V. H-; 'i-A*u ,-./, Mm ^MU HOW TO LAY OUT A GARDEN. TO LAY OUT A GARDEN INTENDED AS CHOOSING, FORMING, OR IMPROVING AN ESTATE, (From a Quarter of an Acre to a Hundred Acres in extent,) WITH REFERENCE TO BOTH DESIGN AND EXECUTION. BY EDWARD KEMP, LANDSCAPE GARDENER, BIRKENIIEAD PARK. 1 A thing of beauty is a joy for ever : Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness ; bat still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing." FROM THE SECOND LONDON EDITION. NEW YORK : WILEY & HALSTED. 1858. C K. CRAItiHEAD, Printer, Stereotyper, auii Eleclrolyper, Carton SuiTbing, 81, 83, and 85 Centre Street. PREFACE OF THE AMERICAN PUBLISHERS. IN presenting the public with a first American edition of this excellent work, the Publishers desire to say, that while the principles of taste which it advocates and inculcates are applicable to all regions and climes, the lists of plants recom- mended for culture and adornment are those employed in the moister air of England, some of which do not succeed here, especially in the Northern States; to adopt them implicitly without experience or consultation, would, possibly, involve the danger of failure in many instances, and they wish, by this introduction^ to prepare the reader on the subject. In other respects, future editions may point out those particulars in which climatic influences have led to alterations of plans in and around dwellings; but they have the most undoubted recommendations of men of taste uniting in commending Mr. KEMP'S production as one well calculated to diffuse a taste for the fine ait which it so well illustrates, and have also been advised to adopt the present course of giving a first edition without alteration. With these hints, anticipatory of what the reader may avoid, they have great confidence in the opinions that have been expressed of the value of the book, and they consign it to the public under a full impression that it will meet the wants of a large body of men engaged in the laudable pursuit of ornamenting their homes. WILEY & HALSTED. PEEFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. IT is a salutary axiom, especially in this book-making age, that no volume should be sent before the public without some- thing beyond a private reason for its appearance. It requires to be shown that other people have an interest to be served by it, and that the author's own pleasure or advantage is not alone consulted. But even this plea, however well made out, will not be a sufficient or satisfactory excuse for publication, unless the work be very erudite or far in advance of the times, and calculated to benefit future generations. For an ordinary volume, on a common subject, the additional justification of being adapted and required for the use of large numbers of the people is demanded. How far, then, these requirements can be substantiated in reference to the present unassuming little essay, the reader will easily be able to judge, when its origin and purport are explained. Having spent a good deal of time in passing through the suburbs of large towns, (particularly the metropolis,) the author, in common with many others whom he has had the opportunity of conversing with, has been very much impressed with the incongruity and dulness observable in the majority of small Viii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. gardens, and been led strongly to wish that the general appear- ance of such districts were more gratifying to the passers-by, and the arrangement of individual gardens more productive of pleasure to the several occupants. There is such a humanising and elevating influence about everything that is really beautiful, whether iu Art or Nature, that it is almost impossible for the observant wayfarer to stumble upon such objects without being cheered and benefited ; while their effect on those who have them daily beneath their eye is of a still deeper kind. From the author's cvery-day intercourse with gentlemen who are either laying out new grounds, or are seeking to aim-mi errors in design formerly committed, he is also enabled to perceive that sound and useful information is greatly wanted on the subject of landscape-gardening, and that to this defect are mainly attributable the deformities so lamentably frequent. He feels certain, moreover, that other landscape-gardeners will bear him out in the assertion, that their services are more employed to remedy irregularities which have been fallen into for want of due consideration and enlightenment, than to furnish entirely new designs. And the difficulty and expense of rectifying such errors can scarcely be over-estimated. It is wisely ordained that while a truly beautiful object will vie -M permanent and increasing delight, everything of a contrary nature is nearly sure, at some period or other, to pall and disgust the mind. As far as the writer's own observation has extended, and he has reason to believe that is a fair criterion of the real facts of the case, there is no want of appreciation, among the classes for whom this work is intended, of what is tasteful and elegant in gardening. Most persons are able to admire a chaste and PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION". ix beautiful garden when they see it. "What is rather required is something or some one to develop and guide their tastes, and direct them to fitting objects. On all these accounts, then, and as a humble but earnest effort to supply these demands, the book now submitted has been written. It is clearly required by the multitude, for how few there are among the middle classes who do not possess a small garden. And the very extreme of smallness will not exclude a place from the beneficent influence of art ; which is, perhaps, all the more necessary and powerful in proportion as the limits become more contracted. Still, a garden varying in extent from a quarter of an acre to four or five acres, and either wholly without an accompanying field, or having one that comprises from one to twenty-five acres, is what has been chiefly kept in view. Nor will places of greater size and more pretension than have been actually contemplated in the outline of the work, be alto- gether beyond its range. Unambitious as it is in its title and leading object, it may not be without interest or use to the proprietor of a large domain. In its radical principles, Art is essentially the same, whether it apply to a great or a little object ; and, relieved of whatever is peculiar in its reference to small places, (this being distinctly pointed out, where it is requisite to do so,) the points of which the book prominently treats are such as embrace both extensive and limited estates indiscriminately. The author's hope is, consequently, while writing for a large and particular section of the community, not entirely to shut out a smaller but higher or more wealthy class. The work of the late indefatigable Mr. Loudon, on Suburban Gardening, being somewhat of the nature of the present more X PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. restricted production, may be mentioned with the greatest respect, as a voluminous and ample treatise on everything relating to the subject. The book now submitted covers but a fragment of the same field, without, it is believed, at all trenching on the province of its predecessor ; it having been the aim to avoid, as far as possible, travelling over beaten and frequented ground. The price and portableness of this volume will further place it at an immense distance from whatever has preceded it. Such being, in brief, the nature, object, and occasion of the essay which follows, a few words only remain to be said on its materials and execution. There is nothing of egotism (certainly nothing intentional) in the remark that these pages have sprung out of the author's own reflection and observation, and have often been jotted down of an evening, or during a journey, as the result of daily experience. It is very likely that a more finished, and comprehensive, and readable book might have been produced by the use of frequent quotation and copious illustration from othor and less easily attainable works. Thin, however, was no part of the original plan ; though it should be added, that since its completion, the best books on the art have been glanced over, and a few valuable hints, which have been mostly acknowledged, gleaned from Sir Uvedale Price, Mr. Repton, and Mr. Loudon. The work of Sir U. Price on "the picturesque," is probably the most valuable thing of the kind in our language. To have collected more from these, or Mr. Gilpin, or any other authority, would have entirely altered the limits and intention of the essay. At the outset of his task, it was the author's purpose to have illustrated the volume with a number of woodcuts, showing how PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XI the various suggestions might be actually carried out, and supplying designs for a few gardens of different sizes in the two principal styles. Well-selected lists of the several tribes of plants suitable for gardens of limited dimensions were likewise to have been inserted. But it was soon found that the first of these would have materially increased the price, without adding greatly to the efficiency of the book ; while the catalogues in question would also have seriously enlarged its bulk. Mere lists of plants, too, are of such common occurrence in other publications, that they do not seem to be wanted ; and general designs for places, or sketches of particular objects, are seldom capable of being applied, without much modification, to indi- vidual gardens. With regard to the style and manner of the work, the author confesses some little fear lest it should be deemed too elaborate or dogmatical. The first of these faults, if it have any palpable existence, has originated in the wish to render the matter as expressive, and as dense, and as serviceable as possible. It is mainly due to the aim at obtaining brevity and force, without omitting anything. And on so comprehensive a theme, it is hardly surprising that the matter should have accumulated to an extent by no means originally contemplated ; so that the object indicated by the title may even seem to be unduly departed from. This will, however, be more than justified by the fact that there are yet a great many things, not without interest or importance, unavoidably omitted. For the second defect, which appears more manifest and serious, a similar excuse may in part be alleged, with the additional plea that practical information can hardly be made altogether suggestive, and must, to some extent, become dog- xii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. matical, unless it be conveyed in a very circuitous form. At any rate, it is hoped that this will be considered simply as a fault of manner, and not as indicating a positive or presumptuous disposition, which is utterly foreign to the author's purpose. With these frank admissions, he now submits his little volume to the test of public opinion, assured that, whatever may be its fate, it will be judged by the substance of what it contains, and not by the mere accidents of manner and com- position. BlRKENHKAC I'AKK. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. KINDNESS and confidence in the public naturally produce increased efforts in a writer to promote their gratification. And the favour which has so liberally been accorded to this unpretending little publication has induced the author to give the more attention to inquiries which have been made, from time to time, for such illustrations as would better enable amateurs to profit by the various suggestions offered. Indeed, these demands have become so numerous and so pressing as to render compliance with them scarcely a matter of choice, but of necessity. It is this circumstance alone which has overruled the author's former determination, and caused him reluctantly to adopt a more expensive style of book; while the descriptions requisite for the proper understanding of the engravings now inserted, and the extended application which has thus been given to the work, have involved the addition of fully half as much more new matter. For this amplification, therefore, and the great increase of price which it has entailed, the apology must be found in a frequent and reiterated expression of the public wants, which has reached the author from a variety of quarters. The point being established, then, that illustrations would be acceptable, and it being also of consequence that they should be x iv PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. rendered as complete as possible, it was decided that, in order to avoid following in the track, or trespassing on the domains ot other writers, all the examples given should be drawn from the authors own practice. And it is hoped that, without savouring of self-confidence, this course will be the more useful, because the plans will exhibit, in nearly every instance, some adaptation to the peculiar outlines or characters of places ; incidentally thus showing how little irregularities and difficulties may be dealt with, and hi this way giving a greater reality and point to the hints that may be embodied. Among the multitude of designs which every established practitioner must have concocted, it is of course hard to select such as will be most generally available for imparting informa- tion. The expense of engraving them, too, is such as to make a somewhat limited selection essential. Hence, I have had to omit the plans of many interesting places which I had wished to present, and also to reject other sketches that might have been serviceable. In fact, it would have been easy to multiply the engravings to almost any extent, but for the danger ot making the book too costly and cumbersome. To give a wider value to the illustrations, sections of ground, and representations of objects or processes of a practical kind have, in some cases, been introduced. And in other parts, where words seemed but feeble instruments in conveying ideas, pictorial sketches have been employed. In preparing the latter class of designs, I have been indebted to the artistic pencil of my friend and former pupil, Mr. J. W. Chapman, of Dulwich, near London, whose capacity in this and other branches of our art, I have much pleasure in indorsing. Not to make the book at all unwieldy, the size of its pages PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. XV has been kept as small as possible, and this has caused some of the plans to be put on such a reduced scale, that the various clumps and plantations are often shown in a most attenuated form, and with a very awkward outline. For the same reason, the flower-beds and specimen plants in such plans are but imperfectly represented. Happily, however, these instances are mostly of a class in which the larger features of a place are intended to be exemplified, and the defective exhibition of the minor details is not of practical moment. Where the scale to which any of the illustrations have been drawn is not attached to them, and would be of the least importance, it is, with the few exceptions pointed out in the text, and the instances now to be adduced, uniformly thirty feet to an inch. The departures from this rule are in the case of the architectural basins and beds, (figs. 76 to 87,) which are all on a scale of ten feet to the inch, and in every place (that is not otherwise noticed) where vertical heights are given ; these being to a scale of double the size, or fifteen feet to an inch, that they may be rendered more distinct. If, in the hurry of selection, or a too confident reliance on the propriety of his intentions, the author has in any instance ventured to introduce the plans of places without having solicited the special authority of their proprietors, he trusts that the interest which may attach to such plans, and the information they may yield to the public, will be accepted as a sufficient justification and excuse. In the cursory remarks which have been made on architec- tural gardening, and in the discussion of other matters relating to the arrangement and accompaniments of houses, it was hardly possible to pass over the subject of architecture without xvi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. frequent allusion and comment. But, as no claim is asserted to anything like a technical knowledge of this art, and as the references which have been made to it all bear more or less directly on the treatment of a landscape, the charge of pre- sumption cannot fiiirly lie against the author. It is much to be regretted that architects and landscape-gardeners do not more usually work together, in complete unison, from the very commencement of any undertaking in which they are jointly consulted ; and he who would produce a work in which the relation of the two arts to each other, and the elements of garden architecture and of architectural gardening, should be skilfully handled, and tastefully illustrated, would deserve the thanks of the entire art-loving community. BlRKENHEAD PARK, 3lst March, 1858. CONTENTS. PART I. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS AS TO THE CHOICE OF A PLACE. PAGE 1. Roads and Convenience of Access ~CJ| 2. Nature of the surrounding Property and Neighbourhood, present and prospective 4 3. Former Uses of the place . . . . . . . . 6 4. Relative Elevation of the District 8 5. Character of the Soil 9 6. Form or Outline of the Land 10 7. Aspect and Climate 12 8. Existing Shelter and Furniture 13 9. Views to be obtained from it 14 10. Site and Aspect for a House 17 11. Back and Front Approaches to it 21 PART II. WHAT TO AVOID. (IMPORTANCE OF NEGATIVE RULES.) 1. Attempting too much : in frittering away the Ground as to general Arrangement; in superfluous Planting; in numerous flower Beds ; in unnecessary Divisions ; in useless Walks ; in excess of Ornament ; in artificial Mounds or Undulations . . .28 2 Rockeries and Rustic Objects near the House .... 