someone has observed that    
when wonder is excited1 and the sense of
 beauty gratified1 there is instant     
recreation1 and a stimulus that lifts   
one out of life's ordinary routine4     
,this marks the function of a garden in 

a world where1 but for its presence1 the
 commonplace might preponderate2 'tis   
man's recreation ground1 children's     
fairyland1 bird's orchestra1 butterfly's
 banquet4 ,verse and romance have done  
well1 then1 to link it with pretty      
thoughts and soft musings1 with summer  
reveries and moonlight ecstasies1 with  
love's occasion1 and youth's yearning4  
,no fitter place could well be found    
than this for the softer transactions of
 life that awaken love1 poesy1 and      
passion4 ,indeed1 were its winsomeness  
not balanced by simple human            
enjoyments--were its charmed silences   
not broken by the healthy interests of  
common daily life--the romps of         
children1 the clink of tea-cups1 the    
clatter of croquet-mallets1 the melee of
 the tennis-courts1 the fiddler's       
scrape1 and the tune of moving feet1 it 
might well seem too lustreful a place   
for this work-a-day world4  ,apart from 
its other uses1 there is no spot like a 
garden for cultivating the kindly social

 virtues4 ,its perfectness puts people  
upon their best behaviour4 ,its nice    
refinement secures the mood for         
politeness4 ,its heightened beauty      
produces the disposition that delights  
in what is beautiful in form and colour4
 ,its queenly graciousness of mien      
inspires the reluctant loyalty of even  
the stoniest mind4 ,here1 if anywhere1  
will the human hedgehog unroll himself  
and deign to be companionable4 ,here    
friend ,smith1 caught by its nameless   
charm1 will drop his brassy gabble and  
dare to be idealistic2 and ,jones1      
forgetful of the main chance and bulls  
and bears1 will throw the rein to his   
sweeter self1 and reveal that latent    
elevation of soul and tendency to       
romance known only to his wife6  ,there 
be delights1 says an ancient writer1    
that will fetch the day about from sun  
to sun1 and rock the tedious year as in 
a delightful dream4 ,this tells1 in     
terse ,english1 the pleasures of a      
garden and the instincts that are       

gratified in its making4 ,for a garden  
is ,arcady brought home4 ,it is man's   
bit of gaudy make-believe--his          
well-disguised fiction of an unvexed    
,paradise--standing witness of his quest
 of the ideal--his artifice to escape   
the materialism of a world that is too  
actual and too much with him4 ,a        
well-kept garden makes credible to      
modern eyes the antique fable of an     
unspoiled world--a world where gaiety   
knows no eclipse1 and winter and rough  
weather are held at bay4 ,in this       
secluded spot the seasons slip by       
unawares4 ,the year's passing-bell is   
ignored4 ,decay is cheated of its prize4
 ,the invading loss of cold1 or wind1 or
 rain--the litter of battered           
,nature--the petals from blown roses on 
the grass--the pathos of dead boughs and
 mouldering leaves1 the blighted bloom  
and broken promise of the spring1       
autumn's rust or winter's wreckage are1 
if gardeners be brisk sons of ,adam1    
instantly huddled out of sight1 so that1

 come when you may1 the place wears a   
mask of steady brightness2 each month   
has its new dress1 its fresh counterfeit
 of permanence1 its new display of      
flowers or foliage1 as pleasing1 if not 
so lustrous as the last1 that serves in 
turn to prolong the illusion and to     
conceal the secret irony and fond       
assumption of the thing4      ,i think  
for to touche also     ,the world which 
neweth everie daie1     ,so far as ,i   
can1 so as ,i maie4  ,this snatch of    
,gower's rhyme expresses in old phrase  
the gardener's desire1 or clothed in    
modern prose by ,mr ,robinson 7,english 
,flower-,garden1 ,murray71 it is to make
 each place at various seasons1 and in  
every available situation1 an epitome of
 the great flower-garden of the world4  
,we hinted a moment ago of the interest 
that a garden gathers from the mark of  
man's regard and tendence2 and if this  
be true of a modern garden1 how much    
more true of an old one6 ,indeed1 this  
is undeniable in the latter case1 for   

,time is ever friendly to gardens4      
,ordinarily his attitude towards all    
that concerns the memories of man is    
that of a jealous churl4 ,look at       
history4 ,what is history but one long  
record of men who1 in this sphere or    
that1 have toiled1 striven1 sold their  
souls even1 to perpetuate a name and    
have their deeds written upon the       
tablets of eternity1 not reckoning upon 
the all oblivious enmity of ,time1 who1 
with heedless hand1 cuts their past into
 fragments1 blots out their name1       
confuses their story1 and frets with    
gnawing tooth each vestige of their     
handiwork4 ,how1 then1 we ask--         
,how with this rage shall beauty hold a 
plea1     ,whose action is no stronger  
than a flower8  ,yet so it is4 ,he who  
has no respect for antique glories1 who 
snaps his fingers at earth's heroes1 who
 overturns the statues of the laurelled 
,caesars1 encrusts the hieroglyphics of 
the ,pharaohs1 and commits their storied
 masonry to the mercies of the modern   

,philistine1 will make exception in a   
garden4 ,time's pencil helps a garden4  
,in a garden not only are the solemn    
shapes and passing conceits of grey     
epochs treasured up1 even to their      
minutest particulars1 but the drift of  
the years1 elsewhere so disastrous1     
serves only to heighten their           
fascination and power of appeal4  ,thus 
it comes to pass1 that it were scarcely 
possible to name a more pathetic symbol 
of the past than an old garden1#ab nor a
 spot which1 by its tell-tale shapes1   
sooner lends itself to our historic     
sense if we would recall the forms and  
reconstruct the life of our ancestors4  
,for we have here the very setting of   
old life--the dressed stage of old      
drama1 the scenery of old gallantry4    
,upon this terrace1 in front of these   
flower-beds with these trees looking on1
 was fought out the old battle of right 
and wrong--here was enacted the heroic  
or the shameful deeds1 the stirring or  
the humdrum passages in the lives of so 

many generations of masters1 mistresses1
 children1 and servants1 who in far-off 
times have lived1 loved1 and died in the
 grey homestead hard by4 ,now they are  
dead1 as ,victor ,hugo says--they are   
dead1 but the flowers last always4      
,footnote #ab3 ,time does much for a    
garden4 ,there is a story of an         
,american plutocrat's visit to ,oxford4 
,on his tour of the ,colleges nothing   
struck him so much as the velvety turf  
of some of the quadrangles4 ,he asked   
for the gardener1 and made minute       
enquiries as to the method of laying    
down and maintaining the grass4 ,that's 
all1 is it8 he exclaimed1 when the      
process had been carefully described4   
,yes1 sir1 replied the gardener with a  
twinkle in his eye1 ,that's all1 but we 
generally leave it three or four        
centuries to settle down6  ,admit1 then1
 that for their secret quality1 no less 
than for their obvious beauty1 these old
 gardens should be treasured4 ,for they 
are far more than they seem to the      

casual observer4 ,like any other piece  
of historic art1 the old garden is only 
truly intelligible through a clear      
apprehension of the circumstances which 
attended its creation4 ,granted that we 
possess the ordinary smattering of      
historical knowledge1 and the garden    
will serve to interpret the past and    
make it live again before our eyes4 ,for
 the old place is 7to use the           
journalist's phrase7 an object lesson of
 old manners2 it is a proof of ancient  
genius1 a clue to old romance1 a legacy 
of vague desire4 ,the many items of the 
place--the beds and walks with their    
special trick of style the parterre1 the
 promenoir1 the maze1 the quincunx1 the 
terraces1 the extravagances in          
ever-green sculptures of which ,pope    
spoke--what are they but the mould and  
figure of old-world thought1 down to its
 most characteristic caprice6 ,the      
assertive air of these things--their    
prominence in the                       
garden-scenery--bespeak their importance

 in the scenery of old life4 ,it was    
thus that our forefathers made the world
 about them picturesque1 thus that they 
coloured their life-dreams and fitted an
 adjunct pleasure to every humour1 thus 
that they climbed by flower-strewn      
stairs to the realm of the ideal and    
stimulated their sense of beauty4  ,and 
if further proof be needed of the large 
hold the garden and its contents had of 
the affections of past generations1 we  
have but to turn to the old poets1 and  
to note how the texture of the speech1  
the groundwork of the thought1 of men   
like ,milton1 ,herrick1 ,vaughan1       
,herbert1 ,donne 7not to mention        
prose-writers7 is saturated through and 
through with garden-imagery4  ,in the   
case of an old garden1 mellowed by time1
 we have1 ,i say1 to note something that
 goes beyond mere surface-beauty4 ,here 
we may expect to find a certain         
superadded quality of pensive interest1 
which1 so far as it can be reduced to   
words1 tells of the blent influences of 

past and present1 of things seen and    
unseen1 of the joint effects of ,nature 
and ,man4 ,the old ground embodies      
bygone conceptions of ideal beauty2 it  
has absorbed human thought and memories2
 it registers the bequests of old time4 
,dead men's traits are exemplified here4
 ,the dead hand still holds sway1 the   
pictures it conjured still endure1 its  
cunning is not forgotten1 its strokes   
still make the garden's magic1 in shapes
 and hues that are unchanged save for   
the slow moulding of the centuries4     
,really1 not less than metaphorically1  
the garden-growths do keep green the    
memories of the men and women who placed
 them there1 as the flower that is dead 
still holds its perfume4 ,and few will  
say that the chronicles of the dead do  
not      ,shine more bright in these    
contents     ,than unwept stone         
besmeared with sluttish time4  ,there is
 a wealth of quiet interest in an old   
garden4 ,we feel instinctively that the 
place has been warmed by the sunshine of

 humanity2 watered from the secret      
spring of human joy and sorrow4         
,sleeping echoes float about its glades2
 its leafy nooks can tell of felicities 
sweeter than the bee-haunted cups of    
flowers2 of glooms graver than the      
midnight blackness of the immemorial    
yews4 ,it is their suggestion of antique
 experiences that endues the objective  
elements in an old garden like ,haddon1 
or ,berkeley1 or ,levens1 or            
,rockingham1 with a strange eloquence4  
,the recollections of many a child have 
centred round these objects3 the one    
touch of romance in a narrow1 simple    
life is linked with them4 ,hearts danced
 or hearts drooped in this vicinity4    
,eyes that brimmed over with laughter or
 that were veiled with tears looked on  
these things as we look on them         
now--drank in the shifting lights and   
shadows on the grass--watched the waving
 of the cedar's dark layers of shade    
against an angry sky1 stern as the      
unlashed eye of ,god1 and all the birds 

were silent--once took in the sylvan    
vistas of trees1 lawn1 fir-ridge1 the   
broad-water where the coots and         
moor-hens now play 7as then7 among the  
green lily-pads and floating weeds1     
regardless of ,regulas in lead standing 
in their midst2 once dwelt upon the     
lustrous flower-beds1 on the sundial on 
the terrace--noonday rendezvous of      
fantails--on the ,alley of ,sighs1 with 
its clipped beeches1 its grey-stone seat
 half-way down1 its rustle of dying     
leaves1 and traditions of intrigue2 on  
the lime avenue full of perfume in the  
sweet-o'-the-year1 on the foot-bridge   
across the moat1 on the streak of blue  
autumn mist that tracks the stream in   
yonder meadows where the landrail is    
croaking1 and that brings magically near
 the beat of hoofs1 the jingle of       
horses' bells1 the rumble of homeward   
wagons on the road1 and whiffs of the   
reapers' songs2 on the brief brilliance 
of the garden-panorama as the           
wintry-moon gives the black clouds the  

slip and suddenly discloses a white     
world of snow-muffled forms1 that gleams
 with the eerie pallor of a ghost1 and  
is as suddenly dissolved into darkness4 
,simple sights1 you will say1 and       
familiar6 and yet1 when connected with  
some unique occasion1 some epoch of a   
life1 when seen on such a day1 at such a
 supreme1 all-absorbing moment from     
window1 open door1 terrace1 arbour2 in  
the stillness or in the wild rhetoric of
 the night1 the familiar scene1         
momentarily flashed upon the brain's    
retina1 may have subtly and             
unconsciously influenced the act1 or    
coloured the thought of some human      
being1 and the brand of that moment's   
impress may have accompanied that soul  
to the edge of doom4  ,because of its   
hoarded memories we come to look upon an
 old garden as a sort of repository of  
old secrets2 wrapped within its         
confines1 as within the covers of a     
sacred book1 repose so many pages of the
 sad and glad legend of humanity4 ,we   

have before us the scenery of old home  
idylls1 of old household reverences and 
customs1 of old life's give and         
take--its light comedy or solemn farce1 
its dark tragedy1 its summer masque1 its
 stately dance or midnight frolic1 its  
happy wedlock or its open sorrow1 its   
endured wrong4 ,the place is identified 
with the fortunes of old families3 for  
so many generations has the old place   
been found favourable for lovers' tales1
 for youths' golden dreams1 for girls'  
chime of fancy1 for the cut and thrust  
of friendly wrangles1 for the leisures  
of the spirit of student-recluse1 for   
children's gambols and babies'          
lullabies4 ,seated upon this mossy bank1
 children have spelt out fairy tales1   
while birds1 trees1 brooks1 and flowers 
listened together4 ,the marvel of its   
cloistered grace has been ,god-reminder 
to the saint2 its green recesses have   
served for ,enoch's walk1#ac for poet's 
retreat2 as refuge for the hapless      
victim of broken endeavour2 as enisled  

shelter for the tobacco-loving          
sailor-uncle with a wrecked fame2 as    
invalid's ,elysium2 as haunt of the     
loafing1 jesting1 unambitioned man      
7,alas1 poor ,yorick672 as ,death's     
sweet ante-room for slow-footed age4    
,footnote #ac3 ,there is no garden well 
contrived1 but that which hath an       
,enoch's walk in it4--,,sir ,w4         
,,waller4  ,what wonder that ,sir       
,william ,temple devised that his heart 
should rest where its memories were so  
deep-intrenched--in his garden2 or that 
,waterton should ask to be buried       
between the two great oaks at the end of
 the lake6 7,norman ,moore's            
,introduction to ,wanderings in ,south  
,america47  ,and if human affections be1
 as the poets declare1 immortal1 we have
 the reason why an old garden1 in the   
only sense in which it ever is old1 by  
the almanack1 has that whisper and      
waving of secrecy1 that air of watchful 
intentness1 that far-reaching1          
mythological1 unearthly look1 that      

effect of being a kind of twilighted    
space common to the two worlds of past  
and present4 ,who will not agree with me
 in this8 ,it matters not when you go   
there--at dawn1 at noonday1 no less than
 when the sky is murky and night-winds  
are sighing--and although you shall be  
the only visible human being present1 it
 is not alone that you feel4 ,a thrill  
comes over you1 a mysterious sense warns
 you that this is none other than the   
sanctuary of the dead1 as we call them2 
the place where1 amid the hush of       
passionless existence1 the wide leisure 
of uncounted time1 the shades of once   
familiar presences keep their tongueless
 vigil4 ,they fly not at the dully sound
 of human footsteps2 they ask no        
sympathy for regret which dare not tell 
the secret of its sorrow2 but1 with the 
gentle gait of old-world courtesy1 they 
move aside1 and when you depart resume  
occupation of ground which1 for the sake
 of despairing wishes and memories of an
 uneffaced past1 they may not quit4     

,after life's fitful fever these waifs  
of a vanished world sleep not well2 here
 are some consumed with covetousness1   
who are learning not to resent the word 
mine applied by the living owner of hall
 and garden1 field and store2 some that 
prey on withered bliss--the bitter sweet
 of days that were--this1 the miser     
whose buried treasure lies undiscovered 
here1 and who has nothing in ,god's bank
 in the other world2 this1 the author of
 the evil book2 and this loveless1      
unlovely pair1 the ruined and ruiner1   
yoked for aye2 a motley band1 forsooth1 
with ,satan's sergeants keeping guard6  
,it is ever the indirect that is most   
eloquent4 ,someone says3 ,hence these   
tokens of a dead past open out vistas   
for one's imagination and drop hints of 
romance that would make thrilling       
reading in many volumes1 but which shall
 never reach ,mudie's4  ,even ,nature is
 not proof against the spell of an old  
garden4 ,the very trees have an ancient 
melody of an inward agony3      ,the    

place is silent and aware     ,it has   
had its scenes1 its joys1 and crimes1   
,but that is its own affair--  even     
,nature forgets to be her cold1         
impassive self1 and puts on a           
sympathetic-waiting look in a spot so   
intricately strewn and meshed over with 
the fibres of human experience4 ,long   
and close intimacy with mankind under   
various aspects--witness of things that 
happened to squires1 dames1 priests1    
courtiers1 servitors1 page1 or          
country-maid1 in the roundabout of that 
curious1 restless1 clamorous being which
 we call life--has somehow tinged the   
place with a sensibility 7one had almost
 said a wizardry7 not properly its own4 
,and this superadded quality reaches to 
the several parts of the garden and is  
not confined to the scene as a whole4   
,each inanimate item of the place1 each 
spot1 seems invested with a gift of     
attraction--to have a hidden tongue that
 could syllable forgotten names--to     
possess a power of fixing your          

attention1 of fastening itself upon your
 mind1 as though it had become1 in a    
sense1 humanised1 and claimed kindred   
with you as related to that secret group
 with whose fortunes it was allied1 with
 whose passions it had held             
correspondence1 and were letting you    
know it could speak an if it would of   
,all the ways of men1 so vain and       
melancholy4     ,,chapter ,,ii4  ,,on   
,,art ,,in ,a ,,garden4      ,o world1  
as ,god has made it6 ,all is beauty4    
,,robert ,,browning4   ,in dealing with 
our second point--the ornamental        
treatment that is fit and right for a   
garden--we are naturally brought into   
contact with the good and bad points of 
both the old and the new systems of     
gardening4 ,this being so1 it may be    
well at once to notice the claims of the
 modern ,landscape-gardener to          
monopolise to himself all the right     
principles of garden-craft3 all other   
moods than his are low1 all figures     
other than his are symbols of error1 all

 dealings with ,nature other than his   
are mere distortions4  ,if you have any 
acquaintance with books upon            
landscape-gardening written by its      
professors or their admirers1 you will  
have learnt that in the first half of   
the eighteenth century1 two             
heaven-directed geniuses--,kent and     
,brown--all of a sudden stumbled upon   
the green world of old ,england1 and1   
perceiving its rural beauties1 and the  
hitherto unexplored opportunities for   
ornamental display that the country     
afforded1 these two put their heads     
together1 and out of their combined     
cogitations sprang the ,english garden4 
,this1 in brief1 is what the            
landscape-gardener and his adherents    
say1 and would have you believe2 and1 to
 prove their point1 they lay stress upon
 the style of garden in vogue at the    
time ,kent and ,brown began their       
experiments1 when1 forsooth1 traditional
 garden-craft was in its dotage and had 
lost its way in the paths of pedantry4  

,should you1 however1 chance to have    
some actual knowledge of old gardens1   
and some insight into the principles    
which1 consciously or unconsciously     
governed their making1 it may occur to  
you to ask the precise points wherein   
the new methods claim to be different   
from the old1 what sources of           
inspiration were discovered by the new  
school of gardeners that were not shared
 by ,english gardeners from time        
immemorial4 ,are there1 then1 two arts  
of gardening8 or two sorts of           
,englishmen to please8 ,is not modern   
garden-craft identical with the old1 so 
far1 indeed1 as it hath art enough to   
stand any comparison with the other at  
all8  ,let us here point to the fact1   
that any garden whatsoever is but       
,nature idealised1 pastoral scenery     
rendered in a fanciful manner4 ,it      
matters not what the date1 size1 or     
style of the garden1 it represents an   
idealisation of ,nature4 ,real nature   
exists outside the artist and apart from

 him4 ,the ,ideal is that which the     
artist conceives to be an interpretation
 of the outside objects1 or that which  
he adds to the objects4 ,the garden     
gives imaginative form to emotions the  
natural objects have awakened in man4   
,the raison d'etre of a garden is man's 
feeling the ensemble4  ,one fine day you
 take your architect for a jaunt along a
 country-lane1 until stopping shyly in  
front of a five-barred gate1 over which 
is nailed an ominous notice-board1 you  
introduce him to your small property1   
the site of your new house4 ,it is a    
field very much like the neighbouring   
fields--at least1 so think the moles1   
and the rooks1 and the rabbits2 not you1
 for here is to be your seat for life2  
and before you have done with it1 the   
whole country far and near will be      
taught to look as though it radiated    
round the site and the house you will   
build upon it--an honour of which1 truth
 compels me to say1 the land betrays not
 the remotest presentiment just now6    

,the field in question may be flat or   
undulating1 it may be the lap of a      
hillside1 the edge of a moor1 a treeless
 stretch of furrowed land with traces of
 rude mechanical's usage1 or suggestions
 of mutton or mangels4 ,the particular  
character of the place1 or its precise  
agricultural past1 matters not1 however2
 suffice it to say that it is a bit of  
raw1 and more or less ungroomed1        
,nature4  ,upon this plain1 unadorned   
field1 you set your man of imagination  
to work4 ,he must absorb both it and its
 whole surroundings into his brain1 and 
seize upon all its capabilities4 ,he    
must produce symmetry and balance where 
now are ragged outlines of hillocks and 
ridges4 ,he must trim and cherish the   
trees here1 abolish the tree there2     
enlarge this slope1 level that2 open out
 a partial peep of blue distance here1  
or a gleam of silver water there4 ,he   
must terrace the slope1 step by step1   
towards the stream at the base1 select  
the sunniest spots for the flower-beds1 

and arrange how best the gardens at     
their varying levels shall be approached
 or viewed from the house4 ,in this way 
and that he must so manoeuvre the       
perspective and the lights and shades1  
so compose or continue the sectional    
lines and general bearings of the ground
 as to enforce the good points that     
exist1 and draw out the latent          
possibilities of the place1 and this    
with as easy a hand1 and as fine tact as
 the man can muster4  ,and now to come  
to our point4 ,a dressed garden1 ,i     
said1 is ,nature idealised--pastoral    
scenery put fancifully1 in man's way4 ,a
 gardener is a master of what the       
,french writer calls the charming art of
 touching up the truth4  ,emerson       
observes that all the ,arts have their  
origin in some enthusiasm2 and the art  
of gardening has for its root1 man's    
enthusiasm for the woodland world4 ,it  
indicates a taste for flowers and trees 
and landscapes4 ,it is admiration that  
has1 so to speak1 passed from the stage 

of emotion to that of form4 ,a garden is
 the result of the emulation which the  
vision of beauty in the world at large  
is ever provoking in man--              
,straight mine eye hath caught new      
pleasures     ,while the landskip round 
it measures4  ,what of ,nature has      
affected man on various occasions1 what 
has pleased his eye in different moods1 
played upon his emotions1 pricked his   
fancy1 suggested reverie1 stirred vague 
yearnings1 brought a sense of quickened 
joy--pastoral scenery1 the music of     
leaves and waters1 the hues and         
sweetness of country flowers1 the       
gladness of colour1 picturesque form of 
tree or contour of land1 spring's bright
 laugh1 autumn's glow1 summer's bravery1
 winter's grey blanched face--each thing
 that has gone home to him has1 in its  
way1 fostered in man the garden mania4  
,inspired by their beauty and mystery1  
he has gathered them to himself about   
his home1 has made a microcosm out of   
the various detached details which sum  

up the qualities1 features1 and aspects 
of the open country2 and the art of this
 little recreated world is measured by  
the happy union of naturalness and of   
calculated effect4  ,what sources of    
inspiration were discovered by the new  
school of gardeners1 ,i asked a moment  
ago1 which were not shared by ,english  
gardeners from time immemorial8 ,the art
 of gardening1 ,i said1 has its root in 
man's enthusiasm for the woodland world4
 ,see how closely the people of old days
 must have observed the sylvan sights of
 ,nature1 the embroidery of the meadows1
 the livery of the woods at different   
seasons1 or they would not have been    
capable of building up that piece of    
hoarded loveliness1 the old-fashioned   
,english garden6  ,the pleasaunce of old
 days has been mostly stubbed up by the 
modern landscape gardener1 but if no    
traces of them were left we have still  
here and there the well-schemed         
surroundings of our ,english            
homes--park1 avenue1 wood1 and          

water--the romantic scenery that hems in
 ,tintern1 ,fountains1 ,dunster1 to     
testify to the inborn genius of the     
,english for planting4 ,if the tree1    
shrub1 and flower be gone from the      
grounds outside the old ,tudor mansion1 
there still remains the blue-green world
 in the tapestries upon the walls1 with 
their airy landscapes of trees and      
hills1 hanging-gardens1 flower-beds1    
terraces1 and embowered nooks--a little 
fantastical it may be1 but none the less
 eloquent of appreciation of natural    
beauty not confined to the gardener1 but
 shared by the artist-maid1 who         
444 with her neeld composes             
,nature's own shape1 of bird1 branch1 or
 berry1     ,that even ,art sisters the 
natural roses4  ,and should these relics
 be gone1 we still have the books in the
 library1 rich in ,nature-allusion4 ,the
 simple ecstasies of the early ballad in
 the opening stanzas of ,robin ,hood and
 the ,monk--      ,in somer when the    
shawes be sheyne1       ,and leves be   

large and longe1     ,hit is full mery  
in feyre foreste       ,to here the     
foulys song2      ,to se the dere draw  
to the dale1       ,and leve the hilles 
hee1     ,and shadow hem in the leves   
grene1       ,under the grene-wode tre2 
or in a ,musical ,dreame--      ,now    
wend we home1 stout ,robin ,hood1       
,leave we the woods behind us4     ,love
 passions must not be withstood1        
,love everywhere will find us4     ,i   
livde in fielde and downe1 and so did   
he2     ,i got me to the woods1 love    
followed me4  or shall we hear tell from
 ,chaucer how      ,when that ,aprille1 
with his showres swoot     ,the drought 
of ,march hath pierced to the root1     
99       99       99       99       99  
,then longen folk to gone on            
pilgrimages4  ,or hear from ,stowe how  
the cockney of olden days ,in the month 
of ,may1 namely1 on ,may-day in the     
morning1 every man1 except impediment1  
would walk in the sweet meddowes and    
green woods1 ther to rejoyce their      

spirits with the beauty and savour of   
sweet flowers and with the harmonie of  
birds praysing ,god in their kinde4  ,or
 shall we turn to ,shakespeare's bright 
incidental touches of nature-description
 as in ,perdita's musical enumeration of
 the flowers of the old stiff           
garden-borders to make you garlands of1 
or the ,queen's bit in ,hamlet1         
beginning      ,there is a willow grows 
aslant a brook1     ,that shows his hoar
 leaves in the glassy stream4  ,or to   
the old ,herbals of ,wyer1 and ,turner1 
and ,gerard1 whom ,richard ,jefferies#ad
 pictures walking about our ,english    
lanes in old days8 ,what wonderful      
scenes he must have viewed when they    
were all a tangle of wild flowers1 and  
plants that are now scarce were common1 
and the old ploughs and the curious     
customs1 and the wild red-deer--it would
 make a good picture1 it really would1  
,gerard studying ,english orchids6      
,footnote #ad3 ,field and ,hedgerow1 p4 
#bg4  ,or shall we take down the classic

 volumes of ,bacon1 ,temple1 ,evelyn1   
,cowley1 ,isaak ,walton1 ,gilbert       
,white1 each in his day testifying to   
the inborn love of the ,english for     
woodland scenery1 their study of nature1
 and their taste in trees1 shrubs1 and  
flowers4 ,what a vindication is here of 
the old-fashioned garden and gardener6  
,what nonsense to set up ,kent and      
,brown as the discoverers of the green  
world of old ,england1 when1 as ,mr     
,hamerton remarks in ,the ,sylvan ,year 
7p4 #agc71 ,chaucer hardly knows how or 
when to stop whenever he begins to talk 
about his enjoyment of ,nature4         
,chaucer1 he says1 in his passion for   
flowers1 and birds1 and spring mornings 
in the woods1 and by streams1 is hard to
 quote1 for he leads you down to the    
bottom of the page1 and over the leaf1  
before you have time to pause4  ,the    
question now before us--,what ornament  
is fit and right for a garden8--of      
itself implies a tendency to err in the 
direction of ornament4 ,we see that on  

the face of it the transposition of the 
simple of ,nature into the subtle of    
,art has its dangers4 ,something may be 
put1 or something may be left1 which    
were best absent4 ,this may be taken as 
an established fact4 ,in making a garden
 you start with the assumption that     
something must be sacrificed of wild    
,nature1 and something must be          
superadded1 and that which is superadded
 is not properly of this real1 visible  
world1 but of the world of man's brain4 
,the very enclosure of our garden-spaces
 signifies that ,nature is held in      
duress here4 ,nature of herself cannot  
rise above ,nature1 and man1 seeing     
perfections through her imperfections1  
capacities through her incapacities1    
shuts her in for cultivation1 binds her 
feet1 as it were1 with the silken cord  
of art-constraint1 and puts a gloss of  
intention upon her every feature4  ,in a
 garden ,nature is not to be her simple 
self1 but is to be subject to man's     
conditions1 his choice1 his rejection4  

,let us briefly see1 now1 what          
conditions man may fairly impose upon   
,nature--what lengths he may            
legitimately go in the way of mimicry of
 natural effects or of conventionalism4 
,both books and our own observation tell
 us that where the past generations of  
gardeners have erred it has been through
 a misconception of the due proportions 
of realism and of idealism to be        
admitted into a garden4 ,at this time1  
in this phase1 it was ,art1 in that     
phase it was ,nature1 that was carried  
too far2 here design was given too much 
rein1 there not rein enough1 and people 
in their silly revolt against ,art have 
gone straight for the veracities of     
,nature1 copying her features1 dead or  
alive1 outright1 without discrimination 
as to their fitness for imitation1 or   
their suitableness to the position      
assigned to them4 ,to what extent1 we   
ask1 may the forms of ,nature be copied 
or recast8 ,what are the limits to which
 man may carry ideal portraiture of     

,nature for the purposes of ,art8       
,questions like these would1 of course1 
only occur to a curious1 debating age   
like ours2 but put this way or that they
 keep alive the eternal problems of     
man's standing to the world of ,nature1 
the laws of idealism and realism1 the   
nice distinctions of more and less4     
,now1 it is not everything in ,nature   
that can1 or that may be1 artificially  
expressed in a garden2 nor are the      
things that it is permissible to use1 of
 equal application everywhere4 ,it were 
a palpable mistake1 an artistic crime1  
so to speak1 to follow the wild flights 
of ,salvator ,rosa and ,gaspar ,poussin1
 and with them to attempt a little      
amateur creation in the way of rent     
rocks1 tumbled hillsides1 and ruins that
 suggest a recent geological            
catastrophe1 or antique monsters1 or    
that imply by the scenery that we are   
living in the days of wattled abodes and
 savages with flint hatchets4 ,much1 of 
course1 may be done in this line in     

these days as in the past1 if only one  
have sufficient audacity and a volcanic 
mind2 yet1 when it is done1 both the    
value and the rightness of the art of   
the thing is questionable4 ,canst thou  
catch ,leviathan with a hook8 ,the      
primaeval throes1 the grand stupendous  
imagery of ,nature should be held in    
more reverence4 ,it were almost as fit  
to harness a polar bear to the          
gardener's mowing-machine as seek to    
appropriate the eerie phenomena of      
,nature in her untamed moods for the    
ornamental purposes of a garden4 ,and as
 to the result of such work1 the ass    
draped in the lion's skin1 roaring      
horribly1 with peaked snout and awkward 
shanks visible all the while1 is not    
more ridiculous than the thinly-veiled  
savagery of an ,italian garden of the   
seventeenth century4  ,here1 then1 ,i   
think we have some guidance as to the   
principles which should regulate the    
choice of the properties that are fit   
for the scenic show of a garden4 ,we    

should follow the dictates of good taste
 and of common sense4 ,of things applied
 direct from ,nature the line should be 
drawn at the gigantesque1 the elemental1
 the sad1 the gruesome1 the crude4      
,true1 that in art of another kind--in  
,architecture or in ,music--the artistic
 equivalents of these qualities may find
 place1 but as garden effects they are  
eminently unsuitable1 except1 indeed1   
where it is desired to perpetrate a grim
 joke4  ,beyond these limitations1      
however1 all is open ground for the     
imaginative handling of the true        
gardener2 and what a noble residue      
remains6 ,nature in her health and      
wealth--green1 opulent1 lusty ,nature is
 at his feet4 ,of things gay1 debonair1 
subtle1 and refined--things that stir   
poetic feelings or that give joy--he may
 take to himself and conjure with to the
 top of his bent4 ,it is for him as for 
the poet in ,sir ,philip's ,sidney's    
words--,so as he goeth hand in hand with
 ,nature1 not enclosed within the narrow

 warrant of her gifts1 but freely       
ranging within the zodiac of his own    
wit4 ,nature never set forth the earth  
in so rich tapestry as divers poets have
 done2 neither with so pleasant rivers1 
fruitful trees1 sweet-smelling flowers1 
nor whatsoever else may make the        
too-much loved earth more lovely3 her   
world is brazen1 the poets only deliver 
a golden4  ,animated with corresponding 
desire1 the gardener resorts to lovely  
places in this too-much loved earth1    
there to find his stock-in-trade and    
learn his craft4 ,we watch him as he    
hies to the bravery of the              
spring-flowers in sunny forest-glades2  
to meadow-flats where lie the golden    
host of daffodils1 the lady-smocks1 and 
snake-spotted fritillaries2 we see him  
bend his way to the field of bluebells1 
the hill of primroses that with         
their infinitie     ,make a terrestrial 
gallaxie     ,as the smal starres do the
 skie2  we follow him to the tangled    
thicket with its meandering walks       

carpeted with anemones and hung over    
with sweet-scented climbers2 to the     
sombre boskage of the wood1 where the   
shadows leap from their ambush in       
unexpected places and the brown bird's  
song floats upon the wings of silence3  
to the green dell with its sequestered  
pool edged round with alders1 and       
willow-herb1 and king-fern1 and         
mountain-ash afire with golden fruit3 to
 the corn-field a-flutter with poppies3 
to the broad-terraced downs--its short1 
springy turf dotted over with white     
sheets of thorn-blossom3 to the leaping1
 shining mountain-tarn that comes       
foaming out of the wood3 to the         
pine-grove with its columned blackness  
and dense thatch of boughs that lisp the
 message of the wind1 and teach light to
 counterfeit a gloom2 to the widespread 
landscape with its undulating forest1   
its clumps of foliage1 its gleams of    
white-beam1 silver-birch1 or golden yew1
 amid the dark blue of firs and hollies2
 its emerald meadows1 yellow            

gorse-covers and purple heather2 the    
many tones of leafage in the spring and 
fall of the year4  ,and here ,i give but
 a few random sketches of ,nature1 taken
 almost at random from the portfolio of 
her painted delights--a dozen or more   
vignettes1 shall we say8--ready-made for
 garden-distribution in bed1 bank1      
wilderness1 and park2 things which the  
old gardener freely employed2 features  
and images which he transferred to his  
dressed grounds1 not copying them       
minutely but in an ideal manner2 mixing 
his fancy with their fact1 his          
compulsion with their consent2          
flavouring the simple with a dash of the
 strange and marvellous1 combining      
dreams and actualities1 things seen1    
with things born within the zodiac of   
his own wit2 frankly throwing into the  
compacted glamour of the place all that 
will give eclat to ,nature and teach men
 to apprehend new joy4  ,so1 then1 after
 separating the brazen from the golden  
in ,nature--after excluding properties  

of the woodland world which are         
demonstrably unfit for the scenic show  
of a garden1 how ample the scope for    
artistic creation in the things that    
remain6 ,and1 given an acre or two of   
land that has some natural capabilities1
 some charm of environment--given a     
generous client1 a bevy of workmen1     
horses and carts1 and1 prime necessity  
of all1 a pleasant homestead in the     
foreground to prompt its own adornment  
and be the centre of your efforts1 and1 
upon the basis of these old tracks of   
,nature and old themes of ,art1 what may
 not one hope to achieve of pretty      
garden-effects that shall please the    
eye1 flatter the taste1 and captivate   
the imagination of such as love ,beauty6
     ,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,historical     
,,and ,,comparative ,,sketch ,,of ,,the 
,,english ,,garden4       ,the ,earth is
 the garden of ,nature1 and each        
fruitful country a      ,paradise4--,sir
 ,thomas ,browne4   ,in the last chapter
 ,i observed that in dealing with our   

second point--the ornamental treatment  
that is fit for a garden--we should be  
brought into contact with the good and  
bad points of both the old and new      
systems of gardening4 ,hence the        
following discursus upon the historic   
,english garden1 which will1 however1 be
 as short as it can well be made1 not   
only because the writer has no desire to
 wander on a far errand when his        
interest lies near home1 but also       
because an essay1 such as this1 is ever 
bound to be an inconclusive affair2 and 
'twere a pity to lay a heavy burden upon
 a light horse6  ,at the outset of this 
section of our enquiry it is well to    
realise that there is little known about
 the garden of earlier date than the    
middle of the sixteenth century4 ,our   
knowledge of the mediaeval garden is    
only to be acquired piecemeal1 out of   
casual references in old chronicles1 and
 stray pictures in illuminated          
manuscripts1 and in each case allowance 
must be made for the fluent fancy of the

 artist4 ,moreover1 early notices of    
gardens deal mostly with the orchard1 or
 the vegetable or herb garden1 where    
flowers grown for ornament occur in the 
borders of the ground4  ,it is natural  
to ascribe the first rudiments of       
horticultural science in this country to
 the ,romans2 and with the classic      
pastorals1 or ,pliny the ,younger's     
,letter to ,apollinaris before us1 in   
which an elaborate garden is minutely   
and enthusiastically described1 we need 
no further assurance of the fitness of  
the ,roman to impart skilled knowledge  
in all branches of the science4         
,loudon1 in his noble ,arboretum et     
fruticetum ,britannicum1 enters at large
 into the question of what trees and    
shrubs are indigenous to ,britain1 and  
gives the probable dates of the         
introduction of such as are not native  
to this country4 ,according to          
,whitaker1 whose authority ,loudon      
adopts1 it would appear that the ,romans
 brought us the plane1 the box1 the elm1