32 xv iii CONTENTS. MM 3. Much planting immediately around a House 33 4. Belts, Clumps, and narrow strips of Plantatioa . . . ^ . iLid. 5. Confining a Place too much .37 6. Rendering it too exposed ibid. 7. Cutting down many large Trees 8. Too great a Mixture of Styles 39 9. Unsuitable Decorations ibid. 10. Tricks for Surprising People ' ibid. 1 1. All kinds of Eccentricity : every sort of Sham . . .40 12. In general, extreme Formality or Regularity of Plan ... . 41 13. Large and complex Geometrical Figures .... ibid. 14. Undue Plainness . 42 15. Carnage Drives that are wanting in Length .... 43 16. Kitchen Gardens in very small Places 44 PART III. WHAT TO ATTAIN. (USES AXD DISADVANTAGES OF POSITIVE RULES.) CHAPTER I.-GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 1. Simplicity 47 2. Intricacy ibid. 3. Convenience 48 4. Compactness .49 5. Snugness and Seclusion ibid. 6. Unity and Congruity 50 7. Connexion - .69 8. Symmetry ibid. 9. Gradation of Parts 53 10. Apparent Extent: by Breadth of Lawn; by Indefiniteness; by sunk Walls and Wire Fences; by turfing around Plants; by concealing Walks; by hiding Boundary Lines ; by partial and broken views of exterior Landscape; by excluding disagreeable and prominent Buildings, &c.; by narrow Viata Openings, to show pleasing Objects; by a judicious Treatment of the Foreground, in respect to Views over both Land and Water . ibid. 11. Richness and Polish CONTENTS. XIX PACK 1 2. Concealment of Offices and Outbuildings 68 13. Variety : by means of Serpentine Walks of different Curves, and tbe Changes of Line hidden from each other ; by single Plants and Groups, and Play of Outline in them ; by Glades, Vistas, and Recesses ; by a due Admixture of the Sorts of Plants ; by Atten- tion to the Heights of Plants, and the Colours of their Leaves and Flowers; by introducing Stone Ornaments of a Light Colour; by Pieces of Water; by Climbers trained to Poles, Standard, and Weeping Plants ; by Undulations in the Surface of the Ground; by planting elevated Spots, and preserving Hollows in Grass ; by the Elements of Picturesqueness . . 72 14. Contrast: of Form; of Colour; Plants best adapted to produce it . 89 15. Originality and Freshness : Modes of attaining them ... 92 16. Expression and Tone; Gaiety; Quietness; Art; Methods of cor- recting Heaviness and Poverty 94 17. Style and Manner: the formal or geometrical Style, with its Cha- racteristics and Accompaniments ; terrace walks ; terminations to straight walks ; forms of flower-beds ; rows of do. ; levels of ground; architectural basins for water; architectural flower- beds ; the mixed or gardenesque Style ; the picturesque ; fitness of each for particular Places 97 18. Adaptation: to the Fixtures of a place; to Climate; to Locality; to Family Wants and Tastes; to existing Peculiarities; to great natural Features . 127 19. Fitness . 129 20. Appropriation : making several other Properties to appear to belong to a Place ibid. 21. Imitation of Nature .130 22. Beauty: of Lines; of Forms; of Colour; of Embellishment; of Association 131 23. Combination of different Principles to form a whole : Simplicity with Richness ; Unity with Variety ; Connexion with Contrast ; Utility with Ornamentation; Breadth with Intricacy; Seclusion with' Openness of View : Originality with Adhesion to Law and Obe- dience to Nature ; pervading Harmony . . . . 135 CHAPTER II. GENERAL OBJECTS. 1. Economy; of Plan; of Execution; of Keeping .... 139 2. Shelter: by Walls; by Plantations ; from Sea-breezes . . .141 3. Approaches to a House: to be concealed from the Windows and CONTEXTS. l'AG the Pleasure-Garden; to present a good View of the House; not Ip^sThe House and return to it; to be direct; to start from a benHf the outside road, or at right angles with ,t; to have a gradual Ascent; to be in easy Curves; when. Avenues wUl Stable; Entrance-door of House to be covered from ou^ Road- large Sweeps of Gravel to be avoided; form of Canrtag* ; Entranced; Access to Servant*' AparUneu, , 4. TreatmetofW^: not to follow the Boundary Fence; ; to embrace particular Views; to take a variety of Levels ; to be hidden fro each other; to have a definite Object; not to turn asid their Course without a sufficient Reason; to separate fn other with an outward Curve ; not to be intruded on by Sh Ease and Freedom (not Regularity) in Curves desirable ; to have . .153 flat Edgings ..... 6. Fences: Sunk Walls; Walls or close Palings; Hedges; hurdles; Wire Fences; Rustic Wooden Fences; Rabbit Fences; protection for Single Trees; Colour of Fences . 6. Outlines of Beds and Masses: to be varied in the design, and more so by Planting: Masses rather than Lines to bo sought ; to be treated separately, and in relation to others ... 164 7. Sky outline of Plantations: to be very irregularly yet soflly broken ; usefulness of Spiry Plants; Masses of Plantation straggling over the Summits and Slopes of Hills ...... * 8. Flowers chiefly to be in detached beds and masses . . .170 9. Flower-borders; to be kept towards the outside of the Pleasure- Garden, and by the margins of the walks in more private parts 171 10. Specimen plants: to be freely cultivated in small places; error of treating all plants as specimens, especially in boundary Plantations 172 11. Undergrowth; places in which it is necessary; plants fitted for creating it; Thickets ........ 1 . 364 PLANS : An imaginary house, to indicate the desirable position for the windows . . ..." 19 An imaginary place, showing general arrangement . *.,'"'. 23 Mode of concealing offices 70 Curves in walks, and accompanying planting ... 13, 74 Masses of shrubs and specimens 74, 77 Groups of Shrubs .75 Methods of arranging the planting on a lawn, so as to secure vistas , -" ,'. , . 79, 81 Terminations to straight walks . . .. . .101 to 106 Flower-beds in rows . . 107 to 116 Architectural flower-beds, with raised stone border . . 122, 123 Entering a place from a high road . . . . . 145, 146 Carriage-sweeps 149 to 151 Divergence of branches from a curved walk . . . .154 Front outline of plants in a plantation 164 Union of two masses of plants on opposite sides of walks . 166, 167 Whiter Garden at Leighton Hall . . . . .186 Outline of a plantation on a mound . . . . . . 213 Believing lines of hedge by scattered specimens in front . . 229 Flower-beds in groups, for a lawn 254, 255 Portion of a Pinetum, to show grouping 289 Circular bowling-green 293 Rustic Summer-houses 311, 313 Entrances and Lodges 336 to 339 Sea-side garden 342 Mode of mixing and arranging plants in a plantation . . . 390 SKETCHES: Belts of plantation, and how to improve them . . . 35, 36 xxx LIST OF EKGBAVIKG8. MM Eflect of nearness in increasing the use of shrubs or trees for con- cealing objects 59 Irregular vista view of church, Ac. ' . GO Vista through trellis arch Ditto through a stone Gothic arch 62 Foreground to a flattish country . . ' . . . .63 Ditto to a more undulating tract . . ... . 66 Ditto to a mountainous scene 65 Ditto to the sea or a lake . 66 Modes of planting in masses, with regard to their upper outlines 76, 77 Clusters of Planting on swells and slopes . . . . 86, 87 Picturesque grouping of rocks, Ic, 125 General picturesqueness in ground and scenery . . . .126 Wooden rustic fences 160 Tree-guards, of rustic wood 161, 162 Thorns or Hollies around base of trees, for protection from cattle . 1 63 Sky outline of plants in plantations 168 Plantations straggling over the summit and down the lace of a hill 169 Mode of forming terrace- walls 184 Masking changes of level at base of terrace walla . . .185' Trees that blend with Grecian architecture 217 Trees that blend with Gothic buildings 218 Planting groups by the margins of lakes 306 Rustic Bridges 307, 308 Rustic Summer-houses 311, 312 Modes of staking and supporting trees 393 SECTIONS: Desirable form of land, as the site for a house and garden . .15 How a walk across a lawn may be sunk 56 General modes of shaping a lawn .... .85 Union of lines hi undulations . 87 88 Terrace-bank, descending from the house platform . . 99 Terraces ascending from the house platform . . . .117 Treatment of sloping land along front of house . . . .118 Slope of lawns to sunk or raised paths 155 Sunk fences of various kinds . . . .156 to 158 Raised gnaind around specimens and in plantations . . .176 A Rectory garden 199| 200 Messrs. Frost's garden at Chester ' 207 Forming and undulating mounds LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. XXXI PACK Sunk foot-path on the estate of Charles Longman, Esq. . . . 244 Banks of lakes and pitching 305 Sea-side garden i ..... 343 Tile and rubble drains , . . . .311 Bed of walk 374 Lodge for catching water in walks . . ' . . . .375 "Walks and their verges 378, 379 Fruit-tree border against wall . 397 MODES IN WHICH VARIOUS OBJECTS ARE REPRESENTED IN THE ENGRAVINGS. Denotes buildings, walls, or any other solid erection, whether of stone, brick, or wood. Grass, whether lawn or field terrace banks having a little extra shading. Flower-beds or borders. Cultivated ground in kitchen gardens. Water in basins. (Pages 119 to 121 ) Lakes or other pieces of water. O X ' Specimen plants on lawns, in beds or borders, or in fields. * Masses of shrubs or other plantations. ttsaito Hedges. Wire or hurdle fences. Walks or roads not at all shaded. HOW TO LAY OUT A GARDEN. PART I. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS AS TO THE CHOICE OF A PLACE. FROM that beautiful variety of taste which brings the com- monest persons into association with the more cultivated, and secures for objects, that many would regard as inferior, a certain amount of approbation and patronage ; scarcely any two indi- viduals will be disposed to select, where there is a full latitude of choice, and a thorough knowledge of every peculiarity, pre- cisely the same spot for a residence. What would perfectly satisfy one might be displeasing to another. The conditions that some would even detest, others might actually covet. And this it is, united to the fact that few can obtain exactly all they desire, and that, from local or other ties, the alternative must generally lie between situations which comprise a greater or less proportion of the required capabilities ; that distributes the population of our towns pretty equally over the suburbs, and brings districts into use that would otherwise remain entirely waste, or be devoted only to the farmer or the grazier. Railways, however, with their annual contracts for convey- ance, and the rapidity, ease, and certainty of transit, are now gradually bringing other parts of the country within the range of selection, and enabling the town merchant or man of busi- ness to locate himself from ten to twenty, or even thirty miles from the town, and thus get the benefit of country air and rural 1 2 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. pleasures. And from the greater abundance and cheapness of land in such districts, a wider field of choice is afforded, and more scope for the exercise of judgment and taste. Although, therefore, every person will necessarily have his own peculiar inclinations, and the opportunities of gratifying a refined and enlarged feeling may be very limited ; it is right that a book like the present, which professes merely to be sug- gestive, should point out those characteristics most generally desirable in a place, and which might not be thought of, or would possibly be but lightly regarded, if not thus specifically presented ; leaving every one to the exercise of his individual wishes, either with or without such aids. 1. The question which first arises in the mind of an inquirer after a site for a residence is, how it wiU be accessible. There may be different opinions as to the kind of road preferable for getting at a dwelling-place ; but an actual necessity exists that there should be some convenient mode of access. Many would desire to fix themselves near a well-frequented or turnpike road ; and some would rather be situated on the side of a more ret ii v in^ another door opposite to it into the garden. On the north-west side of the house, there is an office, busi- ness, or gentleman's room, (10,) containing a recess for an iron safe, (11,) and readily accessible from the servants' apartments. There is next a butler's pantry, (12,) with a recess for a plate safe, (13,) this apartment being placed as near as possible to the entrance door and to the entertaining rooms, besides being in the neighbourhood of the kitchen, and overlooking, by its window, the approach to the house. At 1 4, detached alike from the main corridor and from the servants' passage, is a water- closet, and 15 is a housekeeper's room. The kitchen (10) has a scullery (17) and a pantry or store-closet (18) attached to it, the windows looking into the house-yard. A servants' corridor (19) is terminated by a back staircase, (20,) which is close to the servants' hall, (21,) the latter having its windows to the drying- BACK ROADS. 21 ground, and being near the back entrance. None of the office windows look into the garden or pleasure-grounds, as the win- dow for lighting the back corridor may be of dulled glass. In the house-yard (22) there is sufficient space for a cart to turn, and from this yard only is there access to the drying- ground, (23,) which has a hedge on the side next the house- yard. The coal-shed (24) ash-pit (25) and water-closet (26) are placed in a recess of the house-yard, where they are more out of observation, and the yard is thus left clearer, neater, and more compact. The numbers 27, 28, and 29, refer to a compost and rubbish yard, the kitchen-garden, and a flower- garden, respectively. 11. In connexion with every house, there are certain matters of convenience and utility to be transacted, which if they can- not be carried on apart from the ornamental portion of the garden, would interfere with its privacy and its beauty. Coals, and a variety of other necessaries, have to be brought to a house ; and rubbish of several kinds requires to be taken from it. To accomplish this, it is essential to the enjoyment of a place that it should have a back and front approach ; and the facilities for affording these ought to be the subject of cal- culation when the land is obtained. When the access to a house is from a main road along its northerly side, separate approaches can readily be secured, by entering at different points along that boundary. If the approach be only on any side near the south, however, it is difficult to get a second entrance without grievously cutting up the best part of the place. And where one entrance is used on the south side for all purposes, the privacy of the garden will be almost entirely destroyed, and servants, tradesmen, vagrants, &c., will have the use of the best part of the garden, and be able to gaze into the best windows. It is a great nuisance, too, to have coals and similar dirty things conveyed over the principal approach to a house, and possibly deposited close to the front door. If, therefore, the chief entrance to a place has necessarily to be on the southerly side, it will be desirable to have a small 22 PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. public lane at the back of the land, by which access can be given to the offices of the house, and to the kitchen-garden, without intruding upon the better portions of the pleasure-grounds. That some degree of practical bearing may be given to this part of the book, an outline imaginary sketch, (fig. 4,) embody- ing sonlte of the principal points which have been discussed, is now presented. The plan of the house, on a previous page, is taken as a basis of the arrangement, and the present sketch is intended to exemplify, generally, a good shape for a small plot of land, with the relative position of the house, offices, approaches, gardens, field, Ac., as these might appropriately be disposed. It does not purport to be a perfect model of design, but is simply brought forward to show how the various parts of a place may be arranged, and dovetailed into each other. For the sake of additional clearness, all minor details are omitted. The plot of land represented is supposed to contain about eight statute acres, having a public road along the north-western margin ; the parts about the house being tolerably flat, the nYM sloping to the south-east, and an open country lying towards the south and east, with similar places to the south-west and north- east. The figures indicate the house, (1 ,) the offices, (2,) the con- servatory, (3,) the house-yard, (4,) the drying-ground, (5,) the coal and other sheds, (6 and 7,) the compost and rubbish-yard, and frame-ground, (8,) with a sunk pit (30) in the corner, for receiving sweepings and other refuse. The stable-yard (9) contains a coach-house, (10,) two loose boxes, (11,) a harness-room and open porch, (12 and 13,) with coachman's sleeping-room and clock- tower over them, the stable, (14,) and two pits (15) for manure. There is a cottage for the gardener, (16,) with a small yard, (1 7,) and the requisite conveniences attached. Provision for cows, pigs, and poultry is made in the separate yard, (18,) where there is a cow-house, (19,) pig-styes, (20,) and a poultry-house at 21. The garden-yard is at 22, and has in it, abutting against the back of the hothouses, a boiler-house, (23,) a mushroom-house, (24,) a tool-shed, (25,) an open shed for barrows, ladders, soils, t amount of comfort and satisfaction, and be most permanently fertile hi the various sources of pleasure. And where two places comprising a fair proportion of some of these capabilities, but wanting in others, should come into competition, the preponde- rance in either of those particular merits to which most import- ance is attached by the individual selecting, must determine their relative desirableness. It is not for a moment supposed that the question has here been fully considered. All that has been pretended to be done is, to offer a few leading hints. The standing, occupations, or pursuits, or objects, or connexions, or tastes of each person choosing a place for residence, will all more or less affect his own judgment. But these are matters which could not profitably be discussed. PART II. WHAT TO AVOID. WHEN a physician is called in to prescribe for a patient, one of the first things which is commonly found necessary, is to advise what the invalid should abstain from taking, and how he should endeavour to escape from injurious influences. This treatment is often found sufficient without the use of any medi- cine, and, in all cases, greatly aids the application of more active remedies. And thus it is with respect to any one who advises on other subjects. No good foundation can be laid for such works as the present, unless all erroneous and preju- dicial notions be first cleared away. Every one acquainted with the history of science and geo- graphical discovery will be aware that the labours of the inge- nious speculatist and the pioneer, though often resulting quite abortively, as far as their particular object is concerned, are always accounted valuable by those who succeed them. It is not the mere unfolding of truth to others which constitutes the real criterion of usefulness in life. The exposure of error may be fully as necessary and as beneficial. Hence, the man who, in his travels, finds that a certain point cannot be attained by a particular route, and he who, by his scientific experiments, or imaginative flights, reveals the tracts which cannot profitably be further pursued, will sometimes accomplish nearly as much good as the more successful but less adventurous investigator. In aiming, therefore, to bring the subject fairly before the reader, it will be necessary, at starting, to show what are the 28 WHAT TO AVOID. things which the amateur should not do, before proceeding to speak of such as should actually be performed. Many a per- son who has gardened for himself has, no doubt, for want of such beacons, irretrievably spoiled his place before discovering his error ; or, at least, involved himself in a considerably larger outlay, or rendered the whole design patchy and disjoint rensed with, or for which there is no real necessity ; as well as being further opposed to the practice of splitting np a place into minute parts, instead of making it as spacious and airy as possible. Partly for the reasons just alleged, and :il>. l.ecau-e they introduce ugly strips of a conspicuously different colour on a lawn, a multiplicity of walks, beyond what are absolutely requisite, is very undesirable in a small piece of ground. It is acknowledged that numerous walks conduce to variety ; but it is much better to have only that moderate amount of the 1 nter which can be attained without the sacrifice of simplicity. Walks that have no definite or sufficiently important object , ami do not serve to reveal features or aspects of a place that would otl in- wise be imperfectly seen or entirely lost, are always to be avoided, as destroying the smoothness, continuou>n. ->, ail( l ATTEMPTING TOO MUCH. 31 extent of a lawn, and producing a poverty and meanness of general effect. A garden may also be overloaded with a variety of things, which, though ornamental in themselves, and not at all out of keeping with the house, or the principal elements of the land- scape, may yet impart to it an affected or ostentatious character. An undue introduction of sculptured or other figures, vases, seats and arbours, baskets for plants, and such like objects, would come within the limits of this description. And there is nothing of which people in general are so intolerant in others, as the attempt, when glaringly and injudiciously made, to crowd within a confined space the appropriate adornments of the most ample gardens. It is invariably taken as evidence of a desire to appear to be and to possess that which the reality of the case will not warrant ; and is visited with the reprobation and con- tempt commonly awarded to ill-grounded assumption. An un- presuming garden, like a modest individual, may have great defects without challenging criticism ; and will even be liked and praised because of its very unobtrusiveness. But where a great deal is aimed at, and there is much of pretension, whether in persons or things, scrutiny seems invited, incongruities are magnified, and actual merits are passed by unnoticed, or dis- torted into something quite ridiculous. Artificial mounds, again, though they may be very useful for some objects, and conducive to effect in certain positions, will, if made too high, or too conspicuous, or too decidedly indicative of the employment of art in their formation, be exceedingly unsatisfactory. If the ground of the neighbouring country be very flat, they will appear all the more out of place ; and require adapting with the nicest elaboration. Everything in the shape of a large hillock, or long line of bank, that has no particular meaning, and is badly connected with the general surface, can never present a pleasing character. Some evi- dence of a sufficient intention or purpose, and a manifest cor- respondence with the rest of the scene, will be absolutely de- manded in all such elevations. 32 WHAT TO AVOID. 2. Among the more specific features to be repudiated in a small garden, the employment of rockeries or other rustic ob- jects in connexion with the house, or in its immediate neigh- bourhood, may be next mentioned. Every house -must be regarded as a work of art, whatever may be its class or merit ; and there would consequently be a want of harmony in asso- ciating it with anything composed of or resembling the uncul- tivated parts of nature. However ingeniously it may be con- trived, or executed, therefore, a rockery near a house must be considered radically wrong ; and though great skill should be used in adaptation, or a variety of fortunate accidents eventu- ally awaken interest, these can never wholly atone for a funda- mental error. Nor will the way in which such things are gene- rally managed admit of even this extenuation and excuse. And as a retired corner could almost always be found for cultivating rock-plants, if desired, those who would steer clear of the vul- garities and irregularities of mere cockneyism will do well not to permit anything of the kind I have been describing aroun.l their houses. When compose.! of such materials as shells, pieces of old porcelain, scoriae, and other small, artificial, or manufactured articles, and interspersed with grotesque-looking busts, heads, &c., as is frequently the case, their use in connex- ion with houses is all the more to be deprecated. An exception should perhaps be made in favour of placing a few stones, of moderate dimensions, along the base of a house, or otln -r l.uiM- ing, when it is raised above the ground level; as these will often have the appearance of forming an appropriate part of the foundation on which the building rests. But they must neither be very numerous, nor extend far from the wall of the structure itself, otherwise their seeming purpose will be shown to be a mere pretence. As similarly interfering with the harmony of a place, the employment of conspicuous grottoes, towers, summer-houses, or other buildings, within a short distance, or in open view, from the house, when the style differs very widely from it, or is at all extravagant, cannot be defended on any known pri.u-iplc in TOO MUCH PLANTING ABOUT THE HOUSE. 33 landscape arrangement ; one of the first rules in the art being that things brought into close association should be congruous and kindred in character. If very sparingly introduced, and of a quiet appearance, and partially concealed, architectural objects, though not in the same style as the house, may be occa- sionally admissible. It is to the staring and grossly peculiar forms sometimes met with in suburban gardens that the chief objection lies. A castellated grotto, for example, with the great- est and most fantastic variety of outline, and numerous turrets, is occasionally to be seen from a house either in the Grecian or Italian form, or from one of those square, common-place erections, from which everything like style is expressly omitted. 3. The practice of planting much immediately around a house is erroneous in other ways than those yet pointed out. It pre- vents the true proportions, outlines, and details of a building from being properly seen and rightly appreciated. If a house be well designed, it should make a picture of itself, and only require the aid of vegetable forms at a little distance from it, as supports and accompaniments. An occasional tree or plant to balance the several parts, to soften abrupt transitions of out- line, to sober and break a glare of colour, or to impart an air of finish and furniture in some cases, may be invaluable ; and even a mass of trees or shrubs would often be effective in blind- ing inferior parts of the building, or covering defects of sym- metry or enrichment. But where the architect has thoroughly studied his subject, and treated it as a picture, aids of this sort will be but little wanted, and should be adopted with the utmost care ; for there is probably no one point in landscape gardening wherein less of the true feeling of art is exhibited than in the choice of accompaniments to a building. 4. What are commonly called belts of plantation are often found in small places, and are among the things which, in gene- ral, are quite inappropriate. They consist of strips of trees, either of equal or irregular width, placed just within the entire boundary, so as to confine the view wholly to the place itself. They S3i-ve, in fact, completely to shut it in, by a kind of green 2* 34 WHAT TO AVOID. wall, which effectually excludes a great deal of sunlight ann, in which the trees are nearly all of the same age, height, ami general character. All variety of effect, and all ideas of inde- finite-ness, are of course out of the question, under such circum- stances. To whatever part of the garden we go, the same hanl and uniform boundary terminates the view. There is no play of outline, none of that beautiful illusion which arises IK.HI skilful connexion with other property. The cheerfulness of sunlight is curtail. I, and the healthy vigour common to plant* which have plenty of light and air is not to be found. The walks become green and slimy, and are always more or less damp; while a portion of the grass is made feeble an- 1 >i -kly, or gradually dwindles away into mere mossiness. But the worst feature of all these evils is that th.-y have seldom any origin in necessity, and could usually be otn There are extremely few places so thoroughly surrounded by bad objects, a* to allow of no breaks in the boundary, and no peeps into the country beyond. And even where such is the case, considerable diversity and interest may be created by the use of plants of different heights and habits, to act as the screen. Indeed, a boundary that must necessarily be a barrier to all further view into the outlying country, may be so con- trived and treated as scarcely to appear like a boundary at all, as I shall hereafter have occasion to show. I need only add here that formal, regular belts, especially where the trees are planted in rows, as they are continually to be met with in the neighbourhood of most large towns, are in the worst possible taste. Those masses of trees or shrubs known as clumps, and noto- BELTS OF PLANTATION. 35 rious for their extreme clumsiness, are a part of the same system as belts, and alike open to reprobation. They are either roundish, or of no regular figure ; nor can they be called irre- gular. As generally used, they can only be described as large spots or blots in the landscape, having neither beauty in them- selves nor connexion with anything else. It is probable that they were originally intended as the foundation or nucleus of a scattered group, merely filled up for a time, to obtain protection and greater rapidity of growth. But such objects might be just as well fulfilled in conjunction with some more indefinite and pleasing external outline. Narrow strips or lines of plantation are among the most tasteless forms which belts can assume, and are equally mean and undignified wherever else they may occur. They can so readily be seen through, and will frequently present, at the lower parts, a mere assemblage of bare stems. Their effect is most meagre. They want breadth and massiveness. -Hence, when plantations are necessarily so straightened, they should be com- posed mainly of such low-growing shrubs and dwarf-trees, especially evergreens, as will, by being planted tolerably close, and furnished down to the ground, produce a thicket-like charac- ter, that shall conceal or disguise their actual dimensions. In the subjoined sketches, fig. 5 shows a narrow belt of tress. similar in size and character, such as is frequently seen round the margins of small parks, where, if undergrowth of any kind has ever been planted, it has become killed by the density and shade of the larger trees. Fig. 6 will serve as a hint of the, way in which such a belt may be broken up, and its form still 36 WHAT TO AVOID. more diversified by the use of a few intermediate bushes, such as Thorns or Hollies. Fig. 6. The same defect, rendered, probably, a little more manifest from the superior beauty and variety of the ground line, will be Fig .7. apparent in fig. 7, which exhibits a belt traversing an undulating surface. And the mode of remedying the evil is partially indi- Fig. 8. cated in fig. 8, where the trees are thrown into masses on the slopes ard summits of the swells in the ground ; the hollow TOO GREAT CONFINEMENT. 37 being left unclothed for the purpose of marking the full extent of its depression. : 5. Any description of highfence that confines aplace toomuch is as faulty in all essential respects as a belt of plantation, and in some particulars even more so. It has a harsher, more for- bidding, and exclusive appearance, and its upper line will neces- sarily be stiffer. It gives an unkindly and inhospitable expres- sion to a place. Besides, high close fences keep out air more than even trees, and also produce, for a given distance, a more complete shade. They should never be employed unless they are really indispensable, and then they ought to have the hard- ness of their lines relieved by trees and shrubs inside, or with ivy or other climbers scrambling irregularly over them. Those sides of a garden where shelter is required must, however, be excepted from the rule ; though it will generally be found that trees are a much better screen for gardens than a wall, (unless the latter be very high,) provided there be breadth enough to admit of a sufficiently dense plantation. 6. There is an opposite extreme to that just described, into which some persons are apt to fall, by rendering their gardens too exposed. Examples might be found in which from a love of display, or a disposition to give others the benefit of whatever enjoyment happens to be possessed, every inch of the garden is bared to the public gaze. There is thus no quietude, no retirement, and scarcely any of the pleasure arising from the ownership of property. A lady or gentleman fond of gar- dening cannot engage in any of its pursuits without attracting general notice ; dogs and other animals will have the run of the place; and the luxury of cherishing song-birds must be relinquished, for they will not frequent a garden that is so unsheltered. Nor is this all. Every beautiful flower that unfolds itself, or shrub that spreads out its attractive berries about Christmas time, affords so many temptations to pilfering for the passers- by, among whom there will ordinarily be some, at least, who will be unable to resist the inducement ; and the morti.ication g$ WHAT TO AVOID. of seeing the choicest and most admired favourites thus stolea will be frequently incurred. Besides this, a too open boundary fence is undesirable as a matter of taste. It exhibits the limits of the place too clearly, and will, in most cases, show public roads, fences to other pro- perty, buildings, &c., that should rather be concealed. It reveals what is beyond the place in too broad and expanded vi \\ -, which are, unless in very peculiar circumstances, not nearly so interesting and effective as narrower ones, apart even from the consideration of the former often exhibiting what is not wanted to be seen; and it lays bare the life and bustle of the highway too glaringly and thoroughly, instead of in mere glimpses, ami at broken intervals. As a question of convenience, too, a very open fence is equally to be avoided, when, as is all along assumed, it is not coven-. 1, or partially covered, from within by shrubs and trees. It admits winds too freely ; and there is as little screen afforded by it from the weather as there is from the observation of pas- sengers; partial protection from the winds being one of the nn M important conditions in a good garden. It likewise allows all the dust from the outside road to enter a place in summer, and thus the shrubs and flowers become soiled, and the whole ganleu dirty and uncomfortable. It further interposes no deadening or softening influence to the harsh and disagreeable noise of traffic on a highway; the rumble of vehicles, or the still more grating sound of the rude or obscene jest and vulgar quarrel. 7. Where a garden is to be made on land that has been planted at some previous period, and trees of considerable mer of points to rest upon, and recesses to explore, and the imagi- nation a field for its active exercise, that can product- the APPEARANCE OF EXTENT. 