 the poplar1 and the chestnut4 7,the    
lime1 he adds1 was not generally planted
 here till after the time of ,le ,notre3
 it was used extensively in avenues     
planted here in the reign of ,charles   
the ,second47 ,of fruit trees1 the      
,roman gave us the pear1 the fig1 the   
damson1 cherry1 peach1 apricot1 and     
quince4 ,the aboriginal trees known to  
our first ancestors are the birch1      
alder1 oak1 wild or ,scotch pine1       
mountain-ash or rowan-tree1 the juniper1
 elder1 sweet-gale1 dog-rose1 heath1 ,st
 ,john's wort1 and the mistletoe4       
,authorities agree in ascribing the     
introduction of many other plants1 fruit
 trees1 and trees of ornament or        
curiosity now common throughout         
,england1 to the monks4 ,and the extent 
of our indebtedness to the monks in this
 matter may be gathered from the fact   
that monasteries abounded here in early 
times2 and the religious orders have in 
all times been enthusiastic gardeners4  
,further be it remembered1 many of the  

inmates of our monasteries were either  
foreigners or persons who had been      
educated in ,italy or ,france1 who would
 be well able to keep this country      
supplied with specimens and with        
reminiscences of the styles of foreign  
gardens up to date4  ,the most valuable 
authority on the subject of early       
,english gardens is ,alexander ,necham1 
,abbot of ,cirencester 7#aaeg-abag74    
,his references are in the shape of     
notes from a commonplace-book entitled  
,of the ,nature of ,things1 and he      
writes thus3 ,here the gardens should be
 adorned with roses and lilies1 the     
turnsole 7heliotrope71 violets and      
mandrake2 there you should have parsley1
 cost1 fennel1 southern-wood1 coriander1
 sage1 savery1 hyssop1 mint1 rue1       
dittany1 smallage1 pellitory1 lettuces1 
garden-cress1 and peonies4444 ,a noble  
garden will give thee also medlars1     
quinces1 warden-trees1 peaches1 pears of
 ,st ,riole1 pomegranates1 lemons1      
oranges1 almonds1 dates1 which are the  

fruits of palms1 figs1 c4#ae ,here1 in  
truth1 is a delightful medley of the    
useful and the beautiful1 just like     
life6 ,yet the very use of the term     
noble1 as applied to a garden1 implies  
that even the thirteenth-century        
,englishman had a standard of excellence
 to stir ambition4 ,other garden flowers
 mentioned in ,alexander's observations 
are the sunflower1 the iris and         
narcissus4  ,footnote #ae3 ,see ,the    
,praise of ,gardens4  ,the garden       
described by ,necham bespeaks an amount 
of taste in the arrangement of the      
herbs1 plants1 and fruit-trees1 but in  
the main it corresponds with our        
kitchen-garden4 ,the next ,english      
writer upon gardens in point of date is 
,johannes de ,garlandia1 an ,english    
resident in ,france2 but here is a      
description of the writer's garden at   
,paris4 ,the ground here described      
consists of shrubbery1 wood1 grove1 and 
garden1 and from the account given it is
 inferred that both in matters of taste 

and in the horticultural and floral     
products of the garden1 ,france had     
advanced farther than ,england in       
garden-craft in the fourteenth century1 
which is the date of the book4  ,in ,mr 
,hudson ,turner's ,observations on the  
,state of ,horticulture in ,england#af  
in olden times he gives notices of the  
early dates in which the rose was under 
cultivation4 ,in the thirteenth century 
,king ,john sends a wreath of roses to  
his lady-love4 ,chronicles inform us    
that roses and lilies were among the    
plants bought for the ,royal ,garden at 
,westminster in #abgf2 and the annual   
rendering of a rose is one of the       
commonest species of quit-rent in       
ancient conveyances1 like the           
pepper-corn of later times4 ,the extent 
to which the culture of the rose was    
carried is inferred from the number of  
sorts mentioned in old books1 which     
include the red1 the sweet-musk1 double 
and single1 the damask1 the velvet1 the 
double-double ,provence rose1 and the   

double and single white rose4 ,and the  
demand for roses seems to have been so  
great in old days that bushels of them  
frequently served as the payment of     
vassals to their lords1 both in ,france 
and ,england4 ,england has good reason  
to remember the distinction between the 
red and the white rose4  ,footnote #af3 
,archaeological ,journal1 vol4 v4 p4    
#bie4  ,of all the flowers known to our 
ancestors1 the gilly-flower was perhaps 
the most common4      ,the fairest      
flowers o' the season     ,are our      
carnations and streak'd gilly flower4   
,winter's ,tale4  ,their use1 says a    
quaint writer1 is much in ornament1 and 
comforting the spirites by the sence of 
smelling4 ,the variety of this flower1  
that was best known in early times1 was 
the wall gilly-flower1 or bee-flower4   
,another flower of common growth in     
mediaeval gardens and orchards is the   
periwinkle4      ,there sprang the      
violet all newe1     ,and fresh         
periwinkle1 rich of hewe1     ,and      

flowers yellow1 white and rede1         
,such plenty grew there nor in the mede4
  ,it is not considered probable that   
much art was expended in the laying out 
of gardens before the fifteenth century2
 but ,i give a list of illuminated      
,,mss4 in the ,library of the ,british  
,museum1 where may be found             
illustrations of gardens1 and which ,i  
take from ,messrs ,birch and ,jenner's  
valuable ,dictionary of ,principal      
,subjects in the ,british ,museum#ag    
under the head of ,garden4  ,footnote   
#ag3 ,early ,drawings and               
,illuminations4 ,birch and ,jenner4     
7,bagster1 #ahgi1 p4 #acd47             
,gardens4      #ai ,d4 i4 ff4 ,i4 etc4  
#bj ,a4 xvii4 f4 #g;b4     #bj ,b4 ii4  
f4 #eg4     #ad #hjc f4 #fc4     #ah    
#hea f4 #ahb4     #ah #heb f4 #c4 b4    
#bfffg f4 i4     ,harl4 #ddbe4 f4 #ab4  
b4     ,kings #g4 f4 #eg4     #f ,e4 ix4
 f4 #ae4 b4     #ad ,e4 vi4 f4 #adf4    
#ae ,e4 iii4 f4 #abb4     #ae ,e4 vi4 f4
 #adf4     #af ,g4 v4 f4 #e4     #ag ,f4

 i4 f4 #adi b4     #ai ,a4 vi4 f4 #b4   
#aji4     #ai ,c4 vii4 f4 i4     #bj ,c4
 v4 ff4 #g4 etc4     ,eg4 #bjbb4 f4 #cf4
 b4     ,harl4 #ddbe4 f4 #afj b4        
#aigbj4     #ai ,a4 vi4 f4 #aji4  ,there
 is also a typical example of a         
fourteenth-century garden in the        
,romaunt d',alexandre 7,bodleian        
,library74 ,here the flower garden or   
lawn is separated by a wooden paling    
from the orchard1 where a man is busy   
pruning4 ,an old painting at ,hampton   
,court1 of the early part of the        
sixteenth century1 gives pretty much the
 same class of treatment1 but here the  
paling is decorated with a chevron of   
white and red colour4  ,to judge from   
old drawings1 our forefathers seem to   
have been always partial to the         
greensward and trees1 which is the      
landscape garden in the egg6 ,a good    
extent of grass is always provided4     
,formal flower-beds do not often occur1 
and1 where shown1 they are sometimes    
surrounded by a low wattled fence--a    

protection against rabbits1 probably4   
,seats and banks of chamomile are not   
unusual4 ,a bank of earth seems to have 
been thrown up against the enclosing    
wall2 the front of the bank is then     
faced with a low partition of brick or  
stone1 and the mould1 brought to an even
 surface1 is planted in various ways4   
,numerous illustrations of the fifteenth
 century give a bowling-green and butts 
for archery4 ,about this date it is     
assumed the style of ,english gardening 
was affected by ,french and ,flemish    
methods1 which our connection with      
,burgundy at that time would bring      
about4 ,to this period is also ascribed 
the introduction of the mount in        
,england1 although one would almost say 
that it is but a survival of the ,celtic
 barrow4 ,it is a feature that came1    
however1 into very common use1 and is   
thus recommended by ,bacon3 ,i wish     
also1 in the very middle1 a fair ,mount1
 with three ,ascents and ,alleys1 enough
 for four to walk abreast1 which ,i     

would have to be perfect circles1       
without any ,bulwarks or ,imbossments1  
and the whole ,mount to be thirty foot  
high1 and some fine ,banqueting ,house  
with some chimneys neatly cast1 and     
without too much ,glass4  ,the mount is 
said to have been originally contrived  
to allow persons in the orchard to look 
over the enclosing wall1 and would serve
 not only as a place from which to enjoy
 a pretty view1 but as a point of       
outlook in case of attack4 ,moreover1   
when situated in a park where the deer  
grazed1 the unscrupulous sportsman might
 from thence shoot a buck4 ,in early    
days the mounts were constructed of wood
 or of stone1 and were curiously adorned
 within and without4 ,later on they     
resumed the old barrow shape1 and were  
made of earth1 and utilized for the     
culture of fruit trees4 ,lawson1 an old 
writer of the sixteenth century1        
describes them as placed in divers      
corners of the orchard1 their ascent    
being made by stares of precious        

workmanship4 ,when of wood1 the mount   
was often elaborately painted4  ,an     
account of works done at ,hampton ,court
 in the time of ,henry ,,viii41 mentions
 certain expenses incurred for anticke  
works2 and referring to ,bailey's       
,dictionary1 published early in the last
 century1 the word antick1 as applied to
 curiously-shaped trees1 still survives1
 and is explained as odd figures or     
shapes of men1 birds1 beasts1 c41 cut   
out4 ,from the above references1 and    
others of like nature1 we know that the 
topiary art 7opus topiarum71 which dealt
 in quaintly-shaped trees and shrubs1   
was in full practice here throughout the
 latter half of the middle ages4 ,samuel
 ,hartlib1 in a book published in #afei1
 writes thus3 ,about fifty years ago    
,ingenuities first began to flourish in 
,england4 ,lawson1 writing in a jocose  
vein1 tells how the lesser wood might be
 framed by the gardener to the shape of 
men armed in the field ready to give    
battell2 or swift-running greyhounds1 or

 of well-scented and true-running hounds
 to chase the deere or hunt the hare2   
adding as a recommendation that this    
kinde of hunting shall not waste your   
corne1 nor much your coyne6  ,i find    
that ,john ,leland in his ,itinerary1   
#aedj1 further confirms the use of      
highly-decorated mounts3 as at ,wressel 
,castle1 ,yorkshire1 he tells of the    
gardens with the mote1 and the orchards 
as exceeding fair2 and yn the orchardes 
were mounts writhen about with degrees1 
like the turnings in cokil shelles1 to  
come to the top without payne4 ,there is
 still to be seen1 or according to      
,murray's ,guide1 #ahgf1 was then to be 
seen1 at ,wotton1 in ,surrey1 an        
artificial mount cut into terraces1     
which is a relic of ,evelyn's work4     
,the general shape of an old-fashioned  
garden is a perfect square1 which we    
take to be reminiscent of the square    
patch of ground which1 in early days1   
was partitioned off for the use of the  
family1 and walled to exclude cattle1 or

 to define the property4 ,it also       
repeats the quadrangular court of big   
,tudor houses4 ,we may also assume that 
the shape would commend itself to the   
taste of the ,renascence ,school of the 
,elizabethan and ,jacobean eras1 as     
being that of classic times2 for the    
antique garden was fashioned in a square
 with enclosures of trellis-work1       
espaliers1 and clipt box hedges1        
regularly ornamented with vases1        
fountains1 and statuary4  ,the square   
shape was common to the ,french and     
,italian gardens also4 ,old views of ,du
 ,cerceau1 an architect of the time of  
,charles ,,ix4 and ,henry ,,iii41 show a
 square in one part of the grounds and a
 circular labyrinth in another3 scarcely
 a plot but has this arrangement4 ,the  
point to note1 however1 is1 that while  
the ,english garden might take the same 
general outline as the foreign1 it had  
its own peculiarities2 and although each
 country develops the fantastic ornament
 common to the stiff garden of the      

period in its own way1 things are not   
carried to the same pitch of extravagant
 fancy in ,england as in ,france1       
,holland1 or ,italy4  ,upon a general   
review of the subject of ornamental     
gardens1 ,english and foreign1 we arrive
 at the conclusion that the type of     
garden produced by any country is a     
question of soil and physical features1 
and a question of race4 ,the character  
of the scenery of a country1 the section
 of the land generally1 no less than the
 taste of the people who dwell in it1   
prescribes the style of the type of     
garden4 ,the hand of ,nature directs the
 hand of ,art4  ,thus1 in a hilly       
country like ,italy1 ,nature herself    
prompts the division of the             
garden-spaces into wide terraces1 while 
,art1 on her side1 provides that the    
terraces shall be well-proportioned as  
to width and height1 and suitably       
defined by masonry walls having         
balustraded fronts1 flights of steps1   
arcades1 temples1 vases1 statues1 c4    

,lady ,mary ,montagu's description of   
the ,giardino ,jiusti is a case in      
point3 she depicts1 as far as words can1
 how admirably it complies with the     
conditions of the scenery4 ,the palace  
lies at the foot of a mountain near     
three miles high1 covered with a wood of
 orange1 lemon1 citron1 and pomegranate 
trees1 which is all cut up into walks1  
and divided into terraces that you may  
go into a separate garden from every    
floor of the house1 diversified with    
fountains1 cascades1 and statues1 and   
joined by easy marble staircases1 which 
lead from one to another4 ,it is a      
hundred years since this description was
 written1 but the place is little       
altered to this day3 ,who will now take 
the pains to climb its steep paths1 will
 find the same charm in the aged        
cypresses1 the oddly clipped ilexes and 
boxes1 the stiff terraces and narrow1   
and now overgrown1 beds4#ah  ,footnote  
#ah3 ,the ,garden4--,,walther ,,howe4   
,in ,france1 where estates are larger1  

and the surface of the country more even
 and regular1 the ornamental grounds1   
while following the ,italian in certain 
particulars1 are of wider range on the  
flat1 and they attain picturesqueness   
upon lines of their own4 ,the taste of  
the people1 conveniently answering to   
the conditions of the country1 runs upon
 long avenues and spacious grounds1     
divided by massive trellises into a     
series of ornamental sections--,bocages1
 ,cabinets de ,verdure1 c41 which by    
their form and name1 flatter the        
,arcadian sentiment of a race much given
 to idealisation4 ,i am making winding  
alleys all round my park1 which will be 
of great beauty1 writes ,madame de      
,sevigne1 in #afga4 ,as to my labyrinth1
 it is neat1 it has green plots1 and the
 palisades are breast-high2 it is a     
lovable spot4  ,the ,french have parks1 
says the travelled ,heutzner1 but       
nothing is more different1 both in      
compass and direction1 than those common
 to ,england4 ,in ,france they invented 

the parks as fit surroundings to the    
fine palaces built by ,mansard and ,le  
,notre1 and the owners of these stately 
chateaux gratified their taste for      
,nature in an afternoon promenade on a  
broad stone terrace1 gazing over a      
carved balustrade at a world made truly 
artificial to suit the period4 ,the     
style of ,le ,notre is1 in fact1 based  
upon the theory that ,nature shall      
contribute a bare space upon which man  
shall lay out a garden of symmetrical   
character1 and trees1 shrubs1 and       
flowers are regarded as so much raw     
material1 out of which ,art shall carve 
her effects4  ,indeed1 the desire for   
symmetry is carried to such extravagant 
lengths that the largest parks become   
only a series of square or oblong       
enclosures1 regularly planted walks1    
bounded by chestnuts or limes2 while the
 gardens are equally cut up into lines  
of trellises and palisades4 ,in         
describing the ,paris gardens ,horace   
,walpole says1 they form light corridors

 and transpicuous arbours1 through which
 the sunbeams play and checker the      
shade1 set off the statues1 vases1 and  
flowers1 that marry with their gaudy    
hotels1 and suit the gallant and idle   
society who paint the walks between     
their parterres1 and realise the        
fantastic scenes of ,watteau and ,durfe6
 ,in another place he says that many    
,french groves seem green chests set    
upon poles4 ,in the garden of ,marshall 
de ,biron1 at ,paris1 consisting of     
fourteen acres1 every walk is           
button-holed on each side by lines of   
flower-pots1 which succeed in their     
seasons4 ,when ,i saw it there were nine
 thousand pots of asters or la ,reine   
,marguerite4  ,in ,holland1 which       
,butler sarcastically describes as      
,a land that rides at anchor1 and is    
moor'd1     ,in which they do not live1 
but go aboard--  the conditions are not 
favourable to gardening4 ,man is here   
indebted to ,nature1 in the first place1
 for next to nothing3 ,air1 ,earth1 and 

,water are1 as it were1 under his       
control4 ,the trees grow1 the rivers    
run1 as they are directed2 and the very 
air is made to pay toll by means of the 
windmills4  ,to begin with1 ,holland has
 a meagre list of indigenous trees and  
shrubs1 and scarcely an indigenous      
ligneous flora4 ,there is little wood in
 the country1 for the heavy winds are   
calculated to destroy high-growing      
trees1 and the roots cannot penetrate   
into the ground to any depth1 without   
coming to water4 ,the land is flat1 and 
although artificial mountains of granite
 brought from ,norway and ,sweden have  
been erected as barriers against the    
sea1 there is scarcely a stone to be    
found except in the ,island of ,urk4    
,the conditions of the country being so 
unfavourable to artistic handling1 it   
needs a determined effort on man's part 
to lift things above the dead-level of  
the mean and commonplace4 ,yet see how  
,nature's defects may only prove ,art's 
opportunity6 ,indeed1 it is singular to 

note how1 as it were1 in a spirit of    
noble contrariness1 the ,dutch garden   
exhibits the opposite grace of each     
natural defect of the land4 ,the great  
plains intersected with sullen          
watercourses yield up only slight strips
 of land1 therefore these niggardly     
strips1 snatched from an amphibious     
world 7as ,goldsmith terms it71 shall be
 crammed with beauty4 ,the landscape    
outside gapes with uniform dulness1     
therefore the garden within shall be    
spick and span4 ,the flat treeless      
expanse outside offers no objects for   
measuring distance1 therefore the       
perspective of the garden shall be a    
marvel of adroit planning and conjured  
proportions4 ,the room is small1        
therefore its every inch shall seem an  
ell4 ,the garden is a mere patch1       
therefore the patch shall be elaborately
 darned and pattern-stitched all over4  
,the eye may not travel far1 or can get 
no joy in a distant view1 therefore it  
shall rest in pure content1 focussed    

upon a scene where rich and orderly     
garniture can no farther go4  ,thus have
 the ill-conditions of the land proved  
blessings in disguise4 ,necessity1 the  
mother of invention1 has produced the   
,dutch garden out of the most untoward  
geography1 and if we find in its        
qualities and features traces of the    
conditions which surrounded its birth   
and development it is no wonder4 ,who   
shall blame the prim shapes and         
economical culture where even gross     
deception shall pass for a virtue if it 
be successful6 ,or the regular strips of
 ground1 the long straight canals1 the  
adroit vistas of grassy terraces        
long-drawn out1 the trees ranged in     
pots1 or planted in the ground at set   
intervals and carefully shorn to        
preserve the limit of their shade6 ,nay1
 one can be merciful to the garden's    
usual crowning touch1 which you get at  
its far end--a painted landscape of     
hills and dales and clumps of trees to  
beguile the enamoured visitor into the  

fond belief that ,holland is not        
,holland3 and1 in the foreground the    
usual smiling wooden boy1 shooting      
arrows at nothing1 happy in the deed1   
and tin hares squatting in likely nooks1
 whose shy hare eyes have worn the same 
startled gaze these sixty years or more1
 renewed with fresh paint from time to  
time as rust requires4 ,yet the ,earth  
is richer and mankind happier for the   
,dutch garden6  ,and1 as though out of  
compassion for the ,dutchman's          
difficulties1 kind ,nature has put into 
his hands the bulb1 as a means whereby  
he may attain the maximum of gaudy      
colour within the minimum of space4     
,given a few square yards of rescued    
earth and sufficient manure1 and what   
cannot the neat-handed1 frugal-minded1  
microscopic-eyed ,dutchman do in the way
 of concentrated design with his bulbs1 
his clipt shrubs1 his trim beds1 his    
trickles of water1 and strips of grass  
and gravel6 ,and should all other       
resources fail he has still his pounded 

brick-dust1 his yellow sand1 his chips  
of ores and spars and green glass1      
which1 though they may serve only       
remotely to suggest ,nature1 will at all
 events carry your mind off to the gay  
gardens of precious stones of fairyland 
literature6  ,indeed1 once embarked upon
 his style of piquancy-at-any-price1 and
 it is hard to see where the ,dutch     
gardener need stop6 ,in this            
sophisticated trifling--this lapidary's 
mosaic--this pastry-cook's              
decoration--this child's puzzle of      
coloured earth1 substituted for coloured
 living flowers--he pushes ,art farther 
than the plain ,englishman approves4 ,it
 is1 however1 only one step farther than
 ordinary with him4 ,all his dealings   
with ,nature are of this abstract sort3 
his details are clever1 and he is       
ingenious1 if not imaginative1 in his   
wholes4 ,still1 ,i repeat1 the ,earth is
 richer1 and mankind happier for the    
,dutch garden4 ,there is an obvious     
excuse for its over-fancifulness in     

,george ,meredith's remark that dulness 
is always an irresistible temptation for
 brilliance4 ,that the ,dutchman should 
be thus able to compete with unfriendly 
,nature1 and to reverse the brazen of   
the unkind land of his birth1 is an     
achievement that reflects most          
creditably upon the artistic capacities 
of his nation4  ,but ,england--         
,this other ,eden1 demi-paradise--      
suggests a garden of a less-constrained 
order than either of these4 ,not that   
the ,english garden is uniformly of the 
same type1 at the same periods4 ,the    
variety of the type is to be accounted  
for in two ways3 firstly1 by the        
ingrained eclecticism of the ,british   
mind2 secondly1 by the changeful        
character of the country--this district 
is flat and open1 this is hilly--so that
 mere conformity to the lie of the land 
would produce gardens which belong now  
to the ,french type1 now to the         
,italian4 ,it is the same with ,british 
,art of all kinds1 of all times3 in days

 long before the ,norman visitation and 
ever since1 the ,english ,designer has  
leant more or less upon foreign         
initiative1 which goes to prove either  
how inert is his own gift of            
origination1 or how devious may be the  
tastes of a mixed race4  ,but if the    
,english garden cannot boast of singular
 points of interest1 if its art reflects
 foreign countries1 it bears the mark of
 the ,english taste for landscape1 which
 gives it distinction and is suggestive 
of very charming effects4 ,the          
transcendent characteristic of the      
,english garden is derived from and gets
 its impulse from the prevailing        
influence of ,nature at home4 ,it has   
the characteristics of the country4  ,it
 is1 ,i know1 commonly held now-a-days  
that the taste for landscape is wholly  
of modern growth4 ,so far as ,england is
 concerned it came in1 they say1 with   
,thomson in poetry1 and with ,brown in  
gardens4 ,so far as relates to the      
conscious relish for ,nature1 so far as 

relates to the love of ,nature as a     
mirror of the moods of the mind1 or as a
 refuge from man1 this assertion may be 
true enough4 ,yet1 surely the conscious 
delight in landscape must have been     
preceded by an unconscious sympathy this
 way3 it could not have sprung without  
generation4 ,artistic sight is based    
upon instinct1 feeling1 perceptions that
 reach one knows not how far back in    
time1 it does not come by magic4  ,see  
also what a rude1 slatternly affair this
 much-lauded landscape-garden of the    
immortal ,brown was6 ,here are two sorts
 of gardens--the traditional garden     
according to ,bacon1 the garden         
according to ,brown4 ,both are ,nature1 
but the first is ,nature in an ideal    
dress1 the second is ,nature with no    
dress at all4 ,the first is a garden for
 a civilised man1 the second is a garden
 for a gipsy4 ,the first is a picture   
painted from a cherished model1 the     
second is a photograph of the same model
 undressed4 ,brown's work1 in fact1     

represents the garden's return to its   
original barbaric self--the             
reinauguration of the elemental4 ,let it
 not be said1 then1 that ,brown         
discovered the model1 for her fairness  
was an established fact or she would not
 have been so richly apparelled when he 
lighted upon her4 ,in other words1 the  
love of the ,earth--that green-tressed  
goddess1 ,coleridge calls her--was no   
new thing in ,brown's day3 the sympathy 
for the woodland world1 the love of     
tree1 flower1 and grass is behind the   
manipulated stiff garden of the         
fifteenth and two succeeding centuries1 
and it is the abiding source of all     
enthusiasm in garden-craft4  ,how long  
this taste for landscape had existed in 
pre-,thomsonian days it does not fall to
 us to determine4 ,suffice it to say    
that so long as there has been an       
,english school of gardening this       
sympathy for landscape has found        
expression in the ,english garden4#ai   
,the high thick garden-walls of the old 

fighting-days shall have ample outlooks 
in the shape of mounts1 from whence     
views may be had of the open country4   
,the ornamental value of forest trees is
 well-known and appreciated4 ,even in   
the thirteenth century the ,english     
gardener is on the alert for new        
specimens and trees of curiosity1 and he
 is a master of horticulture4 ,in       
,chaucer's day he revels in the         
greensward1      ,ful thikke of gras1   
ful softe and swete4  ,and the early    
ballads as ,i have already shown are    
full of allusion to scenery and         
woodland4 ,in the days of fine gardens  
the ,englishman must still have his four
 acres to the green1 his adjuncts of    
shrubbery1 wilderness1 and park4 ,nay1  
,henry ,,viii4's garden at ,nonsuch1 had
 its wilderness of ten acres4 ,chaucer  
opens his ,clerke's ,tale with a bit of 
landscape admirable for its large style1
 says ,mr ,lowell1 and as well composed 
as any ,claude 7,my ,study ,windows1 p4 
#bb74 ,what an airy precision of touch  

is here1 and what a sure eye for the    
points of character in landscape4 ,so1  
too1 can ,milton rejoice in             
,nature boon     ,poured forth profuse  
on hill and dale and plain1  and        
,herrick3      ,sing of brooks1 of      
blossoms1 birds1 and bowers1     ,of    
,april1 ,may1 of ,june1 and ,july       
flowers4  ,footnote #ai3 ,english       
scenery of that special type which we   
call homely1 and of which we are proud  
as only to be found in ,england1 is1    
indeed1 the production of many centuries
 of that conservatism which has spared  
the picturesque timber1 and of that     
affectionate regard for the future which
 has made men delight to spend their    
money in imprinting on the face of      
,nature their own taste in trees and    
shrubs4 7,vert and ,venery1 by          
,,viscount ,,lymington2 ,nineteenth     
,century1 ,january1 #ahia47  ,nor is    
this taste for landscape surprising in a
 country where the natural scenery is so
 fair and full of meaning4 ,there are   

the solemn woods1 the noble trees of    
forest and park3 the fresh green lap of 
the land1 so vividly green that the     
,american ,hawthorne declares he found a
 kind of lustre in it4 ,there is the    
rich vegetation1 and in ,france1 and    
still less in ,italy1 ,walpole reminds  
us1 they could with difficulty attain   
that verdure which the humidity of our  
climate bestows4 ,there are the leafy   
forest ways gemmed with flowers2 the    
vast hunting-grounds of old kings1 the  
woodland net of hazel coppice1 the hills
 and dales1 sunned or shaded1 the plains
 mapped out with hedgerows and enlivened
 with the glitter of running water3 the 
heather-clad moors1 the golden gorse    
covers1 the rolling downs dotted over   
with thorns and yews and chalk cliffs1  
the upland hamlets with their rosy      
orchards1 the farm homesteads nestling  
in green combes1 the grace of standing  
corn1 the girdle of sea with its yellow 
shore or white1 red1 or grey rocks1 its 
wolds and tracts of rough uncultivated  

ground1 with bluffs and bushes and      
wind-harassed trees--,nature's own      
antickes--driven like green flames1 and 
carved into grotesque shapes by the     
biting gales4 ,there are the            
,russet lawns1 and fallows grey         
,where the nibbling flocks do stray1    
,mountains on whose barren breast       
,the labouring clouds do often rest1    
,meadows prim with daisies pied1        
,shallow brooks and rivers wide--  the  
land that ,richard ,jefferies says wants
 no gardening1 it cannot be gardened2   
the least interference kills            
it--,english woodland whose beauty is in
 its detail4 ,there is nothing empty and
 unclothed here4 ,says ,jefferies1 ,if  
the clods are left a little while       
undisturbed in the fields1 weeds spring 
up and wild flowers bloom upon them4 ,is
 the hedge cut and trimmed1 lo6 the     
bluebells flower the more1 and a yet    
fresher green buds forth upon the twigs4
 ,never was there a garden like the     
meadow1 cries this laureate of the open 

fields2 there is not an inch of the     
meadow in early summer without a flower4
  ,and if the various parts and details 
of an ,english landscape are so         
beautiful in themselves1 what shall we  
say of the scenery when ,nature1 turned 
artist1 sweeps across it the translucent
 tints of dawn or sunset1 or wind and   
cloud-fantasy2 or veil of purple mist1  
or grey or red haze1 or drift of        
rain-shower thrown athwart the hills1   
for the sunbeams to try their edge upon2
 or any of the numberless atmospheric   
changes1 pure and tender1 stern and     
imperious1 that our humid climate has   
ever ready to hand6  ,shut in1 as we in 
,england are1 with our short breadths of
 view 7on a scale to embrace1 remarks   
,george ,meredith71 folded1 as it were1 
in a field-sanctuary of                 
,nature-life--girt about with scenery   
that is at once fair1 compact1 sweetly  
familiar and companionable1 yet so      
changefully coloured1 so full of        
surprises as the day jogs along to its  

evensong as to hold observation on the  
stretch1 to force attention to ,nature's
 last word1 to fill the fallow-mind of  
lonely country folk with gentle wonder1 
and swell the harvest of a quiet eye1 is
 it strange that a land like ours should
 have bred an unrivalled school of      
,nature-readers among gardeners1        
painters1 and poets8 ,as regards        
grandeur1 says ,hawthorne1 there are    
loftier scenes in many countries than   
the best that ,england can show2 but1   
for the picturesqueness of the smallest 
object that lies under its gentle gloom 
and sunshine1 there is no scenery like  
it anywhere4 7,our ,old ,home1 p4 #gh47 
,the real world of ,england1 then1 is1  
in the ,englishman's opinion1 itself so 
fair it wants no gardening4 ,our school 
of gardeners seem to have found this    
out2 for the task of the gardener has   
been rather that of translator than of  
creator2 he has not had to labour at an 
artificial world he himself had made1   
but only to adorn1 to interpret the     

world as it is1 in all its blithe       
freedom4 ,the earth is the garden of    
,nature1 and each fruitful country a    
,paradise2 and in ,england1 the world's 
best garden1 man has only had to focus  
the view and frame it4 ,flowers1 odours1
 dews1 glistening waters1 soft airs and 
sounds1 noble trees1 woodland solitudes1
 moonlight bowers1 have been always with
 us4  ,it might seem ungenerous to      
institute a comparison between the      
,french and ,english styles of          
gardening1 and to put things in a light 
unfavourable to the foreigner1 had not  
the task been already done for us by a  
,frenchman in a most outspoken manner4  
,speaking of the ,french gardens1       
,diderot1 in his ,encyclopaedia         
7,jardin7 says3 ,we bring to bear upon  
the most beautiful situations a         
ridiculous and paltry taste4 ,the long  
straight alleys appear to us insipid2   
the palisades cold and formless4 ,we    
delight in devising twisted alleys1     
scroll-work parterres1 and shrubs formed

 into tufts2 the largest lots are       
divided into little lots4 ,it is not so 
with a neighbouring nation1 amongst whom
 gardens in good taste are as common as 
magnificent palaces are rare4 ,in       
,england1 these kinds of walks1         
practicable in all weathers1 seem made  
to be the sanctuary of a sweet and      
placid pleasure2 the body is there      
relaxed1 the mind diverted1 the eyes are
 enchanted by the verdure of the turf   
and the bowling-greens2 the variety of  
flowers offers pleasant flattery to the 
smell and sight1 ,nature alone1 modestly
 arrayed1 and never made up1 there      
spreads out her ornaments and benefits4 
,how the fountains beget the shrubs and 
beautify them6 ,how the shadows of the  
woods put the streams to sleep in beds  
of herbage4 ,this is poetry6 but it is  
well that one ,french writer 7and he so 
distinguished7 should be found to depict
 an ,english garden1 when architects    
like ,jussieu and ,antoine ,richard     
signally failed to reproduce the thing1 

to order1 upon ,french soil6 ,and the   
,petit ,trianon was in itself an        
improvement upon1 or rather a protest   
against1 the sumptuous splendour of the 
,orangerie1 the basins of ,latona and of
 ,neptune1 and the superb tapis vert1   
with its bordering groves of clipt trees
 and shrubs4 ,yet here is ,arthur       
,young's unflattering description of the
 ,queen's ,jardin ,anglois at ,trianon3 
,it contains about #ajj acres1 disposed 
in the taste of what we read of in books
 of ,chinese gardening1 whence it is    
supposed the ,english style was taken4  
,there is more of ,sir ,william         
,chambers here than of ,mr ,brown1#bj   
more effort than ,nature1 and more      
expense than taste4 ,it is not easy to  
conceive anything that ,art can         
introduce in a garden that is not here2 
woods1 rocks1 lawns1 lakes1 rivers1     
islands1 cascades1 grottoes1 walks1     
temples1 and even villages4 ,truly a    
,jardin ,anglois6  ,footnote #bj3 ,miss 
,edwards 7and ,i quote from her edition 

of ,young's ,travels in ,france1 p4     
#aja7 has a note to the effect that the 
,mr ,brown here referred to is ,robert  
,brown1 of ,markle1 contributor to the  
,edinburgh ,magazine1 #ageg-ahca4 ,yet1 
surely this is none other than ,mr      
,capability ,brown1 discoverer of       
,english scenery1 reputed father of the 
,english garden6  ,we may well prefer   
,diderot's simile for the ,english      
garden as the sanctuary of a sweet and  
placid pleasure to the bustling crowd of
 miscellaneous elements that took its   
name in vain in the ,petit ,trianon6    
,for an ,english garden is at once      
stately and homely--homely before all   
things4 ,like all works of ,art it is   
conventionally treated1 and its design  
conscious and deliberate4 ,but the      
convention is broad1 dignified1 quiet1  
homogeneous1 suiting alike the          
characteristics of the country and of   
the people for whom it is made4         
,compared with this1 the foreign garden 
must be allowed to be richer in         

provocation2 there is distinctly more   
fancy in its conceits1 and its style is 
more absolute and circumspect than the  
,english4 ,and yet1 just as ,browning   
says of imperfection1 that it may       
sometimes mean perfection hid1 so1 here 
our deficiencies may not mean defects4  
,in order that we may compare the       
,english and foreign garden we must     
place them on common ground2 and ,i will
 liken each to a pastoral romance4      
,nature is idealised1 treated fancifully
 in each1 yet how different the quality 
of the contents1 the method of          
presentment1 the style1 the technique of
 this and that1 even when the design is 
contemporaneous6  ,a garden is1 ,i say1 
a sort of pastoral romance1 woven upon a
 background of natural scenery4 ,in the 
exercise of his pictorial genius1 both  
the foreign and ,english artist shall   
run upon natural things1 and transcribe 
,nature imaginatively yet realisably2   
each composition shall have a pastoral  
air1 and be rustic after its fashion4   

,but how different the platform1 how    
different the mental complexion1 the    
technique of the artists6 ,how different
 the detail and the atmosphere of the   
garden4 ,the rusticity of the foreign   
garden is dished up in a more delectable
 form than is the case in the ,english1 
but there is not the same open-air      
feeling about this as about that2 it    
does not convey the same sense of       
unexhausted possibilities--not the same 
tokens of living enjoyment of ,nature1  
of heart-to-heart fellowship with her4  
,the foreign garden is over-wrought1 too
 full3 it is a passionless thing--like  
the gaudy birds of ,india1 finely plumed
 but songless2 like the prize rose1     
without sweetness4  ,of the garden of   
,italy1 who shall dare to speak         
critically4 ,child of tradition3 heir by
 unbroken descent1 inheritor of the     
garden-craft of the whole civilised     
world4 ,it stands on a pinnacle high    
above the others1 peerless and alone3   
fit for the loveliest of lands--        