55 required result. What we measure piece by piece, through a lengthened process, will always be considered larger than that which strikes upon the vision at once, in all its proportions. Where there is an opportunity of connecting a lawn with the field or park by means of a sunk fence, and keeping the park closely fed down, so as always pretty nearly to resemble the lawn, the place will be much enlarged in appearance. Even the existence of a wire fence to separate the two, instead of a sunk wall, will not very materially lessen the result sought to be produced by this union of parts. But the edge of the lawn and that of the park ought to be about on the same level ; for if the earth be raised on the top of the sunk wall, or on the upper edge of the slope from the bottom of the wall into the park, the eye will be prevented from travelling smoothly and continuously across the two surfaces, the division-line will be more or less harsh, and some of the actual space will be con- cealed by the raised bank, or darkened by its shadow. To make an open glade of lawn appear still larger than it is, the expedient of turfing closely around the plants and masses along its margin may be had recourse to. It has previously been stated that an object of one colour, and that a green one, acquires a striking apparent augmentation of size. And if the plants that flank an open lawn are principally evergreens, and their branches sweep the grass, without any soil being visible, the space is thereby very much expanded in appearance. What has just been said as to the effect of a single and uniform colour in giving breadth of effect, will apply, moreover, to the injunction now added that all walks should, as far as is practicable, in a small place, be concealed from tlie house. This can be in great measure done by using plants of very various heights, whether in groups or as specimens ; and more rarely, by raising the ground slightly towards the walk, and then dropping it rather suddenly within a few inches of its edge. The mode of effecting this may be seen in fig. 9, which is a section of a lawn falling away from the house, and crossed by a sunk walk, the dotted line over the latter showing what the 56 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. level would be if the walk was not there, or not depressed. Where plants would be out of place on account of breaking up a glade, or spoiling a vista, or intruding upon a recess, tliis Fig. 9. raising of the ground for some distance to a uniform height, or giving it a very gentle undulation, to cover a walk, may be successfully adopted. It should be recollected, however, that as before hinted, any portion of a lawn that is raised takes off several inches or feet from the view of the part behind. And this consideration should suffice to keep such banks down to the lowest level consistent with the fulfilment of their design. At any point in which there is a great change in the line of a walk, or other walks branch from it, there is a special necessity for having a mass of shrubs or some other opaque medium to shut out such abrupt transitions from the house and the iv>t <>\' the grounds. Sudden turns or breaks should, if necessary at all, be accomplished quietly and privately, being at least screened from notice until they are actually reached. Ui-Mes tin- point from whence a branch walk diverges, requires coneea'iiii: for the additional reason that the eye might other \\ i-c 1 ra\ el from the house or lawn some distance along this branch line ; and a walk that can be thus seen along is more conspicuous and offensive than one of which only a cross view is obtained. Another motive for keeping walks retired and out of sight which may here be mentioned, though it does not so much affect the question of extent, is that they may be more private and shaded, less liable to be overlooked, more cool and retivsh- ing in summer, and warmer and more sheltered in winter. 1 ',y passing along them, too, when they are thus seelu.led, the various views of the place which occur at the many openings APPEARANCE OF EXTENT. 57 that may be left, give, by reason of their number and diversity, a more exalted impression of size. And, unquestionably, when persons walk in their gardens, and choose the paths for the purpose, (as they always must do except in the finest weather,) they will usually desire to be to a certain extent unseen, so that their motions and occupation may not be the subject of obser- vation or comment, and that they may not, if the space be small, whenever their eyes are turned in a particular direction^ (whether on the house or outside road,) encounter other eyes fastened upon them with a prying, scrutinising gaze. One of the best methods of adding to the apparent limits of a place, is to get rid of anything like obvious or glaring boundary lines. This can be done by planting, throwing up mounds of earth, the use of very light and low fences, sunken walls, the treatment of a low wall as an architectural feature, the covering of a dwarf rough wall with ivy, and letting this straggle out from it wildly and irregularly, by broken thickets of common Thorns and Hollies, or by a mixture of several of these things. The worst and ugliest species of fence, where it is much seen, is a plain wall, especially if it be high, a close wooden paling, unless it be quite a rough one, of split oak, such as is common around the metropolis, or a hedge that is kept regularly clipped. All these present a formality, hardness, and liny character, which are continually making themselves conspicuous; and there is no losing the consciousness of a near and disagreeable boundary when it is composed of such materials. It should be observed that, as few places offer facilities for getting rid of the boundary Hue entirely, at all points, without a regular enclosure of plantation, there is little objection to its appearing occasionally, provided it does not stand forth too prominently, or present any positively bad features. The chief point is to keep any length of it from exhibiting itself, and to procure, in the spaces that come between such exposed portions of it, sufficient connexion with what is beyond, to dismiss all semblance of a continuous boundary fence in that direction. The sulject of the concealment of the fences of a place, 3* 58 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. is one of considerable moment, and will be more definitely and practically treated in a future page. At present, the enforcement of principles only is sought. Still further to carry out and complete the idea of extending the limits of a garden, good and beautiful scenery, or objects outside the place, should be brought as much and as conspicu- ously as possible into view, and all vulgar, deformed, or disagreeable things, or such as do not appear to belong to the property, or to be its fitting adjuncts, be thoroughly excluded. In the latter class, common houses or cottages, outbuildings, neighbours' residences of a better order which are very near or staring, high or ugly fences on an adjoining property, public buildings that are not in good taste, agreeable, or striking, will furnish a few illustrations. They arc to be shut out in various ways, according to their height, position with respect to the best front of the house, and nearness. For hiding large buildings, one or two leading points of observation may be selected, of which the drawing-room windows of the house should invariably be the principal, and the object to be gained should be at- tempted in relation to these. It is hopeless to seek to darken one or more great eye-sores from every part of the grounds ; for in so doing, the most beautiful views may be inu-ivrj.ti-d from the better and more important stations. One simple rule of perspective should never be forgotten in dealing with ugly masses of building that are both high and near. It Is, that the nearer we bring to our point of vision any object that we wish to interpose between ourselves and another object, the larger will be the surface of the latter, both as regards breadth and height, that we screen from view. A reference to this fact will often enable the operator to accom- plish a good deal with scanty materials, and to do it at once. Very large trees, for instance, are not always possessed, or to bo procured; and, if planted, they will not thrive so well as others of a lower growth. The knowledge of the above truth, how.-vcr, will render the use of the smaller ones as perfectly, and as im- mediately effectual, as the larger would be in a more distant APPEARANCE OF EXTENT. 59 position. And in this way a moderate-sized evergreen may be made to answer a purpose which a tree of great magnitude would scarcely be sufficient ibr in another place. It need liardly be said that evergreens are much more suitable for the office, where they can be had large enough, as they do the work well at all seasons of the year. It should be added, that any extreme adaptation of the rule would probably bring the trees employed too close to the house, or too much on the lawn, both which have to be shunned. The sketch (fig. 10) inserted here will suffice to convey the necessary idea of what is intended. The dotted line, taken Fig. 10. from a window as the point of view, will make it evident that a bush is just as useful, when sufficiently near, as a large tree in a more remote position. And it may be mentioned that where the ground falls away from the point of vision towards an object that is to be shut out, the application of this princi- ple is still more striking. Such deformities in a landscape as are somewhat distant, and either not actually large, or which, from their remoteness, do not appear to cover much space, may, at times, be appropriately blotted out by a neat greenhouse or summer-seat, a small tem- ple, or any architectural feature akin to these. In connection with a flower-garden, too, the same point may be compassed by a colonnaded wall, an ornamental or trellised covered way, an architecturally treated wall for climbers, or a short range of glass houses. But ornaments of this class are only fitted for 60 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. peculiar positions and styles of architecture, to which they require skilfully adapting. There are certain features to be met with in some landscapes, which though not in themselves inelegant, or deficient m beauty and interest, may have their character and effect very Fig. 11. much improved by the way in which they are made visible from a place. Such are church towers and spires, (fig. 11,) pillars and obelisks, distant and pretty cottages, prospect and flag towers, ruins, lighthouses,windmills, and many other more commonplace erections, which may yet, from their position, their outline, or their historical or local associations, be worth directing attention to particularly. The most characteristic and effective plan of APPEARANCE OF EXTENT. 61 introducing such to view is by small openings in the inter- mediate or boundary plantations, which shall create a kind of vista, at the end of which the object intended to be seen occurs. If the sides of such vistas are tastefully and naturally finished off, without any appearance of formality, or indication of art, and the trees in the outer landscape at all favour the design, very beautiful effects may be produced in this manner, out of the most ordinary materials. Or the framework of such open- ings may have a more artificial character, (fig. 12,) the branches 12. of trees or light wooden fences being made into a Roman or Gothic arch. Or the same can be formed out of old stems of trees, or wire trellises, clothed with climbers. Rude or more polished arches (fig. 13) might also, in some places, be appro- priately made of stone, or plastered brick, or any similar sub- stance. And either of these might form an artistic framework to a small scene, of which one object is the principal feature. Broader sweepsof landscape, when the nature of the surround- ing property sanctions their introduction, will, of course, require 62 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. to be treated differently. It will not do to cut them into slnvK or exhibit them in mere patches alone. Nevertheless, very bold ranges of uninterrupted scenery, however fine, are almost incom- patible with the confinement of a small garden. For the very Fig. 13. amplitude and grandeur of such scenes serve to render th> meagreness of the home view all the more marked and incon- sistent. In addition to which, it may be assumed, as a sort of rule, that every landscape, distant or otherwise, should have a distinct foreground, and that this should be obtained within the home estate, and tolerably near the principal points of obsrrva- tion. So that, to create such a foreground, it will be needful to separate the prospect into two, three, or more divisions. And if this be happily executed, omitting merely the tamest port i<>ns APPEARANCE OF EXTENT. 63 and making the openings of various width, with very differently shaped plants or groups to compose the framework of the picture, a result more consonant with the character of the place, and more attractively beautiful, though less imposing, Avi'l be realised, than if the whole had been left to its native boldness and breadth. The treatment of foregrounds may be exemplincd (however imperfectly) in figs. 14, 15, 16, and 17 ; the first of which repre- scnts a foreground to a flattish and quiet landscape, the second to a more undulating and varied tract of country, the third to a still more irregular and hilly piece of scenery, and the other to a lake or the sea. In all these cases, the materials of which the foreground is composed arc natural ones, and are treated in the natural manner. Of course, however, different kinds of ornamental fences might enter largely into the composition, and become characteristic elements of the scene. This principle of dii-idiny a large landscape into several portions, in rt-l.ition to a place of narrow limits, by the introduc- 64 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. tion of very irregular masses of trees and shrubs along or near its front boundary, may be yet further developed, and applied to cases in which only such smaller scenes can be admitted. For the treatment of both would be the same, and the effects of each would be alike suitable and desirable. Examples will not be unfrequent, where snatches of delicious scenery can be gleaned, with the aid of much contrivance, here and there, around the best sides of a house ; the intervals being wholly blocked op with something beyond the owner's territory and control. Only let it be established, then, that these glimpses or partial views of outlying beauties are those most proper to the accident of having but a small garden, that they best accord with its necessary internal arrangements, and most forcibly enhnn FOREGROUNDS. 65 own apparent size ; and, so far from such conditions being the subjects of chagrin and vexation, they will be hailed rather as felicitous and appropriate. What a person guided by the highest taste would endeavour to effect, were there no restric- tions and impediments, it can surely be no disadvantage to another to be compelled to submit to. 66 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. In its fitness for awakening and fixing the attention, the separation of a country scene into several minor port ions, instead of exhibiting it all at once, may be a little longer dilated upon. There are few natural pictures, except such as are very fine and commanding, which do not lose their power of attraction in the precise ratio of their breadth. That which is gazed upon through a variety of comparatively narrow openings, will, if only just above common-place, win more notice than if it lay before the observer in its naked expanse. And as we pass along behind a screen that is gracefully unfolded, as it were, at intervals, to reveal to us fragments of landscape, curiosity is excited to catch those points hidden by the opaque portions of the screen, and an extreme diversity of prosjMjct is gained. Whether the plantations between different openings, made to exhibit a pleasing landscape, be the result of ne.-es>ity, to hide what is objectionable, or of choice, to heighten and impart variety to the pictures intermediately displayed, their outlines and edges alike require to-be most care.'nlly and arti.-tically treated, Xot that this should lie artificially dun--, but withsn-h refined and delicate ait, that it shall appear a- it' Nature herself had polished them off. Roundness, and yet irregularity, p'av of outline, an intermixture of evergreen and deeidnous plants, forest trees, tree-like shrubs, and such as arc- decidedly shrubby, with variety of form and colour, should be their chief characteristics. When any broad sheet of water, such as the sea, a lame river, or a lake, forms the principal object from the fiont of a house, or from some point in the garden, the value of a good irregular vtoo&y foreground (fig. 1 7) will be even more apparent. A great glare of water is seldom agreeable to the sight ; ami in some kinds of weather, may be most disagreeable or melanchol v. The passage across it of vessels of all sorts, likewise, becomes far more interesting and delightful when it is only to be ob- served at intervals, and is occasionally lost sight of. If water be looked at through a leafy screen, it is, moreover, in s e degree sobered down thereby. It does not dazzle or pain i :.. FOREGROUND TO WATER. 67 eye so much. It has all the charm of light and shadow. Its own lustre and loveliness are brightened by the contrast. It is a gem with a dark setting. There may be states of the atmosphere in which a large unfurnished expanse of water will be perfectly satisfactory. On .Fig. 17. a rich summer's evening, towards sunset, or during tw v igl;t, especially after warm showers, water may often be in the highest degree beautiful, without any accompaniment. But in general it will either be too glittering or too cold to be altogether satis- fying, without some aid from trees as a foreground ; and in this changeful and chilly climate, the periods at which its own naked beauty can be entirely appreciated will be of rare occurrence, It is, therefore, wise to provide for common and usual enjoy- 68 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. and usual enjoyment, and to leave extraordinary pleasures to be otherwise obtained. The scene that is most pleasing at all seasons of the year will undoubtedly furnish the largest amount of gratification, and make a habitation most cheerful. 11. Nothing imparts a greater air of refinement and gentility to a garden than a certain amount of richness and polish. The first of these may be attained by means of a tasteful selection of plants and flowers, and by the sparing use of appropriate architectural decorations. Polish is more a matter that relates to the mechanical execution of the design. Still, it may be advanced a step higher, and applied to the expression as wi-11 as the finish. In the outlines of figures and beds, in the arrange- ment of plants, and in the shaping of the ground, much may be done to create this delicate grace. Everything straggling or ragged, all that produces confusion, and, as a rule, all angularity and harshness are completely opposed to it. Extreme smooth- ness, easiness of transitions, gracefulness of lines, softness of undulation, lightness and elegance of ornament, are some of its leading manifestations. Both richness and polish will, to a certain extent, be the result of keeping, as well as attention to matters of detail in the first formation. A place can never possess either, unless the taste shown in the design be carried into the minutest details of the execution, and be maintained by subsequent care and correct feeling. Hard deep edges to the walks and borders, slopes or undulations which unite with the general level by a convex instead of a concave line, and little irregularities (that are not undulations) in the surface of a lawn, are quite incompatible with high polish ; as extreme thinness of plants in beds, poverty and weakness of masses or specimens, large staring patches of bare soil visible in the borders or beds skirting a lawn, an inferior order of plants in the neighbourhood of the house or by the sides of the grass glades, and the use of common-place or uncongenial ornaments, are inconsistent with ricln 12. To conceal the offices and out-buildings belonging to a residence is a matter of the most ordinary kind ; yet it may be CONCEALMENT OF OFFICES. 69 very clumsily effected. Planting is in general the most effectual means. It should not, however, be carried so close to the building as to darken the windows materially, or occasion damp- ness. And that this may be attended to without intruding too much upon the space of the garden, the arrangement of the house must be adjusted accordingly. A good deal, in short, will depend upon the architect. Perhaps it is best, when the servants' apartments are on the ground floor, to keep them wholly on the least important side of the building, as regards aspect and scenery ; and have their windows looking for the most part into the house yard, which can then be easily planted out. If treated as an inferior wing to the house, they should always recede far enough from the principal elevation, to give space for the admission of light and air between them and the plantation or whatever else is used for screening them. The offices of a house may be otherwise hidden by means of a close trellis, covered with climbers, intermixed with Ivy; by a raised bank or mound, with a few shrubs on the top of it, and a dwarf wall and area on the inside next the house ; by a low greenhouse or small range of glass-houses, or a colonnade or covered way, when there is room for any of these ; or by an ornamental wing-wall for tender climbing plants, attached to the house. The preference to be given to any of these expe- dients must be determined altogether by the locality, the style of the house, and the tastes or desires of the owner. Either of the methods suggested will require applying with skill, or they will, in remedying one evil, only create another. The annexed plan (fig. 18) is brought forward in this place to point out how the offices, yards, &c., hi the rear of a house may be disguised, while, at the same time, a considerable amount of effect is produced in the way of support to the house, and of general architectural grouping. It is a small portion of the plan of grounds belonging to Owen Jones, Esq., of Stanacres, near Thornton, Cheshire. The house and offices (1) are in the early English style of architecture, and are connected with the con- servatory (3) by a covered way, (2,) which is open in front. At CONCEALMENT OF OFFICES. 71 4 is a boiler shed, in the rear of which are the house-yard, garden-yard, stables, &c. An ornamental wall, (5,) with but- tresses, and built of red sandstone, like the house, joins the con- servatory to a summer house, (6,) which latter terminates two principal walks, is open on three sides, and is likewise a stone erection. The whole partially encloses and shelters a small flower-garden. Additional character is obtained by having the conservatory and covered way on a raised terrace, level with the house, and about four feet above the flower-garden, to which last it is joined by a terrace bank (7) of grass. The border (8) round the base of the wall is tilled with choice flowers and climbers. Dwarf evergreens are placed where the remaining figures occur, 9 being specimens of A ndromedafloribunda, 10, a dwarf Rhodo- dendron, 11, plants of Erica carnea, 12, a bed of Daphne pon- tica, with a few Rhododendrons, 13, Yucca gloriosa, 14, a mass chiefly filled with Rhododendrons, and 15, Hodgins's Holly. The kitchen-garden lies to the west of the boiler shed, (4,) and the wall running south-westwards from the conserva- tory constitutes the kitchen-garden wall on its north-west side. In a subsequent illustration, (fig. 165,) more of the details of this place will be given. When the offices of a house are wholly in the basement story, instead of the usual small areas and gratings, which convert them into mere cellars, a better way of securing light, air, and cheer- fulness, is either to make a broad open area along the entire sides on which the windows occur, and treat it architecturally, ; or to slope the ground down to the level of the lower floor from the garden, and keep it as lawn, with a few low shrubs scattered about upon it singly and in groups ; or to make a similar sloping bank to each window, only building up an area to half its height. The last plan is the least obtrusive, and the most easily carried out ; though the having a continuous slope along the whole front of the house where the windows are situated is best adapted to secure dryness, and make the lower rooms comfort- able. In either case, the top of the slope should be just on a level with the bottom of the plinth of the house, or only two or 72 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. three inches above it, and be kept precisely at that level for it8 full length, so that the slopes and the basement of the building may not be seen at a little distance from the house, and the plinth may appear resting on the soil or grass, as it should be. Any shrubs that may be used should never be allowed to grow much above the same level 13. I come now to the consideration of that very essential element in the composition of a landscape, variety. This has been happily termed " the spice of life," since without it exist- ence has no true relish. And its influence in landscape garden- ing is equally potent ; for it gives a vivacity, a freshness, and a piquancy which nothing else will supply. It is the crowning grace that makes even uncouthness tolerable, and invests beauty with superior attractions. Sameness is but another word for feebleness; variety, for power. It is that for which man has a kind of innate and insatiable thirst, to which nature is per- petually ministering. Who ever saw the sky dappled or tinted in exactly the same manner, or a plant or tree developing itself precisely, part for part, as another does ? No two natural landscapes could ever be found alike in all particulars. In stream, and forest, and mountain, with all their shades of modification, and minuteness of furniture, there is a wonderful dearth of near resemblances, or more than general relations. It is the province of art, then, to consult and to weigh these indications of nature, and the corresponding tastes in man, and to derive lessons from the one, and endeavour to gratify the other. Variety may be partly obtained in gardens by serpentine walks. If, from some elevation, we observe the course of a small river, with its numerous and varied meanderings, or follow the devious track of a wild forest path, we shall soon be convinced of this. It is the graceful contortion of line that at once pleases the eye and stimulates the fancy ; carries the observer onward, and continually rewards him with fresh beau- ties. But as neither a small stream nor a forest path will be nearly so alluring when a number of their convolutions are VARIETY FROM SERPENTINE WALKS. 73 spread out in one view, as they would be were it necessary to pursue their course in order to discover each particular turn, and pry into its individual charms ; so a serpentine walk, in which several of the curves are seen at once, or where they very much resemble each other in sweep, loses the chief and most engaging part of its variety. It is of prime concern, therefore, that the curves in a walk should be varied as much as they can be in their length and expansion, (fig. 19,) and that Fig. 19. they should not be exposed to each other at any point. The views to be caught from the numerous stages in the turns of such a walk should embrace every good aspect of the house, the garden itself, and the adjoining country. To prevent the curves in a serpentine walk from being bared to one another, groups of plantation, composed pretty liberally of evergreens, are most customary. They will of course be principally wanted at or near the hollows of the curves : though it would be unwise always to put them just at the extreme centre ; because, in those turns that sweep away from the lawn especially, the greatest depth of grassy bay may there be pro- cured. Figs. 19 and 20 will assist in explaining this. And 74: GENERAL PRINCIPLES. one merit in the management of such things will be in making the position, outline, and character of the groups extremely different. Other modes of shutting out one curve of a walk from another are the formation of a swell in the ground; a group of rocks or Fig. 20. roots, thrown together rudely, and partially planted with low evergreens and alpines; a covered seat or summer-housi , 1>:ukctas, and recesses. From the drawing or sitting-room windows of the house, therefore, this arrangement should be principally considered, and fully sustained. No specimen should stand out in the middle of a glade, or destroy the continuity of a vista, or be thrust forward into the sides of a recess. Nor should a group be placed otherwise than to create and maintain t lux- various features, or ever fill up, except very partially, those bays in which a greater length of lawn can be obtained. The house must always be regarded as the chief point of vision in a place, and the best views of the grounds should con- sequently be had from it. The windows of a house are a great deal more used for looking at a garden than any other position ; and the points of interest can there be inspected more leisurely. The seasons and the weather will not admit of more than casual walks in a garden ; and then there is little temp- tation to remain long in a given spot. For these reasons, and because occasional visitors see a garden more from the \vin-l..\vs of the house, it is a good plan to form, in laying out a garden, a series of lines, radiating from one, two, or three principal windows of the house, at irregular distances apart, towards the outside boundary ; and place the requisite specimens and gn >ups of plants solely within certain of the triangles thus made, according as they may be wanted ; never suffering the speci- mens nearest the house to be so large as to cover a greater space at the broad end of the triangle than may there be required as a plantation, and disposing the whole of them so irregularly, as that nothing like lines of plants .shall ever appear. The practice of such a system need in no way interfere with the beauty and variety of the lawn, as seen from other parts. This can just as easily be attained at the same time. Indeed, cross lines from all the openings at the sides of a place VARIETY IN GROUPING. 81 will be of equal service in the formation of subordinate views, or \ 1 1 I Fig. 27. minor glades. A slight illustration of this is offered in fig. 27, 82 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. the arrows between the dotted lines denoting the various openings or glades, both from the principal window and from the sides of the lawn. By a due admixture of different sorts of plants, variety may be additionally realised. The habit and character of trees and shrubs exhibit a wonderful amount of variat ion . Some of th em, indeed, possess unusually striking characteristics, and assume a most peculiar garb. But there is something of difference in all ; and little peculiarities show themselves to advantage in a small place. The selection of plants for a garden should therefore comprise all the best and most showy sorts that can be pro- cured, or for which there is proper room and a suitable situation. And these should be well mixed together, though not to the exclusion of the practice of grouping particular kinds. To throw the various tribes of plants into masses, according to their natural affinities, as is sometimes recommended for arboret tuns, while it is destructive of all variety under the most favourable conditions, is quite out of the question in small gardens. In attention to the heights of plants, and the colour of their leaves and flowers, there is much variety to be found. Diversity of height is as telling as variety of shape and arrangement. And colours are, perhaps, even more expressive. Certain kinds of trees produce foliage of a delicate pale green, or silvery grey, or with a marked variegation. Others have a dark, massive, sombre look, and are evergreen. Such sorts should be particularly sought after, and placed where they will exhibit themselves most strikingly, and be backed by others that will help to throw out their colours by contrast. With flowers, too, the same measures should be resorted to. The species may be arranged so that one enhances the beauty of the other, and all together make a lively and varied whole. Objects of a lighter colour than that of anymore vegetable forms, such as vases, or statuary, or fountains, or buildings of any kind, or pieces of water, will largely contribute to variety. Anything lighter than the colour of ordinary st . me, is, however, hardly admissible ; for the whiteness of plaster figures, inde- VARIETY FROM WATER. 83 pendently of their coarseness and commonness, is too little in harmony with a garden scene to satisfy a cultivated taste. Greenhouses that are painted white on the outside are similarly incongruous, and should be of the same colour as the building to which they are attached ; or, if standing by themselves, and situated in the pleasure garden, they might be of a quiet stone colour. Water, with its beautiful changes of aspect and complexion, deserves to be more distinctly mentioned as a source of variety. The sparkling crystallizations or feathery spray of a fountain or cascade ; the ripple of a pool as it is agitated by winds, or disturbed by fish ; the reflections of lawn, plant, and sky, which are so softly mirrored on its glassy surface after a warm rain ; the murmur, and music, and life of a stream ; the transparency, the glitter, the coolness, almost inseparable from the posses- sion of water, in any form ; are all causes of a well nigh end- less variety. And if aquatic plants can be cultivated in it, or water-fowl encouraged, its variations and its liveliness will be far more conspicuous. Like the atmosphere, which it in some measure resembles, and with which it is sympathetically affected, water is suscep- tible of a wondrous variety of impressions, in different states of the weather. Taking only its capacity to reflect objects, an attentive observer will find that, as a landscape never looks precisely the same under different atmospheric conditions, so a smaller scene is pictured in water alike differently as to clear- ness or dimness, shades of colouring, play of light and shadow, distinctness or indefiniteness of lines, and all those nameless little graces which go to make up the interesting diversity that atmospheric phenomena occasion. At morning, mid-day, twi- light, or moonlight, beneath sunshine or deep cloudiness, before or after rain, when the weather is soft and balmy, or harsh and chill ; at all seasons, in fact, and under all circumstances, except when a wind is stirring, water will present, like the atmosphere, a constantly changing medium through which a landscape may be examined. And this is only one of its charms. 84 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. Climbers, trained to poles, standard and weeping plants, will, if rightly placed, add another grace to the expression of variety. The former of these, whether they be Roses, CU-ma- tis, Honeysuckles, Wistarias, or others of the class, are exceed- ingly lovely after they have reached their full growth, and acquired a free-flowering condition. They will tower up above ordinary shrubs, and thus help to break the outline. Their forms are peculiar and graceful. They occupy but little room, and blossom in the greatest profusion. The fittest place for them is towards the fronts of any prominent swells in a border or bed, where they make a bold break in the mass, and are not left unsupported. On tRe lawn, unless in the neighbourhood of some large shrub or low tree, of nearly or quite the same height as themselves, or even a little higher, they are too tall for their breadth, and do not appear in their right position. Similar spots may also be chosen for standard and weeping plants, as they will there hang well forward, and give great character to a corner. But they are alike fitted for lawn spe- cimens, if not grafted on very tall stems. A final constituent of variety is undulation of the surface of the ground. It is not all places, of course possibly not many of them that afford scope for the adoption of this. And it must be set about with great judgment. Undulating the ground, for the mere sake of doing so, when all the country beyond is flat and tame, will only appear peculiar and eccen- tric. There must be a reason for what is done ; and if there be some correspondence, likewise, with the district outside the garden, it will be still more correct and appropriate. In building a house, its ground floor is now gem-rally placed several feet above the natural level of the land, and there has consequently to be raised around it an artificial bank. Along the boundary of a place it is often furtlu-r .U^irable to form another low bank, (fig. 28,) if the material can be had, and to raise the beds or masses towards the edges of tin- lawn, t hat the limits of the ground and the line of the walks may I,,- more perfectly hidden. Between these banks, then, th.