444 ,woman-country1 wooed not wed1      
,loved all the more by ,earth's         
male-lands1     ,laid to their hearts   
instead--  and it may yet be seen upon  
its splendid scale1 splendidly adorned1 
with straight terraces1 marble statues1 
clipped ilex and box1 walks bordered    
with azalea and camellia1 surrounded    
with groves of pines and cypresses--so  
frankly artistic1 yet so subtly blending
 itself into the natural                
surroundings--into the distant plain1   
the fringe of purple hills1 the gorgeous
 panorama of the ,alps with its         
background of glowing sky4 ,with such a 
radiant country to conjure with1 we may 
truly say ,the richly provided1 richly  
require4  ,if we may speak our mind of  
the ,french and ,dutch gardens1 they in 
no wise satisfy ,english taste as       
regards their relation to ,nature4      
,diderot has said that it is the        
peculiarity of the ,french to judge     
everything with the mind4 ,it is from   
this standpoint that the ,frenchman     

treats ,nature in a garden4 ,he is ever 
seeking to unite the accessory portions 
with the ensemble4 ,he overdoes design4 
,he gives you the impression that he is 
far more in love with his own ideas     
about ,nature than with ,nature herself2
 that he uses her resources not to      
interpret them or perfect them along    
their own lines1 but express his own    
interesting ideas4 ,he must provide     
stimulus for his imagination2 his nature
 demands food for reverie1 point for    
ecstasy1 for delicious self-abandonment1
 for bedazzlement with ideal beauty1 and
 the garden shall supply him with these 
whatever the cost to the materials      
employed4 ,hence a certain              
unscrupulousness towards ,nature in the 
,french garden2 hence the daring        
picturesqueness1 its legerdemain4       
,nature edited thus1 is to the          
,englishman but ,nature in effigy1      
,nature used as a peg for fantastical   
attire1 ,nature with a false lustre that
 tells of lead alloy--,nature that has  

forgotten what she is like4  ,in an     
,english garden1 as ,diderot notes1     
,nature is handled with more reverence1 
her rights are more respected4 ,i am    
willing to allow that something of the  
reserve traceable in ,english art is    
begotten of the phlegmatic temper of the
 race that rarely gets beyond a         
quiescent fervour2 and this temper1     
exhibited in a garden would incline us  
always to let well alone and not press  
things too hard4 ,if the qualities of an
 ,english garden that ,i speak of are to
 be attributed to this temper1 then1 to 
judge by results1 laissez faire is not a
 bad motto for the gardener6 ,certain it
 is that the dominance of man is more   
hinted at here than proclaimed4         
,compared with foreign examples we      
sooner read through its quaintnesses and
 braveries their sweet originals in     
,nature3 nay1 even when we have         
idealised things to our hearts' full    
bent1 they shall yet retain the very    
note and rhythm of the woodland world   

from whence they sprang--,english in    
all1 of genius blithely free4#ba        
,footnote #ba3 ,lowell's ,ode to        
,fielding4  ,and this is true even in   
that extreme case1 the ,jacobean garden1
 where we have much the same quips and  
cranks1 the same quaint power of        
metrical changes and playful fancy of   
the poetry of ,herbert1 ,vaughan1       
,herrick1 and ,donne2 even the little   
clean-cut pedantries of this artfullest 
of all phases of ,english garden-craft  
make for a kind of bland stateliness and
 high-flown serenity1 that bases its    
appeal upon placid beauty rather than   
upon mere ingenuity or specious         
extravagance4 ,the conventionalities of 
its borders1 its terraces and steps and 
images in lead or marble1 its ornamental
 water1 its trim geometrical patterns1  
its quincunx1 clipped hedges1 high      
hedges1 and architectural adornments    
shall be balanced by great sweeps of    
lawn and noble trees that are not       
constrained to take hands1 as in        

,france1 across the road and to look    
proper1 but are left to grow large and  
thick and wide and free4 ,true that     
there is about the ,jacobean garden an  
air of scholarliness and courtliness2 a 
flavour of dreamland1 ,arcadia1 and     
,italy--a touch of the archaic and      
classical--yet the thing is saved from  
utter affectation by our ,english       
out-of-door life which has bred in us an
 innate love of the unconstrained1 a    
sympathy that keeps its hold on reality1
 and these give an undefinable quality  
of freshness to the composition as a    
whole4#bb  ,footnote #bb3 ,mr ,evelyn   
has a pleasant villa at ,deptford1      
writes ,gibson1 a fine garden for walks 
and hedges 7especially his holly one    
which he writes of in his ',sylva'7 444 
,in his garden he has four large round  
philareas1 smooth-clipped1 raised on a  
single stalk from the ground1 a fashion 
now much used4 ,part of his garden is   
very woody and shady for walking2 but   
his garden not being walled1 has little 

of the best fruits4  ,to sum up4 ,the   
main difference in the character of the 
,english and the foreign schools of     
gardening lies in this1 that the design 
of the foreign leans ever in the        
direction of artificiality1 that of     
,england towards natural freedom4 ,and a
 true garden should have an equal regard
 for ,nature and ,art2 it should        
represent a marriage of contraries1     
should combine finesse and audacity1    
subtilty and simplicity1 the regular and
 the unexpected1 the ideal and the real 
bound fast in one with golden ease4 ,in 
a ,french or ,dutch garden the yes and  
no of ,art and ,nature are always       
unequally yoked4 ,nature is treated with
 sparse courtesy by ,art1 its           
individuality is ignored1 it sweats like
 a drudge under its load of false       
sentiment4 ,sike fancies weren foolerie4
  ,but in ,england1 though we hold      
,nature in duress1 we leave her unbound2
 if we mew her up for cultivation1 we   
leave her inviolate1 with a chance of   

vagrant liberty and a way of escape4    
,thus1 you will note how the ,english   
garden stops1 as it were1 without       
ending4 ,around or near the house will  
be the ordered garden with terraces and 
architectural accessories1 all trim and 
fit and nice4 ,then comes the           
smooth-shaven lawn1 studded and belted  
round with fine trees1 arranged as it   
seems with a divine carelessness2 and   
beyond the lawn1 the ferny heather-turf 
of the park1 where the dappled deer     
browse and the rabbits run wild1 and the
 sun-chequered glades go out to meet1   
and lose themselves by green degrees in 
the approaching woodland1--past the     
river glen1 the steep fields of grass   
and corn1 the cottages and stackyards   
and grey church tower of the village2   
past the ridge of fir-land and the dark 
sweep of heath-country into the dim     
waving lines of blue distance4  ,so that
 however self-contained1 however        
self-centred the stiff old garden may   
seem to be1 it never loses touch with   

the picturesque commonplaces of our     
land2 never loses sympathy with the     
green world at large1 but1 in a sense1  
embraces and locks in its arms the whole
 country-side as far as eye can see4    
,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,historical           
,,sketch--,,continued4  ,,the ,,stiff   
,,garden4      ,all is fine that is fit4
   ,the ,english garden1 as ,i have just
 tried to sketch it1 was not born       
yesterday1 the bombastic child of a     
landscape-gardener's recipe4 ,it        
epitomises a nation's instincts in      
garden-craft2 it is the slow result of  
old affection for1 old wonder at1 beauty
 in forms1 colours1 tones2 old          
enthusiasm for green turf1 wild flower1 
and forest tree4 ,take it at its best1  
it records the matured taste of a people
 of ,nature-readers1 ,nature-lovers3 it 
is that which experience has proved to  
be in most accord with the character and
 climate of the country1 and the genius 
of the race4  ,landscape has been from  
the first the central tradition of      

,english art4 ,life spent amidst        
pictorial scenery like ours that is     
striking in itself and rendered more    
impressive and animated by the rapid    
atmospheric changes1 the shifting lights
 and shadows1 the life and movement in  
the sky1 and the vivid intense colouring
 of our moist climate1 has given our    
tastes a decided bent this way1 and     
fashioned our ,arts of ,poetry1         
,painting1 and ,gardening4 ,out-of-door 
life among such scenery puts our senses 
on the alert1 and the impressions of    
natural phenomena supply our device with
 all its images4  ,the ,english people  
had not to wait till the eighteenth     
century to know to what they were       
inclined1 or what would suit their      
country's adornment4 ,from first to     
last1 we have said1 the ,english garden 
deals much with trees and shrubs and    
grass4 ,the thought of them1 and the    
artistic opportunities they offer1 is   
present in the minds of accomplished    
garden-masters1 travelled men1 initiated

 spirits1 like ,sir ,thomas ,more1      
,bacon1 ,shaftesbury1 ,temple1 and      
,evelyn1 whose aim is to give           
garden-craft all the method and         
distinctness of which it is capable4    
,however saturated with aristocratic    
ideas the courtier-gardener may be1     
however learned in the circumspect style
 of the ,italian1 he retains his native 
relish for the woodland world1 and      
babbles of green fields4 ,a             
sixteenth-century ,english gardener     
7,gerarde7 adjured his countrymen to ,go
 forwarde in the name of ,god1 graffe1  
set1 plant1 and nourishe up trees in    
every corner of your grounde4 ,a        
seventeenth-century gardener 7,evelyn7  
had ornamental landscape and shady woods
 in his garden as well as pretty beds of
 choice flowers4  ,there are1 besides   
the temper of our climate1 writes       
another seventeenth-century             
garden-worthy 7,temple71 two things     
particular to us1 that contribute to the
 beauty and elegance of our gardens1    

which are the gravel of our walks and   
the fineness and almost perpetual       
greenness of our turf2 the first is not 
known anywhere else1 which leaves all   
their dry walks in other countries very 
unpleasant and uneasy2 the other cannot 
be found in ,france or in ,holland as we
 have it1 the soil not admitting that   
fineness of blade in ,holland1 nor the  
sun that greenness in ,france during    
most of the summer4 ,and following upon 
this is a long essay upon the ornamental
 disposition of the grounds in an       
,english garden and the culture of fruit
 trees4 ,i will not enter upon any      
account of flowers1 he says1 having only
 pleased myself with the care1 which is 
more the ladies' part than the men's1#bc
 but the success is wholly in the       
gardener4  ,footnote #bc3 ,this remark  
of ,temple's as to the small importance 
the flower-beds had in the mind of the  
gardener of his day1 is significant3 as 
indicating the different methods        
employed by the ancient and modern      

gardener4 ,it was not that he was not   
pleased with the care of flowers1 but   
that these were not his chiefest care2  
his prime idea was to get broad1        
massive1 well-defined effects in his    
garden generally4 ,hence the monumental 
style of the old-fashioned garden1 the  
carefully-disposed ground1 the          
formality1 the well-considered poise and
 counter-poise1 the varying levels and  
well-defined parts4 ,and only inwoven1  
as it were1 into the argument of the    
piece1 are its pretty parts1 used much  
as the jewellery of a fair woman4 ,i    
should be sorry to be so unjust to the  
modern landscape gardener as to accuse  
him of caring over-much for flowers1 but
 of his garden-device generally one may 
fairly say it has no monumental style1  
no ordered shape other than its         
carefully-schemed disorder4 ,it is not a
 masculine affair1 but effeminate and   
niggling2 a little park-scenery1 curved 
shrubberies1 wriggling paths1 emphasised
 specimen plants1 and flower-beds of    

more or less inane shape tumbled down on
 the skirts of the lawn or drive1 that  
do more harm than good to the effect of 
the place1 seen near or at a distance4  
,how true it is that to believe in ,art 
one must be an artist6  ,and ,bacon is  
not so wholly enamoured of ,arcadia and 
with the embodiment of far-brought      
fancies in his prince-like garden as to 
be callous of ,nature's share therein4  
,the contents ought not well to be under
 thirty acres of ground1 and to be      
divided into three parts2 a green in the
 entrance1 a heath or desert in the     
going forth1 and the main garden in the 
midst1 besides alleys on both sides2 and
 ,i like well that four acres be        
assigned to the ,green1 six to the      
,heath1 four and four to either side1   
and twelve to the main ,garden4 ,the    
,green hath two pleasures3 the one1     
because nothing is more pleasant to the 
eye than green grass kept finely shorn2 
the other1 because it will give you a   
fair alley in the midst1 by which you   

may go in front upon a stately hedge1   
which is to enclose the garden4 ,for the
 heath1 which was the third part of our 
plot1 ,i wished it be framed as much as 
may be to a natural wildness1 c4 ,of    
which more anon4#bd  ,footnote #bd3     
,nonsuch had its wilderness of ten      
acres4  ,whether the garden of ,bacon's 
essay is the portrait of an actual      
thing1 whether the writer--to use a     
phrase of ,wordsworth--had his eye upon 
the subject1 or whether it was built in 
the man's brain like ,tennyson's ,palace
 of ,art1 we cannot tell4 ,from the     
singular air of experience that animates
 the description1 the sure touch of the 
writer1 we may infer that ,gorhambury   
had some such garden1 the fruit of its  
master's ,leisure with honour1 or       
,leisure without honour1 as the case may
 be4 ,but what seems certain is1 that   
the essay is only a sign of the ordinary
 ,english gentleman's mind on the       
subject at that time2 and in giving us  
this masterpiece1 ,bacon had no more    

notion of posing as the founder of the  
,english garden 7pace ,brown7 than of   
getting himself labelled as the founder 
of ,modern ,science for his             
distinguished labours in that line4 ,i  
only sound the clarion1 he says1 but ,i 
enter not into the battle4  ,moderns are
 pleased to smile at what they deem the 
over-subtilty of ,bacon's ideal garden4 
,for my own part1 ,i find nothing       
recommended there that a princely garden
 should not fitly contain 7especially as
 these things are all of a-piece with   
the device of the period71 even to those
 imagination-stirring features which one
 thinks he may have described1 not from 
the life1 but from the figures in ,the  
,dream of ,poliphilus 7a book of        
woodcuts published in ,venice1 #adii71  
features of the ,enchanted ,island1 to  
wit the two fountains--the first to     
spout water1 to be adorned with         
ornaments of images1 gilt or of marble2 
the other1 which we may call a          
bathing-pool that admits of much        

curiosity and beauty wherewith we will  
not trouble ourselves2 as that the      
bottom be finely paved with images1 the 
sides likewise2 and withal embellished  
with coloured glass1 and such things of 
lustre2 encompassed also with fine rails
 of low statues4#be  ,footnote #be3     
,nineteenth ,century ,magazine1 ,july1  
#ahij4  ,no artist is disposed to       
apologise for the presence of subtilty  
in ,art1 nor ,i for the subtle device of
 ,bacon's garden4 ,all ,art is cunning4 
,yet we must not simply note the deep   
intent of the old master1 but must      
equally recognise the air of gravity    
that pervades his recommendations--the  
sweet reasonableness of suggestions for 
design that have as much regard for the 
veracities of ,nature1 and the dictates 
of common-sense1 as for the nice        
elegancies and well-calculated          
audacities of consummate ,art4  ,i only 
sound the clarion1 but ,i enter not into
 the battle4 ,even so1 ,master6 we will 
hold thy hand as far as thou wilt go2   

and the clarion thou soundest right     
well1 and most serviceably for all      
future gardeners6  ,i like the ring of  
stout challenge in the opening words1   
which command respect for the subject1  
and1 if rightly construed1 should make  
the heretic landscape gardener1--who    
dotes on meagre country-grass and gipsy 
scenery--pause in his denunciation of   
,art in a garden4 ,god almighty first   
planted a ,garden2 and indeed it is the 
purest of humane pleasures4 ,it is the  
greatest refreshment to the ,spirits of 
man1 without which ,buildings and       
,palaces are but gross ,handyworks4 ,and
 a man shall ever see1 that when ages   
grow to ,civility and ,elegancy1 men    
come to build stately sooner than to    
garden finely3 as if ,gardening were the
 ,greater ,perfection4  ,this first     
paragraph has1 for me1 something of the 
stately tramp and pregnant meaning of   
the opening phrase of ,at a ,solemn     
,music4 ,the praise of gardening can no 
further go4 ,to say more were           

impossible4 ,to say less were to        
belittle your subject4 ,i think of ,ben 
,jonson's simile1 ,they jump farthest   
who fetch their race largest4 ,for      
,bacon fetches his subject back to ,in  
the beginning1 and prophesies of all    
time4 ,thus does he lift his theme to   
its full height at starting1 and the    
remainder holds to the same heroic      
measure4  ,if the ideal garden be       
fanciful1 it is also grand and          
impressive4 ,nor could it well be       
otherwise4 ,for when the essay was      
written fine gardening was in the air1  
and the master had special opportunities
 for studying and enjoying great        
gardens4 ,more than this1 ,bacon was an 
apt craftsman in many fields1 a born    
artist1 gifted with an imagination at   
once rich and curious1 whose            
performances of every sort declare the  
student's love of form1 and the artist's
 nice discrimination of expression4     
,then1 too1 his mind was set upon the   
conquest of ,nature1 of which gardening 

is a province1 for the service of man1  
for physical enjoyment1 and for the     
increase of social comfort4 ,yet was he 
an ,englishman first1 and a fine        
gardener afterwards4 ,admit the author's
 sense of the delights of art-magic in a
 garden1 none esteemed them more1 yet   
own the discreet economy of his         
imaginative strokes1 the homely         
bluntness of his criticisms upon foreign
 vagaries1 the ,english sane-mindedness 
of his points1 his feeling for broad    
effects and dislike of niggling1 the    
mingled shrewdness and benignity of his 
way of putting things4 ,it is just      
because ,bacon thus treats of idealisms 
as though they were realisms1 because he
 so skilfully wraps up his fanciful     
figures in matter-of-fact language that 
even the ordinary ,english reader       
appreciates the art of ,bacon's stiff   
garden1 and entertains art-aspirations  
unawares4  ,every reader of ,bacon will 
recognise what ,i wish to point out4    
,here1 however1 are a few examples3--   

,for the ordering of the ,ground within 
the ,great ,hedge1 ,i leave it to a     
,variety of ,device4 ,advising1         
nevertheless1 that whatsoever form you  
cast it into2 first it be not too busie1
 or full of work2 wherein ,i1 for my    
part1 do not like ,images cut out in    
,juniper1 or other garden stuffs2 they  
are for ,children4 ,little low ,hedges1 
round like ,welts1 with some pretty     
,pyramids1 ,i like well2 and in some    
places ,fair ,columns upon ,frames of   
,carpenters' work4 ,i would also have   
the ,alleys spacious and fair4  ,as for 
the making of ,knots or ,figures1 with  
,divers ,coloured earths1 that they may 
lie under the windows of the ,house1 on 
that side which the ,garden stands1 they
 be but ,toys1 you may see as good      
sights many times in ,tarts4  ,for      
,fountains1 they are a ,great ,beauty   
and ,refreshment1 but ,pools mar all1   
and make the ,garden unwholesome and    
full of flies and frogs4  ,for fine     
,devices1 of arching water without      

spilling1 and making it rise in several 
forms 7of ,feathers1 ,drinking ,glasses1
 ,canopies1 and the like7 7see ,the     
,dream of ,poliphilus7 they be pretty   
things to look on1 but nothing to       
,health and ,sweetness4  ,thus          
throughout the ,essay1 with alternate   
rise and fall1 do fancy and judgment    
deliver themselves of charge and retort1
 making a kind of logical see-saw4 ,at  
the onset ,fancy kicks the beam2 at the 
middle1 ,judgment is in the ascendant1  
and before the sentence is done the     
balance rides easy4 ,and this           
scrupulousness is not to be wholly      
ascribed to the fastidious bent of a    
mind that lived in a labyrinth2 it      
speaks equally of the fineness of the   
man's ideal1 which lifts his standard   
sky-high and keeps him watchful to a    
fault in attaining desired effects      
without running upon trifles and        
jingles4 ,the master-text of the whole  
,essay seems to be the writer's own     
apothegm3 ,nature is commanded by       

obeying her4  ,that a true gardener     
should love ,nature goes without saying4
 ,and ,bacon loved ,nature passionately1
 and gardens only too well4 ,he tells us
 these were his favourite sins in the   
strange document--half prayer1 half     
,apologia--written after he had made his
 will1 at the time of his fall1 when he 
presumably concluded that anything might
 happen4 ,thy creatures have been my    
books1 but ,thy ,scriptures much more4  
,i have sought ,thee in the courts1     
fields1 and gardens1 but ,i have found  
,thee in ,thy temples4  ,three more     
points about the essay ,i would like to 
comment upon4 ,first1 ,that in spite of 
its lofty dreaming1 it treats of the    
hard and dry side of gardening as a     
science in so methodical a manner that  
but for what it contains besides1 and   
for its mint-mark of a great spirit1 the
 thing might pass as an extract from a  
more-than-ordinary practical gardener's 
manual4 ,bacon does not write upon the  
subject like a man in another planet1   

but like a man in a land of living men4 
,secondly1 ,as to the attitude of ,bacon
 and his school towards external        
,nature4 ,in them is no trace of the    
mawkish sentimentality of the modern    
landscape-gardener1 proud of his        
discoveries1 bustling to show how       
condescending he can be towards ,nature1
 how susceptible to a pastoral          
melancholy4 ,there is nothing here of   
the maundering of ,shenstone over his   
ideal landscape-garden that reads as    
though it would be a superior sort of   
pedants' ,cremorne1 where the lover's   
walk may have assignation seats1 with   
proper mottoes1 urns to faithful lovers1
 trophies1 garlands1 etc41 by means of  
,art2 and where due consideration is to 
be given to certain complexions of soul 
that will prefer an orange tree or a    
myrtle to an oak or cedar4 ,the older   
men thought first of the effects that   
they wished to attain1 and proceeded to 
realise them without more ado4 ,they had
 no codes of taste to appeal to1 and no 

literary law-givers to stand in dread   
of4 ,they applied ,nature's raw         
materials as their art required4 ,and   
yet1 compared with the methods of the   
heavy-handed realist of later times such
 unscrupulousness had a merit of its    
own4 ,to suit their purposes the old    
gardeners may have defied ,nature's ways
 and wont2 but1 even so1 they act as    
fine gentlemen should3 they never pet   
and patronise her3 they have no blunt   
and blundering methods such as mark the 
,nature-maulers of the ,brown or        
,batty-,langley school3 if they cut1    
they do not mince1 nor hack1 nor tear1  
they cut clean4 ,in one's better moments
 one can almost sympathise with the     
landscape-gardener's feelings as he     
reads1 if he ever does read1 ,evelyn's  
classic book ,sylva2 or1 a ,discourse of
 ,forest-trees1 how they trimmed the    
hedges of hornbeam1 than which there is 
nothing more graceful1 and the cradle or
 close-walk with that perplext canopy   
which lately covered the seat in his    

,majesty's garden at ,hampton ,court1   
and how the tonsile hedges1 fifteen or  
twenty feet high1 are to be cut and kept
 in order with a scythe of four feet    
long1 and very little falcated2 this is 
fixed on a long sneed or straight       
handle1 and does wonderfully expedite   
the trimming of these and the like      
hedges4  ,thirdly1 ,bacon's essay tells 
us all that an ,english garden can be1  
or may be4 ,bacon writes not for his age
 alone but for all time2 nay1 his essay 
covers so much ground that the legion of
 after-writers have only to pick up the 
crumbs that fall from this rich man's   
table1 and to amplify the two hundred   
and sixty lines of condensed wisdom that
 it contains4 ,its category of effects  
reaches even the free-and-easy planting 
of the skirts of our dressed grounds1   
with flowers and shrubs set in the turf 
framed as much as may be to a natural   
wildness--a pretty trick of compromise  
which the modern book-writers would have
 us believe they invented themselves4   

,on one point the modern garden has the 
advantage and is bound to excel the old1
 namely in its employment of foreign    
trees and shrubs4 ,the decorative use of
 trees of curiosity1 as the foreign     
trees were then called1 and the         
employment of variegated foliage1 was   
not unknown to the gardener of early    
days1 but it was long before foreign    
plants were introduced to any great     
extent4 ,loudon has taken the trouble to
 reckon up the number of specimens that 
came to ,england century by century1 and
 we gather from this that the imports of
 modern times exceed those of earlier   
times to an enormous extent4 ,thus1 he  
computes that only #aca new specimens of
 foreign trees were introduced into     
,england in the seventeenth century as  
against #dde in the following century4  
,yet1 to follow up this interesting     
point1 we may observe that ,heutzner1   
writing of ,english gardens in #aeih1   
specially notes the great variety of    
trees and plants at ,theobalds4         

,furthermore1 to judge by ,worlidge's   
,systema ,horticulturae 7#afgg7 it would
 seem that the practice of variegating1 
and of combining the variegated foliage 
of plants and shrubs1 was in existence  
at that time4  ,dr ,uvedale1 of         
,enfield1 is a great lover of plants1   
says ,gibson1 writing in #afia1 and is  
become master of the greatest and       
choicest collection of exotic greens    
that is perhaps anywhere in this        
land4444 ,his flowers are choice1 his   
stock numerous1 and his culture of them 
very methodical and curious2 but to     
speak of the garden in the whole1 it    
does not lie fine to please the eye1 his
 delight and care lying more in the     
ordering particular plants1 than in the 
pleasing view and form of his garden4   
,darby1 at ,hoxton1 has but a little    
garden1 but is master of several curious
 greens4444 ,his ,fritalaria ,crassa 7a 
green7 had a flower on it of the breadth
 of half-a-crown1 like an embroidered   
star of many colours4444 ,he raises many

 striped hollies by inoculation1 c4     
7,gleanings in ,old ,garden ,literature1
 ,hazlitt1 p4 #bdj47  ,and yet one last 
observation ,i would like to make1      
remembering ,bacon's subtilty1 and how  
his every utterance is the sum of       
matured analytical thought4 ,this       
yearning for wild nature that makes     
itself felt all through the ,essay1 this
 scheme for a natural wildness touching 
the hem of artificiality2 this provision
 for mounts of some pretty height to    
look abroad in the fields2 this care for
 the ,heath or ,desart in the going     
forth1 planted not in any order2 the    
little ,heaps in the ,nature of         
,molehills 7such as are in wild ,heaths7
 to be set with pleasant herbs1 wild    
thyme1 pinks1 periwinkle1 and the like  
,low ,flowers being withall sweet and   
sightly--what does it imply8 ,primarily1
 it declares the artist who knows the   
value of contrast1 the interest of      
blended contrariness2 it is the cultured
 man's hankering after a many-faced     

,nature readily accessible to him in his
 many moods2 it tells1 too1 of the drift
 of the ,englishman towards familiar    
landscape effects1 the garden-mimicry   
which sets towards pastoral ,nature2 but
 above and beyond all else1 it is a true
 ,baconian stroke4 ,is not the man's    
innermost self here revealed1 who in his
 eagerest moments struggled for         
detachment of mind1 held his will in    
leash according to his own astute maxim 
not to engage oneself too peremptorily  
in anything1 but ever to have either a  
window open to fly out of1 or a secret  
way to retire by8 ,in a sense1 the      
garden's technique illustrates its      
author's personality4 ,to change        
,montaigne's reply to the king who      
admired his essays1 ,bacon might say1 ,i
 am my garden4  ,many references to old 
garden-craft might be given culled from 
the writings of ,sir ,thomas ,more1     
,john ,lyly1 ,gawen ,douglas1 ,john     
,gerarde1 ,sir ,philip ,sidney1 and     
others2 all of whom are quoted in ,mr   

,sieveking's charming volume1 ,the      
praise of ,gardens4 ,but none will serve
 our purpose so well as the notes of    
,heutzner1 the ,german traveller1 who   
visited ,england in the #afth century1  
and ,sir ,william ,temple's description 
of the garden of ,moor ,park4 ,according
 to ,heutzner1 the gardens at           
,theobalds1 ,nonsuch1 ,whitehall1       
,hampton ,court1 and ,oxford were laid  
out with considerable taste and         
extensively ornamented with             
architectural and other devices4 ,the   
,palace at ,nonsuch is encompassed with 
parks full of deer1 with delicious      
gardens1 groves ornamented with         
trellis-work1 cabinets of verdure1 and  
walks enclosed with trees4 ,in the      
pleasure and artificial gardens are many
 columns and pyramids of marble1 two    
fountains that spout water one round the
 other like a pyramid1 upon which are   
perched small birds that stream water   
out of their bills4 ,in the grove of    
,diana is a very agreeable fountain1    

with ,actaeon turned into a stag1 as he 
was sprinkled by the goddess and her    
nymphs1 with inscriptions4 ,theobalds1  
according to ,heutzner's account1 has a 
great variety of trees and plants1      
labyrinths1 fountains of white marble1 a
 summerhouse1 and statuary4 ,the gardens
 had their terraces1 trellis-walks1 and 
bowling-greens1 the beds being laid out 
in geometrical lines1 and the hedges    
formed of yews1 hollies1 and limes1     
clipped and shaped into cones1 pyramids1
 and other devices4 ,among the delights 
of ,nonsuch was a wilderness of ten     
acres of extent4 ,of ,hampton ,court1 he
 says3 ,we saw rosemary so planted and  
nailed to the walls as to cover them    
entirely1 which is a method exceeding   
common in ,england4  ,no book on        
,english gardens can afford to dispense 
with ,temple's description of the garden
 of ,moor ,park1 which is given with    
considerable relish1 as though it       
satisfied the ideal of the writer4      
,the perfectest figure of a ,garden ,i  

ever saw1 either at ,home or            
,abroad4--,it lies on the side of a     
,hill 7upon which the ,house            
stands71 but not very steep4 ,the length
 of the ,house1 where the      best     
,rooms and of most ,use or ,pleasure    
are1 lies upon the ,breadth      of the 
,garden1 the ,great ,parlour opens into 
the ,middle of a ,terras                
,gravel-,walk that lies even with it1   
and which may be1 as ,i      remember1  
about #cjj ,paces long1 and broad in    
,proportion1 the ,border      set with  
,standard ,laurels1 and at large        
,distances1 which have the      beauty  
of ,orange-,trees1 out of ,flower and   
,fruit3 ,from this ,walk are      ,three
 ,descents by many ,stone ,steps1 in the
 ,middle and at each ,end1      into a  
very large ,parterre4 ,this is divided  
into ,quarters by      ,gravel-,walks1  
and adorned with ,two ,fountains and    
,eight ,statues in      the several     
,quarters2 at the ,end of the           
,terras-,walk are ,two                  

,summer-,houses1 and the ,sides of the  
,parterre are ranged with two      large
 ,cloisters1 open to the ,garden1 upon  
,arches of ,stone1 and      ending with 
two other ,summer-,houses even with the 
,cloisters1 which      are paved with   
,stone1 and designed for ,walks of      
,shade1 there are      none other in the
 whole ,parterre4 ,over these two       
,cloisters are two      ,terrasses      
covered with ,lead and fenced with      
,balusters2 and the      ,passage into  
these ,airy ,walks1 is out of the two   
,summer-,houses1 at      the ,end of the
 first ,terras-,walk4 ,the ,cloister    
facing the ,south      is covered with  
,vines1 and would have been proper for  
an      ,orange-,house1 and the other   
for ,myrtles1 or other more common      
,greens2 and had1 ,i doubt not1 been    
cast for that ,purpose1 if this         
,piece of ,gardening had been then in as
 much ,vogue as it is now4       ,from  
the middle of this ,parterre is a       
,descent by many ,steps flying      on  

each ,side of a ,grotto1 that lies      
between them 7covered with      ,lead1  
and flat7 into the lower ,garden1 which 
is all ,fruit-,trees      ranged about  
the several ,quarters of a ,wilderness1 
which is very      ,shady2 the ,walks   
here are all ,green1 the ,grotto        
embellished with      ,figures of       
,shell-,rock work1 ,fountains1 and      
,water-works4 ,if the ,hill      had not
 ended with the lower ,garden1 and the  
,wall were not bounded      by a ,common
 ,way that goes through the ,park1 they 
might have added a      ,third ,quarter 
of all ,greens2 but this ,want is       
supplied by a ,garden      on the other 
,side of the ,house1 which is all of    
that ,sort1 very      ,wild1 ,shady1 and
 adorned with rough ,rock-work and      
,fountains4      7,upon the ,garden of  
,epicurus1 or of ,gardening47  ,the     
,systema ,horticulturae of ,john        
,worlidge 7#afgg7 was1 says ,mr ,hazlitt
 7,gleanings in old ,garden ,literature1
 p4 #dj71 apparently the earliest manual

 for the guidance of gardeners4 ,it     
deals with technical matters1 such as   
the treatment and virtue of different   
soils1 the form of the ground1 the      
structure of walls and fences1 the      
erection of arbours1 summer-houses1     
fountains1 grottoes1 obelisks1 dials1 c4
  ,the ,scots ,gardener1 by ,john ,reid 
7#afhc7 follows this1 and is1 says ,mr  
,hazlitt1 the parent-production in this 
class of literature4 ,it is divided into
 two portions1 of which the first is    
occupied by technical instructions for  
the choice of a site for a garden1 the  
arrangement of beds and walks1 c4       
,crispin de ,passe's ,book of ,beasts1  
,birds1 ,flowers1 ,fruits1 c41 published
 in ,london 7#afcj71 heralds the changes
 which set in with the introduction of  
the ,dutch school of design4  ,to speak 
generally of the subject1 it is with the
 art of ,gardening as with              
,architecture1 ,literature1 and         
,music--there is the ,mediaeval1 the    
,elizabethan1 the ,jacobean1 the        

,georgian types4 ,each and all are      
,english1 but ,english with a           
difference--with a declared tendency    
this way or that1 which justifies       
classification1 and illustrates the     
march of things in this changeful modern
 world4  ,the various types include the 
mediaeval garden1 the square garden1 the
 knots and figures of ,elizabethan      
times1 with their occasional use of     
coloured earths and gravels2 the        
pleach-work and intricate borders of    
,james ,i42 the painted ,dutch statues  
as at ,ham ,house2 the quaint canals1   
the winding gravel-walks1 the formal    
geometrical figures2 the quincunx and   
etoile of ,william and ,mary2 later on1 
the smooth1 bare1 and bald grounds of   
,kent1 the photographic copyism of      
,nature by ,brown1 the garden-farm of   
,shenstone1 and other phases of the     
,landscape style which served for the   
green grave of the old-fashioned        
,english garden4  ,in the early years of
 ,george ,,iii4 a reaction against      

tradition set in with so strong a       
current1 that there remains scarcely any
 private garden in the ,united ,kingdom 
which presents in all its parts a sample
 of the original design4  ,levens1 near 
,kendal1 of which ,i give two           
illustrations1 is probably the least    
spoiled of any remaining examples2 and  
this was1 it would seem1 planned by a   
,frenchman1 but worked out under the    
restraining influences of ,english      
taste4 ,a picture on the staircase of   
the house1 apparently ,dutch1 bears the 
inscription1 ,m4 ,beaumont1 gardener to 
,king ,james ,,ii4 and ,colonel ,james  
,grahme4 ,he laid out the gardens at    
,hampton ,court and at ,levens4 ,the    
gardener's house at the place is still  
called ,beaumont ,hall4 7,see an        
admirable monograph upon ,col4 ,james   
,grahme1 of ,levens1 by ,mr ,joscelin   
,bagot1 ,kendal47  ,one who is perhaps  
hardly in sympathy with the quaintness  
of the gardens1 thus writes3 ,there     
along a wide extent of terraced walks   

and walls1 eagles of holly and peacocks 
of yew still find with each returning   
summer their wings clipt and their      
talons2 there a stately remnant of the  
old promenoirs such as the ,frenchman   
taught our fathers1#bf rather ,i would  
say to build than plant--along which in 
days of old stalked the gentlemen with  
periwigs and swords1 the ladies in hoops
 and furbelows--may still to this day be
 seen4  ,footnote #bf3 ,with regard to  
this remark1 we have to note a certain  
amount of ,french influence throughout  
the reigns of the ,jameses and          
,charleses4 ,here is ,beaumont1 gardener
 to ,james ,,ii42 and we hear also of   
,andre ,mollet1 gardener to ,james ,i42 
also that ,charles ,,ii4 borrowed ,le   
,notre to lay out the gardens of        
,greenwich and ,st ,james' ,park4  ,with
 the pictures of the gardens at ,levens 
before us1 with memories of ,arley1 of  
,brympton1 of ,wilton1#bg of ,montacute1
 ,rockingham1 ,penshurst1 ,severn ,end1 
,berkeley1#bh and ,haddon1 we may here  

pause a moment to count up and bewail   
our losses4 ,wolsey's garden at ,hampton
 ,court is now effaced1 for the design  
of the existing grounds dates from      
,william ,,iii4 ,nonsuch in ,surrey1    
near ,epsom race-course1 is a mere      
memory4 ,in old days this was a         
favourite resort of ,queen ,elizabeth2  
the garden was designed by her father1  
but the greater part carried out by the 
last of the ,fitzalans4 ,evelyn1 writing
 of ,nonsuch1 says3 ,there stand in the 
garden two handsome stone pyramids and  
the avenue planted with rows of fair    
elms1 but the rest of these goodly      
trees1 both of this and of ,worcester   
adjoining1 were felled by those         
destructive and avaricious rebels in the
 late war4  ,footnote #bg3 ,the gardens 
at ,wilton are exceedingly beautiful1   
and contain noble trees1 among which are
 a group of fine cedars and an ilex     
beneath which ,sir ,philip ,sidney is   
supposed to have reclined when he wrote 
his ,arcadia here4 ,the ,italian garden 

is one of the most beautiful in         
,england4  ,footnote #bh3 ,of ,berkeley1
 ,evelyn writes3 ,for the rest the      
forecourt is noble1 so are the stables2 
and1 above all1 the gardens1 which are  
incomparable by reason of the inequality
 of the ground1 and a pretty piscina4   
,the holly-hedges on the terrace ,i     
advised the planting of4  ,theobalds1 in
 ,hertfordshire1 had a noble garden2 it 
was bought in #aefd by ,cecil1 and      
became the favourite haunt of the       
,stuarts1 but the house was finally     
destroyed during the ,commonwealth4  ,my
 ,lord ,fauconbergh's garden at ,sutton 
,court is gone too4 ,as described by    
,gibson in #afia1 it had many charms4   
,the maze1 or wilderness1 there is very 
pretty1 being set all with greens1 with 
a cypress arbour in the middle1 c4  ,sir
 ,henry ,capell's garden at ,kew1       
described by the same writer1 has as    
curious greens1 and is as well kept as  
any about ,london4444 ,his orange trees 
and other choice greens stand out in    

summer in two walks about fourteen feet 
wide1 enclosed with a timber frame about
 seven feet high1 and set with silver   
firs hedge-wise4444 ,his terrace walk1  
bare in the middle and grass on either  
side1 with a hedge of rue on one side   
next a low wall1 and a row of dwarf     
trees on the other1 shews very fine2 and
 so do from thence his yew hedges with  
trees of the same at equal distance1    
kept in pretty shapes with tonsure4 ,his
 flowers and fruits are of the best1 for
 the advantage of which two parallel    
walls1 about fourteen feet high1 were   
now raised and almost finished1 c4  ,sir
 ,stephen ,fox's garden at ,chiswick1   
excels for a fair gravel walk betwixt   
two yew hedges1 with rounds and spires  
of the same1 all under smooth tonsure4  
,at the far end of this garden are two  
myrtle hedges that cross the garden4    
,the other gardens are full of flowers  
and salleting1 and the walls well clad4 
,wimbledon ,house1 which was rebuilt by 
,sir ,thomas ,cecil in #aehh1 and       

surveyed by order of ,parliament in     
#afdi1 was celebrated for its trees1    
gardens1 and shrubs4 ,in the several    
gardens1 which consisted of mazes1      
wildernesses1 knots1 alleys1 c41 are    
mentioned a great variety of fruit trees
 and shrubs1 particularly a faire bay   
tree1 valued at ,l#a2 and one very faire
 tree called the ,irish arbutis1 very   
lovely to look upon and worth ,l#a1     
#ajs4 7,lysons1 ,i41 #cig47  ,the       
gardens at ,sherborne ,castle were laid 
out by ,sir ,walter ,raleigh4 ,coker1 in
 his ,survey of ,dorsetshire1 written in
 the time of ,james ,i41 says that ,sir 
,walter built in the park adjoining the 
old ,castle1 a most fine house which hee
 beautified with orchardes1 gardens1 and
 groves of much varietie and great      
delight2 soe that whether that you      
consider the pleasantness of the seate1 
the goodnesse of the soyle1 or the other
 delicacies belonging unto it1 it rests 
unparalleled by anie in those partes 7p4
 #abd74 ,this same park1 magnificently  

embellished with woods and gardens1 was 
improved away by the landscape-gardener 
,brown1 who altered the grounds4        
,cobham1 near ,gravesend1 still famous  
in horticultural annals as ,nonsuch is  
for its apples1 was the seat of the     
,brookes4 ,the extent to which fruit was
 cultivated in old time is seen by the  
magnitude of the orangery at ,beddington
 ,house1 ,surrey1 which was two hundred 
feet long2 the trees mostly measured    
thirteen feet high1 and in #afij some   
ten thousand oranges were gathered4     
,ham is described with much gusto by    
,evelyn3 ,after dinner ,i walked to ,ham
 to see the house and garden of the     
,duke of ,lauderdale1 which is indeed   
inferior to few of the best villas in   
,italy itself2 the house furnished like 
a great ,prince's1 the parterres1       
flower-gardens1 orangeries1 groves1     
avenues1 courts1 statues1 perspectives1 
fountains1 aviaries1 and all this at the
 banks of the sweetest river in the     
world1 must needs be admirable4  ,bowyer

 ,house1 ,surrey1 is described also by  
,evelyn as having a very pretty grove of
 oaks and hedges of yew in the garden1  
and a handsome row of tall elms before  
the court4 ,this garden has1 however1   
made way for rows of mean houses4  ,at  
,oxford1 where you would have expected  
more respect for antiquity1 the walks   
and alleys1 along which ,laud had       
conducted ,charles and ,henrietta1 the  
bowling-green at ,christ ,church of     
,cranmer's time--all are gone4  ,the    
ruthless clearance of these gardens of  
renown is sad to relate3 ,for what sin  
has the plough passed over your pleasant
 places8 may be demanded of numberless  
cases besides ,blakesmoor4 ,southey1    
writing upon this very point1 adds that 
feeling is a better thing than          
taste1--for taste did it at the bidding 
of critics who had no feeling1 and who  
veered round with the first sign of     
change in the public mind about         
gardening4 ,not content with watching   
the heroic gardens swept away1 he must  

goad the ,vandals on to their sorry work
 by flattering them for their good      
taste4 ,for what ,horace ,walpole did to
 expose the poverty-stricken design and 
all the poor bankrupt whimsies of the   
garden of his day1 we owe him thanks2   
but not for including in his            
condemnation the noble work of older    
days4 ,in touching upon ,lord           
,burleigh's garden1 and that at         
,nonsuch1 he says3 ,we find the         
magnificent though false taste was known
 here as early as the reigns of ,henry  
,,viii4 and his daughter4 ,this is not  
bad1 coming from the man who built a    
cockney ,gothic house adorned with      
piecrust battlements and                
lath-and-plaster pinnacles2 who spent   
much of his life in concocting a maze of
 walks in five acres of ground1 and was 
so far carried away by mock-rustic      
sentiment as to have rakes and hay-forks
 painted as leaning against the walls of
 his paddocks6 ,but then ,walpole1 in   
his polished way1 sneered at everybody  

and everything2 he spelt every man      
backward1 as ,macaulay observes2 with   
himself he lived in eminent             
self-content4  ,so too1 after quoting   
,temple's description of the garden at  
,moor ,park with the master's little    
rhapsody--the sweetest place ,i think   
that ,i have seen in my life1 either    
before or since1 at home or             
abroad--,walpole has this icy sneer3    
,any man might design and build as sweet
 a garden who had been born in and never
 stirred out of ,holborn4 ,it was not   
peculiar in ,sir ,william ,temple to    
think in that manner4  ,it is not wise1 
however1 to lay too much stress upon    
criticisms of this sort4 ,after all1 any
 phase of ,art does but express the mind
 of its day1 and it cannot do duty for  
the mind of another time4 ,the old order
 changeth1 yielding place to new1 and to
 take a critical attitude towards the   
forms of an older day is almost a       
necessity of the case2 they soon become 
curiosities4 ,yet we may fairly regret  

the want of tenderness in dealing with  
these gardens of the ,elizabethan and   
,jacobean eras1 for1 by all the laws of 
human expression1 they should be        
masterpieces4 ,the ground-chord of the  
garden-enterprise of those days was     
struck by ,bacon1 who rates buildings   
and palaces1 be they never so princely1 
as but gross handiworks where no garden 
is3 ,men come to build stately sooner   
than to garden finely1 as if gardening  
were the ,greater ,perfection--the truth
 of which saying is only too glaringly  
apparent in the relative conditions of  
the arts of architecture and of         
gardening in the present day6  ,by all  
the laws of human expression1 ,i say1   
these old gardens should be             
masterpieces4 ,the sixteenth century1   
which saw the ,english garden           
formulated1 was a time for grand        
enterprises2 indeed1 to this period is  
ascribed the making of ,england4 ,these 
gardens1 then1 are the handiwork of the 
makers of ,england1 and should bear the 

marks of heroes4 ,they are relics of the
 men and women who made our land both   
fine and famous in the days of the      
,tudors2 they represent the mellow fruit
 of the leisure1 the poetic reverie1 the
 patient craft of men versed in great   
affairs--big men1 who thought and did   
big things--men of splendid genius and  
stately notions--past-masters of the art
 of life who would drink life to the    
lees4  ,as gardeners1 these old         
statesmen were no dabblers4 ,they had   
the good fortune to live in a current of
 ideas of formal device that touched art
 at all points and was well calculated  
to assist the creative faculty in design
 of all kinds4 ,they lived before the   
art of bad gardening had been invented2 
before pretty thoughts had palled the   
taste1 before gardening had learnt      
routine2 while ,nature smiled a virgin  
smile and had a sense of unsolved       
mystery4 ,more than this1 garden-craft  
was then no mere craze or passing freak 
of fashion1 but a serious item in the   

round of home-life2 --gardening was a   
thing to be done as well as it could be 
done4 ,design was fresh and open to     
individual treatment--men needed an     
outlet for their love of1 their elation 
at1 the sight of beautiful things1 and  
behind them lay the background of       
far-reaching traditions to encourage1   
inspire1 protect experiment with the    
friendly shadow of authority4  ,an      
accomplished ,french writer has remarked
 that even the modest work of ,art may  
contain occasion for long processes of  
analysis4 ,very great laws1 he says1 may
 be illustrated in a very small compass4
 ,and so one thinks it is with the      
ancient garden4 ,looked at as a piece of
 design1 it is the blossom of ,english  
genius at one of its sunniest moments4  
,it is a bit of the history of our land4
 ,it embodies the characteristics of the
 mediaeval1 the ,elizabethan and        
,jacobean ages just as faithfully as do 
other phases of contemporary art4 ,it   
contains the same principle of beauty1  

the same sense of form1 that animated   
these2 it has the same curious turns of 
expression1 the same mixture of pedantry
 and subtle sweetness2 the same wistful 
daring and humorous sadness2 the same   
embroidery of nice fancy--half jocund1  
half grave1 as--shall we                
say--,shakespeare's plays and sonnets1  
,spenser's ,faerie ,queene1 ,milton's   
,comus1 ,more's ,utopia1 ,bacon's       
,essays1 ,purcell's ,madrigals1 ,john   
,thorpe's architecture at ,longleat4    
,the same spirit1 the same wit and fancy
 resides in each2 they differ only in   
the medium of expression4  ,to condemn  
old ,english gardening1 root and branch1
 for its false taste 7and it was not    
peculiar to ,walpole to think in that   
manner71 was1 in truth1 to indict our   
nation on a line of device wherein we   
excelled1 and to condemn device that    
represents the inspired dreams of some  
of ,england's elect sons4  ,to our sorry
 groundling minds the old pleasaunce may
 seem too rich and fantastic1 too       

spectacular1 too much idealised4 ,and if
 to be ,english one must needs be       
bourgeois1 the objection must stand4    
,here is developed garden-craft1 and    
development almost invariably means     
multiplicity of forms and a marked      
departure from primaeval simplicity4    
,grant1 if you will1 that ,art is       
carried too far1 and ,nature not carried
 far enough in the old garden1 yet did  
it deserve better treatment4 ,judged    
both from its human and its artistic    
side1 the place is as loveable as it is 
pathetic4 ,it has the pathos of all art 
that survives its creators1 the pathos  
of all abandoned human idols1 of all    
high human endeavour that is blown upon4
 ,what is more1 it holds1 as it were1   
the spent passion of men of ,utopian    
dreams1 the ideal 7in one kind7 of the  
spoiled children of culture1 the        
knight-errantry of the                  
,renascence--whose imagination soared   
after illimitable satisfaction1 who were
 avowedly bent upon transforming the    

brazen of this world into the golden1 to
 whom desire was but the first step to  
attainment1 and failure an unknown      
experience4  ,but even yet some may     
demur that the interest of the antique  
garden1 as we see it1 is due to ,nature 
direct1 and not to art-agencies4 ,it is 
,nature who gives it its artistic       
qualities of gradation1 contrast1 play  
of form and colour1 the flicker of      
sunshine through the foliage1 the       
shadows on the grass--not the master who
 begot the thing1 for has he not been   
dead1 and his vacant orbits choked with 
clay these two hundred years and more6  
,to him1 of course1 may be ascribed the 
primal thought of the place1 and1 say1  
some fifty years of active participation
 in its ordering and culture1 but for   
the rest--for its poetic excitement1 for
 its yearly accesses of beauty--are they
 not to be credited in full to the      
lenience of ,time and the generous      
operations of ,nature8  ,grant all that 
should rightly be granted to the        

disaffected grumbler1 and yet1 in ,mr   
,lowell's words for another1 yet a      
parallel case1 ,i plead that ,poets are 
always entitled to a royalty on whatever
 we find in their works2 for these fine 
creations as truly build themselves up  
in the brain as they are built up with  
deliberate thought4 ,if a garden owed   
none of its characteristics to its      
maker1 if it had not expressed the mind 
of its designer1 why the essential      
differences of the garden of this style 
and of that6 ,properly speaking1 the    
music of all gardens is framed out of   
the same simple gamut of ,nature's      
notes--it is but one music poured from  
myriad lips--yet out of the use of the  
same raw elements what a variety of     
tunes can be made1 each tune complete in
 itself6 ,and it is because we may      
identify the maker in his work2 because1
 like the unfinished air1 abruptly      
brought to a close at the master's      
death1 the place is much as it was first
 schemed1 one is jealous for the honour 

of the man whose eye prophesied its     
ultimate magic even as he initiated its 
plan1 and drafted its lines4  ,many an  
,english house has been hopelessly      
vulgarised and beggared by the          
banishment of the old pleasaunces of the
 days of ,elizabeth1 or of the ,jameses 
and ,charleses1 and their wholesale     
demolition there and then struck a blow 
at ,english gardening from which it has 
not yet recovered4 ,it may be admitted  
that1 in the case of an individual      
garden here and there1 the violation of 
these relics may be condoned on the     
heathen principle of tit for tat1       
because ,art had1 in the first instance1
 so to speak1 turned her back on some   
fair landscape that ,providence had     
provided upon the site1 preferring to   
focus man's eye within rather than      
without the garden's bounds1 therefore  
the vengeance is merited4 ,yet1 where   
change was desirable1 it had been better
 to modify than to destroy4      ,cut is
 the branch that might have grown full  

straight1     ,and burned is ,apollo's  
laurel bough4  ,certain it is that along
 with the girdle of high hedge or wall  
has gone that air of inviting mystery   
and homely reserve that our forefathers 
loved1 and which is to me one of the    
pleasantest traits of an old ,english   
garden1 best described as      ,a haunt 
of ancient peace4     ,,chapter ,v4     
,,the ,,landscape-,,garden4             
',pealing from ,jove to ,nature's bar   
,bold ,alteration pleades       ,large  
evidence2 but ,nature soon         ,her 
righteous doom areads4--,,spenser4      
,why were the old-fashioned gardens     
destroyed8 ,firstly1 because the        
traditional garden of the early part of 
the eighteenth century1 when the        
reaction set in1 represented a style    
which had run to seed1 and men were     
tired of it2 secondly1 because the taste
 for foreign trees and shrubs1 that had 
existed for a long time previously1 then
 came to a head1 and it was found that  
the old type of garden was not fitted   

for the display of the augmented stock  
of foreign material4 ,here was a new    
element in garden-craft1 a new chance of
 decoration in the way of local colours 
in planting1 which required a new       
adjustment of garden-effects2 and as    
there was some difficulty in            
accommodating the new and the old1 the  
problem was met by the abolition of the 
old altogether4  ,as to this matter of  
the sudden increase of specimen plants1 
,loudon remarks that in the earlier     
century the taste for foreign plants was
 confined to a few1 and they not wealthy
 persons2 but in the eighteenth century 
the taste for planting foreign trees    
extended itself among rich landed       
proprietors4 ,a host of amateurs1       
botanists1 and commercial gardeners were
 busily engaged in enriching the        
,british ,arboretum1 and the            
garden-grounds had to be arranged for   
new effects and a new mode of culture4  
,in ,loudon's ,arboretum 7p4 #abf7 is a 
list of the species of foreign trees and

 shrubs introduced into ,england up to  
the year #ahcj4 ,he calculates that the 
total number of specimens up to the time
 that he wrote was about #adjj1 but the 
numbers taken by centuries are3 in the  
sixteenth century1 #hi2 in the          
seventeenth century1 #aca2 in the       
eighteenth century1 #dde2 and in the    
first three decades of the nineteenth   
century1 #fii6  ,men stubbed up the old 
gardens because they had grown tired of 
their familiar types1 as they tire of   
other familiar things4 ,the eighteenth  
century was essentially a critical age1 
an age of enquiry1 and gardening1 along 
with art1 morals1 and religion1 came in 
for its share of coffee-house           
discussion1 and elaborate essay-writing1
 and nothing was considered             
satisfactory4 ,as to gardening1 it was  
not natural enough for the critics4 ,the
 works of ,salvator and ,poussin had    
pictured the grand and terrible in      
scenery1 ,thomson was writing           
naturalistic poetry1 ,rousseau          

naturalistic prose4 ,garden-ornament was
 too classical and formal for the       
varnished litterateur of the ,spectator 
and the ,guardian--too symmetrical for  
the jingling rhymester of a sing-song   
generation--too artificial for the      
essayist ',pealing from ,jove to        
,nature's bar1 albeit he is privately   
content to go on touching up his groves 
and grottoes at ,twickenham1 securing   
the services of a peer      ,to form his
 quincunx1 and to rank his vines4       
,gardens are looked upon as so much copy
 to the essayist4 ,what affected tastes 
have these critics6 ,what a confession  
of counterfeit love1 of selfish literary
 interest in gardens is this of         
,addison's3 ,i think there are as many  
kinds of gardening as of poetry4 ,your  
makers of parterres and flower-gardens  
are epigrammatists and sonneteers in    
this art2 contrivers of bowers and      
grottoes1 treillages and cascades1 are  
romance writers4 ,how beside nature1    
beside garden-craft1 are such pen-man's 

whimsies6 ,nothing to the true pleasure 
of a garden1 ,bacon would say4          
,walpole's essay on gardening is        
entertaining reading1 and his book gives
 us glimpses of the country-seats of all
 the great ladies and gentlemen who had 
the good fortune to be his              
acquaintances4 ,his condemnation of the 
geometrical style of gardening common in
 his day1 though quieter in tone than   
,pope's1 was none the less effective in 
promoting a change of style4 ,he tells  
how in ,kip's views of the seats of our 
nobility we have the same tiring and    
returning uniformity4 ,every house is   
approached by two or three gardens1     
consisting perhaps of a gravel-walk and 
two grass plats or borders of flowers4  
,each rises above the other by two or   
three steps1 and as many walks and      
terrasses2 and so many iron gates1 that 
we recollect those ancient romances in  
which every entrance was guarded by     
nymphs or dragons4 ,at ,lady ,orford's1 
at ,piddletown1 in ,dorsetshire1 there  

was1 when my brother married1 a double  
enclosure of thirteen gardens1 each1 ,i 
suppose1 not a hundred yards square1    
with an enfilade of correspondent gates2
 and before you arrived at these1 you   
passed a narrow gut between two         
terrasses that rose above your head1 and
 which were crowned by a line of        
pyramidal yews4 ,a bowling-green was all
 the lawn admitted in those times1 a    
circular lake the extent of             
magnificence4  ,such an air of truth and
 soberness pervades ,walpole's          
narrative1 and to so absurd an extent   
has formality been manifestly carried   
under the auspices of ,loudon and ,wise1
 who had stocked our gardens with       
giants1 animals1 monsters1 coats of     
arms1 mottoes in yew1 box1 and holly1   
that we are almost persuaded to be      
,vandals4 ,the compass and square1 were 
of more use in plantations than the     
nursery-man4 ,the measured walk1 the    
quincunx1 and the etoile imposed their  
unsatisfying sameness4444 ,trees were   

headed1 and their sides pared away2 many
 ,french groves seem green chests set   
upon poles4 ,seats of marble1 arbours1  
and summer-houses1 terminated every     
vista4 ,it is all very well for ,temple 
to recommend the regular form of garden4
 ,i should hardly advise any of these   
attempts cited by ,walpole1 in the form 
of gardens among us2 they are adventures
 of too hard achievement for any common 
hands4 ,the truth will out6 ,the dainter
 sense of garden-craft has vanished6    
,according to ,walpole1 garden-adventure
 is to be henceforth journeyman's work1 
and ,brown1 the immortal                
kitchen-gardener1 leads the way4  ,it   
were unfair to suspect that the         
exigencies of sprightly writing had     
carried ,walpole beyond the bounds of   
accuracy in his description of the      
stiff-garden as he knew it1 for things  
were in some respects very bad indeed4  
,at the same time he is so engrossed    
with his abuse of old ways of gardening1
 and advocacy of the                    

landscape-gardener's new-fangled        
notions1 that his account of            
garden-craft generally falls short of   
completeness4 ,he omits1 for instance1  
to notice the progress in floriculture  
and horticulture of this time1 the      
acquisitions being made in the          
ornamental foreign plants to be         
cultivated in the open ground1 the      
green-house1 and the stove4 ,he omits to
 note that ,loudon and ,wise stocked our
 gardens with more than giants1 animals1
 monsters1 c41 in yew and box and holly4
 ,because the names of these two        
worthies occur in this gardening        
text-book of ,walpole's1 all later      
essayists signal them out for blame4    
,but ,evelyn1 who ranks as one of the   
three of ,england's great gardeners of  
old days1 has a kindlier word for them4 
,he is dilating upon the advantage to   
the gardener of the high clipped hedge  
as a protection for his shrubs and      
flowers1 and goes on to particularise an
 oblong square1 palisadoed with a       

hornbeam hedge in that inexhaustible    
magazine at ,brompton ,park1 cultivated 
by those two industrious                
fellow-gardeners1 ,mr ,loudon and ,mr   
,wise4 ,this hedge protects the orange  
trees1 myrtles1 and other rare          
perennials and exotics from the         
scorching rays of the sun2 and it       
equally well shelters the flowers4 ,here
 the ,indian ,narcissus1 ,tuberoses1    
,japan ,lillies1 ,jasmines1 ,jonquills1 
,periclimena1 ,roses1 ,carnations1 with 
all the pride of the parterre1 intermixt
 between the tree-cases1 flowery vases1 
busts1 and statues1 entertain the eye1  
and breathe their redolent odours and   
perfumes to the smell4 ,clearly there is
 an advantage in being a gardener if we 
write about gardens 7provided you are   
not a mere landscape-gardener674  ,one  
cannot deny that ,horace ,walpole did   
well to expose the absurd vagaries which
 were being perpetrated about his time  
under ,dutch influences4 ,close alliance
 with ,holland through the ,house of    

,orange had affected every department of
 horticulture4 ,true1 it had enriched   
our gardens and conservatories with many
 rare and beautiful species of flowers  
and bulbs1 and had imbued the ,english  
collector with the tulip-mania4 ,so far 
good4 ,but to the same source we trace  
the reign of the shears in the ,english 
garden1 which made ,art in a ,garden    
ridiculous1 and gave occasion to the    
enemy to blaspheme4  ,the gardeners     
about ,london1 says ,mr ,lambert1       
writing to the ,linnaean ,transactions  
in #agab1 were remarkable for fine cut  
greens1 and clipt yews in the shapes of 
birds1 dogs1 men1 ships1 c4 ,mr4        
,parkinson in ,lambeth was much noticed 
for these things1 and he had besides a  
few myrtles1 oleanders1 and evergreens4 
,the old order changeth 444     ,lest   
one good custom should corrupt the      
world4  ,and now is ,art in a ,garden   
become ridiculous4 ,since the beginning 
of things ,english gardeners had clipped
 and trimmed their shrubs2 but had never

 carried the practice beyond a          
reasonable extent1 and had combined it  
with woody and shady effects4 ,with the 
onset of ,dutch influence               
country-aspects vanish4 ,nature is      
reduced to a prosaic level4 ,the        
traditional garden1 whose past had been 
one long series of noble chances in fine
 company1 now found content as the      
pedant's darling where it could have no 
opening for living romance1 but must be 
tricked out in stage conventions1 and   
dwindle more and more into a thing of   
shreds and patches6  ,having arrived at 
such a pass1 it was time that change    
should come1 and change did come1 with a
 vengeance6 ,but let us not suppose that
 the change was from wrong to right4    
,for1 indeed1 the revolution meant only 
that formality gone mad should be       
supplanted by informality gone equally  
mad4 ,and we may note as a significant  
fact1 that the point of departure is the
 destruction of the garden's boundaries1
 and the substitution of the ha-ha4 ,it 

was not for the wild improvers to       
realise how ,art that destroys its own  
boundaries is certainly doomed to soon  
have no country to boast of at all6 ,it 
proved so in this case4 ,from this      
moment1 the very thought of             
garden-ornament was clean put out of    
mind1 and the grass is carried up to the
 windows of the great house1 as though  
the place were nothing better than a    
farm-shanty in the wilds of             
,westmoreland6  ,but to return to the   
inauguration of the landscape-garden4   
,the hour produced its men in ,kent1 and
 the immortal ,brown1 as ,repton calls  
him4 ,like many another discovery1      
theirs was really due to an accident4   
,just as it was the closely-corked      
bottle that popped that gave birth to   
champagne1 so it was only when our      
heroes casually leaped the ha-ha that   
they had made that they realised that   
all ,england outside was one vast rustic
 garden1 from whence it were a shame to 
exclude anything6  ,so began the rage   

for making all the surroundings of a    
house assume a supposed appearance of   
rude ,nature4 ,levelling1 ploughing1    
stubbing-up1 was the order of the day4  
,the ,british navvy was in great        
request--in fact the day that ,kent and 
,brown discovered ,england was this     
worthy's natal day4 ,artificial gardens 
must be demolished as impostures1 and   
wriggling walks and turf put where they 
had stood4 ,avenues must be cut down or 
disregarded2 the groves1 the alleys1 the
 formal beds1 the terraces1 the         
balustrades1 the clipt hedges must be   
swept away as things intolerable4 ,for  
the landscape style does not countenance
 a straight line1 or terrace or         
architectural form1 or symmetrical beds 
about the house2 for to allow these     
would not be to photograph ,nature4 ,as 
carried into practice1 the style demands
 that the house shall rise abruptly from
 the grass1 and the general surface of  
the ground shall be characterised by    
smoothness and bareness 7like ,nature76 

,hence in the grounds of this period1   
house and country      ,wrapt all o'er  
in everlasting green     ,make one dull1
 vapid1 smooth and tranquil scene4      
,there is to my mind no more significant
 testimony to the attractiveness and    
loveableness of the regular garden as   
opposed to the opened-out barbarism of  
the landscape-gardener's invention1 than
 ,horace ,walpole's lament over the old 
gardens at ,houghton1#bi which has the  
force of testimony wrung from unwilling 
lips3--       ,when ,i had drank tea ,i 
strolled into the garden4 ,they told me 
it      was now called the              
'pleasure-ground4' ,what a dissonant    
idea of      pleasure6 ,those groves1   
those alleys1 where ,i have passed so   
many      charming moments1 are now     
stripped up1 or overgrown2 many fond    
paths ,i could not unravel1 though with 
a very exact clue in my      memory4 ,i 
met two gamekeepers and a thousand      
hares6 ,in the days      when all my    
soul was tuned to pleasure and vivacity1

 ,i hated      ,houghton and its        
solitude2 yet ,i loved this garden2 as  
now1 with      many regrets1 ,i love    
,houghton2--,houghton1 ,i know not what 
to call      it3 a monument of grandeur 
or ruin6--7,walpole's ,letters47        
,footnote #bi3 ,houghton was built by   
,sir ,r4 ,walpole1 between #agbb and    
#agch4 ,the garden was laid out in the  
stiff1 formal manner by ,eyre1 an       
imitator of ,bridgman1 and contained #bc
 acres4 ,the park contains some fine old
 beeches4 ,more than #ajjj cedars were  
blown down here in ,february #ahfj4     
,what a dissonant idea of pleasure1 this
 so-called pleasure-ground of the       
landscape-gardener6 ,those groves1 those
 alleys where ,i have passed so many    
charming moments1 stripped up6 ,how ,i  
loved this garden6 ,here is the biter   
bit1 and it were to be more than human  
not to smile6  ,with all the proper     
appliances at hand it did not take long 
to transform the stiff garden into the  
barbaric4 ,it did not take long to find 

out how not to do what civilization had 
so long been learning how to do6 ,the   
ancient ,geometric or ,regular style of 
garden--the garden of the aristocrat1   
with all its polished classicism--was to
 make way for the so-called             
,naturalesque or ,landscape style1 and  
the garden of the bourgeois4 ,hope rose 
high in the breasts of the new          
professoriate4 ,a boon6 a boon6 quoth   
the critic4 ,and there is deep joy in   
navvydom4 ,under the great leader1      
,brown1 writes ,repton 7,landscape      
,gardening1 p4 #cbg71 or rather those   
who patronised his discovery1 we were   
taught that ,nature was to be our only  
model4 ,it was a grand moment4 ,a       
,daniel had come to judgment6 ,nay1 did 
not ,brown live to establish a fashion  
in gardening which might have been      
expected to endure as long as ,nature   
should exist6  ,the ,landscape ,school  
of ,gardeners1 so-called1 has been the  
theme of a great deal of literature1 but
 with the exception of ,walpole's and   

,addison's essays1 and ,pope's admirable
 chaff1 very little has survived the    
interest it had at the moment of        
publication4  ,the other chief writers  
of this ,school1 in its early phase1 are
 ,george ,mason1 ,whately1#cj ,mason the
 poet1 and ,shenstone1 our moon-struck  
friend quoted above1 with his           
assignation seats with proper mottoes1  
urns to faithful lovers1 c4 ,dr ,johnson
 did not think much of ,shenstone's     
contributions to gardening3       ,he   
began from this time to point his       
prospects1 to diversify his             
surface1 to entangle his walks1 and to  
wind his waters1 which he      did with 
such judgement and such fancy as made   
his little domain      the envy of the  
great and the admiration of the         
skilful--a place to      be visited by  
travellers and copied by designers4     
,whether to      plant a walk in        
undulating curves1 and to place a bench 
at every      turn where there is an    
object to catch the view1 to make water 

run      where it will be heard1 and to 
stagnate where it will be seen2 to      
leave intervals where the eye will be   
pleased1 and to thicken the             
plantation where there is something to  
be hidden--demand any great      powers 
of the mind1 ,i will not enquire2       
perhaps a surly and sullen              
spectator may think such performances   
rather the sport than the      business 
of human reason4--7,dr ,johnson1 ,lives 
of the ,poets1      ,shenstone47        
,footnote #cj3 ,thomas ,whately's       
,observations on ,modern ,gardening1 was
 published in #aggj1 fifteen years      
before ,walpole's ,essay on ,modern     
,gardening4 ,gilpin's book ,on          
,picturesque ,beauty1 though published  
in part in #aghb1 belongs really to the 
second phase of the ,landscape ,school4 
,shenstone's ,unconnected ,thoughts on  
the ,garden was published in #agfd1 and 
is written pretty much from the         
standpoint of ,kent4 ,an ,essay on      
,design in ,gardening1 by ,g4 ,mason1   

was published in #agie4  ,whately's     
,observations on ,modern ,gardening1    
published in #aggj1 are well written and
 distinctly valuable as bearing upon the
 historical side of the subject4 ,it    
says little for his idea of the value of
 ,art in a garden1 or of the function of
 a garden as a refining influence in    
life1 to find ,whately recommending a   
plain field or a sheep-walk as part of a
 garden's embellishments--as an         
agreeable relief1 and even wilder       
scenes4  ,but what astounds one more is1
 that a writer of ,whately's calibre can
 describe ,kent's gardens at ,stowe1    
considered to be his masterpiece1 as a  
sample of the non-formality of the      
landscape-gardener's ,art1 while he     
takes elaborate pains to show that it is
 full of would-be artistic subterfuges  
in ,nature1 full of architectural shams 
throughout4 ,these gardens were begun by
 ,bridgman1 ,begun1 ,whately says1 when 
regularity was in fashion2 and the      
original boundary is still preserved on 

account of its magnificence1 for round  
the whole circuit1 of between three and 
four miles1 is carried a very broad     
gravel-walk1 planted with rows of trees1
 and open either to the park or the     
country2 a deep sunk-fence attends it   
all the way1 and comprehends a space of 
near #djj acres4 ,but in the interior   
spaces of the garden few traces of      
regularity appear2 where it yet remains 
in the plantations it is generally      
disguised2 every symptom almost of      
formality is obliterated from the       
ground2 and an octagon basin at the     
bottom is now converted into an         
irregular piece of water1 which receives
 on one hand two beautiful streams1 and 
falls on the other down a cascade into a
 lake4  ,and then follows a list of sham
 architectural features that are        
combined with sham views and prospects  
to match4 ,the whole space is divided   
into a number of scenes1 each           
distinguished with taste and fancy2 and 
the changes are so frequent1 so sudden  

and complete1 the transitions so        
artfully conducted1 that the ideas are  
never continued or repeated to satiety4 
,in the front of the house two elegant  
,doric pavilions4 ,on the brow of some  
rising grounds a ,corinthian arch4 ,on a
 little knoll an open ,ionic rotunda--an
 ,egyptian pyramid stands on its brow2  
the ,queen's ,pillar in a recess on the 
descent1 the ,king's ,pillar elsewhere2 
all the three buildings mentioned are   
peculiarly adapted to a garden scene4   
,in front of a wood three pavilions     
joined by arcades1 all of the ,ionic    
order1 characteristically proper for a  
garden1 and so purely ornamental4 ,then 
a ,temple of ,bacchus1 the ,elysian     
fields1 ,british remains2 misshaped elms
 and ragged firs are frequent in a scene
 of solitude and gloom1 which the trunks
 of dead trees assist4 ,then a large    
,gothic building1 with slated roofs1 in 
a noble confusion2 then the ,elysian    
fields1 seen from the other side1 a     
,palladian bridge1 ,doric porticoes1 c1 

the whole thing finished off with the   
,temple of ,concord and ,victory1       
probably meant as a not-undeserved      
compliment to the successfully chaotic  
skill of the landscape-gardener1 who is 
nothing if not irregular1 natural1      
non-formal1 non-fantastical1            
non-artificial1 and non-geometrical4    
,two other points about ,whately puzzle 
me4 ,how comes he to strain at the gnat 
of formality in the old-fashioned       
garden1 yet readily swallow the camel at
 ,stowe8 ,how can he harmonise his      
appreciation of the elaborately         
contrived and painfully assorted shams  
at ,stowe1 with his recommendation1 of a
 sheep-walk in your garden as an        
agreeable relief1 and even wilder       
scenes8  ,whether the beauty of the     
general disposition of the ground at    
,stowe is to be attributed to ,kent or  
to ,bridgman1 who began the work1 as    
,whately says1 when regularity was in   
fashion1 ,i cannot say4 ,it is right to 
observe1 however1 that the prevailing   

characteristic of ,kent's and ,brown's  
landscapes was their smooth and bald    
surface4 ,why this art has been called  
'landscape-gardening1' says the         
plain-spoken ,repton1 perhaps he who    
gave it the title may explain4 ,i can   
see no reason1 unless it be the efficacy
 which it has shown in destroying       
landscapes1 in which1 indeed1 it seems  
infallible4 7,repton1 p4 #cee47 ,our    
virtuosi1 said ,sir ,william ,chambers1 
have scarcely left an acre of shade1 or 
three trees growing in a line from the  
,land's ,end to the ,tweed4  ,it did not
 take the wiser spirits long to realise 
that ,nature left alone was more        
natural4 ,and this same ,repton1 who    
began by praising the great leader      
,brown1 has to confess again and again  
that1 so far as results go1 he is       
mistaken4 ,the ground1 he laments1 must 
be everlastingly moved and altered4 ,one
 of the greatest difficulties ,i have   
experienced in practice proceeds from   
that fondness for levelling so prevalent

 in all ,brown's workmen2 every hillock 
is by them lowered1 and every hollow    
filled1 to produce a level surface4     
7,repton1 p4 #cdb47 ,or again 7p4 #cdg73
 ,there is something so fascinating in  
the appearance of water1 that ,mr ,brown
 thought it carried its own excuse1     
however unnatural the situation2 and    
therefore1 in many places1 under his    
direction1 ,i have found water1 on the  
tops of the hills1 which ,i have been   
obliged to remove into lower ground     
because the deception was not           
sufficiently complete to satisfy the    
mind as well as the eye4 ,indeed1 in    
this matter of levelling1 ,brown's      
system does not1 on the face of it1     
differ from ,le ,notre's1 where the     
natural contour of the landscape was not
 of much account2 or rather1 it was     
thought the better if it had no natural 
contour at all1 but presented a flat    
plain or plateau with no excrescences to
 interfere with the designer's schemes4 
,so much1 then1 for the pastoral        

simplicity of ,nature edited by the     
landscape-gardener4 ,and let us note    
that under the auspices of the new      
regime1 not only is ,nature to be       
changed1 but changed more than was ever 
dreamt of before2 the transformation    
shall at once be more determined in its 
character and more deceptive than had   
previously been attempted4 ,we were to  
have an artistically natural world1 not 
a naturally artistic one2 the face of   
the landscape was to be purged of its   
modern look and made to look primaeval4 
,and in this doing1 or undoing1 of      
things1 the only art that was to be     
admitted was the art of consummate      
deceit1 which shall satisfy the mind as 
well as the eye4 ,yet call the man pope 
or presbyter1 and beneath his clothes he
 is the same man6 ,there is not a pin to
 choose as regards artificiality in the 
aims of the two schools1 only in the    
results4 ,the naked or undressed garden 
has studied irregularity1 while the     
dressed garden has studied regularity   

and style4 ,the first has1 perhaps1 an  
excessive regard for expression1 the    
other has an emphatic scorn for         
expression4 ,one garden has its plotted 
levels1 its avenues1 its vistas1 its    
sweeping lawns1 its terraces1 its       
balustrades1 colonnades1 geometrical    
beds1 gilded temples1 and sometimes its 
fountains that won't play1 and its fine 
vases full of nothing6 ,the other begins
 with fetching back the chaos of a      
former world1 and has for its category  
of effects1 sham primaevalisms1         
exaggerated wildness1 tortured          
levellings1 cascades1 rocks1 dead trunks
 of trees1 ruined castles1 lakes on the 
top of hills1 and sheep-runs hard by    
your windows4 ,one school cannot keep   
the snip of the scissors off tree and   
shrub1 the other mimics ,nature's       
fortuitous wildness in proof of his     
disdain for the white lies of ,art4     
,and all goes to show1 does it not8 that
 inasmuch as the art of gardening       
implies craft1 and as man's imitation of

 ,nature is bound to be unlike ,nature1 
it were wise to be frankly inventive in 
gardening on ,art lines4 ,success may   
attend one's efforts in the direction of
 ,art1 but in the direction of ,nature1 
never4  ,the smooth1 bare1 and almost   
bald appearance which characterises     
,brown and ,kent's school fails to      
satisfy for long1 and there springs up  
another school which deals largely in   
picturesque elements1 and rough         
intricate effects4 ,the principles of   
the ,picturesque ,school1 as it was     
called1 are to be found in the writings 
of the ,rev4 ,william ,gilpin and ,sir  
,uvedale ,price4 ,their books are full  
of careful observations upon the general
 composition of landscape-scenery1 and  
what was then called ,landscape         
,architecture1 as though every ,english 
building of older days that was worth a 
glance had not been ,landscape          
,architecture fit for its site6         
,gilpin's writings contain an admirable 
discourse upon ,forest ,scenery1 well   

illustrated4 ,this work is in eight     
volumes1 in part published in #aghb1 and
 it consists mainly in an account of the
 author's tours in every part of ,great 
,britain1 with a running commentary on  
the beauties of the scenery1 and a      
description of the important country    
seats he passed on the way4 ,price      
helped by his writings to stay the rage 
for destroying avenues and terraces1 and
 we note that he is fully alive to the  
necessity of uniting a country-house    
with the surrounding scenery by         
architectural adjuncts4  ,the taste for 
picturesque gardening was doubtless     
helped by the growing taste for         
landscape painting1 exhibited in the    
works of the school of ,wilson and      
,gainsborough1 and in the pastoral      
writings of ,thomson1 ,crabbe1 ,cowper1 
and ,gray4 ,it would farther be         
accelerated1 as we suggested at the     
outset of this chapter1 by the large    
importation of foreign plants and shrubs
 now going on4  ,what is known as the   