-.v will be a VARIETY FROM UNDULATIONS. 85 sort of hollow basin, composing the lawn, (fig. 29,) and susceptible of some little variation ; while the shape of the banks them- selves, if worked nicely into the level of the lawn, will give more Fig. 28. or less play of surface. If there be a pool of water, a fish-pond, or a small lake of varied shape, the sloping of the ground down to either of these will supply the means of getting a little more undulation ; and the earth taken out to form them may be employed in making increased banks. The raising of the ground Fig. 29. in a small swell around each specimen plant, as before described, will help to vary the surface. Undulations may exist naturally in a garden or field, and these should be scrupulously preserved, and rather be added to than curtailed. As a rule, the bottom of a hollow should never be planted, (fig. 30,) and only portions of its slopes. Plantations in hollows lessen their depth, not only in proportion to the height of the plants placed in them, but because the surface of a mass of plants is always more or less broken, and a dell so filled will appear several inches or even one or two feet shallower than if it had a smooth grassy bottom. Planting by the margins of streams in hollows is sometimes effective, but it should be 86 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. decidedly irregular, and in clusters or groups rather than in large masses. When -a hollow or glen is so deep or so remote Fig. 30. from the house that its bottom is not seen, keeping it unplanted will preserve the indefiniteness, which is one of its finest effects. If the eye cannot fathom any such dip in the land, there will be a mystic character' about it which will lead the imagination to paint it much deeper than it actually is. And the full know- ledge of its precise limits will not dis-ipatc the pleasure. VARIETY FROM UNDULATIONS. 87 Knolls, swells, or any trifling elevations, (fig. 31,) may be advan- tageously selected for groups of trees ; as, by giving them thus a greater height, the depth of the intermediate or surrounding depressions is increased. Even an almost imperceptible rise in Fig. 32. the ground, (fig. 32,) should not be lost for such a purpose, where its position happens to be suitable. The greatest charm about undulations of land lies in their softness and freedom. The lines should all melt into each other. Angularity, sharpness, or straightness, will be unknown in them. In the meeting of two lines, (fig. 33,) they should Fig. 33. seem as if they had been gradually attracted towards each other for some distance previously. They ought never to unite with apparent reluctance. And however good and desirable change of surface may be, beauty must not be sacrificed to variety. The slope of any elevation, therefore, however small, should be so prolonged as imperceptibly to merge into the common level, (fig. 34,) and by a concave line of the gentlest possible 88 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. description. For the mere lengthening out of the slope will produce ugliness rather than beauty, if some degree of com-avit y be not expressly sought. After any ground line once begins to Fig. 34. reach the middle of its descent, it should then almost imme- diately commence to curve under. More positive, because more sudden, variations of surface, may be engendered by what is termed picturesqueness. In this kind of scenery, the forms are all rugged, the lines broken, the changes abrupt. Rough and tangled tufts of vegetation, ground that has in no way been smoothed and levelled, jutting masses or bold faces of rock, gnarled trunks and tortuous branches of trees, and ruined buildings, half mantled with the Ivy, the Wall-flower, the Fern, and the Pellitory, are illustrations in point. Little, however, can be done in this way with small gardens, which are too near the house itself an object of the highest art to be capable of being rendered picturesque. Still, some few elements of picturesque variety can be now and then introduced to a garden, in the way of old stumps of trees re-animated with a drapery of Ivy and Clematis, or garlanded with Roses ; festoons or pillars of several climbers, permitted to grow wildly, after having attained sufficient age and strength ; Ivy, reduced by training, to a tree-like stem, of three, four, or five feet in height, and then left to fling abroad its branches, and trail them gracefully down to the ground ; and climbers, clothing the stems of living trees, and tangling about their branches. In some retired parts of the garden, rockeries, collections of ferns, rocky streams, waterfalls, or other picturesque objects, can be easily added in many localities, and CONTEAST. 89 will be most prolific in all the resources of variety. Rustic arbours or seats broken pillars, old vases or urns, partially covered with some rude climber baskets for flowers, made of rough wood, with the bark on, or old trunks of trees, scooped out with the necessary hollow in the centre, are a few of the more architectural among picturesque decorations. 14. Contrast is a characteristic which, though rarely attainable to any extent in small places, must not be wholly rejected. It has been shown that it may be effective in heightening colour ; but it merits, as a principle, a little more development. It necessarily involves a certain amount of suddenness in change, whether as to colour, form, or general character. Very violent transitions are, however, by no means to be included in the idea; at least not so far as its adoption is here considered recommendable. If a rule might be ventured on in reference to this rather difficult matter, it should assume that harmony ought to reign paramount, and almost alone, over the general features of a place, and that contrast should distinguish its episodes or more detached accessories. What is meant is, that a garden, as viewed from the house, or from most of its own principal points, should consist of parts and objects that have some decided agreement with each other, or that the several constituent parts should blend and interfuse insensibly ; while peculiarities, whether of treatment or vegetation, can be reserved for little side scenes, shut off from the rest, or most imperfectly disclosed, until the observer finds himself all at once in the midst of them. The full effect of a contrast may thus be secured, without any interference with the much more important principles of har- mony or congruity. Still, the occasional admission into a more open landscape of things which will produce contrast, is by no means altogether to be condemned. I remember being frequently attracted, and always with the same pleasure, to a beautiful specimen of the weeping Birch, growing by the side of a noble Cedar of Lebanon^ on a lawn attached to a villa near the metropolis. And I have 90 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. also noticed with admiration, in several parts of the country, a kind of companionship established between beeches and fine old specimens of the common yew. In both these instances there was a marked contrast both of form and colour. But the branches of the two plants were so nicely interwoven, and their foliage so happily mixed together, in broader or smaller patches, towards the junction of the two, that while the strongest con- trast was apparent, there was, at the same time, by the invgn- larity with which the outlines of each were intermingled, the masses of light and shade gradually losing themselves in each other, a really gentle and easy transition. The illustrations thus referred to appear to teach sevrnil things. If two trees or plants, or two masses of either, having very opposite characters, are sought to be placed side by s'ulc, for the purpose of contrast, they should be put near enough to enable their branches to intermix with one another, that the contrast may not be too sudden. In the case of two groups of very different plants, such as light-leaved deciduous and dark- leaved evergreen varieties, being wished to be brought - togt-t IHT, a few of each sort should be irregularly thrown into the adjnin- ing group, to produce the same effect as the interwrcjithing <>f branches would do with single specimens. Again, where a contrasted tree or shrub, or group of the Kinif, cannot or is not desired to be placed so near its opposite neigh- bour as to allow the branches to mingle, or the sorts to blr-nl at the edges of the mass, some intermediate plant or plants, of a quiet neutral tint, or some breadth of lawn, in which the grass will answer the same end, should be interposed between tin- 1 \\ <, to soften away the abruptness of the change. The examples further show that the particular expression of contrast which is most desirable to be attained, IUH-\ e a light stone colour ; and hence houses built of common white stone, as it is called, look best when they are reposing on grass ; and the pedestals of vases or other sculptured figures follow the like rule. It may be doubted, however, whether houses or objects formed of red sandstone, will not, for a similar reason, please the eye better when they stand on a broad pavnl ter- race of white stone or whitish gravel; though such is tin- har- monising power of grass that it will not appear unsuitable even in such cases. 15. Although everything approaching to eccentricity has been fully deprecated in a former page, a few lines may now l>e devoted to advocating originality, as a principle to be aimed at in a garden. The scenes of nature are continually sought, because, while they are "ever charming," they are like \\i-e " ever new." And a garden should be made to combine some little freshness, something that will distinguish it fnnu other gardens. Departure from rule is not, it will readily be believed, the kind of originality to be desired. It is rather such as results from newness of arrangement, of combinations, of expres- sion, and character. It is rare, indeed, that two places will have the same shape, soil, aspect, surface, and accompaniments: and every peculiarity that is not really bad should be seized upon, and worked into some kind of novelty. Originality is antagonistic to all sorts of lameness. K\ en a slight deviation from established laws will often be preferable to their dull and expressionless embodiment, though such a course cannot at all be allowed to be necessary. That which is com- mon-place, which is the exact counterpart of what everybody else has, never leaves any impression upon the observer's mind, or wins him back to a second inspection. Freshness of aspect may be the result of any one particular circumstance, or a combination of them. The tn -atment of the ORIGINALITY. 93 foreground of a place may produce it, by presenting the trees and shrubs brought up nearer to the house than usual, (but not so as to darken or make it damp,) narrowing the lawn very much at that point, and letting it gradually expand towards the boundary, so that the house will appear, from a distance, to be a species of nest in the midst of a plantation, though not actually so. The boundary lines, again, may be treated so as to get the greatest possible freshness of view both within and beyond them, and plants of an uncommon kind may be liberally introduced. In some districts, certain sorts of trees and shrubs and flowers abound, and are met with in every place. They seem to have acquired a local standing, and to be distributed from one neighbour to another. It will be well, therefore, to break through these prescribed limits, and select something altogether different. By giving a chosen tribe of plants the chief place in a garden, originality is not unfrequently hit upon. The almost total exclusion of deciduous plants will have a very marked eifect, if the evergreens be well selected, and those which bear flowers predominate ; otherwise they w r ill be rather dull in summer. Azaleas, or Roses, or any other very showy class of plants, which produce a great blaze of flowers, will, if not too exclusively grown, contribute to the same end. A garden might be tolera- bly well furnished with the tribe known as " American plants," with a very little aid from other quarters. I have known persons travel for miles to see a bank of Rhododendrons in full bloom ; and the masses of Azaleas and other " Americans " at the Bagshot nurseries, are the astonishment and admiration of all who visit them in the flowering season. In small places, too, Avhich have no bad surrounding objects to hide, forest trees might be altogether dispensed with. In these and many other ways, which local considerations will suggest and decide, originality will be found of comparatively easy attainment. I have merely specified a few, by way of hints, to show that something can be done. The mention of groups of pillar-Roses, elegant climbers trained into a tent-like 94: GENERAL PRINCIPLES. shape, little temples or alcoves of wire, covered with climbers, bowers composed of trees, trimmed on the inside, and open at the top, so that patches of sky and stars are seen as from a kind of well, but through an irregular aperture, small bell-shaped canvas tents, for a lawn, architectural objects placed at the termination of every opening from the side of the lawn, just indicates, also, the uses of more artificial things for the same purpose. Any one can multiply or vary them at pleasure. 16. As the result of a number of principles judiciously com- bined and elaborated, a place should always possess some more or less decided expression and tone / and, as the character <>t' a garden will usually attach itself in great part to the owner or occupier, so that his own dispositions and tastes will be judged of by the kind of feeling displayed in his garden, it becomes of consequence that this point should be kept con- tinually in view while laying it out. A garden may be distinguished by its gaiety of tone. This will be principally produced during summer by a variety of showy flowers, by masses of brilliant-flowering shrubs, by standard and other Roses, by a conspicuous flower-garden, and by a variety of purely summer decorations. The shrubs ami low trees will be chiefly flowering ones; green-house plant* in flower will be freely placed about, or beds of them provided ; and everything will have an exotic air. In winter the same tone will be preserved, as far as possible, with variegated ever- greens, Laurustinus, Arbutus, Erica carnea, shrubs that l.ear red berries, and other flowering or gay-looking evergreens, Avith an abundance of early-blooming bulbs and herbaceous plants, to betoken the first approaches of spring. The wh>le character of the place should also be light, open, airy ; not at all crowded, or overgrown, or overshadowed. The gravel in the walks should have the warm reddish-yellow tint common around London; and the architectural enrichments should lie lively, and rather florid than otherwise. But the expression of a garden may, if required, be that of quietness, amodest, unassuming, medium state, between plain- QUIETNESS OF EXPRESSION. 95 ness and ostentation. It need not be wanting in beauty or refinement. It may be correctly and even elegantly arranged and furnished ; yet there will be no peculiarity of tone on which the eye can fasten. All will be good, but nothing arresting. Flowers willbe cherished, though not in extraordinary profusion. Every kind of evergreens will be unreservedly admitted ; but there will be no attempt at display, no thrusting forward the evidences of wealth. Taste will be shown in concealing all its manifestations, in the little arts, and ingenious contrivances, and kindly cares, which embellish gardens, as they do life, with- out ever revealing the machinery of their action, and of which the effect is seen and felt in their results rather than their pro- cesses, in the whole rather than the details. A quiet-looking garden, like a well-educated individual, presents no particular feature that can attract special notice: all is smooth, easy, agreeable. And perhaps this quietness Of expression is the surest index to refinement and taste ; though the latter is not incompatible with some amount of luxury and sprightliness. Art should be pretty obviously expressed in that part of every garden which is in the immediate vicinity of the house, and may sometimes retain its prominence throughout the whole place. In the latter case, terraces, straight lines of walks, avenues of trees or shrubs, rows of flower-beds, and geometrical figures, with all kinds of architectural ornaments will prevail. Con- siderable dignity of character may certainly thus be acquired ; and, if well sustained, the expression of high ai*t will be a very noble one. But there are not many places which will bear to be thus treated, and it is less frequently suitable for one of small dimensions. It is, moreover, a very costly style, and requires the lawns to be on the most perfect level, and the grass, beds, and masses to be always in the highest preservation. A warm part of the country, where a rich landscape surrounds the place, will best warrant its adoption. In the near neighbourhood of towns, or in a bleak and ungenial climate, it will appear too bare and cold. A purely town-garden, however, may be treated thus with great effect. Terrace walls, balustrades, 9tf GENERAL PRINCIPLES. flights of steps, vases filled with shrubs or flowers, and even statuary, will here be most important accessories. Certain classes of plants seem peculiarly fitted for a garden in which much art is to be displayed. Round-headed standards and npright or fastigiate shrubs are singularly appropriate. Rhododendrons, Portugal laurels, Robinia inermis, Hoses, and some species of Cytisus, treated as standards, will make admir- able lines of plants to flank a square or oblong lawn ; and the Araucaria imbricata may likewise be mention i -d. Irish Y r\\ s, on the other hand, with several species of Juniper, Cyprus ami Arbor Vitae, fit most beautifully into the corners of flower- gardens, or points in other plots geometrically arranged ; and, where there is space enough, the majestic form of the (Ydar of Lebanon and the graceful Deodar will powci -fully enhance the expression of art. There is a possibility of such things as y/,./v sty ami // urines* constituting the tone of a garden ; and every effort should be employed to obviate this. A large proportion of sombre ever- greens, a dearth of flowers, or a neglect of finish ami keeping, may impart a gloomy character, which is particularly unhappy. A garden seems naturally intended to communicate cheerful- ness and pleasure; and this design should never be frustrated by making it look like a cemetery. A great many large trees would, by their shadow, and the destruction of the gra^s be- neath them, conduce to the same fault ; and lumpish masses of plantation, with few breaks, little variety of outline, ami a scanty addition of detached specimens, would deepen the im- pression. Massive and inelegant ornaments will only then In- wanted to complete its wretchedness. Poverty of expression is almost worse than heaviness. It conveys the idea of meanness, inattention, indifference, hard- ness and narrowness of mind in the possessor, and coldn heart. Some gardens are thus poor in design, .fliers in their details, and many in regard to their furniture. The first may exhibit a deficiency of thought and taste in adaptation, every- thing being dashed off or jumbled together, as convenience or EXPKESSION AND STYLE. 97 ease might dictate. The second class will denote the absence of taste in execution, and of care to put the finishing strokes to everything. The third section indicates a meagreness of materials, the commonest description of plants, and a scanty supply of them. The defect of the first will be paucity of invention ; of the second, insufficient application ; and of the third, dearth of means. Each may exist separately,' or all be found together. They are capable of easy remedy ; though the last, if it arise from pecuniary causes, must be either endured, or the materials be so selected in respect to their rapidity of growth and showiness, and so artfully disposed, as to be made the best of. Where shrubs or plants enough cannot be had to furnish a place fully, it is better to put them suf- ficiently thick in smaller masses, than to scatter them over a larger space, in which there will be much bare earth visible. Instances in which an aspect of poorness arises from the soil or the climate being uncongenial, can be rectified by improving the one, and using such plants only as will thrive in the other, Experience and attentive observation of what succeeds in the neighbourhood will supply the requisite information as to climate. Hereafter, however, a few guiding suggestions will be given with reference to both climate and soil. Poverty in the aspect of a country may be greatly relieved and atoned for by an extra amount of furniture within a place, and by restrict- ing the views from it. A barren and unsightly waste, or common, or moor, can be made to subserve the purposes of art, if only glimpses of it be here and there afforded through masses of rich foliage ; for, with such a foreground, its extreme poverty will be neutralised, and become a foil to set off the richness and cultivation inside the place. 1 7. No garden should be altogether destitute of manner and style, however feebly or indistinctly they may be expressed. Purity and correctness of feeling in regard to any given style are the most iir^ortant things to be sought after ; for it is barely possi* \e to give rules which shall embrace every variety of detail . In little matters, indeed, the properties of different 5 98 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. styles may be associated, under special circumstances, without any breach of rule ; aright appreciation of the spirit of each being alone wanted to enable any one to adapt parts of the others thereto. A close analysation will show that some features are common to two styles, or even to all of them, the great distinctions consisting in larger characteristics. There are three principal kinds of style recognised in land- scape gardening ; the old formal or geometrical style ; the mixed, middle, or irregular style, which Mr. Loudon called the gardenesque ; and the picturesque. Of each of these I shall offer a brief explanation. Attached to the geometrical style there is a greater degree of originality, distinctness, and art, than to either of the others. It is the most easily defined, and therefore, probably, the least difficult to practise for a person at all familiar with the simplest rules of architecture. It treats a garden solely and entirely as a work of art. And the forms of nature which it impresses into its service are simply those which have the closest affinity to its own characteristics, and are, in fact, most artificial. Doubtless the geometrical style is that which an architect would most naturally prefer ; for it subordinates everything to the house, and is a carrying out of the principles common to both itself and architecture. A series of str:ii Fig. 53. but with the ends squared, and the corners struck off in the form of an inverted quarter circle, specimen plants occurring Fig. 54. regularly between them. This class is fitted for accompanying 110 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. either Italian or Gothic architecture. To the latter style alone the beds in fig. 54 belong ; their only difference from those which precede them being that the corners are cut off at an angle of forty-five, instead of making part of a circle. The larger beds in fig. 55 take a sort of barrel shape, with the ends Fig. 55. square, but the sides slightly curved outwards ; the same pro- portion in regard to the length and breadth being preserved. The intermediate beds are alternately for flowers and shrubs, both being circular, and the circles being designedly less in diameter than the oblong beds, to avoid tameness and mono- tony. This figure and fig. 56, the ends of the oblong beds in Fig. 56. the latter being struck from the centres of the intermediate circles, and these last being of the same width as the larger beds themselves, may be employed in connexion with any plain house; as may also fig. 57, where the chief beds are plain parallelograms, w'th straight sides and ends, the circles between having a shrub and flowers in every other one. THE FORMAL STYLE. Ill An advance to a more decided tone of art is made in fig. 58, the pointed ends and diamond-shaped secondary beds in which Fig. 58. take a character which can only assimilate with Gothic architec- ture. And the same may be said of fig. 59, which is but a modification of its predecessor, the ends being parts of circles Fig. 59. instead of being purely angular. It should be noted, however, that this last example is produced mainly to point out the way in which variety may be achieved ; as the extremely acute corners of the beds would be difficult both to fill and to keep in their proper shape. Fig. 60, in which a semicircular lobe is Fig. GO. attached to each end of the principal oblong beds, is more suited for the Italian manner, and would yield some little additional novelty, because the small ends of the beds would just accommo- date one or three plants of a striking kind, to contrast with the other occupants of the bed. Any of the more remarkable 112 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. variegated Geraniums would be admirably fitted for such a situation. By presenting a rounded side to the lawn, and a flat side to the walk, half-spherical beds in fig. 61 accommodate themselves Fig. 61. to the openness of the one, and the straightness of the other. Fig. 62 shows beds of a kind of chrysalis form, which would be Fig. 62. easily filled, and would be suitable for the sides of any walk where ease and gracefulness of line, rather than rigid formality, is sought. Nearly the same shape, but of somewhat enlarged dimensions, is repeated in fig. 63, the beds being severed into Fig. 63. two parts by the introduction of small circles, for alternate flowers and specimens ; and this plan, while offering less of continuity than the previous one, admits of the employment of a greater number and variegation of colours. Still further progression in the scale of design is made in THE FORMAL STYLE. 113 figs. 64 to 67, where the leading beds are divided into three members. A prominent centre, with two narrower ends, marks Fig 64. the peculiarity of figs. 64 and 65, the difference being that the Fig. 65. middle portion is square and the ends more attenuated and pointed in 64 ; while the centre is round, and the lobes broader Fig. 66. and bolder in 65. Fig. 66, again, is composed of a narrow Fig. 67. oblong centre, and two larger square ends, all the lines being quite straight and rectangular ; whereas, in fig. 67, which is on 114 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. the same general basis, the two ends of the large beds are cir- cular. Either of these four figures, but especially the last two, would be of service where a sort of running border of flowers is desired. In respect of the beds with pointed ends, however, it may be suggested that the specimens placed between them should be of the dwarfest and most trailing habits. An additional step in the way of variety is made at fig. 68, Pig. 68. where the ends of the beds are turned to the walk, and a more flowing outline occasioned. Very small shrubs are likewise inserted in the circular ends of each alternate bed. And if beds of this pattern cannot be much commended, on account of the trouble demanded to fill them nicely, and to keep them correctly cut out, they may yet be useful in making a species of scroll- like fringe to a walk, where only one description of plant (such as Verbenas of different colours) is intended to be grown in Fig. 69. them. The next plan (fig. 69) is both simpler and more arti-t ir ; and the ends of the beds might be made square, if preferred, to THE FORMAL STYLE. 115 adapt them more thoroughly to the line of the walk. Figs. 70, 71, and 72 belong to a more elaborate class, and may appro- priately finish the series. The first of them could easily be varied by squaring or rounding the ends of those beds which Fig. 70. stand at a right angle with the walk. The shrubs shown in the circles must, of course, be of the smallest description, and should be upright-growing, if possible, to keep them from being injured by the summer flowers. Probably the dwarf Box, trained and kept regularly clipped into the shape of a thin cone, would be most serviceable. In fig. 7 1 , a strict adherence to the Fig. 71. line of the walk is maintained in the flower-beds, and a similar conformity is observed in fig. 72, some little play of margin being accomplished by the interposition of dwarf shrubs at regular intervals. It will be obvious that specimens of this character might be multiplied to an almost infinite extent, if any sufficient object could be served by their introduction. In those already given, however, and which are intended rather as hints than as 116 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. models, the reader will probably find enough of suggestive- ness to render a further instalment unnecessary. 9 Fig. 72. Towards the outside of a formal garden, or in parts sufficiently separated from the house, or from the view obtained at its prin- cipal front, there will be little objection to the use of masses of plants, with a more irregular outline, or specimens scattered about in the mixed style ; provided a kind of connexion be kept up by the help of circular or other regular beds in the centre or at the corners of such compartments, or, when irre- gular lines are adopted as a fringe round the boundary, they are made as inconspicuous as possible from the house, and do not thrust themselves into notice anywhere, or weaken the effect of the more artistic parts. They will not disturb the harmony of the place unless they are obtruded. One most important requirement in a formal garden is, that the ground should be quite smooth and level. No undulations or unevenness of surface can be for a moment allowed. Regular and easy slopes, or dead levels, are as essential as straight lines in a house or in the walks. A perfectly flat MU !;ic- is un- questionably the best for the purpose, as the lines will appear longer. When a line slopes away from the poiijt of view, it is, to some extent, foreshortened. If the ground should, by any unfortunate chance, rise as it recedes from the house, it may be kept flat to as great a width as is possible, and then be formed into one or more terrace- THE FORMAL STYLE. 117 banks, (fig. 73,) as it may require ; the walks to be carried up these banks by flights of steps, and the change of level effected Fig. 73. by grassy slopes, or by low architectural walls. The latter of these is represented by fig. 74, and the former will be seen in fig. 73. Fig. 74 When, in addition to a slope from the house downwards, or apart from it, the ground also slants naturally in a cross direction, this will demand some modification. As far at least as either of the main fronts of the house is concerned, the ground, to the full breadth of those fronts, and of any addi- tional terrace-bank by which they may be supported, must be brought into a perfectly level platform. There should be no cross slopes, no oblique inclination of the ground in a direction parallel with the front of the house. The level basement-line of the house would in no way accord with a diagonal or sloping line in the ground ; the latter being sadly out of harmony with 118 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. the squareness of the style. Indeed, the side of a house out of the perpendicular would be scarcely less incorrect. From these observations, it will appear that where ground slopes across a lawn, and parallel with the front of the house, it should, in consistency with the formal style, be reduced to a dead level, as far as the front of the house or its terrace extends. (See fig. 75, in which the dotted line indicates the supposed Fig. 75. natural level of the ground, and the shaded line the level to which it should be reduced.) The change of level from this point, in a line taken precisely at a right angle from the house across the garden, should be effected, whether ground rises or descends, by a terrace-bank of grass, the upper edge of which is kept quite square ; or by a low wall ; carrying the walks up or down either by flights of steps. The steps resulting from any such alteration of levels, will, if rightly' treated, and adorned with small vases, materially contribute to sustain the general character of the place ; though they should never be without more or less massive edgings or kerbs of stone, or some living substitute for these in the way of low dense ever- green hedges. Any extreme slope of the ground away from the house can be converted into terraces, as suggested for rising ground. But many terraces on a descending slope ought not to be used unless really necessary ; for they serve to lessen the apparent size of the place. Water, if admitted at all into the geometrical style, takes the shape of basins with an architectural rim, or fountains, or larger THE FORMAL STYLE. 119 pools that have sculptured figures along their margins, or very artificial cascades. Regularity of outline will, as in other things, be the leading characteristic of all such pieces of water. They may be circular or square, oblong, oval, hexagonal, octagonal, or of various shapes, as described for flower beds and masses. But they must not be irregular. Fountains, which merely gurgle out the water, or throw it up only a few inches, in the midst of round or octagonal basins having a stone margin, are in the highest degree appropriate and classical. And here it is worth while noting that simple figures of this or other kinds in stone, with little or no aid of ornament beyond a good shape, will be more esteemed by those capable of judging than the most elaborate plaster decorations. The sketches which foUow, (figs. 76 to 82,) may aid in pointing Figs. 76, 77. out a few of the forms into which basins of water can be thrown, the thick rim around them signifying a margin of stone, moulded in various ways, according to the prevailing style of the garden in which they are placed. Figs. 76, 77, and 82 would adapt themselves to any Gothic house. Figs. 78 and 79, from the roundness of all their outlines, are better suited to any garden approaching the Italian. Of a somewhat intermediate stage, and capable of being used with almost any style of house, are 120 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. figs. 80 and 81. And these might be rendered more ornate, if requisite, by the insertion of blocks, at the apex of some of their curves, to receive vases or small sculptured figures. If Figs. 78, 79. fountains, again, be added to any of these, the principal jet or cluster of jets should certainly be in the centres, but smaller Fig. 80. jets might, if required, be put in each of the minor bays that curve outward. On the other hand, if jets be wanted in fig. 82, there should be one in the centre of each of the projecting arms of the basin, and none in any other part. As constituting a peculiarly fitting adjunct to a formal garden, especially in near association with the house, and when the latter THE FORMAL STYLE. 