,picturesque ,school soon had for its   
main exponent ,repton4 ,he was a genius 
in his way--a born gardener1#ca able and
 thoughtful in his treatments1 and      
distinguished among his fellows by a    
broad and comprehensive grasp of the    
whole character and surroundings of a   
site1 in reference to the general       
section of the land1 the style of the   
house to which his garden was allied1   
and the objects for which it was to be  
used4 ,the sterling quality of his      
writings did much to clear the air of   
the vapourings of the critics who had   
gone before him1 and his practice1      
founded as it was upon sound principles1
 redeemed the absurdities of the earlier
 phase of his school and preserved      
others from further development of the  
silly rusticities upon which their mind 
seemed bent4 ,although some of his ideas
 may now be thought pedantic and        
antiquated1 the books which contain them
 will not die4 ,passages like the       
following mark the man and his aims3 ,i 

do not profess to follow ,le ,notre or  
,brown1 but1 selecting beauties from the
 style of each1 to adopt so much of the 
grandeur of the former as may accord    
with a palace1 and so much of the grace 
of the latter as may call forth the     
charms of natural landscape4 ,each has  
its proper situation2 and good taste    
will make fashion subservient to good   
sense 7p4 #bcd74 ,in the rage for       
picturesque beauty1 let us remember that
 the landscape holds an inferior rank to
 the historical picture2 one represents 
nature1 the other relates to man in a   
state of society 7p4 #bcf74  ,footnote  
#ca3 ,loudon calls this ,school         
,repton's1 the ,gardenesque ,school1 its
 characteristic feature being the       
display of the beauty of trees and other
 plants individually4  ,repton sums up  
the whole of his teaching in the preface
 to his ,theory and ,practice of        
,landscape ,gardening under the form of 
objections to prevailing errors1 and    
they are so admirable that ,i cannot    

serve the purposes of my book better    
than to insert them here4  ,objection   
,no4 #a4 ,there is no error more        
prevalent in modern gardening1 or more  
frequently carried to excess1 than      
taking away hedges to unite many small  
fields into one extensive and naked lawn
 before plantations are made to give it 
the appearance of a park2 and where     
ground is subdivided by sunk fences1    
imaginary freedom is dearly purchased at
 the expense of actual confinement4     
,no4 #b4 ,the baldness and nakedness    
round the house is part of the same     
mistaken system1 of concealing fences to
 gain extent4 ,a palace1 or even an     
elegant villa1 in a grass field1 appears
 to me incongruous2 yet ,i have seldom  
had sufficient influence to correct this
 common error4  ,no4 #c4 ,an approach   
which does not evidently lead to the    
house1 or which does not take the       
shortest course1 cannot be right4 7,this
 rule must be taken with certain        
limitations47 ,the shortest road across 

a lawn to a house will seldom be found  
graceful1 and often vulgar4 ,a road     
bordered by trees in the form of an     
avenue may be straight without being    
vulgar2 and grandeur1 not grace or      
elegance1 is the expression expected to 
be produced4  ,no4 #d4 ,a poor man's    
cottage1 divided into what is called a  
pair of lodges1 is a mistaken expedient 
to mark importance in the entrance to a 
park4  ,no4 #e4 ,the entrance-gate      
should not be visible from the mansion1 
unless it opens into a courtyard4  ,no4 
#f4 ,the plantation surrounding a place 
called a ,belt ,i have never advised2   
nor have ,i ever willingly marked a     
drive1 or walk1 completely round the    
verge of a park1 except in small villas1
 where a dry path round a person's own  
field is always more interesting than   
any other walk4  ,no #g4 ,small         
plantations of trees1 surrounded by a   
fence1 are the best expedients to form  
groups1 because trees planted singly    
seldom grow well2 neglect of thinning   

and removing the fence has produced that
 ugly deformity called a ,clump4  ,no4  
#h4 ,water on a eminence1 or on the side
 of a hill1 is among the most common    
errors of ,mr ,brown's followers2 in    
numerous instances ,i have been allowed 
to remove such pieces of water from the 
hills to the valleys1 but in many my    
advice has not prevailed4  ,no4 #i4     
,deception may be allowable in imitating
 the works of ,nature4 ,thus artificial 
rivers1 lakes1 and rock scenery can only
 be great by deception1 and the mind    
acquiesces in the fraud after it is     
detected1 but in works of ,art every    
trick ought to be avoided4 ,sham        
churches1 sham ruins1 sham bridges1 and 
everything which appears what it is not1
 disgusts when the trick is discovered4 
,no4 #aj4 ,in buildings of every kind   
the character should be strictly        
observed4 ,no incongruous mixture can be
 justified4 ,to add ,grecian to ,gothic1
 or ,gothic to ,grecian1 is equally     
absurd2 and a sharp pointed arch to a   

garden gate or a dairy window1 however  
frequently it occurs1 is not less       
offensive than ,grecian architecture1 in
 which the standard rules of relative   
proportion are neglected or violated4   
,the perfection of landscape-gardening  
consists in the fullest attention to    
these principles1 ,utility1 ,proportion1
 and ,unity1 or harmony of parts to the 
whole4 7,repton1 ,landscape ,gardening1 
pp4 #abh-i47  ,the best advice one can  
give to a young gardener is--know your  
,repton4  ,the writings of the new      
school of gardening1 of which ,repton is
 a notable personage in its later phase1
 are not1 however1 on a par with the    
writings of the old traditional school1 
either as pleasant garden literature1 or
 in regard to broad human interest or   
artistic quality4 ,they are hard and    
critical1 and never lose the savour of  
the heated air of controversy in which  
they were penned4 ,indeed1 ,i can think 
of no more sure and certain cure for a  
bad attack of garden-mania--nothing that

 will sooner wipe the bloom off your    
enjoyment of natural beauty--than a     
course of reading from the ,classics of 
,landscape-garden literature6 ,i only   
sound the clarion1 said the urbane      
master-gardener of an earlier day1 but  
,i enter not into the battle4 ,but these
 are at one another's throats6 ,who     
enters here must leave his dreams of    
fine gardening behind1 for he will find 
himself in a chilly1 disenchanted world1
 with nothing more romantic to feed his 
imagination upon than ,remarks on the   
genius of the late ,mr4 ,brown1         
,critical enquiries1 ,observations on   
taste1 ,difference between landscape    
gardening and painting1 ,price upon     
,repton1 ,repton upon ,price1 ,repton   
upon ,knight1 further answers to ,messrs
 ,price and ,knight1 c4 ,but all this is
 desperately dull reading1 hurtful to   
one's imagination1 fatal to             
garden-fervour4#cb ,and naturally so1   
for analysis of the processes of        
garden-craft carried too far begets loss

 of faith in all4 ,analysis is a        
kill-joy1 destructive of dreams of      
beauty4 ,we murder to dissect4 ,that was
 a true word of the cynic of that day1  
who summed up current controversy upon  
gardening in the opinion that the works 
of ,nature were well executed1 but in a 
bad taste4 ,the quidnuncs' books about  
gardening are about as much calculated  
to give one delight1 as the music the   
child gets out of the strings of an     
instrument that it broke for the pride  
of dissection4 ,even ,addison1 with the 
daintiest sense and prettiest pen of    
them all1 shows how thoroughly gardening
 had lost        444 its happy1 country 
tone1     ,lost it too soon1 and learnt 
a stormy note     ,of men               
contention-tost1--  as he thrums out his
 laboured coffee-house conceit4 ,i think
 there are as many kinds of gardening as
 poetry2 your makers of parterres and   
flower-gardens are epigrammatists and   
sonneteers in this art2 contrivers of   
bowers and grottoes1 treillages1 and    

cascades1 are ,romance writers4 ,wise   
and ,loudon are our heroic poets4 ,nor  
is his elaborate argument meant to prove
 the gross inferiority of ,art in a     
garden to unadorned ,nature more        
inspiring4 ,nay1 what is one to make of 
even the logic of such argument as this8
 ,if the products of ,nature rise in    
value according as they more or less    
resemble those of ,art1 we may be sure  
that artificial works receive a greater 
advantage from their resemblance of such
 as are natural4 7,spectator47 ,but who 
does apply the ,art-standard to ,nature1
 or value her products as they resemble 
those of ,art8 ,and has not ,sir ,walter
 well said3 ,nothing is more the child  
of ,art than a garden8 ,and ,loudon3    
,all art1 to be acknowledged1 as art    
must be avowed4  ,footnote #cb3 ,a      
candid friend thus writes to ,repton3   
,you may have perceived that ,i am      
rather too much inclined to the ,price  
and ,knight party1 and yet ,i own to you
 that ,i have been often so much        

disgusted by the affected and technical 
language of connoisseurship1 that ,i    
have been sick of pictures for a month1 
and almost of ,nature1 when the same    
jargon was applied to her4 7,repton1 p4 
#bcb47  ,one prefers to this cold       
,pindaric garden-homage the unaffected1 
direct delight in the sweets of a garden
 of an earlier day2 to realise with old 
,mountaine how your garden shall produce
 a jucunditie of minde2 to think with   
,bishop ,hall1 as he gazes at his       
tulips1 ,these ,flowers are the true    
,clients of the ,sunne2 to be brought to
 old ,lawson's state of simple          
ravishment1 ,what more delightsome than 
an infinite varietie of sweet-smelling  
flowers8 decking with sundry colours the
 green mantle of the ,earth1 colouring  
not onely the earth1 but decking the    
ayre1 and sweetning every breath and    
spirit2 to taste the joys of living as1 
taking ,robert ,burton's hand1 you walk 
amongst orchards1 gardens1 bowers1      
mounts and arbours1 artificial          

wildernesses1 green thickets1 groves1   
lawns1 rivulets1 fountains1 and such    
like pleasant places1 between wood and  
water1 in a fair meadow1 by a river     
side1 to disport in some pleasant plain 
or park1 must needs be a delectable     
recreation2 to be inoculated with old   
,gerarde of the garden-mania as he      
bursts forth1 ,go forward in the name of
 ,god3 graffe1 set1 plant1 nourishe up  
trees in every corner of your grounde2  
to trace with ,temple the lines and     
features that go to make the witchery of
 the garden at ,moor ,park1 in all kinds
 the most beautiful and perfect1 at     
least in the ,figure and ,disposition1  
that ,i have ever seen1 and which you   
may follow if you are not above the     
,regards of ,common ,expence2 to hearken
 to ,bacon expatiate upon the ,art which
 is indeed the purest of all humane     
pleasure1 the greatest refreshment to   
the ,spirits of man2 to feel in what he 
says the value of an ideal1 the magic of
 a style backed by passion--to have     

garden precepts wrapped in pretty       
metaphors 7such as that because the     
,breath of ,flowers is far ,sweeter in  
the ,air--where it comes and goes like  
the warbling of ,musick--than in the    
,hand1 therefore nothing is more fit for
 that ,delight than to know what be the 
,flowers and ,plants that do best       
perfume the ,air27--to be taught how to 
order a garden to suit all the months of
 the year1 and have things of beauty    
enumerated according to their           
seasons--to feel rapture at the         
sweet-breathing presence of ,art in a   
garden--to learn from one who knows how 
to garden in a grand manner1 and yet be 
finally assured that beauty does not    
require a great stage1 that the things  
thrown in for state and magnificence are
 but nothing to the true pleasure of a  
garden--this is garden-literature worth 
reading6  ,compared with the frank      
raptures of such writings as these1 the 
laboured treatises of the               
landscape-school are but petty hagglings

 over the mint and cummin of things4    
,you go to the writings of the masters  
of the old formality1 to come away      
invigorated as by a whiff of mountain   
air straight off ,helicon2 they shall   
give one fresh enthusiasm for ,nature1  
fresh devotion to ,art1 fresh love for  
beautiful things4 ,but from the other-- 
,the bloom is gone1 and with the bloom  
go ,i--  they deal with technicalities  
in the affected language of             
connoisseurship2 they reveal a          
disenchanted world1 a world of exploded 
hopes given over to the navvies and the 
critics2 and it is no wonder that       
writings so prompted should have no     
charm for posterity2 charm they never   
had4 ,they are dry as summer dust4  ,for
 the honour of ,english gardening1 and  
before closing this chapter1 ,i would   
like to recall that betweenity--the     
garden of the transition--done at the   
very beginning of the century of        
revolution1 which unites something of   
the spirit of the old and of the new    

schools4 ,here is ,sir ,walter ,scott's 
report of the ,kelso garden as he first 
knew it1 and after it had been mauled by
 the landscape-gardener4 ,it was a      
garden of seven or eight acres adjacent 
to the house of an ancient maiden lady3 
,it was full of long straight walks     
between hedges of yew and      hornbeam1
 which rose tall and close on every     
side4 ,there were      thickets of      
flowering shrubs1 a bower1 and an       
arbour1 to which      access was        
obtained through a little maze of       
contorted walks1      calling itself a  
labyrinth4 ,in the centre of the bower  
was a      splendid ,platanus or        
,oriental plane1 a huge hill of leaves1 
one of      the noblest specimens of    
that regularly beautiful tree which we  
remember to have seen4 ,in different    
parts of the garden were fine           
ornamental trees which had attained     
great size1 and the orchard was         
filled with fruit-trees of the best     
description4 ,there were seats      and 

trellis-walks1 and a banqueting-house4  
,even in our time this      little      
scene1 intended to present a formal     
exhibition of vegetable      beauty1 was
 going fast to decay4 ,the parterres of 
flowers were no      longer watched by  
the quiet and simple friends under whose
      auspices they had been planted1   
and much of the ornament of the         
domain had been neglected or destroyed  
to increase its productive      value4  
,we visited it lately1 after an absence 
of many years4 ,its      air of retreat1
 the seclusion which its alleys afforded
 was gone2      the huge ,platanus had  
died1 like most of its kind1 in the     
beginning      of this century2 the     
hedges were cut down1 the trees stubbed 
up1      and the whole character of the 
place so much destroyed that ,i was     
glad when ,i could leave it4--7,essay on
 ,landscape ,gardening1      ,quarterly 
,review1 #ahbh4cc7  ,footnote #cc3 ,the 
,praise of ,gardens1 pp4 #ahe-f4        
,another garden1 of later date than this

 at ,kelso1 and somewhat less artistic1 
is that described by ,mr ,henry ,a4     
,bright in ,the ,english ,flower        
,garden4#cd       ,one of the most      
beautiful gardens ,i ever knew depended 
almost      entirely on the arrangement 
of its lawns and shrubberies4 ,it had   
certainly been most carefully and       
adroitly planned1 and it had      every 
advantage in the soft climate of the    
,west of ,england4 ,the      various    
lawns were divided by thick shrubberies1
 so that you      wandered on from one  
to the other1 and always came on        
something      new4 ,in front of these  
shrubberies was a large margin of       
flower-border1 gay with the most        
effective plants and annuals4 ,at       
the corner of the lawn a standard       
,magnolia grandiflora of great      size
 held up its chaliced blossoms2 at      
another a tulip-tree was      laden with
 hundreds of yellow flowers4 ,here a    
magnificent      ,salisburia mocked the 
foliage of the maiden-hair2 and here an 

old      cedar swept the grass with its 
large pendent branches4 ,but the main   
breadth of each lawn was never          
destroyed1 and past them you might      
see the reaches of a river1 now in one  
aspect1 now in another4 ,each      view 
was different1 and each was a fresh     
enjoyment and surprise4       ,a few    
years ago and ,i revisited the place2   
the 'improver' had been      at work1   
and had been good enough to open up the 
view4      ,shrubberies had disappeared1
 and lawns had been thrown together4    
,the pretty peeps among the trees were  
gone1 the long vistas had      become   
open spaces1 and you saw at a glance all
 that there was to      be seen4 ,of    
course the herbaceous borders1 which    
once contained      numberless rare and 
interesting plants1 had disappeared1 and
 the      lawn in front of the house was
 cut up into little beds of red         
pelargoniums1 yellow calceolarias1 and  
the rest4  ,footnote #cd3 ,ibid41 p4    
#bif4  ,in this example we miss the     

condensed beauty and sweet austerities  
of the older garden at ,kelso3          
nevertheless1 it represents a phase of  
workmanship which1 for its real insight 
into the secrets of garden-beauty1 we   
may well be proud of1 and deplore its   
destruction at the hands of the         
landscape-gardener4  ,all arts are      
necessarily subject to progression of   
type4 ,man cannot escape from his time1 
says ,mr ,morley1 and with changed times
 come changed influences4 ,but1 then1 to
 progress is not to change3 to progress 
is to live1 and one phase of healthy    
progression will tread the heels of that
 which precedes it4 ,the restless       
changeful methods of modern gardening   
are1 however1 not to be ascribed to the 
healthy development of one consistent   
movement1 but to chaos--to the          
revolution that ensued upon the         
overthrow of tradition--to the          
indeterminateness of men who have no    
guiding principles1 who take so many    
wild leaps in the dark1 in the course of

 which1 rival champions jostle one      
another and only the fittest survives4  
,in treating of ,modern ,english        
,gardening1 it is difficult to make our 
way along the tortuous path of change1  
development it is not1 that set in with 
the banishment of ,art in a garden4     
,critical writers have done their best  
to unravel things1 to find the relation 
of each fractured phase1 and to give    
each phase a descriptive name1 but there
 are still many unexplained points1 many
 contradictions that are unsolved1 to   
which ,i have already alluded4          
,loudon's ,introduction to ,repton's    
,landscape ,gardening gives perhaps the 
most intelligible account of the whole  
matter4 ,the art of laying out grounds  
has been displayed in two very distinct 
styles3 the first of which is called the
 ,ancient ,roman1 ,geometric1 ,regular1 
or ,architectural ,style2 and the second
 the ,modern1 ,english1#ce ,irregular1  
,natural1 or ,landscape ,style4         
,footnote #ce3 ,this is a little        

unpatriotic of ,loudon to imply that the
 ,english had no garden-style till the  
#ahth century1 but one can stand a great
 deal from ,loudon4  ,we have1 he says1 
the ,italian1 the ,french1 and the      
,dutch ,schools of the ,geometric       
,style4 ,the ,modern1 or ,landscape     
,style1 when it first displayed itself  
in ,english country residences1 was     
distinctly marked by the absence of     
everything that had the appearance of a 
terrace1 or of architectural forms1 or  
lines1 immediately about the house4 ,the
 house1 in short1 rose abruptly from the
 lawn1 and the general surface of the   
ground was characterised by smoothness  
and bareness4 ,this constituted the     
first ,school of the ,landscape ,style1 
introduced by ,kent and ,brown4  ,this  
manner was followed by the romantic or  
,picturesque ,style1 which inaugurates a
 ,school which aimed at producing       
architectural tricks and devices1 allied
 with scenery of picturesque character  
and sham rusticity4 ,the conglomeration 

at ,stowe1 albeit that it is attributed 
to ,kent1 shows what man can do in the  
way of heroically wrong garden-craft4   
,to know truly how to lay out a garden  
,after a more ,grand and ,rural ,manner 
than has been done before1 you cannot do
 better than get ,batty ,langley's ,new 
,principles of ,gardening1 and among    
other things you have rules whereby you 
may concoct natural extravagances1 how  
you shall prime prospects1 make         
landscapes that are pictures of nothing 
and very like2 how to copy hills1       
valleys1 dales1 purling streams1 rocks1 
ruins1 grottoes1 precipices1            
amphitheatres1 c4  ,the writings of     
,gilpin and ,price were effective in    
undermining ,kent's ,school2 they helped
 to check the rage for destroying       
avenues and terraces1 and insisted upon 
the propriety of uniting a country-house
 with the surrounding scenery by        
architectural appendages4 ,the leakage  
from the ranks of ,kent's ,school was   
not all towards the ,picturesque        

,school1 but to what ,loudon terms      
,repton's ,school1 which may be         
considered as combining all that was    
excellent in what had gone before4      
,following upon these phases is one that
 is oddly called the ,gardenesque       
,style1 the leading feature of which is 
that it illustrates the beauty of trees1
 and other plants individually2 in      
short1 it is the specimen style4        
,according to the practice of all       
previous phases of modern gardening1    
trees1 shrubs1 and flowers were         
indiscriminately mixed and crowded      
together1 in shrubberies or other       
plantations4 ,according to the          
,gardenesque ,school1 all the trees and 
shrubs are arranged to suit their kinds 
and dimensions1 and to display them to  
advantage4 ,the ablest exponents of the 
school are ,loudon in the recent past1  
and ,messrs ,marnock and ,robinson in   
the present1 and their method is based  
upon ,loudon4  ,to know how to lay out a
 garden after the most approved modern  

fashion we have but to turn to the      
deservedly popular pages of ,the        
,english ,flower ,garden4 ,this book    
contains not only model designs and     
commended examples from various existing
 gardens1 but text contributed by some  
seventy professional and amateur        
gardeners4 ,even the gardener who has   
other ideals and larger ambitions than  
are here expected1 heartily welcomes a  
book so well stored with modern         
garden-lore up to date1 with suggestions
 for new aspects of vegetation1 new     
renderings of plant life1 and must      
earnestly desire to see any system of   
gardening made perfect after its kind-- 
444 ,i wish the sun should shine     ,on
 all men's fruits and flowers1 as well  
as mine4  ,gardening is1 above all      
things1 a progressive ,art which has    
never had so fine a time to display its 
possibilities as now1 if we were only   
wise enough to freely employ old        
experiences and modern opportunities4   
,people are1 however1 so readily content

 with their stereotyped models1 with    
barren imitations1 with their petty list
 of specimens1 when instead of          
half-a-dozen kinds of plants1 their     
garden has room for hundreds of         
different plants of fine form--hardy or 
half-hardy1 annual and bulbous--which   
would equally well suit the ,british    
garden and add to its wealth of beauty  
by varied colourings in spring1 summer1 
and autumn4 ,at present the choke-muddle
 shrubbery1 in which the poor flowering 
shrubs dwindle and kill each other1     
generally supports a few ill-grown and  
ill-chosen plants1 but it is mainly     
distinguished for wide patches of bare  
earth in summer1 over which1 in better  
hands1 pretty green things might crowd4 
,the specimen plant has no chance of    
displaying itself under such conditions4
         99       99       99       99  
99  ,into so nice a subject as the      
practice of ,landscape-gardening of the 
present day it is not my intention to   
enter in detail1 and for two good       

reasons4 ,in the first place1 the       
doctrines of a sect are best known by   
the writings of its representatives2 and
 in this case1 happily1 both writings   
and representatives are plentiful4      
,secondly1 ,i do not see that there is  
much to chronicle4 ,landscape-gardening 
is1 in a sense1 still in its fumbling   
stage2 it has not increased its         
resources1 or done anything heroic1 even
 on wrong lines2 it has not advanced    
towards any permanent1 definable system 
of ornamentation since it began its     
gyrations in the last century4 ,its     
rival champions still beat the air4     
,even ,repton was better off than the   
men of to-day1 for he had1 at least1 his
 ,protestant formulary of ,ten          
,objections to swear by1 which mark     
those errors or absurdities in modern   
gardening and architecture to which ,i  
have never willingly subscribed 7p4     
#abg1 ,theory and ,practice of          
,landscape ,gardening1 #ahjc1 quoted in 
full above74  ,but the present race of  

landscape-gardeners are1 it strikes me1 
as much at sea as ever4 ,true they threw
 up traditional methods as unworthy1 but
 they had not learnt their own ,art     
according to ,nature before they began  
to practise it2 and they are still in   
the throes of education4 ,their         
intentions are admirable beyond telling1
 but their work exhibits in the grossest
 forms the very vices they condemn in   
the contrary school2 for the expression 
of their ideas is self-conscious1       
strained1 and pointless4 ,to know at a  
glance their position towards ,art in a 
garden1 how crippled their resources1   
how powerless to design1 let me give an 
extract from ,mr ,robinson4 ,he is      
speaking of an old-fashioned garden1    
,one of those classical gardens1 the    
planners of which prided themselves upon
 being able to give ,nature lessons of  
good behaviour1 to teach her geometry   
and the fine ,art of irreproachable     
lines2 but ,nature abhors lines2#cf she 
is for geometers a reluctant pupil1 and 

if she submits to their tyranny she does
 it with bad grace1 and with the firm   
resolve to take eventually her revenge4 
,man cannot conquer the wildness of her 
disposition1 and so soon as he is no    
longer at hand to impose his will1 so   
soon as he relaxes his care1 she        
destroys his work 7p4 viii41 ,english   
,flower ,garden74 ,this is indeed to    
concede everything to ,nature1 to deny  
altogether the mission of ,art in a     
garden4  ,footnote #cf3 ,for which      
reason1 ,i suppose1 ,mr ,robinson1 in   
his model ,non-geometrical ,gardens 7p4 
#e71 humbly skirts his ground with a    
path which as nearly represents a       
tortured horse-shoe as ,nature would    
permit2 and his trees he puts in a      
happy-go-lucky way1 and allows them to  
nearly obliterate his path at their own 
sweet will6 ,no wonder he does not fear 
,nature's revenge1 where is so little   
,art to destroy6  ,and even the ,school 
that is rather kinder to ,art1 more     
lenient to tradition1 represented by ,mr

 ,milner--even he1 in his admirable book
 upon the ,art and ,practice of         
,landscape ,gardening 7#ahij71 is the   
champion of ,nature1 not of ,art1 in a  
garden4 ,nature still seems to work in  
fetters1 he says1 and he would form     
bases for a better practice of the ,art 
7p4 #d74 ,again1 ,nature is the great   
exemplar that ,i follow 7p4 #h74  ,they 
have not got beyond ,brown1 so far as   
theory is concerned4 ,under the great   
leader ,brown1 writes ,repton1 with     
unconscious irony1 or rather those who  
patronised his discovery1 we were taught
 that ,nature was to be our only        
model--and ,brown had his full chance of
 manipulating the universe1 for he lived
 to establish a fashion in gardening1   
which might have been expected to endure
 as long as ,nature should exist2 and   
yet ,repton's work mostly consisted in  
repairing ,brown's errors and in        
covering the nakedness of his hungry    
prospects4 ,so it would seem that ,art  
has her revenges as well as ,nature6    

,the way of transgressors is hard6  ,the
 ,landscape-gardener1 ,i said1 gets no  
nearer to maturity of purpose as time   
runs on4 ,he creeps and shuffles after  
,nature as at the first--much as the    
benighted traveller after the           
will-o'-the-wisp4 ,he may not lay hands 
on her1 because you cannot conquer her  
wildness1 nor impose your will upon her1
 or teach her good behaviour4 ,he may   
not apply the dead formalism of ,art to 
her1 for ,nature abhors lines4 ,hence   
his mimicry can never rise above        
,nature4 ,indeed1 if it remains faithful
 to the negative opinions of its        
practitioners1 landscape-gardening will 
never construct any system of device4   
,it has no creed1 if you except that    
sole article of its faith1 ,i believe in
 the non-geometrical garden4 ,a         
monumental style is an impossibility    
while it eschews all features that make 
for state and magnificence and symmetry2
 a little park scenery1 much grass1     
curved shrubberies1 the laboured        

littleness of emphasised specimen       
plants--the hardy ones dotted about in  
various parts--wriggling paths1         
flower-borders1 or beds of shapes that  
imply that they are the offspring of bad
 dreams1 and its tale of effects is     
told4 ,but as for fine gardening1 that  
was given up long ago as a bad job6 ,the
 spirit of ,walpole's objections to the 
heroic enterprise of the old-fashioned  
garden still holds the                  
landscape-gardener in check4 ,i should  
hardly advise any of those attempts1    
says ,walpole2 they are adventures of   
too hard achievement for any common     
hands4  ,it is not so much at what he   
finds in the landscape gardener's       
creations that the architect demurs1 but
 at what he misses4 ,it is not so much  
at what the landscape-gardener          
recommends that the architect objects1  
as at what moving in his own little     
orbit he wilfully shuts out1 basing his 
opposition to tradition upon such an ex 
parte view of the matter as this--,there

 are really two styles1 one             
strait-laced1 mechanical1 with much wall
 and stone1 or it may be gravel1 with   
much also of such geometry as the       
designer of wall-papers excels in--often
 poorer than that1 with an immoderate   
supply of spouting water1 and with trees
 in tubs as an accompaniment1 and1      
perhaps1 griffins and endless           
plaster-work1 and sculpture of the      
poorer sort4 ,why poorer8 ,the other1   
with right desire1 though often         
awkwardly 767 accepting ,nature as a    
guide1 and endeavouring to illustrate in
 our gardens1 so far as convenience and 
knowledge will permit1 her many         
treasures of the world of flowers       
7,english ,flower ,garden74 ,how sweetly
 doth bunkum commend itself6  ,it is not
 that the architect is small-minded     
enough to cavil at the                  
landscape-gardener's right to display   
his taste by his own methods1 but that  
he strikes for the same right for       
himself4 ,it is not that he would rob   

the landscape-gardener of the pleasure  
of expressing his own views as          
persuasively as he can1 but that he     
resents that air of superiority which   
the other puts on as he bans the comely 
types and garnered sweetness of old     
,england's garden1 that he accents the  
proscription of the ways of interpreting
 ,nature that have won the sanction of  
lovers of ,art and ,nature of all       
generations of our forefathers1 and this
 from a ,school whose prerogative dates 
no farther back than the discovery of   
the well-meaning1 clumsy1 now dethroned 
kitchen-gardener1 known a short century 
since as the immortal ,brown4 ,there is 
no reviewer so keen as ,time6           
,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,the ,,technics ,,of  
,,gardening4#cg      ,nothing is more   
the ,child of ,art than a ,garden4      
,,sir ,,walter ,,scott4  ,footnote #cg3 
,these notes make no pretence either at 
originality or completeness4 ,they      
represent gleanings from various        
sources1 combined with personal         

observations on garden-craft from the   
architect's point of view4--,j4 ,d4 ,s4 
,for every ,garden1 says ,sir ,william  
,temple1 four things are to be          
provided--,flowers1 ,fruit1 ,shade1 and 
,water1 and whoever lays out a garden   
without these1 must not pretend it in   
any perfection4 ,nature should not be   
forced2 great sums may be thrown away   
without ,effect or ,honour1 if there    
want sense in proportion to this4       
,briefly1 the old master's charge is    
this3 ,have common-sense2 follow        
,nature4  ,following upon these lines1  
the gardener's first duty in laying out 
the grounds to a house is1 to study the 
site1 and not only that part of it upon 
which the house immediately stands1 but 
the whole site1 its aspect1 character1  
soil1 contour1 sectional lines1 trees1  
c4 ,common-sense1 ,economy1 ,nature1    
,art1 alike dictate this4 ,there is an  
individual character to every plot of   
land1 as to every human face in a crowd2
 and that man is not wise who1 to suit  

preferences for any given style of      
garden1 or with a view to copying a     
design from another place1 will ignore  
the characteristics of the site at his  
disposal4  ,equally unwise will he be to
 follow that school of gardening that   
makes chaos before it sets about to make
 order4 ,features that are based upon1  
or that grow out of the natural         
formation of the ground1 will not only  
look better than the created features1  
but be more to the credit of the        
gardener1 if successful1 and will save  
expense4  ,the ground throughout should 
be so handled that every natural good   
point1 every tree1 mound1 declivity1    
stream1 or quarry1 or other chance      
feature1 shall be turned to good        
account1 and its consequence heightened1
 avoiding the error of giving the thing 
mock importance1 by planting1 digging1  
lowering declivities1 raising           
prominences1 planting dark-foliaged     
trees to intensify the receding parts1  
forming terraces on the slope1 or adding

 other architectural features as may be 
advisable to connect the garden with the
 house which is its raison d'etre1 and  
the building with the landscape4  ,what 
folly to throw down undulations in order
 to produce a commonplace level1 or to  
throw up hills1 or make rocks1 lakes1   
and waterfalls should the site happen to
 be level6 ,what folly to make a        
standing piece of water imitate the     
curves of a winding river that has no   
existence1 to throw a bridge over it    
near its termination1 so as to close the
 vista and suggest the continuation of  
the water beyond6 ,nay1 what need of    
artificial lakes at all if there be a   
running stream hard by8#ch  ,footnote   
#ch3 ,all rational improvement of       
grounds is necessarily founded on a due 
attention to the ,,character and        
,,situation of the place to be improved2
 the former teaches what is advisable1  
the latter what is possible to be done4 
,the situation of a place always depends
 on ,nature1 which can only be assisted1

 but cannot be entirely changed1 or     
greatly controlled by ,,art2 but the    
character of a place is wholly dependent
 on ,,art2 thus the house1 the          
buildings1 the gardens1 the roads1 the  
bridges1 and every circumstance which   
marks the habitation of man must be     
artificial2 and although in the works of
 art we may imitate the forms and graces
 of ,nature1 yet1 to make them truly    
natural1 always leads to absurdity      
7,repton1 p4 #cda74  ,it is of the      
utmost importance that ,art and ,nature 
should be linked together1 alike in the 
near neighbourhood of the house1 and in 
its far prospect1 so that the scene as  
it meets the eye1 whether at a distance 
or near1 should present a picture of a  
simple whole1 in which each item should 
take its part without disturbing the    
individual expression of the ground4    
,to attain this result1 it is essential 
that the ground immediately about the   
house should be devoted to symmetrical  
planning1 and to distinctly ornamental  

treatment2 and the symmetry should break
 away by easy stages from the dressed to
 the undressed parts1 and so on to the  
open country1 beginning with wilder     
effects upon the country-boundaries of  
the place1 and more careful and         
intricate effects as the house is       
approached4 ,upon the attainment of this
 appearance of graduated formality much 
depends4 ,one knows houses that are well
 enough in their way1 that yet figure as
 absolute blots upon ,god's landscape1  
and that make a man writhe as at false  
notes in music1 and all because due     
regard has not been paid to this        
particular4 ,by exercise of forethought 
in this matter1 the house and garden    
would have been linked to the site1 and 
the site to the landscape2 as it is1 you
 wish the house at ,jericho6#ci         
,footnote #ci3 ,not so thinks the author
 of ,the ,english ,flower               
,garden3--,imagine the effect of a      
well-built and fine old house1 seen from
 the extremity of a wide lawn1 with     

plenty of trees and shrubs on its outer 
parts1 and nothing to impede the view of
 the house or its windows but a         
refreshing carpet of grass4 ,if owners  
of parks were to consider this point    
fully1 and1 as they travel about1 watch 
the effect of such lawns as remain to   
us1 and compare them with what has been 
done by certain landscape-gardeners1    
there would shortly be1 at many a       
country-seat1 a rapid carting away of   
the terrace and all its adjuncts4       
,marry1 this is sweeping6 ,but ,repton  
has some equally strong words condemning
 the very plan our ,author recommends3  
,in the execution of my profession ,i   
have often experienced great difficulty 
and opposition in attempting to correct 
the false and mistaken taste for placing
 a large house in a naked grass field1  
without any apparent line of separation 
between the ground exposed to cattle and
 the ground annexed to the house1 which 
,i consider as peculiarly under the     
management of art4  ,this line of       

separation being admitted1 advantage may
 be easily taken to ornament the lawn   
with flowers and shrubs1 and to attach  
to the mansion that scene of            
'embellished neatness' usually called a 
pleasure-ground 7,repton1 p4 #bac4 ,see 
also ,no4 #b of ,repton's ,objections1  
given on p4 #aaf74  ,as the point of    
access to a house from the public road  
and the route to be taken afterwards not
 infrequently determines the position of
 the house upon the site1 it may be well
 to speak of the ,approach first4 ,in   
planning the ground1 care will be taken 
that the approach shall both look well  
of itself and afford convenient access  
to the house and its appurtenances1 not 
forgetting the importance of giving to  
the visitor a pleasing impression of the
 house as he drives up4  ,in            
,elizabethan and ,jacobean times1 the   
usual form of approach was the straight 
avenue1 instances of which are still to 
be seen at ,montacute1 ,brympton1 and   
,burleigh4#dj ,the road points direct to

 the house1 as evidence that in the     
minds of the old architects the house   
was1 as it were1 the pivot round which  
the attached territory and the garden in
 all its parts radiated2 and the road   
ends1 next the house1 in a quadrangle or
 forecourt1 which has either an open    
balustrade or high hedge1 and in the    
centre of the court is a grass plot     
enlivened by statue or fountain or      
sundial4 ,and it is worthy of note that 
they who prefer a road that winds to the
 very door of a house on the plea of its
 naturalness make a great mistake2 they 
forget that the winding road is no whit 
less artificial than the straight one4  
,footnote #dj3 ,as an instance of how   
much dignity a noble house may lose by a
 meanly-planned drive1 ,i would mention 
,hatfield4  ,the choice of avenue or    
other type of approach will mainly      
depend upon the character and situation 
of the house1 its style and quality4    
,repton truly observes that when        
generally adopted the avenue reduces all

 houses to the same landscape--if       
looking up a straight line1 between two 
green walls1 deserves the name of a     
landscape4 ,he states his objections to 
avenues thus--,if at the end of a long  
avenue be placed an obelisk or temple1  
or any other eye-trap1 ignorance or     
childhood alone will be caught and      
pleased by it2 the eye of taste or      
experience hates compulsion1 and turns  
away with disgust from every artificial 
means of attracting its notice2 for this
 reason an avenue is most pleasing      
which1 like that at ,langley ,park1     
climbs up a hill1 and passing over the  
summit1 leaves the fancy to conceive its
 termination4  ,the very dignity of an  
avenue seems to demand that there shall 
be something worthy of this procession  
of trees at its end1 and if the house to
 which this feature is applied be       
unworthy1 a sense of disappointment     
ensues4 ,provided1 however1 that the    
house be worthy of this dignity1 and    
that its introduction does not mar the  

view1 or dismember the ground1 an avenue
 is both an artistic and convenient     
approach4  ,should circumstances not    
admit of the use of an avenue1 the drive
 should be as direct as may well be1 and
 if curved1 there should be some clear  
and obvious justification for the curve 
or divergence2 it should be clear that  
the road is diverted to obtain a glimpse
 of open country that would otherwise be
 missed1 or that a steep hill or awkward
 dip is thus avoided4 ,the irregularity 
in the line of the road should not1     
however1 be the occasion of any break in
 the gradient of the road1 which should 
be continuously even throughout4 ,in    
this matter of planning roads1 common   
sense1 as well as artistic sense1 should
 be satisfied2 there should be no       
straining after pompous effects4 ,except
 in cases where the house is near to the
 public road1 the drive should not run  
parallel to the road for the mere sake  
of gaining a pretentious effect4 ,nor   
should the road overlook the garden1 a  

point that touches the comfort both of  
residents and visitors2 and for the same
 reason the entrance to the garden      
should not be from the drive1 but from  
the house4  ,the gradient recommended by
 ,mr ,milner1#da to whose skilled       
experience ,i am indebted for many      
practical suggestions1 is #a in #ad4    
,the width of a drive is determined by  
the relative importance of the route4   
,thus1 a drive to the principal entrance
 of the house should be from #ad to #ah 
ft41 while that to the stables or       
offices #aj ft4 ,walks should not be    
less than #f ft4 wide4 ,the width of a  
grand avenue should be #ej ft1 and the  
trees may be preferably ,elm1 ,beech1   
,oak1 ,chestnut1 and they should not be 
planted nearer in procession than #dj   
ft41 unless they be planted at intervals
 of half that distance for the purpose  
of destroying alternate trees1 as their 
growth makes the removal necessary4     
,footnote #da3 ,milner's ,art and       
,practice of ,landscape-,gardening1 pp4 

#ac1 #ad4  ,the entrance-gates should   
not be visible from the mansion1 ,repton
 says1 unless it opens into a courtyard4
 ,as to their position1 the gates may be
 formed at the junction of two roads1 or
 where a cross-road comes on to the main
 road1 or where the gates are           
sufficiently back from the public road  
to allow a carriage to stand clear4 ,the
 gates1 as well as the lodge1 should be 
at right angles to the drive1 and belong
 to it1 not to the public road4 ,where  
the house and estate are of moderate    
size1 architectural1 rather than rustic1
 simplicity best suits the character of 
the lodge4 ,it is desirable1 remarks ,mr
 ,milner1 to place the entrance1 if it  
can be managed1 at the foot of a hill or
 rise in the public road1 and not part  
of the way up an ascent1 or at the top  
of it4  ,if possible1 the house should  
stand on a platform or terraced         
eminence1 so as to give the appearance  
of being well above ground2 or it should
 be on a knoll where a view may be had4 

,the ground-level of the house should be
 of the right height to command the     
prospect4 ,should the architect be so   
fortunate as to obtain a site for his   
house where the ground rises steep and  
abrupt on one side of the house1 he will
 get here a series of terraces1         
rock-gardens1 a fernery1 a rose-garden1 
c4 ,the ideal site for a house would    
have fine prospects to the south-east   
and to the south-west ,the principal    
approach should be on the north-western 
face1 the offices on the north-eastern  
side1 the stables and kitchen-garden    
beyond4 ,the pleasure-gardens should be 
on the south-eastern aspect1 with a     
continuation towards the east2 the      
south-western face might be open to the 
park 7,milner74  ,if it can be avoided1 
the house should not be placed where the
 ground slopes towards it--a treatment  
which suggests water draining into      
it--but if this position be for some    
sufficient reason inevitable1 or should 
it be an old house with this defect that

 we are called to treat1 then a good    
space should be excavated1 at least of  
the level of the house1 with a          
terrace-wall at the far end1 on the     
original level of the site at that      
particular point4 ,and as to the rest of
 the ground1 ,repton's sound advice is  
to plant up the heights so as to        
increase the effect of shelter and      
seclusion that the house naturally has1 
and introduce water1 if available1 at   
the low-level of the site4 ,the air of  
seclusion that the low-lying situation  
gives to the house is thus intensified  
by crowning the heights with wood and   
setting water at the base of the slope4 
,the hanging-gardens at ,clevedon ,court
 afford a good example of what can be   
done by a judicious formation of ground 
where the house is situated near the    
base of a slope1 and this example is    
none the less interesting for its       
general agreement with ,lamb's          
,blakesmoor--its ample pleasure-garden  
rising backwards from the house in      

triple terraces2 444 the verdant        
quarters backwarder still1 and          
stretching still beyond in old          
formality1 the firry wilderness1 the    
haunt of the squirrel and the day-long  
murmuring wood-pigeon1 with that antique
 image in the centre4  ,before dealing  
with the garden and its relation to the 
house it may be well to say a few words 
upon ,planting4 ,trees are among the    
grandest and most ornamental effects of 
natural scenery2 they help the charm of 
hill1 plain1 valley1 and dale1 and the  
changes in the colour of their foliage  
at the different seasons of the year    
give us perpetual delight4 ,one of the  
most important elements in ornamental   
gardens is the dividing up and          
diversifying a given area by            
plantations1 by grouping of trees to    
form retired glades1 open lawns1 shaded 
alleys1 and well-selected margins of    
woods2 and1 if this be skilfully done1  
an impression of variety and extent will
 be produced beyond the belief of the   

uninitiated who has seen the bare site  
before it was planted4  ,to speak       
generally1 there should be no need of   
apology for applying the most subtle art
 in the disposal of trees and shrubs1   
and in the formation of the ground to   
receive them4 ,all ,art1 as ,loudon     
truly says 7speaking upon this very     
point71 to be acknowledged as ,art1 must
 be avowed4 ,this is the case in the    
fine arts--there is no attempt to       
conceal art in music1 poetry1 painting1 
or sculpture1 none in architecture1 and 
none in geometrical-gardening4  ,in     
modern landscape-gardening1 practised as
 a fine art1 many of the more important 
beauties and effects produced by the    
artist depend on the use he makes of    
foreign trees and shrubs2 and1          
personally1 one is ready to forgive     
,brown much of his vile vandalism in    
old-fashioned gardens for the use he    
makes of cedars1 pines1 planes1         
gleditschias1 robinias1 deciduous       
cypress1 and all the foreign hardy trees

 and shrubs that were then to his hand4 
,loudon--every inch a fine gardener1    
true lineal descendant of ,bacon in the 
art of gardening--recommends in his     
,arboretum 7pp4 #aa1 #ab7 the heading   
down of large trees of common species1  
and the grafting upon them foreign      
species of the same genus1 as is done in
 orchard fruit-trees4 ,hawthorn hedges1 
for instance1 are common everywhere2 why
 not graft some of the rare and         
beautiful sorts of tree thorns1 and     
intersperse common thorns between them8 
,there are between twenty and thirty    
beautiful species and varieties of thorn
 in our nurseries4 ,every gardener can  
graft and bud4 ,or why should not       
scarlet oak and scarlet acer be grafted 
on common species of these genera along 
the margins of woods and plantations8   
99       99       99       99       99  
,in planting1 the gardener has regard   
for character of foliage and tints1 the 
nature of the soil1 the undulations of  
ground and grouping1 the amount of      

exposure4 ,small plantations of trees   
surrounded by a fence are the best      
expedients to form groups1 says ,repton1
 because trees planted singly seldom    
grow well4 ,good trees should not be    
encumbered by peddling bushes1 but be   
treated as specimens1 each having its   
separate mound4 ,the mounds can be      
formed out of the hollowed pathways in  
the curves made between the groups4 ,the
 dotting of trees over the ground or of 
specimen shrubs on a lawn is destructive
 of all breadth of effect4 ,this is not 
to follow ,nature1 nor ,art1 for ,art   
demands that each feature shall have    
relation to other features1 and all to  
the general effect4  ,in planting trees 
the variety of height in their outline  
must be considered as much as the       
variety of their outline on plan2 the   
prominent parts made high1 the          
intervening bays kept low1#db and this  
both in connection with the lie of the  
ground and the plant selected4 ,uniform 
curves1 such as parts of circles or     

ovals1 are not approved2 better effects 
are obtained by forming long bays or    
recesses with forked tongues breaking   
forward irregularly1 the turf running   
into the bays4 ,trees may serve to frame
 a particular view and frame a picture2 
and when well led up to the horizon will
 enhance the imaginative effect of a    
place3 a beyond in any view implies     
somewhere to explore4  ,footnote #db3   
,one deep recess1 one bold prominence1  
has more effect than twenty little      
irregularities4 ,every variety in the   
outline of a wood must be a prominence  
or a recess 7,repton1 p4 #ahb74  ,all   
trees grow more luxuriantly in valleys  
than on the hills1 and on this account  
the tendency of tree-growth is to       
neutralise the difference in the rise   
and fall of the ground and to bring the 
tops of the trees level4 ,but the       
perfection of planting is to get an     
effect approximating as near as may be  
to the charming undulations of the      
,forest of ,dean and the ,new ,forest4  

,care will be taken1 then1 not to plant 
the fast-growing1 or tall-growing trees 
in the low-ground1 but on the higher    
points1 and even to add to the          
irregularity by clothing the natural    
peaks with silver fir1 whose tall heads 
will increase the sense of height4 ,the 
limes1 planes1 and elms will be mostly  
kept to the higher ground1 bunches of   
,scotch fir will be placed here and     
there1 and oaks and beeches grouped     
together1 while the lower ground will be
 occupied by maples1 crabs1 thorns1     
alders1 c4 ,fringe the edges of your    
wood with lines of horse-chestnut1 says 
,viscount ,lymington in his delightful  
and valuable article on ,vert and       
,venery--a mass in spring of blossom1   
and in autumn of colour2 and under these
 chestnuts1 and in nooks and corners1   
thrust in some laburnum1 that it may    
push its showers of gold out to the     
light and over the fence4  ,as to the   
nature of the soil1 and degree of       
exposure suitable to different          

forest-trees1 the writer just quoted    
holds that1 for exposure to the wind    
inland1 the best trees for all soils are
 the beech1 the ,austrian pine1 and the 
,scotch fir4  ,for exposure in          
hedgerows1 the best tree to plant       
ordinarily is the elm4 ,for exposure to 
frost1 the ,insignis pine1 which will   
not1 however1 stand the frosts of the   
valley1 but prefers high ground4 ,for   
exposure to smoke1 undoubtedly the best 
tree is the ,western plane4 ,the        
sycamore will stand better than most    
trees the smoke and chemical works of   
manufacturing towns4 ,for sea-exposure1 
the best trees to plant are the goat    
willow and pineaster4 ,among the        
low-growing shrubs which stand          
sea-exposure well are mentioned the     
sea-buckthorn1 the snow-berry1 the      
evergreen barberry1 and the ,german     
tamarisk2 to which should be added the  
euonymus and the escallonia4  ,with     
regard to the nature of the soil1 ,lord 
,lymington says3 ,strong clay produces  

the best oaks and the best silver fir4  
,a deep loam is the most favourable soil
 for the growth of the ,spanish chestnut
 and ash4 ,the beech is the glorious    
weed of the chalk and down countries2   
the elm of the rich red sandstone       
valleys4 ,coniferous trees prefer land  
of a light sandy texture2 444 but as    
many desire to plant conifers on other  
soils1 ,i would mention that the        
following among others will grow on most
 soils1 chalk included3 the ,abies      
excelsa1 canadensis1 magnifica1 nobilis1
 and ,pinsapo2 the ,pinus excelsa1      
insignis1 and ,laricio2 the ,cupressus  
,lawsoniana1 erecta1 viridis1 and       
macrocarpa2 the ,salisburia             
adiantifolia1 and the ,wellingtonia4    
,the most fast-growing in ,england of   
conifers is the ,douglas fir4444 ,it    
grows luxuriantly on the slopes of the  
hills1 but will not stand exposure to   
the wind1 and for that reason should    
always be planted in sheltered combes   
with other trees behind it4  ,in moist  

and boggy land the spruce or the willow 
tribes succeed best4  ,in high1 poor1   
and very dry land1 no tree thrives so   
well as the ,scotch fir1 the beech1 and 
the sycamore4  ,avoid the selfishness   
and false economy of planting an        
inferior class of fast-growing trees    
such as firs and larches and ,lombardy  
poplars1 on the ground that one would   
not live to get any pleasure out of     
woods of oaks and beech and chestnut4   
,how frequently one sees tall1 scraggy  
planes1 or belts of naked1 attenuated   
firs1 where groups of oaks and elms and 
groves of chestnut might have stood with
 greater advantage4  ,avoid the         
thoughtlessness and false economy of not
 thoroughly preparing the ground before 
planting4 ,those that plant1 says an old
 writer1 should make their ground fit   
for the trees before they set them1 and 
not bury them in a hole like a dead dog2
 let them have good and fresh lodgings  
suitable to their quality1 and good     
attendance also1 to preserve them from  

their enemies till they are able to     
encounter them4  ,avoid trees near a    
house2 they tend to make it damp1 and   
the garden which is near the house      
untidy4 ,writers upon planting have     
their own ideas as to the fitness of    
certain growths for a certain style of  
house4 ,as regards the relation of trees
 to the house1 if the building be of    
,gothic design with the piquant outline 
usual to the style1 then trees of round 
shape form the best foil2 if of ,classic
 or ,renascence design1 then trees of   
vertical conic growth suit best4 ,so1 if
 the house be of stone1 trees of dark   
foliage best meet the case2 if of brick1
 trees of lighter foliage should        
prevail4 ,as a backing to the horizontal
 line of a roof to an ordinary          
two-storey building1 nothing looks      
better than the long stems of stone     
pines or ,scotch firs2 and pines are    
health-giving trees4  ,never mark the   
outline of ground1 nor the shape of     
groups of trees and shrubs with formal  

rows of bedding plants or other stiff   
edging1 which is the almost universal   
practice of gardeners in the present    
day4 ,this is a poor travesty of        
,bacon's garden1 who only allows low    
things to grow naturally up to the      
edges4  ,from the artist's point of     
view1 perhaps the most desirable quality
 to aim at in the distribution of garden
 space is that of breadth of effect--in 
other words1 simplicity2 and the larger 
the garden the more need does there seem
 for getting this quality4 ,one may1 in 
a manner1 toy with a small garden4 ,in  
the case of a large garden1 where the   
owner in his greed for prettiness has   
carried things further than             
regulation-taste would allow1 much may  
be done to subdue the assertiveness of a
 multiplicity of interesting objects by 
architectural adjuncts--broad terraces1 
well-defined lines1 even a range of     
sentinel yews or clipt shrubs--things   
that are precise1 grave1 calm1 and      
monotonous4 ,where such things are      

brought upon the scene1 a certain       
spaciousness and amplitude of effect    
ensues as a matter of course4  ,one sees
 that the modern gardener1 with his     
augmented list of specimen-plants of    
varied foliage1 is far more apt to err  
in the direction of sensationalism than 
the gardener of old days who was exempt 
from many of our temptations4 ,add to   
this power of attaining sweetness and   
intricacy the artist's prone aspirations
 to work up to his lights and           
opportunities1 and we have temptation   
which is seductiveness itself6  ,the    
garden at ,highnam ,court1 dear to me   
for its signs and memories of my late   
accomplished friend1 ,mr ,t4 ,gambier   
,parry1 is the perfectest modern garden 
,i have ever seen4 ,but here1 if there  
be a fault1 it is that ,art has been    
allowed to blossom too profusely4 ,the  
attention of the visitor is never       
allowed to drop1 but is ever kept on the
 stretch4 ,you are throughout too much  
led by the master's cunning hand4 ,every

 known bit of garden-artifice1 every    
white lie of ,art1 every known variety  
of choice tree or shrub1 or trick of    
garden-arrangement is set forth there4  
,but somehow each thing strikes you as a
 little vainglorious--too sensible of   
its own importance4 ,we go about in a   
sort of pre-,raphaelite frame of mind1  
where each seemly and beauteous feature 
has so much to say for itself that1 in  
the delightfulness of the details1 we   
are apt to forget that it is the first  
business of any work of ,art to be a    
unit4 ,there is nothing of single       
specimen1 or group of intermingled      
variety1 or adroit vista that we may    
miss and not be a loser2 the only       
drawback is that we see what we are     
expected to see1 what everyone else     
sees4 ,here is greenery of every hue2   
every metallic tint of silver1 gold1    
copper1 bronze is there2 and old and new
 favourites take hands1 and we feel that
 it is perfect2 but the things blush in 
their conscious beauty--every prospect  

is best seen there6 ,england has few    
such beautiful gardens as ,highnam1 and 
it has all the pathos of the touch of a 
vanished hand1 and ideals that have     
wider range now4  ,as to this matter of 
scenic effects1 it is of course only    
fair to remember that a garden is a     
place meant not only for broad vision1  
but for minute scrutiny2 and1 specially 
near the house1 intricacy is            
permissible4 ,yet the counsels of       
perfection would tell the artist to     
eschew such prettiness and multiplied   
beauties as trench upon broad dignity4  
,sweetness is not good everywhere4      
,variations in plant-life that are      
over-enforced1 like variations in music1
 may be inferior to the simple theme4 ,a
 commonplace house1 with well-disposed  
grounds1 flower-beds in the right place1
 a well-planted lawn1 may please longer 
than a fine pile where is ostentation   
and unrelieved artifice4  ,of lawns4    
,everything in a garden1 we have said1  
has its first original in primal        

,nature3 a garden is made up of wild    
things that are tamed4 ,the old masters 
fully realised this4 ,they sucked out   
the honey of wild things without        
carrying refinement too far before they 
sipped it2 and in garnering for their   
,house ,beautiful the rustic flavour is 
left so far as was compatible with the  
requirements of ,art--as much as may be 
to a natural wildness4 ,and it were well
 for us to do the same in the treatment 
of a lawn1 which is only the grassy1    
sun-chequered1 woodland glade in1 or    
between woods1 in a wild country        
idealised4  ,a lawn is one of the       
delights of man4 ,the ,teutonic         
races--says ,mr ,charles ,dudley        
,warner1 in his large ,american         
way--,the ,teutonic races all love turf2
 they emigrate in the line of its       
growth4 ,flower-beds breed cheerfulness1
 but they may at times be too gay for   
tired eyes and jaded minds2 they may    
provoke admiration till they are        
provoking4 ,but a garden-lawn is a      

vision of peace1 and its tranquil grace 
is a boon of unspeakable value to people
 doomed to pass their working-hours in  
the hustle of city-life4  ,the question 
of planting and of lawn-making runs     
together1 and ,nature admonishes us how 
to set about this work4 ,every resource 
she offers should be met by the         
resources of ,art3 avoid what she       
avoids1 accept and heighten what she    
gives4 ,nature in the wild avoids       
half-circles and ovals and uniform      
curves1 and they are bad in the planted 
park1 both for trees and greensward4    
,nature does not of herself dot the     
landscape over with spies sent out      
single-handed to show the nakedness of  
the land1 but puts forth detachments    
that befriend each the other1 the       
boldest and fittest first1 in jagged    
outlines1 leading the way1 but not out  
of touch with the rest4 ,and1 since the 
modern landscape-gardener is nothing if 
not a naturalist1 this is why one cannot
 see the consistency of so fine a master

 as ,mr ,marnock1 when he dots his lawns
 over with straggling specimens4 7,see  
the model garden1 by ,mr ,marnock in    
,the ,english ,flower-,garden1 p4 xxi1  
described thus--,here the foreground is 
a sloping lawn2 the flowers are mostly  
arranged near the kitchen garden1 partly
 shown to right2 the hardy ones grouped 
and scattered in various positions near1
 or within good view of1 the one bold   
walk which sweeps round the ground47  ,a
 garden is ground knit up artistically2 
ground which has been the field of      
artistic enterprise2 ground which       
expresses the feeling of beauty and     
which absorbs qualities which man has   
discovered in the woodland world4 ,and  
the qualities in ,nature which may well 
find room in a garden are peace1        
variety1 animation4 ,a good sweep of    
lawn is a peaceful object1 but see that 
the view is not impeded with the        
modern's sprawling pell-mell beds4 ,and 
in the anxiety to make the most of your 
ground1 do not spoil a distant prospect4

 ,remember1 too1 that a lawn requires a 
good depth of soil1 or it will look     
parched in the hot weather4  ,and since 
a lawn is so delightful a thing1 beware 
lest your admiration of it lead you to  
swamp your whole ground with grass even 
to carrying it up to the house itself4  
,nothing is more a child of ,art than a 
garden1 says ,sir ,walter1 and he was   
competent to judge4 ,if only out of     
compliment to your architect and to the 
formal angularities of his building1 let
 the ground immediately about the house 
be of an ornamental dressed character4  
,avoid the misplaced rusticity of the   
fashionable landscape-gardener1 who with
 his ,nebuchadnezzar tastes would turn  
everything into grass1 would cart away  
the terrace and all its adjuncts1 do    
away with all flowers1 and lawn your    
hundred good acres of wheat1 as ,repton 
says1 if you will only let him1 and if  
you have them4  ,in his devotion to     
grass1 his eagerness to display the     
measure of his art in the curves of     

shrubberies and the arrangement of      
specimen plants that strut across your  
lawn or dot it over as the ,sunday      
scholars do the croft when they come for
 their annual treat1 he quite forgets   
the flowers--forgets the old intent of a
 garden as the ,house ,beautiful of the 
civilised world--the place for          
nature-rapture1 colour-pageantry1 and   
sweet odours4 ,here the foreground is a 
sloping lawn2 the flowers are mostly    
arranged near the kitchen garden4       
,anywhere1 anywhere out of the way6 ,or 
if admitted at all into view of the     
house1 it shall be with little limited  
privileges1 and the stern injunction--  
,if you speak you must not show your    
face1     ,or if you show your face you 
must not speak4  ,so much for the       
garden-craft of the best modern         
landscape-gardener and its relation to  
flowers4 ,if this be the garden of the  
,gardenesque style1 as it is proudly    
called1 ,i personally prefer the garden 
without the style4     ,,chapter ,,vii4 

,,the ,,technics ,,of                   
,,gardening--7continued47       ,i      
cannot think ,nature is so spent and    
decayed that she can bring      forth   
nothing worth her former years4 ,she is 
always the same1 like      herself2 and 
when she collects her strength is abler 
still4 ,men are      decayed1 and       
studies2 she is not4--,,ben ,,jonson4   
,the old-fashioned country house has1   
almost invariably1 a garden that        
curtseys to the house1 with its formal  
lines1 its terraces1 and beds of        
geometrical patterns4  ,but to the      
ordinary ,landscape-gardener the terrace
 is as much anathema as the ,kist o'    
,whistles to the ,scotch ,puritan6 ,so  
able and distinguished a gardener as ,mr
 ,robinson1 while not absolutely        
forbidding any architectural accessories
 or geometrical arrangement1 is for ever
 girding at them4 ,the worst thing that 
can be done with a true garden1 he says 
7,the ,english ,flower ,garden1 p4 ii71 
is to introduce any feature which1      

unlike the materials of our             
world-designer1 never changes4 ,there   
are positions1 it is true1 where the    
intrusion of architecture and embankment
 into the garden is justifiable2 nay1   
now and then1 even necessary4  ,if one  
is to promulgate opinions that shall run
 counter to the wisdom of the whole     
civilised world1 it is1 of course1 well 
that they should be pronounced with the 
air of a ,moses freshly come down from  
the ,mount1 with the tables of the law  
in his hands4 ,and there is more of it4 
,there is no code of taste resting on   
any solid foundation which proves that  
garden or park should have any extensive
 stonework or geometrical               
arrangement4444 ,let us1 then1 use as   
few oil-cloth or carpet patterns and as 
little stonework as possible in our     
gardens4 ,the style is in doubtful taste
 in climates and positions more suited  
to it than that of ,england1 but he who 
would adopt it in the present day is an 
enemy to every true interest of the     

garden 7p4 vi74  ,so much for the deadly
 formalism of an old-fashioned garden in
 our author's eyes6 ,but1 as ,horace    
,walpole might say1 it is not peculiar  
to ,mr ,robinson to think in that       
manner4 ,it is the way of the           
landscape-gardener to monopolise to     
himself all the right principles of     
gardening2 he is the angel of the garden
 who protects its true interests2 all   
other moods than his are low1 all       
figures other than his are symbols of   
errors1 all dealings with ,nature or    
with the materials of our world-designer
 other than his are spurious4 ,for the  
colonies ,i can imagine no fitter       
doctrines than our author's1 but not for
 an old land like ours1 and for methods 
that have the approval of men like      
,bacon1 ,temple1 ,more1 ,evelyn1 ,sir   
,joshua1 ,sir ,walter1 ,elia1           
,wordsworth1 ,tennyson1 ,morris1 and    
,jefferies4 ,and1 even in the colonies1 
they might demand to see the code of    
taste resting on any solid foundation   

which proves that you shall have any    
garden or park at all6  ,if ,i am to    
have a system at all1 says the author of
 ,the ,flower ,garden 7,murray1 #aheb71 
whose broad-minded views declare him to 
be an amateur1 give me the good old     
system of terraces and angled walks1 the
 clipt yew hedges1 against whose dark   
and rich verdure the bright             
old-fashioned flowers glittered in the  
sun4 ,or again3 ,of all the vain        
assumptions of these coxcombical times1 
that which arrogates the pre-eminence in
 the true science of gardening is the   
vainest4444 ,the real beauty and poetry 
of a garden are lost in our efforts     
after rarity4 ,if we review the various 
styles that have prevailed in ,england  
from the knotted gardens of ,elizabeth  
444 to the landscape fashion of the     
present day1 we shall have little reason
 to pride ourselves on the advance which
 national taste has made upon the       
earliest efforts in this department     
7,the ,praise of ,gardens1 p4 #bgj74    

,large or small1 says ,mr ,w4 ,morris1  
the garden should look both orderly and 
rich4 ,it should be well fenced from the
 outer world4 ,it should by no means    
imitate either the wilfulness or the    
wildness of ,nature1 but should look    
like a thing never seen except near a   
house 7,hopes and ,fears74  ,the whole  
point of the matter is1 however1 perhaps
 best summed up in ,hazlitt's remark1   
that there is a pleasure in ,art which  
none but artists feel4 ,and why this    
sudden respect for the materials of our 
world-designer1 when we may ask in      
,repton's words why this art has been   
called ,landscape-gardening1 perhaps he 
who gave the title may explain4 ,i see  
no reason1 unless it be the efficacy    
which it has shown in destroying        
landscapes1 in which indeed it is       
infallible6 ,but1 setting aside the     
transparent shallowness of such a plea  
against the use of ,art in a garden1 it 
argues little for the scheme of effects 
to leave nothing to impede the view of  

the house or its windows but a          
refreshing carpet of grass4 ,to pitch   
your house down upon the grass with no  
architectural accessories about it1 to  
link it to the soil1 is to vulgarise it1
 to rob it of importance1 to give it the
 look of a pastoral farm1 green to the  
door-step4 ,to bring ,nature up to the  
windows of your house1 with a scorn of  
art-sweetness1 is not only to betray    
your own deadness to form1 but to cause 
a sense of unexpected blankness in the  
visitor's mind on leaving the           
well-appointed interior of an ,english  
home4 ,as the house is an               
,art-production1 so is the garden that  
surrounds it1 and there is no code of   
taste that ,i know of which would prove 
that ,art is more reprehensible in the  
garden than in the house4  ,but to      
return4 ,the old-fashioned country house
 had its terraces4 ,these terraces are  
not mere narrow slopes of turf1 such as 
now-a-days too often answer to the term1
 but they are of solid masonry with     

balustrades or open-work that give an   
agreeable variety of light and shade1   
and impart an air of importance and of  
altitude to the house that would be     
lacking if the terrace were not there4  
,illustration3 ,,plan ,,of ,,rosery1    
,,with ,,sundial4  ,the whole of the    
ground upon which the house stands1 or  
which forms its base1 constitutes the   
terrace4 ,in such cases the             
terrace-walls are usually in two or more
 levels1 the upper terrace being mostly 
parallel with the line of the house1 or 
bowed out at intervals with balconies1  
while the lower terrace1 or terraces1   
serve as the varying levels of formal   
gardens1 pleasure-grounds1 labyrinths1  
c4 ,the terraces are approached by wide 
steps that are treated in a stately and 
impressive manner4 ,the walls and       
balustrades1 moreover1 conform1 as they 
should1 to the materials employed in the
 house2 if the house be of stone1 as at 
,haddon1 or ,brympton1 or ,claverton1   
the balustrade is of stone2 if the house

 be of brick1 as at ,hatfield or        
,bramshill1 the walls and balustrades   
will be of brick and terra-cotta4 ,the  
advantage of this agreement of material 
is obvious1 for house and terrace1      
embraced at one glance1 make a          
consistent whole4 ,there is not1 of     
course1 the same necessity for          
consistency of material in the case of  
the mere retaining walls4  ,as one must 
needs have a system in planning grounds1
 there is none that will more certainly 
bring honour and effect to them than the
 regular geometrical treatment4 ,this is
 what the architect naturally prefers4  
,the house is his child1 and he knows   
what is good for it4 ,unlike the        
imported gardener1 who comes upon the   
scene as a foreign agent1 the architect 
works from the house outwards1 taking   
the house as his centre2 the other works
 from the outside inwards1 if he thinks 
of the inwards at all4 ,the first thinks
 of house and grounds as a whole which  
shall embrace the main buildings1 the   

outbuildings1 the flower and            
kitchen-gardens1 terraces1 walls1       
forecourt1 winter-garden1 conservatory1 
fountain1 steps1 c4 ,the other makes the
 house common to the commonplace2 owing 
no allegiance to ,art1 a specialist of  
one idea1 he holds that the worst thing 
that can be done is to intrude          
architectural or geometrical arrangement
 about a garden1 and speaks of a        
refreshing carpet of grass as           
preferable4  ,as to the extent1 number1 
and situation of terraces1 this point is
 determined by the conditions of the    
house and site4 ,terraces come naturally
 if the house be on an eminence1 but    
even in cases where the ground recedes  
only to a slight extent1 the surface of 
a second terrace may be lowered by      
increasing the fall of the slope till   
sufficient earth is provided for the    
requisite filling4 ,the surplus earth   
dug out in forming the foundations and  
cellars of the house1 or rubbish from an
 old building1 will help to make up the 

terrace levels and save the cost of     
wheeling and carting the rubbish away4  
,like all embankments1 terrace walls are
 built with battered fronts or outward  
slope2 the back of the wall will be left
 rough1 and well drained4 ,a backing of 
sods1 ,mr ,milner says1 will prevent    
thrust1 and admit of a lessened         
thickness in the wall4 ,the walls should
 not be less than three feet in height  
from the ground-level beneath1 exclusive
 of the balustrade1 which is another    
three feet high4  ,illustration3 ,,plan 
,,of ,,tennis ,,lawn1 ,,terraces1 ,,and 
,,flower ,,garden4  ,the length of the  
terrace adds importance to the house1   
and in small gardens1 where the         
kitchen-garden occupies one side of the 
flower-garden1 the terrace may with     
advantage be carried to the full extent 
of the ground1 and the kitchen-garden   
separated by a hedge and shrubs2 and at 
the upper end of the kitchen-garden may 
be a narrow garden1 geometrical1 rock1  
or other garden1 set next the terrace   

wall4  ,the treatment of the upper      
terrace should be strictly              
architectural4 ,if the terrace be wide1 
raised beds with stone edging1 set on   
the inner side of the terrace1 say      
alternately long beds with dwarf        
flowering shrubs or hydrangeas1 and     
circles with standard hollies1 or marble
 statues on pedestals1 that shall       
alternate with pyramidal golden yews1   
have a good effect1 the terrace         
terminating with an arbour or stone     
,pavilion4 ,modern taste1 however1 even 
if it condescend so far as to allow of a
 terrace1 is content with its grass plot
 and gravel walks1 which is not carrying
 ,art very far4  ,laneham tells of the  
old pleasaunce at ,kenilworth1 that it  
had a terrace #aj ft4 high and #ab ft4  
wide on the garden side1 in which were  
set at intervals obelisks and spheres   
and white bears1 all of stone1 upon     
their curious bases1 and at each end an 
arbour2 the garden-plot was below this1 
and had its fair alleys1 or grass1 or   

gravel4  ,the lower terrace may well be 
twice the width of the upper one1 and   
may be a geometrical garden laid out on 
turf1 if preferred1 but far better upon 
gravel4 ,here will be collected the     
choicest flowers in the garden1 giving a
 mass of rich colouring4  ,although in  
old gardens the lower terrace is some   
#aj ft4 below the upper one1 this is too
 deep to suit modern taste2 indeed1 #e  
ft4 or #f ft4 will give a better view of
 the garden if it is to be viewed from  
the house4 ,at the same time it is      
undeniable that the more you are able to
 look down upon the garden--the higher  
you stand above its plane--the better   
the effect2 the lower you stand1 the    
poorer the perspective4  ,modern taste1 
also1 will not always tolerate a        
balustraded wall as a boundary to the   
terrace1 but likes a grass slope4 ,if   
this poor substitute be preferred1 there
 should be a level space at the bottom  
of the slope and at the top2 the slope  
should have a continuous line1 and not  

follow any irregularity in the natural  
lie of the ground1 and there should be a
 simple plinth #ab to #ah in4 high at   
the bottom of the slope4  ,but the mere 
grass slope does not much help the      
effect of the house1 far or near2 a     
house standing on a grass slope always  
has the effect of sliding down a hill4  
,to leave the house exposed upon the    
landscape1 unscreened and unterraced1 is
 not to treat site or house fairly4     
,there exists a certain necessity for   
features in a flat place1 and if no     
raised terrace be possible1 it is       
desirable to get architectural treatment
 by means of balustrades alone1 without 
much1 or any1 fall in the ground4 ,the  
eye always asks for definite boundaries 
to a piece of ornamental ground as it   
does for a frame to a picture1 and where
 definite boundaries do not exist1 the  
distant effect is that of a house that  
has tumbled casually down from the      
skies1 near which the cattle may graze  
as they list1 and the flower-beds are   

the mere sport of contingencies4        
,illustration3 ,,general ,,plan ,,of    
,,the ,,pleasaunce1 ,,villa ,,albani1   
,,rome4  ,good examples of terrace walls
 are to be found at ,haddon1 ,claverton1
 ,brympton1 ,montacute1 ,bramshill1     
,wilton1 and ,blickling ,hall4 ,if truth
 be told1 however1 all our ,english     
examples dwindle into nothingness by the
 side of fine ,italian examples like    
those at ,villa ,albani1#dc ,villa      
,medici1 or ,villa ,borghese1 with their
 grand scope and array of sculpture4    
7,see illustration from ,percier and    
,fontaine's ,choix des plus celebres    
maisons de plaisance de ,rome et de ses 
environs4 ,paris1 ,,mdccciv47  ,footnote
 #dc3 ,see accompanying plans4  ,the    
arrangement of steps is a matter that   
may call forth a man's utmost ingenuity4
 ,the scope and variety of step         
arrangement is1 indeed1 a matter that   
can only be realised by designers who   
have given it their study4 ,as to       
practical points4 ,in planning steps    

make the treads wide1 the risers low4   
,long flights without landings are      
always objectionable4 ,some of the best 
examples1 both in ,england and abroad1  
have winders2 as to the library         
quadrangle1 ,trinity ,coll41 ,cambridge2
 ,donibristle ,castle1 ,scotland2 ,villa
 d',este1 ,tivoli2 the gardens at       
,nimes4 ,the grandest specimen of all is
 the ,trinita di ,monte steps in ,rome  
7see ,notes on ,gardens in ,the ,british
 ,architect1 by ,john ,belcher and      
,mervyn ,macartney74  ,it is impossible 
to lay down rules of equal application  
everywhere as to the distribution of    
garden area into compartments1 borders1 
terraces1 walks1 c4 ,these matters are  
partly regulated by the character of the
 house1 its situation1 the section and  
outline of the ground4 ,but gardens     
should1 if possible1 lie towards the    
best parts of the house1 or towards the 
rooms most commonly in use by the       
family1 and endeavour should be made to 
plant them so that to step from the     

house on to the terrace1 or from the    
terrace to the various parts of the     
garden1 should only seem like going from
 one room to another4  ,of the          
arrangement of the ground into          
divisions1 each section should have its 
own special attractiveness and should be
 led up to by some inviting artifice of 
archway1 or screened alley of shrubs1 or
 rosery with its trellis-work1 or stone 
colonnade2 and if the alley be long it  
should be high enough to afford shade   
from the glare of the sun in hot        
weather2 you ought not1 as ,bacon       
pertinently says1 to buy the shade by   
going into the sun4  ,again1 the useful 
and the beautiful should be happily     
united1 the kitchen and the flower      
garden1 the way to the stables and      
outbuildings1 the orchard1 the winter   
garden1 c41 all having a share of       
consideration and a sense of            
connectedness2 and if there be a chance 
for a filbert walk1 seize it2 that at   
,hatfield is charming4 ,i cannot        

understand1 says ,richard ,jefferies    
7,wild ,life in a ,southern ,country1 p4
 #gj71 why filbert walks are not planted
 by our modern capitalists1 who make    
nothing of spending a thousand pounds in
 forcing-houses4  ,a garden should be   
well fenced1 and there should always be 
facility for getting real seclusion1 so 
much needed now-a-days2 indeed1 the     
provision of places of retreat has      
always been a note of an ,english       
garden4 ,the love of retirement1 almost 
as much as a taste for trees and        
flowers1 has dictated its shapes4 ,hence
 the cedar-walks1#dd the bower1 the     
avenue1 the maze1 the alley1 the        
wilderness1 that were familiar1 and     
almost the invariable features of an old
 ,english pleasaunce1 hidden happily and
 shielded safe4  ,footnote #dd3 ,one of 
the finest and weirdest cedar-walks that
 ,i have ever met with is that at       
,marwell1 near ,owslebury in ,hampshire4
 ,here you realise the wizardry of green
 gloom and sense of perfect seclusion4  

,it was here that ,henry ,,viii4 courted
 one of his too willing wives4  ,this   
seclusion can be got by judicious       
screening of parts1 by shrubberies1 or  
avenues of hazel1 or yew1 or            
sweet-scented bay1 with perhaps clusters
 of lilies and hollyhocks1 or dwarf     
,alpine plants and trailers between4    
,and in all this the true gardener will 
have a thought for the birds4 ,no modern
 exotic evergreens1 says ,jefferies1    
ever attract our ,english birds like the
 true old ,english trees and shrubs4 ,in
 the box and yew they love to build2    
spindly laurels and rhododendrons1 with 
vacant draughty spaces underneath1 they 
detest1 avoiding them as much as        
possible4 ,the common hawthorn hedge    
round a country garden shall contain    
three times as many nests1 and be       
visited by five times as many birds as  
the foreign evergreens1 so costly to    
rear and so sure to be killed by the    
first old-fashioned frost4  ,another    
chance for getting seclusion is the high

 walls or lofty yew hedge of the        
quadrangular courtyard1 which may be    
near the entrance4 ,such a forecourt is 
the place for a walk on bleak days2 in  
its borders you are sure of the earliest
 spring flowers1 for the tender flowers 
can here bloom securely1 the myrtle1 the
 pomegranate will flourish1 and the most
 fragrant plants and climbers hang over 
the door and windows4 ,what is more     
charming than the effect of hollyhocks1 
peonies1 poppies1 tritomas1 and tulips  
seen against a yew hedge8  ,the paths   
should be wide and excellently made4    
,the ,english have always had good      
paths2 as ,mr ,evelyn said to ,mr       
,pepys1 ,we have the best walks of      
gravell in the world1 ,france having    
none1 nor ,italy4 ,the comfort and the  
elegance of a garden depend in no slight
 degree upon good gravel walks1 but     
having secured gravel walks to all parts
 of the grounds1 green alleys should    
also be provided4 ,nothing is prettier  
than a vista through the smooth-shaven  

green alley1 with a statue or sundial or
 pavilion at the end2 or an archway     
framing a peep of the country beyond4   
,as to the garden's size1 it is         
erroneous to suppose that the enjoyments
 of a garden are only in proportion to  
its magnitude2 the pleasurableness of a 
garden depends infinitely more upon the 
degree of its culture and the loving    
care that is bestowed upon it4 ,if      
gardens were smaller than they usually  
are1 there would be a better chance of  
their orderly keeping4 ,as it is1       
gardens are mostly too large for the    
number of attendants1 so that the time  
and care of the gardener are nearly     
absorbed in the manual labour of        
repairing and stocking the beds1 and    
maintaining and sweeping the walks4     
,illustration3 ,,plan ,,shewing         
,,arrangement ,,of ,,sunk ,,flower      
,,garden1 ,,yew ,,walk1 ,,and ,,tennis  
,,court4  ,but if not large1 the grounds
 should not have the appearance of being
 confined within a limited space2 and   

,art is well spent in giving an effect  
of greater extent to the place than it  
really possesses by a suitable          
composition of the walks1 bushes1 and   
trees4 ,these lines should lead the eye 
to the distance1 and if bounded by      
trees1 the garden should be connected   
with the outer world by judicious       
openings2 and this rule applies to      
gardens large or small4  ,ground        
possessing a gentle inclination towards 
the south is desirable for a garden4 ,on
 such a slope effectual drainage is     
easily accomplished1 and the greatest   
possible benefit obtained from the sun's
 rays4 ,the garden should1 if possible1 
have an open exposure towards the east  
and west1 so that it may enjoy the full 
benefit of morning and evening sun2 but 
shelter on the north or north-east1 or  
any side in which the particular        
locality may happen to be exposed1 is   
desirable4  ,the dimensions of the      
garden will be proportionate to the     
scale of the house4 ,the general size of

 the garden to a good-sized house is    
from four to six acres1 but the extent  
varies in many places from twelve to    
twenty1 or even thirty acres4 7,see an  
admirable article on gardening in the   
,encyclopaedia47  ,before commencing to 
lay out a garden the plan should be     
prepared in minute detail1 and every    
point carefully considered4 ,two or     
three acres of kitchen garden1 enclosed 
by walls and surrounded by slips1 will  
suffice for the supply of a moderate    
establishment4#de ,the form of the      
kitchen garden advocated by the writer  
in the ,encyclopaedia is that of a      
square1 or oblong1 not curvilinear1     
since the work of cropping of the ground
 can thus be more easily carried out4   
,on the whole1 the best form is that of 
a parallelogram1 with its longest sides 
in the proportion of about five to three
 of the shorter1 and running east and   
west4 ,the whole should be compactly    
arranged so as to facilitate working1   
and to afford convenient access for the 

carting of heavy materials to the       
store-yards1 etc4  ,footnote #de3 ,as   
the walls afford valuable space for the 
growth of the choicer kinds of hardy    
fruits1 the direction in which they are 
built is of considerable importance4 ,in
 the warmer parts of the country1 the   
wall on the north side of the garden    
should be so placed as to face the sun  
at about an hour before noon1 or a      
little to east of south2 in less        
favoured localities it should be made to
 face direct south1 and in the still    
more unfavourable districts it should   
face the sun an hour after noon1 or a   
little west of south4 ,the east and west
 walls should run parallel to each      
other1 and at right angles to that on   
the north side4  ,there can1 as we have 
said1 be no fixed or uniform arrangement
 of gardens4 ,some grounds will have    
more flower-beds than others1 some more 
park or wilderness2 some will have      
terraces1 some not2 some a pinetum1 or  
an ,american garden4 ,in some gardens   

the terraces will lie immediately below 
the main front of the house1 in others  
not1 because the geometrical garden     
needs a more sheltered site where the   
flowers can thrive4  ,illustration3     
,,plan ,,of ,,sunk ,,flower ,,garden    
,,and ,,yew ,,hedges4  ,of the shapes of
 the beds it were of little avail to    
speak1 and the diagrams here given are  
only of use where the conditions of the 
ground properly admit of their          
application4 ,the geometrical garden is 
capable of great variety of handling4 ,a
 fair size for a geometrical garden is  
#abj ft4 by #fj ft4 ,this size will     
allow of a main central walk of seven   
feet that shall divide the panel into   
two equal parts and lead down to the    
next level4 ,the space may have a       
balustrade along its length on the two  
sides1 and on the garden side of the    
balustrade a flower-bed of mixed flowers
 and choice low-growing shrubs1 backed  
with hollyhocks1 tritoma1 lilies1       
golden-rod1 etc4 ,the width of the      

border will correspond with the space   
required for the steps that descend from
 the upper terrace4 ,for obtaining      
pleasant proportions in the design1 the 
walks in the garden will be of two      
sizes1 gravelled like the rest--the     
wider walk1 say1 three feet1 the        
smaller1 one foot nine inches4 ,the     
centre of the garden device on each side
 may be a raised bed with a stone kerb  
and an ornamental shrub in the middle1  
and the space around with1 say1         
periwinkle or stonecrop1 mixed with     
white harebells1 or low creepers4 ,or1  
should there be no wide main walk1 and  
the garden-plot be treated as one       
composition1 the central bed will have a
 statue1 sundial1 fountain1 or other    
architectural feature4 ,each bed will be
 edged with box or chamfered stone1 or  
terra-cotta edging4 ,or the formal      
garden may be sunk below the level of   
the paths1 and filled either with       
flowers or with dwarf coniferae4  ,both 
for practical and artistic reasons1 the 

beds should not be too small2 they      
should not be so small that1 when filled
 with plants1 they should appear like   
spots of colour1 nor be so large that   
any part of them cannot be easily       
reached by a rake4 ,nor should the      
shapes of the beds be too angular to    
accommodate the plants well4 ,in ,sir   
,gardner ,wilkinson's book on ,colour   
7,murray1 #aheh1 p4 #cgb71 he speaks of 
design and good form as the very soul of
 a dressed garden2 and the very         
permanence of the forms1 which remain   
though successive series of plants be   
removed1 calls for a good design4 ,the  
shapes of the beds1 as well as the      
colours of their contents1 are taken    
cognisance of in estimating the general 
effect of a geometrical garden4 ,this   
same accomplished author advises that   
there should always be a less formal    
garden beyond the geometrical one2 the  
latter is1 so to speak1 an appurtenance 
of the house1 a feature of the plateau  
upon which it stands1 and no attempt    

should be made to combine the patterns  
of the geometrical with the beds or     
borders of the outer informal garden1   
such combination being specially        
ill-judged in the neighbourhood of      
bushes and winding paths4  ,of the      
proper selection of flowers and the     
determination of the colours for        
harmonious combination in the           
geometrical beds1 much that is          
contradictory has been preached1 one    
gardener leaning to more formality than 
another4 ,there is1 however1 a general  
agreement upon the necessity of having  
beds that will look fairly well at all  
seasons of the year1 and an agreement as
 to the use of hardy flowers in these   
beds4 ,mr ,robinson has some good advice
 to give upon this point 7,english      
,flower ,garden1 p4 #bd73 ,the ugliest  
and most needless parterre 767 in       
,england may be planted in the most     
beautiful way with hardy flowers alone4 
7,why needless1 then87 ,are we not all  
wrong in adopting one degree1 so to say1

 of plant life as the only fitting one  
to lay before the house8 ,is it well to 
devote the flower-bed to one type of    
vegetation only--low herbaceous         
vegetation--be that hardy or tender8444 
,we have been so long accustomed to     
leave flower-beds raw1 and to put a     
number of plants out every year1 forming
 flat surfaces of colour1 that no one   
even thinks of the higher and better way
 of filling them4 ,but surely it is     
worth considering whether it would not  
be right to fill the beds permanently1  
rather than to leave them in this naked 
or flat condition throughout the whole  
of the year4444 ,if any place asks for  
permanent planting1 it is the spot of   
ground immediately near the house2 for  
no one can wish to see large1 grave-like
 masses of soil frequently dug and      
disturbed near the windows1 and few care
 for the result of all this1 even when  
the ground is well covered during a good
 season4 ,again our author1 on p4 #ie1  
states that he has very decided notions 

as to arrangement of the various colours
 for summer bedding1 which are that the 
whole shall be so commingled that one   
would be puzzled to determine what tint 
predominates in the entire arrangement4 
,he would have a glaucous colour1 that  
is1 a light grey or whitish green4 ,such
 a colour never tires the eye1 and      
harmonises with the tints of the        
landscape1 particularly of the lawn4    
,this seems to be neutralising the      
effects of the flowers1 and this primal 
consideration of the lawn is like       
scorning your picture for the sake of   
its frame6  ,sir ,gardner ,wilkinson1   
who writes of gardens from quite another
 point of view1 says3 ,it is by no means
 necessary or advisable to select rare  
flowers for the beds1 and some of the   
most common are the most eligible1 being
 more hardy1 and therefore less likely  
to fail1 or to cover the bed with a     
scanty and imperfect display of colour4 
,indeed1 it is a common mistake to seek 
rare flowers1 when many of the old and  

most ordinary varieties are far more    
beautiful4 ,the point to note in this   
matter of choosing flowers for a        
geometrical garden is to ascertain first
 the lines that will best accord with   
the design1 and make for a harmonious   
and brilliant effect1 and to see that   
the flowers best suited to it blossom at
 the same periods4 ,a succession of     
those of the same colour may be made to 
take the place of each1 and continue the
 design at successive seasons4 ,they    
should also be1 as near as possible1 of 
the same height as their companions1 so 
that the blue flowers be not over tall  
in one bed1 or the red too short in     
another4444 ,common flowers1 the weeds  
of the country1 are often most beautiful
 in colour1 and are not to be despised  
because they are common2 they have also 
the advantage of being hardy1 and rare  
flowers are not always those best suited
 for beds 7,wilkinson on ,colour1 p4    
#cge74  ,with regard to the ornamental  
turf-beds of our modern gardens4 ,to    

judge of a garden upon high principles1 
we expect it to be the finest and       
fittest expression that a given plot of 
ground will take2 it must be the perfect
 adaptation of means to an end and that 
end is beauty4 ,are we to suppose1 then1
 that the turf-beds of strange device   
that we meet with in modern gardens are 
the best that can be done by the heir of
 all the ages in the way of             
garden-craft8 ,a garden1 ,i am aware1   
has other things to attend to besides   
the demands of ideal beauty2 it has to  
embellish life to supply innocent       
pleasure to the inmates of the house as 
well as to dignify the house itself2 and
 the devising of these vagrant beds that
 sprawl about the grounds is a pleasure 
that can be ill spared from the artistic
 delights of a modern householder4 ,it  
is indeed wonderful to what heights the 
,british fancy can rise when put to the 
push1 if only it have a congenial field6
 ,so here we have flower-beds shaped as 
crescents and kidneys--beds like flying 

bats or bubbling tadpoles1 commingled   
butterflies and leeches1 stars and      
sausages1 hearts and commas1 monograms  
and maggots--a motley assortment to be  
sure--but the modern mind is motley1 and
 the pretty flowers smile a sickly smile
 out of their comic beds1 as though     
,paradise itself could provide them with
 no fairer lodgings6  ,and yet if ,i    
dare speak my mind sike fancies weren   
foolerie2 and it were hard to find a    
good word to say for them from any point
 of view whatever4 ,their wobbly shapes 
are not elegant2 they have not the      
sanction of precedent1 even of epochs   
the most barbarous4 ,and though they    
make pretence at being a species of art1
 their mock-formality has not that      
geometric precision which shall bind    
them to the formal lines of the house1  
or to the general bearings of the site4 
,not only do they contribute nothing to 
the artistic effect of the general      
design1 but they even mar the appearance
 of the grass that accommodates them4   

,design they have1 but not design of    
that quality which alone justifies its  
intrusion4 ,no wonder ,nature abhors    
lines if this base and spurious         
imitation of the old formality1 that    
,charles ,lamb gloats over1 is all that 
the landscape-garden can offer in the   
way of idealisation4  ,one other feature
 of the old-fashioned garden--the       
herbaceous border--requires a word4 ,it 
is worthy of note that1 unlike the      
modern1 the ancient gardener was not a  
man of one idea--his art is not bounded 
like a barrel-organ that can only play  
one invariable tune6 ,while the master  
of the old formality can give intricate 
harmonies of inwoven colours in the     
geometric beds--all mosaic1 choicely    
planned1 where ,nature lends her utmost 
magic to grace man's fancy--he knows the
 value of the less as well as the more1 
and finds equal room for the            
unconstrained melodies of odd free      
growths in the border-beds1 where you   
shall enjoy the individual character1   

the form1 the outline1 the colour1 the  
tone of each plant4 ,here let the mind  
of an earlier generation speak in       
,george ,milner's ,country ,pleasures3  
,by this time ,i have got round to the  
old ,english flower-bed1 where      only
 perennials with an ancient ancestry are
 allowed to grow4 ,here      there is   
always delight2 and ,i should be sorry  
to exchange its      sweet flowers for  
any number of cartloads of scentless    
bedding-plants1 mechanically arranged   
and ribbon-bordered4 ,this bed      is  
from fifty to sixty yards long1 and     
three or four yards in      width4 ,a   
thorn hedge divides it from the orchard4
 ,in spring the      apple-bloom hangs  
over1 and now we see in the background  
the apples      themselves4 ,the plants 
still in flower are the dark blue       
monkshood1      which is #g;ft4 high2   
the spiked veronica2 the meadow-sweet or
      queen-o'-the-meadow2 the lady's   
mantle1 and the evening primrose4       
,this last may be regarded as the       

characteristic plant of the      season4
 ,the flowers open about seven o'clock1 
and as the twilight      deepens1 they  
gleam like pale lamps1 and harmonise    
wonderfully with      the colour of the 
sky4 ,on this bed ,i read the history of
 the      year4 ,here were the first    
snowdrops2 here came the crocuses1 the  
daffodils1 the blue gentians1 the       
columbines1 the great globed            
peonies2 and last1 the lilies and the   
roses4  ,and now to apply what has been 
said4  ,since gardening entails so much 
study and experience--since it is a     
craft in which one is so apt to err1 in 
small matters as in large--since it     
exists to represent passages of ,nature 
that have touched man's imagination from
 time immemorial--since its business is 
to paint living pictures of living      
things whose habits1 aspects1 qualities1
 and character have ever engaged man's  
interest--since the modern gardener has 
not only not found new sources of       
inspiration unknown of old1 but has even

 lost sensibility to some that were     
active then--it were surely wise to take
 the hand of old garden-masters who did 
large things in a larger past--to whom  
fine gardening came as second           
nature--whose success has given ,english
 garden-craft repute which not even the 
journeyman efforts of modern times can  
quite extinguish4  ,these men--,bacon1  
,temple1 ,evelyn1 and their school--let 
us follow for style1 elevated form1     
noble ideals1 and artistic              
interpretation of ,nature4  ,for        
practical knowledge of trees and shrubs1
 indigenous or exotic--to know how to   
plant and what to plant--to know what to
 avoid in the practice of modern        
blunderers--to know the true theory and 
practice of ,landscape-gardening1       
reduced to writing1 after ample         
analysis--turn we to those books of     
solid value of the three great          
luminaries of modern garden-craft1      
,gilpin1 ,repton1 ,loudon4  ,and it were
 not only to be ungenerous1 but         

absolutely foolish1 to neglect the study
 of the best that is now written and    
done in the way of landscape-gardening1 
in methods of planting1 and illustration
 of botany up to date4 ,one school may  
see things from a different point of    
view to another1 yet is there but one   
art of gardening4 ,it is certain that to
 gain boldness in practice1 to have     
clear views upon that delicate          
point--the relations of ,art and        
,nature--to have a reliable standard of 
excellence1 we must know and value the  
good in the garden-craft of all times1  
we must sympathise with the point of    
view of each phase1 and follow that     
which is good in each and all without   
scruple and doubtfulness4 ,that man is a
 fool who thinks that he can escape the 
influence of his day1 or that he can    
dispense with tradition4  ,i say1 let us
 follow the old garden-masters for      
style1 form1 ideal1 and artistic        
interpretation of ,nature1 and let us   
not say what ,horace ,walpole whimpered 

forth of ,temple's garden-enterprise3   
,these are adventures of too hard       
achievement for any common hands4 ,have 
we not seen that at the close of        
,bacon's lessons in grand gardening he  
adds1 that the things thrown in for     
state and magnificence are but nothing  
to the true pleasure of a garden8  ,the 
counsels of perfection are not to be    
slighted because our ground is small4   
,in gardening1 as in other matters1 the 
true test of one's work is the measure  
of one's possibilities4 ,a small1 trim  
garden1 like a sonnet1 may contain the  
very soul of beauty4 ,a small garden may
 be as truly admirable as a perfect song
 or painting4  ,let it be our aim1 then1
 to give to gardening all the method and
 distinctness of which it is capable1   
and admit no impediments4 ,a garden not 
fifty yards square1 deftly handled1     
judiciously laid out1 its beds and walks
 suitably directed1 will yield thrice   
the opportunity for craft1 thrice the   
scope for imaginative endeavour that a  

two-acre garden of the pastoral-farm    
order1 such as is recommended of the    
faculty1 will yield4 ,the very division 
of the ground into proportionate parts1 
the varied levels obtained1 the framed  
vistas1 the fitting architectural       
adjuncts1 will alone contribute an air  
of size and scale4 ,as to codes of taste
 7which are usually in matters of ,art  
only someone's opinions stated          
pompously71 these should not be allowed 
to baulk individual enterprise4 ,long   
experience1 says that accomplished      
gardener and charming writer1 ,e4 ,v4   
,b41 in ,days and ,hours in a ,garden   
7p4 #abe71 ,long experience has taught  
me to have nothing to do with principles
 in the garden4 ,little else than a     
feeling of entire sympathy with the     
diverse characters of your plants and   
flowers is needed for ',art in a        
,garden4' ,if sympathy be there1 all the
 rest comes naturally enough4 ,or to put
 this thought in ,temple's words1 ,the  
success is wholly in the gardener4  ,if 

a garden grow flowers in abundance1     
there is success1 and one may proceed to
 frame a garden after approved codes of 
taste and fail in this1 or one may      
prefer unaccepted methods and find      
success beyond one's fondest dreams4    
,all is fine that is fit is a good      
garden motto2 and what an eclectic      
principle is this6 ,how many kinds of   
style it allows1 justifies1 and guards6 
the simplest way or the most ornate2 the
 fanciful or the sweet austere2 the     
intricate and complex1 or the coy and   
unconstrained4 ,take it as true as      
,gospel that there is danger in the use 
of ornament--danger of excess--take it  
as equally true that there is an        
intrinsic and superior value in         
moderation1 and yet the born gardener   
shall find more paths1 old and new1 that
 lead to ,beauty in a plot of           
garden-ground than the modern stylist   
dreams of4  ,the art of gardening may   
now be known of all men4 ,gardening is  
no longer a merely princely diversion   

requiring thirty wide acres for its     
display4 ,everyone who can1 now lives in
 the country1 where he is bound to have 
a garden2 and ,i repeat what ,i said    
before1 let no one suppose that the     
beauty of a garden depends on its       
acreage1 or on the amount of money spent
 upon it4 ,nay1 one would almost prefer 
a small garden plot1 so as to ensure    
that ample justice shall be done to     
it4#df ,in a small garden there is less 
fear of dissipated effort1 more chance  
of making friends with its inmates1 more
 time to spare to heighten the beauty of
 its effects4  ,footnote #df3 ,embower a
 cottage thickly and completely with    
nothing but roses1 and nobody would     
desire the interference of another      
plant4--,,leigh ,,hunt4  ,to some extent
 the success of a garden depends upon   
favourable conditions of sun1 soil1 and 
water1 but more upon the choiceness of  
its contents1 the skill of its planting1
 the lovingness of its tendence4 ,love  
for beauty has a way of enticing beauty2

 the seeing eye wins its own ranges of  
vision1 finds points of vantage in      
unlikely ground4 ,i write in a nook1    
says the poet ,cowper1 that ,i call my  
boudoir2 it is a summerhouse1 not bigger
 than a sedan-chair2 the door of it     
opens into the garden that is now       
crowded with pinks1 roses1 and          
honeysuckles1 and the window into my    
neighbour's orchard4 ,it formerly served
 an apothecary as a smoking-room2 at    
present1 however1 it is dedicated to    
sublimer uses4 ,what a mastery of life  
is here6      ,as if life's business    
were a summer mood2     ,as if all      
needful things would come unsought      
,to genial faith1 still rich in genial  
good2             99       99       99  
99       99      ,by our own spirits are
 we deified4  ,but ,i must not finish   
the stanza in this connection4  ,a      
garden is pre-eminently a place to      
indulge individual taste4 ,let us not be
 that fictitious thing1 says ,madame    
,roland1 that can only exist by the help

 of others--soyons nous6 ,so1 regardless
 of the doctors1 let me say that the    
best general rule that ,i can devise for
 garden-making is3 put all the beauty   
and delightsomeness you can into your   
garden1 get all the beauty and delight  
you can out of your garden1 never       
minding a little mad want of balance1   
and think of proprieties afterwards6 ,of
 course1 this is to prove naething1 but 
never mind if but the garden enshrine   
beauty4 ,to say this is by no means to  
allow that the garden is the fit place  
for indulging your love of the          
out-of-the-way2 not so1 yet a little    
sign of fresh motive1 a touch of        
individual technique1 a token1 however  
shyly displayed1 that you think for     
yourself is welcome in a garden4 ,thus  
,i know of a gardener who turned a      
section of his grounds into a sort of   
huge bear-pit1 not a sunk-pit1 but a    
mound that took the refuse soil from the
 site of his new house hollowed out1 and
 its slopes set all round with ,alpine  

and ,american garden-plants1 each       
variety finding the aspect it likes     
best1 and the proportion of light and   
shade that suits its constitution4 ,this
 is1 of course1 to intrude embankments  
into a garden with a vengeance1 yet even
 ,mr ,robinson1 if he saw it1 would     
allow that1 as in love and war1 your    
daring in gardening is justified by its 
results1 where1 as ,george ,herbert has 
it--      ,who shuts his hand1 hath lost
 its gold2     ,who opens it1 hath it   
twice told4  ,a garden is1 first and    
last1 a place for flowers2 but1 treading
 in the old master's footsteps1 ,i would
 devote a certain part of even a small  
garden to ,nature's own wild self1 and  
the loveliness of weed-life4 ,here ,art 
should only give things a good start and
 help the propagation of some sorts of  
plants not indigenous to the locality4  
,good effects do not ensue all at once1 
but stand aside and wait1 or help       
judiciously1 and the result will be a   
picture of rude and vigorous life1 of   

pretty colour and glorious form1 that is
 gratifying for its own qualities1 and  
more for its opposition to the          
peacefulness of the garden's ordered    
surroundings4  ,a garden is the place   
for flowers1 a place where one may      
foster a passion for loveliness1 may    
learn the magic of colour and the glory 
of form1 and quicken sympathy with      
,nature in her higher moods4 ,and1      
because the old-fashioned garden more   
conduces to these ends than the modern1 
it has our preference4 ,the spirit of   
old garden-craft1 says3 ,do everything  
that can be done to help ,nature1 to    
lift things to perfection1 to interpret1
 to give to your ,art method and        
distinctness4 ,the spirit of the modern 
garden-craft of the purely landscape    
school says3 ,let be1 let well alone1 or
 extemporise at most4 ,brag of your     
scorn for ,art1 yet smuggle her in1 as a
 stalking-horse for your halting method 
and non-geometrical forms4  ,and1 as we 
have shown1 ,art has her revenges as    

well as ,nature2 and the very           
negativeness of this school's           
,art-treatments is the seal to its doom4
 ,mere neutral teaching can father      
nothing2 it can never breed a system of 
stable device that is capable of        
development4 ,but old garden-craft is   
positive1 where the other is negative2  
it has no niggling scruples1 but clear  
aims1 that admit of no impediment except
 the unwritten laws of good taste4      
,hence its permanent value as a standard
 of device--for every gardener must     
needs desire the support of some        
backbone of experience to stiffen his   
personal efforts--he must needs have    
some basis of form on which to rest his 
own device1 his own realisations of     
natural beauty--and what safer1 stabler 
system of garden-craft can he wish for  
than that of the old ,english           
garden--itself the outcome of a spacious
 age1 well skilled in the pictorial art 
and bent upon perfection8  ,the         
qualities to aim at in a flower-garden  

are beauty1 animation1 variety1 mystery4
 ,a garden's beauty1 like a woman's     
beauty1 is measured by its capacity for 
taking fine dress4 ,given a fine garden1
 and we need not fear to use            
embellishment or strong colour1 or      
striking device1 according to the adage 
,the richly provided richly require4    
,illustration3 7,,perspective ,,view74  
,,plan ,,shewing ,,arrangement ,,of     
,,fountain1 ,,yew ,,walk1 ,,and ,,flower
 ,,beds ,,for ,a ,,large ,,garden4      
,because ,art stands1 so to speak1      
sponsor for the grace of a garden1      
because all gardening is ,art or        
nothing1 we need not fear to overdo ,art
 in a garden1 nor need we fear to make  
avowal of the secret of its charm4 ,i   
have no more scruple in using the       
scissors upon tree or shrub1 where      
trimness is desirable1 than ,i have in  
mowing the turf of the lawn that once   
represented a virgin world4 ,there is a 
quaint charm in the results of the      
topiary art1 in the prim imagery of     

evergreens1 that all ages have felt4    
,and ,i would even introduce bizarreries
 on the principle of not leaving all    
that is wild and odd to ,nature outside 
of the garden-paling2 and in the formal 
part of the garden my yews should take  
the shape of pyramids or peacocks or    
cocked hats or ramping lions in         
,lincoln-green1 or any other conceit ,i 
had a mind to1 which vegetable sculpture
 can take4  ,illustration3 ,,perspective
 ,,view ,,of ,,garden ,,in ,,plan       
,,following4  ,as to the other desirable
 qualities--animation1 variety1         
mystery--,i would base my garden upon   
the model of the old masters1 without   
adopting any special style4 ,the place  
should be a home of fancy1 full of      
intention1 full of pains 7without       
showing any72 half common-sense1 half   
romance2 neither praise nor poetry1 but 
something better than either1 as ,burke 
said of ,sheridan's speech2 it should   
have an ethereal touch1 yet be not      
inappropriate for the joyous racket and 

country cordiality of an ,english home4 
,it should be      ,a miniature of      
loveliness1 all grace     ,summ'd up and
 closed in little--  something that     
would challenge the admiration and suit 
the moods of various minds2 be brimful  
of colour-gladness1 yet be not all      
pyramids of sweets1 but offer some      
solids for the solid man2 combining old 
processes and new1 old idealisms and new
 realisms2 the monumental style of the  
old here1 the happy-go-lucky shamblings 
of the modern there2 the page of ,bacon 
or ,temple here1 the page of ,repton or 
,marnock there4 ,at every turn the      
imagination should get a fresh stimulus 
to surprise2 we should be led on from   
one fair sight1 one attractive picture1 
to another2 not suddenly1 nor without   
some preparation of heightened          
expectancy1 but as in a fantasy1 and    
with something of the quick alternations
 of a dream4  ,illustration3            
,,perspective ,,view ,,of ,a ,,design   
,,for ,a ,,garden1 ,,with ,,clipped     

,,yew ,,hedges ,,and ,,flower ,,beds4   
,your garden1 gentle reader1 is         
perchance not yet made4 ,it were indeed 
happiness if1 when good things betide   
you1 and the time is ripe for your      
enterprise1 ,art      444 ,shall say to 
thee     ,i find you worthy1 do this    
thing for me4     ,,chapter ,,viii4     
,,on ,,the ,,other ,,side4--,a ,,plea   
,,for ,,savagery4       ,i am tired of  
civilised ,europe1 and ,i want to see a 
wild country      if ,i can4--,w4 ,r4   
,,greg4       ,howsoever these things   
be1 a long farewell to ,locksley        
,hall6--,,tennyson4   ,we have discussed
 the theory of a garden2 we have        
analysed the motives which prompt its   
making1 the various treatments of which 
it is susceptible2 we have made a kind  
of inventory of its effects1 its        
enchantments1 its spendthrift joys4 ,now
 we will hear the other side1 and find  
out why the morbid1 tired man1 the      
modern ,hamlet1 likes it not1 why the   
son of culture loathes it as a          

lack-lustre thing1 betokening to him the
 sedentary and respectable world in its 
most hostile form4 ,having made our     
picture now we will turn it round1 and  
note why it is that the garden1 with its
 full complement of approved ornament1  
its selected vegetation1 its pretty     
turns for ,nature1 its many-sided       
beauty--      ,or gay1 or grave1 or     
sweet1 or stern was there     ,not less 
than truth designed  --shall never      
wholly satisfy4  ,your garden will serve
 you in many ways4 ,it will give a sense
 of household warmth to your home4 ,it  
will smile1 or look grave1 or be        
dreamily fanciful almost at your        
bidding4 ,if your bent be that way it   
will minister to your imaginative       
reverie1 and almost surfeit you with its
 floods of lazy music4 ,if you are hot1 
or weary1 or dispirited1 or touched with
 ennui1 its calm atmosphere will lay the
 dust and lessen the fret of your life4 
,yet--let us not blink the fact--just   
because all ,nature is not represented  

here2 because the girdle of the garden  
walls narrows our view of the world at  
large1 and excludes more of ,nature's   
physiognomy than it includes2 because   
the garden is1 as ,sir ,walter truly    
says1 entirely a child of ,art2 the     
place1 be it never so fair1 falls short 
of man's imaginative craving1 and1 when 
put to the push1 fails to supply the    
stimulus his varying moods require4     
,art's sounding-line will never fathom  
human nature's emotional depths4  ,nay1 
one need not be that interesting product
 of civilisation1 the over-civilised    
artist who writes books1 and paints     
pictures1 and murmurs rhyme that--      
,beats with light wing against the ivory
 gate1     ,telling a tale not too      
importunate     ,to those who in the    
sleepy region stay1     ,lulled by the  
singer of an empty day4  ,there is the  
ennuye of the clubs whom you are proud  
to meet in ,pall ,mall1 not a hair of   
his hat turned1 not a wrinkle marring   
the sit of his coat2 meeting him thus   

and there you would not dream of        
supposing that this exquisite trophy of 
the times is a prey to reactionary      
desires6 ,yet deep down in the hidden   
roots of his being lies a layer of      
unscotched savagery--an unextinguished1 
inextinguishable strain of the wild man 
of the woods4 ,scratch him1 and beneath 
his skin is ,rousseau-,thoreau4 ,scratch
 him again in the same place1 and       
beneath his second skin see the brown   
hide of the aboriginal ,briton1 the     
dweller in wattled abodes1 who knew an  
earlier ,england than this1 that had    
swamps and forests1 roadless wastes and 
unbridled winter floods1 and strange    
beasts that no man could tame4 ,even he 
7the sweetest lamb that ever loved a    
bear7 will prate to you of the ,bohemian
 delights of an ungardened country1     
where the white man's poetry has not    
defiled the landscape1 and the          
,britisher shall be free to take his    
pleasure sadly4  ,let us not be too     
hard1 then1 on that dislike of beauty1  

that worship of the barbaric which we   
are apt to condemn as distempered       
vagaries1 for they denote maladies      
incident to the age1 which are neither  
surprising nor ignoble4 ,this disdain   
for ,art in a garden1 this abhorrence of
 symmetry1 this preference for the rude 
and shaggy1 what is it but a new turn   
given to old instincts1 the new ,don    
,quixote sighing for primaevalism6 ,this
 ruthlessness of the followers of the   
immortal ,brown who would navvy away the
 residue of the old-fashioned ,english  
gardens2 who live to reverse tradition  
and to scatter the lessons of the past  
to the winds2 what is it but a new quest
 of the bygone1 the knight-errantry of  
the civilized man1 when turned inside   
out6  ,and for yet another reason is the
 garden unable to meet the moods of the 
age4 ,in discussing the things it may   
rightly contain1 we saw that the laws of
 artistic presentment1 no less than the 
avowed purpose for which a garden is    
made1 require that only such things     

shall be admitted1 or such aspects be   
portrayed there1 as conduce to gladness 
and poetic charm4 ,and1 so far as the   
garden is concerned1 the restriction is 
necessary and desirable4 ,as with other 
phases of ,art1 ,sculpture1 ,painting1  
or ,romance1 the things and aspects     
portrayed must be idealistic1 not       
realistic2 its effects must be select1  
not indiscriminate4 ,the garden is a    
deliberately contrived thing1 a         
voluntary piece of handicraft1          
purpose-made2 and for this reason it    
must not stereotype imperfections2 it   
may toy with ,nature1 but must not      
wilfully exaggerate what is ordinary2   
only ,nature may exaggerate herself--not
 ,art4 ,it must not imitate those items 
in ,nature that are crude1 ugly1        
abnormal1 elementary2 it may not        
reproduce the absolutely repellent2 or  
at most1 the artist may only touch them 
with a light hand1 by way of imaginative
 hint1 but not with intent to produce a 
finished picture out of them4  ,on this 

point there is a distinct analogy       
between the guiding principles of ,art  
and ,religion4 ,art and ,religion both  
signify effort to comply with an ideal  
standard--indeed1 the height of the     
standard is the test of each--and what  
makes for innocence or for faultiness in
 the one1 makes for innocence or        
faultiness in the other4 ,innocence is  
found in each1 but to be without guile  
in ,art or in ,religion means that you  
must be either flawlessly obedient to a 
perfect standard1 or be beyond the pale 
of law through pure ignorance of wrong4 
,where no law is1 there can be no       
transgression4 ,between these two points
 is no middle-ground1 either in the     
fields of ,art or of ,religion4  ,to    
apply this to a garden4 ,untaught1      
lawless ,nature may present things      
indiscriminately1 as they are1 the      
casual1 the accidental1 the savage1 in  
their native dress1 or undress1 in all  
their rugged reality1 and not be        
ashamed4 ,but the artist-gardener1      

knowing good and evil1 exercising       
free-will in his garden-craft1 must     
choose only what he may rightly have1   
and employ only what his trained        
judgment or the unwritten commandments  
of good taste will allow4  ,there you   
have the art of a garden4 ,but because  
of its necessary exclusiveness1 because 
all ,nature is not there1 the garden1   
though of the best1 the most            
far-reaching in its application of      
art-resources1 fails to satisfy all     
man's imaginative cravings4  ,your      
garden1 ,i said1 will serve you many a  
good turn4 ,here one may come to play   
the truant from petty worries1 to find  
quiet harbourage in the chopping sea of 
life's casual ups and downs2 but when   
real trouble comes1 on occasions of     
spiritual tension1 or mental conflict1  
or heavy depression1 then the perfect   
beauty of the garden offends2 the garden
 has no respect for sadness--then it    
almost mocks and flaunts you2 it smiles 
the same1 though your child die1 and    

then instinct sends you away from the   
lap of ,art to the bosom of ,nature--   
,knowing that ,nature never did betray  
,the heart that loved her4  ,all of man1
 then1 asks for all of ,nature1 and is  
not content with less4 ,just as a       
stringed instrument1 even when lying    
idle1 is awake to sympathetic sound but 
refuses to vibrate to notes that are not
 kindred to its compass1 so the garden1 
with all its wakeful magic1 will voice  
only such of your moods as it is in     
touch with2 and there are many chords   
missing in the cunningly encased music  
of a garden--many human notes find no   
answering pulsation there4  ,let us not 
blink the fact1 then2 ,art1 whether of  
this sphere or of that1 is not all4 ,if 
you want beauty ready-made1 obvious     
gladness of colour1 heightened nobleness
 of form1 suggested romance1 ,nature    
idealised--all these things are yours in
 a garden2 and yet the very dressing of 
the place which heightens its appeal to 
one side of man's being is the bar to   

its acceptance on another side4 ,to have
 been baptised of ,art is to have       
received gifts rich and strange1 that   
enable the garden's contents to climb to
 ideal heights2 and yet not all men care
 for perfectness2 the most part prefer  
creatures not too bright or good for    
human nature's daily food4 ,so1 to tell 
truth1 the wild things of field1 forest1
 and shore have a gamut of life1 a range
 of appeal wider than the gardens2 the  
impunities of lawless ,nature reach     
further than man's finished strokes4    
,nay1 when man has done his best in a   
garden1 some shall even regret1 for     
sentimental reasons1 that he brought    
,art upon the scene at all4 ,even after 
the wild landscape1 through which youth 
had strayed at will1 has been laid out  
into fields and gardens1 and enclosed   
with fences and hedges2 after the       
footsteps1 which had bounded over the   
flower-strewn grass have been           
circumscribed within firm gravel-walks1 
the vision of its former happiness will 

still at times float before the mind in 
its dreams4 7,guesses at ,truth47       
,beauty1 ,romance1 and ,nature await an 
audience with you in the garden2 but it 
is ,beauty after she has been sent to   
school to learn the tricks of conscious 
grace2 ,beauty that has the foreign aid 
of ornament1 that walks with the supple 
gait of one who has been well drilled2  
but gone are the fine careless raptures1
 gone the bounding step1 the blithe     
impulses of unschooled freedom and gipsy
 life out of doors4  ,romance awaits    
you1 holding in her hand a picture of   
things bright and jocund1 full of tender
 colour and sweet suggestion2 a picture 
designed to prove this world to be      
unruffled ,arcadia1 a sunlit pageant1 a 
dream of delectation1 a place for       
solace1 a ,herrick-land      ,of brooks1
 of blossoms1 birds1 and bowers2  and   
human life a jewelled tale with all the 
irony left out4  ,nature awaits you1 but
 only as a fair captive1 ready to       
respond to your behests1 to answer to   

the spring of your imaginings4 ,to man's
 wooing1 ,i love you1 love me back1 she 
resigned herself1 not perceiving the    
drift of homage that was paid1 not so   
much to the beauty that she had1 but to 
the beauty of a heightened sort that    
should ensue upon his cultivation1 for  
the sake of which he sought her4 ,so now
 her wildness is subdued4 ,the yew and  
the holly from the tangled brake shall  
feel the ignominy of the shears4 ,the   
common thorn of the hedge shall be      
grafted with one of the twenty-seven    
rarer sorts2 the oak and maple shall be 
headed down and converted into scarlet  
species2 the single flowers1 obedient to
 a beautiful disease1 shall blow as     
doubles1 and be propagated by scientific
 processes that defy ,nature and        
accomplish centuries of evolution at a  
stride4 ,the woodbine from the vernal   
wood must be nailed to the carpenter's  
trellis1 the brook may no more brawl1   
nor violate its limits1 the leaves of   
the hollybush and the box shall be      

variegated1 the forest tree and woodland
 shrub shall have their frayed hedges   
shorn1 and their wildness pressed out of
 them in ,art's dissembling embrace4    
,and as with the green things of the    
earth1 so with the creatures of the     
animal world that are admitted into the 
sanctuary of a garden4 ,here is no place
 for nonconformity of any kind4 ,true1  
the spruce little squirrel asks no leave
 for his dashing raids upon the         
beech-mast and the sweet chestnuts that 
have escaped the range of the gardener's
 broom2 true1 the white and golden      
pheasant and the speckled goligny may   
moon about in their distraught fashion  
down the green alleys and in and out the
 shrubberies2 the foreign duck may frisk
 in the lake2 the white swan may hoist  
her sail1 and float double1 swan and    
shadow2 the birds may sing in the trees2
 the peacock may strut on the lawn1 or  
preen his feathers upon the terrace     
walls2 the fallow deer may browse among 
the bracken on the other side of the    

ha-ha--thus much of the animal creation 
shall be allowed here1 and not the most 
fastidious son of ,adam will protest a  
word4 ,but note the terms of their      
admission4 ,they are a select company1  
gathered with nice judgment from all    
quarters of the globe1 that are bound   
over to respectable behaviour1 pledged  
to the beautiful or picturesque2 they   
are in chains1 though the chains be     
aerial and not seen4  ,it is not that   
the gardener loves pheasants or         
peacocks1 ducks or swans or guinea-fowls
 for themselves1 or for their           
contribution to the music of the place4 
,not this1 but because these creatures  
assist the garden's magic1 they support 
the illusion upon which the whole thing 
is based2 as they flit about1 and cross 
and recross the scene1 and scream1 and  
quack1 and cackle1 you get a touch of   
actuality that adds finish to the       
strangeness and piquancy that prevail   
around2 they verify your doubting       
vision1 and make valid the reality of   

its ideality2 they accord with the      
well-swept lawn1 the scented air1 the   
flashing radiance of the fountain1 the  
white statuary backed by dark yews or   
dim stone alcoves1 with the clipt       
shrubs1 the dreaming trees1 the blare of
 bright colours1 in the shapely beds1   
the fragrant odours and select beauties 
of the place4 ,these living creatures   
7for they are alive71 prowling about the
 grounds1#dg looking fairly comfortable 
in artificial surroundings from whence  
their clipped wings will not allow them 
to escape1 incline you to believe that  
this world is a smooth1 genteel1        
beneficent world after all1 and its     
pastoral character is here so well      
sustained that no one would be a bit    
surprised if ,pan with his pipe of      
reeds1 or ,corydon with his             
white-fleeced flock1 should turn the    
corner at any moment4  ,footnote #dg3   
,lord ,beaconsfield adds macaws to the  
ornament of his ideal garden4 ,sir      
,ferdinand1 when he resided at ,armine1 

was accustomed to fill these pleasure   
grounds with macaws and other birds of  
gorgeous plumage4 ,but ,lord            
,beaconsfield is ,benjamin ,disraeli--a 
master of the ornate1 a bit of a dandy  
always4 ,in ,italy1 too1 they throw in  
porcupines and ferrets for              
picturesqueness4 ,in ,holland are our   
old friends the tin hare and            
guinea-pigs1 and the happy shooting boy1
 in holiday attire1 painted to the life4
  ,it is only upon man's terms1 however1
 and to suit his scheme of scenic       
effects1 that these tame things are     
allowed on the premises4 ,they are not  
here because man loves them4 ,woe to the
 satin-coated mole that blindly burrows 
on the lawn6 ,woe to the rabbit that    
sneaks through the fence1 or to the hare
 that leaps it6 ,woe to the red fox that
 litters in the pinetum1 or to the birds
 that make nests in the shrubberies6    
,woe to the otter that takes license to 
fish in the ponds at the bottom of the  
pleasaunce6 ,woe to the blackbirds that 

strip the rowan-tree of its berries just
 when autumn visitors are expected6 ,woe
 to the finches that nip the buds off   
the fruit-trees in the hard spring      
frost1 presuming upon ,david's plea for 
sacrilege6 ,death1 instant or prolonged1
 or dear life purchased at the price of 
a torn limb1 for the silly things that  
dare to stray where the woodland        
liberties are forbidden to either plant 
or animal6  ,so much for the results of 
man's manipulation of the universe in   
the way of making ornamental grounds6   
,and the sketch here given applies      
equally to the new style or to the old1 
to the garden after ,loudon or to the   
garden after ,bacon2 the destiny of     
things is equally interfered with to    
meet the requirements of the one or the 
other2 the styles are equally           
artificial1 equally remorseless to      
primal ,nature4  ,but one may go        
farther1 and ask3 ,what wonder at the   
outcry of the modern ,nature-lovers     
against a world so altered from its     

original self as that ,hawthorne should 
say of ,england in general that here the
 wildest things are more than half tame8
 ,the trees1 for instance1 whether in   
hedgerow1 park1 or what they call       
forest1 have nothing wild about them4   
,they are never ragged2 there is a      
certain decorous restraint in the freest
 outspread of their branches6 ,nay1 so  
far does this mistaken man carry his    
diseased appetite for ,english soil1    
marred as it is1 that he shall write3   
,to us ,americans there is a kind of    
sanctity even in an ,english            
turnip-field1 when we think how long    
that small square of ground has been    
known and recognised as a possession1   
transmitted from father to son1 trodden 
often by memorable feet1 and utterly    
redeemed from savagery by old           
acquaintance with civilised eyes 7,our  
,old ,home1 p4 #ge74  ,what wonder1 ,i  
say1 that a land that is so hopelessly  
gardened as this--a land so             
sentimentalised and humanised that its  

very clods1 to the ,american1 are poesy 
all ramm'd with life--shall grate the   
nerves of the ,hamlets of to-day1 who   
live too much in the sun1 whom man      
delights not1 nor woman neither6  ,what 
a land to live in6 when its best        
landscape painters--men like            
,gainsborough or ,constable--are so     
carried away by the influence of        
agriculture upon landscape1 so lost to  
the superiority of wild solitude1 that  
they will plainly tell you that they    
like the fields the farmers work in1 and
 the work they do in them2 preferring   
,nature that was modified by man1       
painting a well-cultivated country with 
villages and mills and church-steeples  
seen over hedges and between trees6#dh  
,footnote #dh3 ,see ,p4 ,g4 ,hamerton's 
,sylvan ,year1 p4 #aab4  ,what a land to
 live in6 when even ,nature's wild      
children of field and forest hug their  
chains--preserve their old ways and     
habits up to the very frontier-line of  
civilisation4 ,for here is ,jefferies   

7who ought to know7 writing thus3       
,modern progress1 except where it has   
exterminated them1 has scarcely touched 
the habits of bird or animal2 so almost 
up to the very houses of the metropolis 
the nightingale yearly returns to her   
old haunts4 ,if we go a few hours'      
journey only1 and then step just beyond 
the highway1 where the steam            
ploughing-engine has left the mark of   
its wide wheels on the dust1 and glance 
into the hedgerow1 the copse1 or stream1
 there are ,nature's children as        
unrestrained in their wild1 free life as
 they were in the veritable backwoods of
 primitive ,england4  ,what wonder that 
a land where ,nature has thus succumbed 
wholesale to culture1 should exasperate 
the man who has earned a right to be    
morbid1 or that he should cry aloud in  
his despair1 ,i am tired of civilised   
,europe1 and ,i want to see a wild      
country if ,i can4 ,too many are our    
spots renowned for beauty1 our smiling  
champaigns of flower and fruit4 ,for    

,fair prospects wed happily with fair   
times2 but1 alas1 if times be not fair6 
,hence the comfort of oppressive        
surroundings over-sadly tinged1 to men  
who suffer from the mockery of a place  
that is too smiling6 ,hence the glory of
 a waste like ,egdon to ,mr ,hardy6     
7,the ,return of the ,native1 pp4 #d1   
#e74 ,for ,egdon ,heath1 ,haggard ,egdon
 appealed to a subtler and scarcer      
instinct1 to a more recently learnt     
emotion than that which responds to the 
sort of beauty called charming and fair4
 ,indeed1 it is a question if the       
exclusive reign of this orthodox beauty 
is not approaching its last quarter4    
,the new ,vale of ,tempe may be a gaunt 
waste in ,thule2 human souls may find   
themselves in closer and closer harmony 
with external things wearing a          
sombreness distasteful to our race when 
it was young4 ,the time seems near1 if  
it has not actually arrived1 when the   
chastened sublimity of a moor1 a sea1 or
 a mountain will be all of ,nature that 

is absolutely in keeping with the moods 
of the more thinking of mankind4 ,and   
ultimately1 to the commonest tourist1   
spots like ,iceland may become what the 
vineyards and myrtle-gardens of ,south  
,europe are to him now2 and ,heidelberg 
and ,baden be passed unheeded as he     
hastens from the ,alps to the sand-dunes
 of ,scheveningen4  ,i admit that it is 
strange that time should hold in reserve
 such revenges as this ascetic writing  
denotes--strange that man should find   
beauty irksome1 and that he should feel 
blasted with the very ecstasy himself   
has built up in a garden6 strange this  
sudden recoil of the smooth son of      
culture from the extreme of ,art1 to the
 extreme of ,nature6 ,stranger still    
that the ,yes and ,no of the ,ideal     
,hyde and the ,real ,jekyll should      
consist in the same bosom1 and that a   
man shall be1 as it were1 a prey to     
contrary maladies at one and the same   
time6 ,yet we have found this in        
,bacon--prince of fine gardeners1 who   

with all his seeming content with the   
heroic pleasaunce that he has made1     
shall still betray a sneaking fondness  
for the maiden charms of ,bohemia       
outside4 ,earthly ,paradise is fine and 
fit1 but there must needs be mounts of  
some pretty height1 leaving the wall of 
the enclosure breast high to look abroad
 in the fields--there must be a window  
open1 to fly out at1 a secret way to    
retire by4 ,nay1 after all1 what are to 
him the charms that inspire his rhapsody
 of words--the things that princes add  
for state and magnificence6 ,they are   
,delilah's charms1 and but nothing to   
the true pleasure of a garden6  ,our    
gardens in ,paris1 says ,joubert1 smell 
musty2 ,i do not like these ever-green  
trees4 ,there is something of blackness 
in their greenery1 of coldness in their 
shade4 ,besides1 since they neither lose
 anything1 nor have anything to fear1   
they seem to me unfeeling1 and hence    
have little interest for me4444 ,those  
irregular gardens1 which we call        

,english gardens1 require a labyrinth   
for a dwelling4  ,i hate those trees    
that never lose their foliage 7says     
,landor72 they seem to have no sympathy 
with ,nature2 winter and summer are     
alike to them4 ,says ,thomson1      444 
,for loveliness     ,needs not the      
foreign aid of ornament1     ,but it is 
when unadorned adorn'd the most4  ,or   
,cowley's      ,my garden painted o'er  
,with ,nature's hand1 not ,art's2 and   
pleasures yield1     ,horace might envy 
in his ,sabine field4  ,or ,addison3 ,i 
have often looked upon it as a piece of 
happiness that ,i have never fallen into
 any of these fantastical tastes1 nor   
esteemed anything the more for its being
 uncommon and hard to be met with4 ,for 
this reason ,i look upon the whole      
country in spring-time as a spacious    
garden1 and make as many visits to a    
spot of daisies1 or a bank of violets1  
as a florist does to his borders or     
parterres4 ,there is not a bush in      
blossom within a mile of me which ,i am 

not acquainted with1 nor scarce a       
daffodil or cowslip that withers away in
 my neighbourhood without my missing it4
 ,or ,rousseau3 ,i can imagine1 said ,i 
to them1 a rich man from ,paris or      
,london1 who should be master of this   
house1 bringing with him an expensive   
architect to spoil ,nature4 ,with what  
disdain would he enter this simple and  
mean place6 ,with what contempt would he
 have all these tatters uprooted6 ,what 
fine avenues he would open out6 ,what   
beautiful alleys he would have pierced6 
,what fine goose-feet1 what fine trees  
like parasols and fans6 ,what finely    
fretted trellises6 ,what                
beautifully-drawn yew hedges1 finely    
squared and rounded6 ,what fine         
bowling-greens of fine ,english turf1   
rounded1 squared1 sloped1 ovaled2 what  
fine yews carved into dragons1 pagodas1 
marmosets1 every kind of monster6 ,with 
what fine bronze vases1 what fine       
stone-founts he would adorn his garden6 
,when all that is carried out1 said ,m4 

,de ,wolmar1 he will have made a very   
fine place1 which one will scarcely     
enter1 and will always be anxious to    
leave to seek the country4  ,or         
,gautier1 upon ,nature's wild growths3  
,you will find in her domain a thousand 
exquisitely pretty little corners into  
which man seldom or never penetrates4   
,there1 from every constraint1 she gives
 herself up to that delightful          
extravagance of dishevelled plants1 of  
glowing flowers and wild                
vegetation--everything that germinates1 
flowers1 and casts its seeds1 instinct  
with an eager vitality1 to the wind1    
whose mission it is to disperse them    
broadcast with an unsparing hand4444    
,and over the rain-washed gate1 bare of 
paint1 and having no trace of that green
 colour beloved by ,rousseau1 we should 
have written this inscription in black  
letters1 stonelike in shape1 and        
threatening in aspect3      ',,gardeners
 ,,are ,,prohibited ,,from ,,entering   
,,here4'  ,such a whim--very difficult  

for one to realise who is so deeply     
incrusted with civilisation1 where the  
least originality is taxed as folly--is 
continually indulged in by ,nature1 who 
laughs at the judgment of fools4  ,or   
,thoreau--hero of the ,walden shanty1   
with his open-air gospel--all ,nature   
for the asking--to whom a garden is but 
,nature debauched1 and all ,art a sin3  
,there is in my nature1 methinks1 a     
singular yearning towards wildness4444  
,we are apt enough to be pleased with   
such books as ,evelyn's ',sylva1'       
',acetarium1' and ',kalendarium         
,hortense1' but they imply a relaxed    
nerve in the reader4 ,gardening is civil
 and social1 but it wants the vigour and
 freedom of the forest and the          
outlaw4444 ,it is true there are the    
innocent pleasures of country-life1 and 
it is sometimes pleasant to make the    
earth yield her increase1 and gather the
 fruits in their season1 but the heroic 
spirit will not fail to dream of remoter
 retirements and more rugged paths4 ,it 

will have its garden-plots and its      
parterres elsewhere than on the earth1  
and gather nuts and berries by the way  
for its subsistence1 or orchard fruits  
with such heedlessness as berries4 ,we  
should not be always soothing and       
training ,nature4444 ,the ,indian's     
intercourse with ,nature is at least    
such as admits of the greatest          
independence of each4 ,if he is somewhat
 of a stranger in her midst1 the        
gardener is too much of a familiar4     
,there is something vulgar and foul in  
the latter's closeness to his mistress1 
something noble and cleanly in the      
former's distance4444 ,there are other  
savager1 and more primeval aspects of   
,nature than our poets have sung4 ,it is
 only white man's poetry4  ,to sum up   
the whole matter1 this unmitigated      
hostility of the cultured man 7with     
,jacob's smooth hands and ,esau's wild  
blood7 to the amenities of civilised    
life1 brings us back to the point from  
whence we started at the commencement of

 this chapter4 ,while men are what they 
are1 ,art is not all4 ,man has ,viking  
passions as well as ,eden instincts4    
,man is of mixed blood1 whose sympathies
 are not so much divided as double4 ,and
 all of man asks for all of ,nature1 and
 is not content with less4 ,to the      
over-civilised man who is under a cloud1
 the old contentment with orthodox      
beauty must give place to the subtler1  
scarcer instinct1 to the more recently  
learnt emotion1 than that which responds
 to the sort of beauty called charming  
and fair4 ,fair effects are only for    
fair times4 ,the garden represents to   
such an one a too careful abstract of   
,nature's traits and features that had  
better not have been epitomised4 ,the   
place is to him a kind of fraud--a      
forgery1 so to speak1 of ,nature's      
autograph4 ,it is only the result of    
man's turning spy or detective upon the 
beauties of the outer world4 ,its       
perfection is too monotonous2 its grace 
is too subtle2 its geography too        

bounded2 its interest too full of       
intention--too much sharpened to a      
point2 its growth is too uniformly      
temperate2 its imagery too exacting of  
notice4 ,these prim and trim things     
remind him of captive princes of the    
wood1 brightly attired only that they   
may give romantic interest to the       
garden--these tame birds with clipped   
wings1 of distraught aspect and dreamy  
tread--these docile animals with their  
limp legs and vacant stare1 may         
contribute to the scenic pomp of the    
place1 but it is at the expense of their
 native instincts and the joyous abandon
 of woodland life4 ,if this be the      
outcome of your boasted editing of      
,nature1 give us dead ,nature           
untranslated4 ,if this be what comes of 
your idealisation of the raw materials  
of ,nature--of the transference of your 
own emotions to the simple1             
unsophisticated things of the common    
earth1 let us rather have ,nature's     
unspoilt self--,god's ,art1 as ,plato   

calls ,nature--where      ,visions1 as  
prophetic eyes avow1     ,hang on each  
leaf1 and cling to each bough4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,but stay1 here come the gardeners6     
7,enter a gardener and two              
servants67--,king ,richard ,,ii4        
,,chapter ,,ix4  ,,in ,,praise ,,of     
,,both4      ,in small proportions we   
just beauties see1     ,and in short    
measures life may perfect be4--,,ben    
,,jonson4      ,the ,common all men     
have4--,,george ,,herbert4   ,what shall
 we say1 then1 to the two conflicting   
views of garden-craft referred to in my 
last chapter1 wherein ,i take the modern
 position1 namely1 that the love of ,art
 in a garden1 and the love of wild      
things in ,nature's large estate1 cannot
 co-exist in the same breast8 ,is the   
position true or false8  ,to see the    
matter in its full bearings ,i must     
fetch back a little1 and recall what was
 said in a former chapter 7p4 #he7 upon 
the differing attitudes towards ,nature 

taken by the earlier and later schools  
of gardening4 ,there is1 ,i said1 no    
trace in the writings1 or in the        
gardening1 of the earlier traditional   
school1 of that mawkish sentiment about 
,nature1 that condescending tenderness  
for her primal shapes1 that has nursed  
the scruples1 and embarrassed the       
efforts of the landscape-gardener from  
,kent's and ,brown's days to now4  ,the 
older gardener had no half-and-half     
methods2 he made no pretence of         
,nature-worship1 nursed no scruples that
 could hinder the expression of his own 
mind about ,nature1 or check him from   
fathoming all her possibilities4 ,yet   
with all his seeming unscrupulousness   
the old gardener does not close his eyes
 or his heart to ,nature at large1 but  
whether in the garden sanctuary or out  
of it1 he maintains equally tender      
relations towards her4  ,but the        
scruples of the earlier phase of the    
landscape school1 about tampering with  
,nature by way of attaining ,art        

effects1 are as water unto wine compared
 with what is taught by men of the same 
school now-a-days4 ,we have now to      
reckon with an altogether deeper stratum
 of antipathy to garden-craft than was  
reached by the followers of ,brown4 ,we 
have not now to haggle with the         
quidnuncs over the less or more of ,art 
permissible in a garden1 but to fight   
out the question whether civilisation   
shall have any garden at all4 ,away with
 this white man's poetry6 ,the wild     
,indian's intercourse with ,nature is at
 least such as admits of the greatest   
independence of each4 ,if he is somewhat
 of a stranger in her midst1 the        
gardener is too much of a familiar4     
,there is something vulgar and foul in  
the latter's closeness to his mistress1 
something noble and cleanly in the      
former's distance4 ,alas6 says ,newman1 
what are we doing all through life1 both
 as a necessity and a duty1 but         
unlearning the world's poetry1 and      
attaining to its prose8  ,one does not  

fear1 however1 that the ,english people 
will part lightly with their land's old 
poetry1 however seductive the emotion   
which we are told prefers the oppression
 of surroundings over-sadly tinged1 and 
solitudes that have a lonely face1      
suggesting tragical possibilities to the
 old-fashioned sort of beauty called    
charming and fair4  ,the lesson we have 
to learn is the falsehood of extremes4  
,the point we have to master is1 that in
 the prodigality of ,god's ,plenty many 
sorts of beauty are ours1 and nothing   
shall be scorned4 ,god's creation has a 
broad gamut1 a vast range1 to meet our  
many moods4 ,there are1 it may be1 so   
many kinds of music in the world1 and   
none of them is without signification4  
,o world1 as ,god has made it6 ,all is  
beauty4  ,there is nothing contradictory
 in the variety and multiformity of     
,nature1 whether loose and at large in  
,nature's unmapped geography1 or        
garnered and assorted and heightened by 
man's artistry in the small proportions 

of a perfect garden4 ,man1 we said1 is  
of mixed blood1 whose sympathies are not
 so much divided as double1 and each    
sympathy shall have free play4 ,my      
inborn ,eden instincts draw me to the   
bloom and wonder of the world2 my       
,viking blood drives me to the snap and 
enthusiasm of anarchic forms1 the       
colossal images1 the swarthy monotony1  
the sombre aspects of ,nature in the    
wild4 ,yet all is beauty4  ,thus much by
 way of preamble4 ,and now1 after       
repeating that the gardener of the old  
formality1 however sternly he discipline
 wild ,nature for the purposes of       
beauty1 is none the less capable of     
loving and of holding friendly commerce 
with the things that grew outside his   
garden hedge1 let me bring upon my page 
a modern of moderns1 who1 by the wide   
range of his sympathies1 recalls the    
giants of a healthier day1 and redeems a
 generation of lopsided folk abnormally 
developed in one direction4  ,and the   
poet ,wordsworth1 self-drawn in his own 

works1 or depicted by his friends1 is   
one of the old stock of sane1           
sound-hearted ,englishmen1 who can be   
equally susceptible to the inward       
beauties of man's created brain-world1  
and the outward beauties of unkempt     
,nature4 ,so the combination we plead   
for is not impossible6 ,the two tastes  
are not irreconcilable6 ,blessed be     
both6  ,we may trust ,wordsworth        
implicitly as an authority upon ,nature4
 ,no one questions his knowledge of wild
 woodland lore4 ,there is no one of     
ancient or of modern times who in his   
outward mien1 his words1 his habits1    
carries more indisputable proof of the  
prophet's ordination than the man who   
spent a long noviciate in his native    
mountain solitudes4 ,there is no one so 
fully entitled1 or so well able to speak
 of and for her1 as he who knows her    
language to the faintest whisper1 who   
spent his days at her feet1 who pored   
over her lineaments under every change  
of expression1 who in his writings drew 

upon the secret honey of the beauty and 
harmony of the world1 telling1 to use   
his own swinging phrases1 of the joy and
 happiness of loving creatures1 of men  
and children1 of birds and beasts1 of   
hills and streams1 and trees and        
flowers2 with the changes of night and  
day1 evening and morning1 summer and    
winter2 and all their unwearied actions 
and energies4  ,of all ,nature's        
consecrated children1 he is the prince  
of the apostolate2 he is1 so to speak1  
the beloved disciple of them all1 whose 
exalted personal love admits him to the 
right to lean upon her breast1 to hear  
her heart-beats1 to catch knowledge     
there that had been kept secret since   
the world began4 ,none so familiar with 
pastoral life in its varied             
time-fulness1 sweet or stern1 glad or   
grim1 pathetic or sublime1 as he who    
carries in his mind the echoes of the   
passion of the storm1 the moan of the   
passing wind with its beat upon the bald
 mountain-crag1 the sighing of the dry  

sedge1 the lunge of mighty waters1 the  
tones of waterfalls1 the inland sounds  
of caves and trees1 the plaintive spirit
 of the solitude4 ,there are none who   
have pondered so deeply over the blended
 holiness of earth and sky1 the gesture 
of the wind and cloud1 the silence of   
the hills2 none so free to fraternise   
with things bold or obscure1 great or   
small1 as he who told alike of the love 
and infinite longings of ,margaret1 of  
the fresh joy of      ,the blooming girl
 whose hair was wet     ,with points of 
morning dew1  of the lonely star1 the   
solitary raven1 the pliant hare-bell1   
swinging in the breeze1 the meadows and 
the lower ground1 and all the sweetness 
of a common dawn4  ,thus did ,wordsworth
 enter into the soul of things and sing 
of them      ,in a music sweeter than   
their own4  ,nay1 says ,arnold1 ,it     
might seem that ,nature not only gave   
him the matter of his poem1 but wrote   
his poem for him 7,essays in ,criticism1
 p4 #aee74  ,so much for ,wordsworth    

upon ,nature out of doors2 now let us   
hear him upon ,art in a garden1 of which
 he was fully entitled to speak1 and we 
shall see that the man is no less the   
poet of idealism upon his own ground1   
than the poet of actuality in the       
woodland world4  ,writing to his friend 
,sir ,geo4 ,beaumont1#di with all the   
outspokenness of friendship and the     
simplicity of a candid mind1 he thus    
delivers himself upon the ,art of       
,gardening3 ,laying out grounds1 as it  
is called1 may be considered as a       
,liberal ,art1 in some sort like poetry 
and painting1 and its object is1 or     
ought to be1 to move the affections     
under the control of good sense2 that   
is1 those of the best and wisest2 but1  
speaking with more precision1 it is to  
assist ,nature in moving the affections 
of those who have the deepest perception
 of the beauties of ,nature1 who have   
the most valuable feelings1 that is1 the
 most permanent1 the most independent1  
the most ennobling with ,nature and     

human life4  ,footnote #di3 ,see ,myres'
 ,wordsworth1 ,english ,men of ,letters 
,series1 p4 #fg4  ,hearken to ,nature's 
own high priest1 turned laureate of the 
garden6 ,how can this thing be8 ,here is
 the man whose days had been spent at   
,nature's feet1 whose life's business   
seemed to be this only1 that he should  
extol her1 interpret her1 sing of her1  
lift her as high in man's esteem as fine
 utterance can affect the human soul4   
,yet when he has done all1 said all that
 inspired imagination can say in her    
praise1 in what seems an outburst of    
disloyalty to his old mistress1 he      
deliberately takes the crown himself had
 woven from off the head of ,nature and 
places it on the brows of ,art in a     
garden6  ,not ,bacon himself could write
 with more discernment or with more     
fervour of garden-craft than this1 and  
the pronouncement gains further         
significance as being the deliberately  
expressed opinion of a great poet1 and  
him the leader of the modern ,school of 

,naturalists4 ,and that these two men1  
separated not merely by two centuries of
 time1 but by the revolutionary         
influences which coloured them1 should  
find common ground and shake hands in a 
garden1 is strange indeed6 ,both men    
loved ,nature4 ,bacon1 as ,dean ,church 
remarks1#ej had a keen delight in       
,nature1 in the beauty and scents of    
flowers1 in the charm of open-air life2 
but his regard for ,nature's beauties   
was not so ardent1 his knowledge of her 
works and ways not so intimate or so    
scientifically verified1 his senses not 
so sympathetically allured as           
,wordsworth's2 he had not the same      
prophet's vision that could see into the
 life of things1 and find thoughts there
 that do often lie too deep for tears4  
,that special sense ,wordsworth himself 
fathered4  ,footnote #ej3 ,bacon1       
,english ,men of ,letters ,series1 ,r4  
,w4 ,church4  ,points like these add    
weight to ,wordsworth's testimony of the
 high rank of gardening1 and we do well 

to note that the wreath that the modern 
man brings for ,art in a garden is not  
only greener and fresher than the       
garland of the other1 but it was        
gathered on loftier heights2 it means   
more1 it implies a more emphatic homage4
  ,and ,wordsworth had not that         
superficial knowledge of gardening which
 no gentleman's head should be without4 
,he knew it as a craftsman knows the    
niceties of his craft4 ,more than one   
seat in the lake-country1 says ,mr      
,myres 7,wordsworth1 p4 #fh71 among them
 one home of pre-eminent beauty1 have   
owed to ,wordsworth no small part of    
their ordered charm4  ,of ,wordsworth's 
own garden1 one writes3 ,i know that    
thirty years ago that which struck me   
most at ,rydal ,mount1 and which        
appeared to me its greatest charm1 was  
the union of the garden and the         
wilderness4 ,you passed almost          
imperceptibly from the trim parterre to 
the noble wood1 and from the narrow1    
green vista to that wide sweep of lake  

and mountain which made up one of the   
finest landscapes in ,england4 ,nor     
could you doubt that this unusual       
combination was largely the result of   
the poet's own care and arrangement4 ,he
 had the faculty for such work4  ,here  
one may well leave the matter without   
further labouring1 content to have      
proved by the example of a four-square1 
sane genius1 that those instincts of    
ours which seem to pull contrary        
ways--,art-wards or ,nature-wards--and  
to drive our lopsided selves to the     
falsehood of extremes1 are1 after all1  
not incompatible4 ,the field1 the waste1
 the moor1 the mountain1 the trim garden
 with its parterres and terraces1 are   
one ,nature4 ,these things breathe one  
breath1 they sing one music1 they share 
one heart between them2 the difference  
between the dressed and the undressed is
 only superficial4 ,the art of gardening
 is not intended to supersede ,nature1  
but only to assist ,nature in moving the
 affections of those who have the       

deepest perceptions of the beauties of  
,nature1 who have the most valuable     
feelings1 444 the most ennobling with   
,nature and human life4  ,one need not1 
if ,wordsworth's example prove anything1
 be less the child of the present 7but  
rather the more7 because one can both   
appreciate the realities of rude        
,nature1 and that                       
deliberately-contrived1 purpose-made1   
piece of human handicraft1 a            
well-equipped garden4 ,one need not be  
less susceptible to the black           
forebodings of this contention-tost1    
modern world1 nor need one's ear be less
 alert to ,nature's correspondence to   
,the still1 sad music of humanity1      
because one experiences1 with old       
,mountaine1 a jucunditie of minde in a  
fair garden4 ,there is an unerring      
rightness both in rude ,nature and in   
garden grace1 in the chartered liberty  
of the one1 and the unchartered freedom 
of unadjusted things in the other4      
,blessed be both6  ,it is worth         

something to have mastered truth1 which1
 however simple and elementary it seem1 
is really vital to the proper           
understanding of the relation of ,art to
 ,nature4 ,it helps one to appraise at  
their proper value the denunciations of 
the disciples of ,kent and ,brown       
against ,art in a garden1 and to see1 on
 the other hand1 why ,bacon and the     
,early ,school of gardeners loved       
,nature in the wild state no less than  
in a garden4 ,it dispels any lingering  
hesitation we may have as to the amount 
of ,art a garden may receive in defiance
 of ,dryasdust codes of taste4 ,it      
explains what your artist-gardener      
friend meant when he said that he had as
 much sympathy with1 and felt as much   
interest in1 the moving drama of ,nature
 going on on this as on that side of his
 garden-hedge1 and how he could pass    
from the rough theme outside to the     
ordered music inside1 from the uncertain
 windings in the coppice-glade to the   
pleached alley of the garden1 without   

sense of disparagement to the one or the
 other4 ,it explains why it is that     
nothing in ,nature goes unobserved of   
him2 how you shall call to see him and  
hunt the garden over1 and at last find  
him idling along the bridle-path in the 
plantation1 his fist full of flowers1   
his mind set on ,nature's affairs1 his  
ear in such unison with local sounds    
that he shall tell you the dominant tone
 of the wind in the tree-tops4 ,or he is
 in the covert's tangle enjoying        
,simple ,nature's breathing life1       
surprising the thorn veiled in blossom1 
revelling in the wealth of boundless    
life there1 in the variety of           
plant-form1 the palpitating lights1 the 
melody of nesting birds1 the common joy 
and sweet assurance of things4          
,society is all but rude     ,to this   
delicious solitude4  ,or it may be he is
 on the breezy waste1 lying full length 
among the heather1 watching the rabbits'
 gambols1 or the floating thistle-down  
with its hint of unseen life in the air1

 or sauntering by the stream in the     
lower meadows1 learning afresh the glory
 of weed life in the lush magnificence  
of the great docks1 the red sorrel1 the 
willow-herb1 the purple thistles1 and   
the gay battalions of fox-gloves thrown 
out in skirmishing order1 that swarm on 
each eminence and hedgerow4 ,or you may 
meet him hastening home for the evening 
view from the orchard-terrace1 to see   
the solemn close of day1 and the last   
gleam of sunshine fading over the hill4 
,it is worth something1 ,i say1 to win  
clear hold of the fact that ,nature in a
 garden and ,nature in the wild are at  
unity2 that they have each their place  
in the economy of human life1 and that  
each should have its share in man's     
affections4 ,the true gardener is in    
touch with both4 ,he knows where this   
excels or falls behind the other1 and   
because he knows the range of each1 he  
fears no comparison between them4 ,he   
can be eloquent upon the charms of a    
garden1 its stimulus for the tired eye  

and mind1 the harmony that resides in   
the proportions of its lines and masses1
 the gladness of its colour1 the delight
 of its frankly decorative arrangement1 
the sense of rest that comes of its     
symmetry and repeated patterns4 ,he will
 tell you that for halcyon days1 when   
life's wheels run smooth1 and the sun   
shines1 even for life's average days1   
there is nothing so cheery1 nothing so  
blithely companionable1 nothing that can
 give such a sense of household warmth  
to your home as a pleasant garden4 ,and 
yet none will be more ready to warn you 
of the limits of a garden's charms1 of  
its sheer impotence to yield            
satisfaction at either end of the scale 
of human joy or sorrow4  ,and so it is4 
,let but the mist of melancholy descend 
upon you1 let but the pessimistic       
distress to which we moderns are all    
prone penetrate your mind1 let you be   
the prey of undermining sorrow1 or lie  
under the shadow of bereavement1 and it 
is not to the garden that you will go   

for ,nature's comfort4 ,the chalices of 
its flowers store not the dew that shall
 cool your brow4 ,nay1 at times like    
these the garden poses as a kind of     
lovely foe1 to mock you with its polite 
reticence1 its look of unwavering       
complacency1 its gentle ecstasy4 ,then  
the ear refuses the soft and intimate   
garden-melodies1 and asks instead for   
the rough unrehearsed music of ,nature  
in the wild1 the jar and jangle of winds
 and tides1 the challenge of discords1  
,the conflict and the sounds that live  
in darkness1  the wild rhetoric of the  
night upon some haggard ,egdon1 or along
 the steep wild cliffs when the storm is
 up1 and the deeps are troubled1 and the
 earth throbs and throbs again with the 
violence of the waves that break and    
bellow in the caves beneath your feet2  
and then it perhaps shall cross your    
mind to set this brief moment of your   
despair against the unavailing passion  
of tides that for ten thousand years and
 more have hurled themselves against    

this heedless shore4 ,or you shall find 
some sequestered corner of the land that
 keeps its scars of old-world turmoil1  
the symptoms of the hustle of primeval  
days1 the shock of grim shapes1 long ago
 put to sleep beneath a coverlet of     
sweet-scented turf2 and the unspoiled   
grandeur of the scene will prick and    
arouse your dulled senses1 while its    
peaceful face will assure you that1 as  
it was with the troubled masonry of the 
hills in the morning of the world1 even 
so shall it be with you--time shall     
tranquillise and at length cancel all   
your woes4 ,or again1      ,should life 
be dull1 and spirits low       ',twill  
soothe us in our sorrow     ,that earth 
has something yet to show1       ,the   
bonny holms of ,yarrow4  ,better tonic1 
one thinks1 for the over-wrought brain  
than the soft glamour of the well-swept 
lawn1 the clipt shrubs1 the focussed    
beauty of dotted specimens1 the ordered 
disorder of wriggling paths and         
sprawling flower-beds of strange device1

 the ransacked wardrobe of the          
gardener's stock of gay bedding-plants1 
or other of the permitted charms of a   
modern garden2 better than these is the 
stir and enthusiasm of ,nature's broad  
estate1 the boulder-tossed moor1 where  
the hare runs races in her mirth1 and   
the lark has a special song for your    
ear2 or the high transport of hours of  
indolence spent basking in the bed of   
purple heather1 your nostrils filled    
with gladsome air and the scent of      
thyme1 your eyes following the course of
 the milk-white clouds that ride with   
folded sails in the blue heavens        
overhead and cast flying shadows on the 
uplands1 where nothing breaks the       
silence of the hills but the song in the
 air1 the tinkle of the sheep-bells1 and
 the murmur of the moorland bee4  ,and  
the upshot of the matter is this4 ,the  
master-things for the enjoyment of life 
are3 health1 a balanced mind that will  
not churlishly refuse ,god's plenty1 an 
eye quick to discern the marvel of      

beautiful things1 a heart in sympathy   
with man and beast4 ,possessing these we
 may defy ,fortune--      ,i care not1  
,fortune1 what you me deny3     ,you    
cannot rob me of free ,nature's grace1  
,you cannot shut the windows of the sky 
,through which ,aurora shows her        
brightening face2     ,you cannot bar my
 constant feet to trace     ,the woods  
and lawns1 by living stream1 at eve3    
,let health my nerves and finer fibres  
brace1     ,and ,i their toys to the    
great children leave2     ,of fancy1    
reason1 virtue1 nought can me bereave4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,,printed ,,by     ,,turnbull ,,and     
,,spears     ,,edinburgh