121 is several feet above the level of the general lawn, large raised flower beds, supported by low ornamental walls of stone, may Fig. 81. occasionally be introduced. The figs. 83 to 87 will just furnish a suggestion or two regarding the shapes which such beds may be made to take. The stone walls may be about two feet six inches to three feet high, moulded and ornamented according to the peculiarities of style in the house, and rising about one 122 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. or two inches above the level of the soil in the beds. These latter can either be filled with one or several sorts of bold- growing flowers, and the flowers in them may even be arranged in patterns, with one sort and colour to each division ; or they Figs. 83, 84. may be mixed together promiscuously, with a due general regard to colour. In gardens which affect the Italian or Eli/abctlian manner, such raised beds might add a most dVcctive feature. All architectural forms used in adorning a garden should be furnished with a proper pedestal, the height, breadth, and Figs. 85, 86. enrichment of which, must bear a due proportion to the dimen- sions and character of the objects to be exhibited upon it. To place a sculptured figure on grass or gravel, without a plinth or pedestal, or to throw up rude stones, or pebbles, or boulders around a small mound of earth made for receiving it. is as THE FORMAL STYLE. 123 barbarous as if similar things, such as goblets, porcelain or alabaster vases and ornaments, were left standing on the floor of a house. A pedestal may be perfectly plain, and of itiex- Fig. 87. pensive materials, properly coloured. It can never be dispensed with. And herein will be most apparent the difference between real taste and love of ornament ; persons who have only the latter sticking a quantity of figures about their grounds, on the bare grass or gravel, without any support. Enough has, however, been said respecting the formal style to show how and under what conditions it can be best adopted. I now turn to the mixed and more pliant manner, in which, while the aid of art is still sought and valued, more of the freedom and licence of Nature are courted. Serpentine or wavy lines maybe regarded as the characteristic features of the mixed style. Its object is beauty of lines, and general variety. Roundness, smoothness, freedom from angu- larity, and grace rather than dignity or grandeur, are among its numerous indications. It does not reject straight lines entirely near the house, or in connexion with a flower-garden, or a rosery, or a subordinate building (as a greenhouse) that has a separate piece of garden to it. Nor does it refuse to borrow from the picturesque in regard to the arrangement and grouping of plants. It is a blending of Art with Nature, an attempt to interfuse the two ; or to produce something intermediate between the pure state of either, which shall combine the vagaries of the one 124: GENERAL PRINCIPLES. with the regularity of the other, and appropriate the most agreeable elements of both. It has all the grace of nature without its ruggedness; and the refinement of art apart from its stiffness and severity. So many of the peculiarities of this style have been incident- ally described, under various heads, that little remains to be added on the subject. Intricacy, every species of variety, iu- definiteness, extension of apparent boundaries, polish, and con- nexion, are specially its own traits. Some would consider the treatment of each plant as a specimen, a distinctive feature of this style ; a definition by no means to be relied on. Thickets and dense masses, in which the individuality of plants is much lost, may, it is true, more properly belong to the picturesque ; yet they are things which, in common with many others, the mixed style liberally adopts from its neighbour, and tempers and modifies in a manner entirely its own. Specimens on lawns and in borders are, avowedly, very powerful elements in the present branch of gardening. But they are not so potent, or so essential, or so prevailing, as waviness of lines. Extreme naturalness is the distinctive mark of the picturesque. It repudiates all art, or employs it solely in order to weaken or annihilate it. There is nothing flowing in its lines, or soft in its forms. As extremes are said to meet, so, in the perfection of the formal and picturesque manners, there is something in common. Both call for angularity of figure, and sharp pro- jections. But the angles of the one are according to rule , those of the other cannot be too irregular. And while serpen- tine lines mark the mixed style ; zigzag, broken, rugged lines (fig. 88) stamp the picturesque. It recognises no symmetry, and abhors everything allied to law and system. And yet, in those examples deducible from the vegetable kingdom which may be accounted picturesque, there is much of wild grace, and eccentric softness, and an indescribable but charming balance of parts. Although nothing may bear the trammels of a rule, or yield to the fetters of definition in language, there is no want of the flowingness, the connexion, THE PICTURESQUE STYLE. 125 the harmony, so ravishing to the eye ; interrupted, it may be, by some accident, or sudden gap, or abrupt pause ; but still full of spirit, and eloquent of beauty. For after all, Nature's forms lie nearest to man's heart, and no devotion to habit will conjure Fig. 88. away their magic power. The very instincts of our souls ally us to what is naturally beautiful. Picturesqueness is by some restricted in its application to whatever is fitted for being effectively represented in pictures; that, in fact, which an artist would choose to transfer to his canvas. I have here given it no such limited meaning. Possi- bly, however, that view of the term may help to illustrate and develop the sense more generally attached to it. For it is with wildness, ruggedness, broken ground, straggling and bold her- bage, dashing water, fantastic groups of vegetation, the cracked and discoloured stems and tortuous branches of trees, ruins nearly dismantled, except of the Ivy and the Fern, rude huts or cottages with their loose and mossy thatch, or buildings 126 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. copiously stained by time and lichen, that an artist would usually prefer to work. And it is these that go far towards comprising the picturescjueness of which I now treat. As a Fig. 89. piece of general landscape, of the picturesque class, fig. 89 may assist in explaining the views thus advanced ; while fig. 88, on a previous page, will give an idea of the same kind on a smaller scale, and more in reference to lesser details. On the whole, the mixed style, with a little help from both the formal ^,nd the picturesque, is altogether best suited for small gardens. And while the purely geometrical manner may be adopted under favourable conditions, that which is simply picturesque can never be applied to an entire place, but will be ADAPTATION. 127 well worthy of use in detached and retired portions. An ab- solute adherence to one style, is not, therefore, to be reckoned among the paramount virtues of the art ; but only one style should predominate, and either of the others be quietly intro- duced, and gradually blended, as subordinate features. 18. Notwithstanding all the rules hitherto furnished, there is a principle yet to be considered, which can alone give them their proper weight, and ensure their being of any real use, and that is adaptation. In every place that can be met with, or conceived of, there are always peculiarities which should influ- ence the disposal of the various parts, and give their cast and colouring to the whole design. And it is in the adaptation of particular styles, rules, or modes of treatment to the circum- stances or objects actually existing, that the credit of the land- scape gardener and the satisfaction of the owner can alone be attained. Very seldom will it be found that a garden is without some- thing or other that may be regarded as a fixture. Buildings, and the position of their entrances- and windows, trees, swells or variations in the surface of the ground, external gates or entrances, fences, and numberless other things, may be already on the ground, and it may not be desirable to remove them. And the scenery of the outlying country will ordinarily, like- wise, be beyond the reach of the designer. It will be needful, then, to fit in every part of the plan to what is really on the ground and must be retained there ; not neglecting to take advantage of everything that can be made to give greater effect, or to keep out of sight such objects as may be considered de- formities. Dealing cleverly with difficulties, so as to leave no evidence that they have had to be encountered, is not the least or the lowest merit of the art ; and, as I have frequently heard remarked, it is out of awkward and apparently intractable irregularities that a competent designer may generally manu- facture the most characteristic and remarkable beauties. While deliberating on this subject, the shape of the ground, its aspect, the nature of its surface, the wants and tastes of the 128 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. family, the character of the neighbourhood and the probabilities as to what it may become, or what might be done by adjoining owners, will all pass under review. Nor will the nature of the local climate, and the necessities that spring out of that con- sideration, be forgotten. Particular climates may require more shelter, and a limited selection of plants ; certain neighbour- hoods may demand extra security from theft or other injury ; in many localities, such as the nearer suburbs of large towns, plants that endure smoke will be wanted, and the whiter kinds of architectural ornament must be omitted as liable to get too much stained and blackened ; one family may prefer sunshine, openness, and display, another shade, privacy, and quiet enjoy- ment ; and ugly things will require excluding, or fine objects be just glanced at through a small opening, as it were by stealth, for fear of admitting what will offend. Great natural features abounding in the neighbourhood of a place, especially within view of its windows, ought seldom to be multiplied within it. If the sea or a large river, for instance, be visible from the house, it will seem ridiculous to have an artificial pool of water for ornament in the garden or park. In the same manner, should the district be a rocky one, and good specimens of rocky scenery be within sight of the garden, there will be equal weakness in forming an artificial rockery within the place. The mind will be continually instituting compari- sons between the feebleness of Art's creations, however well arranged, and the nobler forms of Nature, thus brought into immediate conjunction ; and the result must inevitably be to the disparagement of the former. Thrown in a tract of country where a sylvan character is the reigning one, an exception in the treatment of a garden to the rule just given may very likely be prudent. Here it will be the aim to blend the garden as much as possible with the outer district, so as to make them appear one property ; only giving to the garden the warmth of evergreens, and the cultivation which rarer plants will express, as a foreground to the larger scene. It is a very great point to adapt the garden so to the FITNESS AND APPROPRIATION. 129 surrounding scenery that there is no break to its apparent continuity. Perhaps a small garden in the outskirts of a town should have more flowering-plants and flowers cultivated in it than would be wanted in the country ; as flowers are much valued, and produce a more delightful contrast in such situations. It is very doubtful, however, how far training climbers to town- houses, in the cottage or village style, is accordant with good taste, especially as they seldom look healthy, or flower freely. Consistently with a good supply of flowering plants, moreover, a town garden cannot well have too many evergreens, for they produce liveliness and verdure at a season of the year when, in towns, the most leaden dulness often reigns in the atmosphere. 19. Fitness is a variety of adaptation that has little claim to be regarded by itself; and yet it will suggest another thought. A thing may or may not exhibit fitness for accomplishing its intention. It may be unhappily conceived, or carelessly executed. There might be a deficiency of right feeling dis- played in it. The expression of a place might be unfitted to the character and habits of its owner. Its style may be too ambitious for its keeping. Certain plants in it may be out of tone. On the other hand, there may be an appropriateness in everything, even the minutest. The very turf may, by its fineness, and freshness, and smoothness, and freedom from coarse weeds, denote the proprietor's attachment to his garden, and elegance of taste ; while larger matters will always be iu the right place, and of a suitable class. 20. Appropriation is an idea to be realised in gardening on a small scale, which, though already more than once glanced at, calls for a separate elucidation. It is that appeai-ance of possessing property which, though it may be continually be- lied by one's own consciousness, is productive of almost as much pleasure to the eye, at least, as though it were really owned. Everyday experience will confirm the familiarity of the remark, that some individuals glean more delight from the opportunity of inspecting another person's property than the owners them- G* 130 GENERAL PEIXCIPLES. selves. Extensive proprietors of beautiful estates rarely appre- ciate them. Men generally value less what they hold by no uncertain tenure. The things which we .retain on sufferance, or which we may some day be deprived of, are those which, if we are not overburdened with them, we most earm-stly cling to, and perseveringly admire. And this tendency is neither illegitimate nor pernicious, in reference to natural objects ; while it may entail much innocent gratification. To cater for an appetite so unexceptionable is surely not beneath the dignity of art. And as it can be done without any great difficulty where the frontage of a place is towards an open country, it should always be taken among the esta- blished requirements. The ways of accomplishing it have been before enumerated. But it may be observed that a boundary fence which looks most like that which would form the divi- sion between one part of an estate and another, with such groups of trees and shrubs between the openings as would be placed to give a foreground to the distant view, even were there no separating fence behind them, will most favour the illusion, and enable the occupier to appropriate, as if it were his own, all that is beautiful in the general landscape. Even fences, sheds, cottages, would carry this principle very far, or into minor matters. It is in her broader teachings, and general promptings, that ma- terials should be gathered for practical use. And these, be it remembered, will be solely available in idealising and exalting art. To regard a garden otherwise than as a work of art, would IMITATION OF NATURE. 131 tend to a radical perversion of its nature. It is and must remain that which its proximity to the house alone enables it to be. No ingenuity can convert it into a forest glade or a glen. Nor is such a transformation to be wished for, were it possible, any more than that a dwelling should be transmuted into a hut, or a den, or a cave. A garden is for comfort, and convenience, and luxury, and use, as well as for making a beau- tiful picture. It is to express civilisation, and care, and design, and refinement. It is for the growth of choice flowers, and the preservation and culture of exotic trees and shrubs, with novel, and interesting, and curious habits, which could not be reared without the most assiduous guardianship and attention. In these respects, it is fundamentally different from all natural scenes. Reflections such as these will make it plain that they who would imitate nature in gardens must do so in another way than by copying her piecemeal. They ought, indeed, to be imitators, but not copyists, transcribing her spirit and not her individual expressions, her general countenance or aspect, and not her particular features. An artist, be he a painter or a landscape gardener, or an amateur in either branch, should go to nature to study principles, gathering up snatches of scenery, and storing them in his memory or his portfolio for future adaptation and use. lie should note all that pleases him, and endeavour to understand how and why it influences his mind. By thus filling his brain with numberless beautiful little pictures or images, and his intellect with the foundations and sources of pleasure in his art, he will come from nature doubly primed to give practical utterance to his imaginings, and prepared to embody in a composition the finer touches and more artistic and spiritual elements which he has collected from such a variety of sources. It is in this way that the imitation of nature will be but the ennobling of art ; the airy elegance and flying graces of the one being engrafted on the more substantial characteristics of the other. 22. That beauty should be the ultimate aim of every opera- 132 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. tion in landscape gardening, may seem so self-evident a propo- sition, as almost to be calculated to excite a smile. It is one, however, which I must not fail to enforce. There may be different opinions as to what constitutes beauty, and of what ingredients it is made up, some affirming that its chief elements are those of form, and others that it consists solely in associ- ation. Without taking either view exclusively, I shall assume that it is to be found in both. Most persons will be agreed, in the main, as to what is really beautiful, though almost every one will have some kinds of favouritism and prejudice. Considering the multitudinous forms of vegetable life, and the fact that all are endowed with more or less attractiveness, I have often been struck with the narrowness of affection for plants which is commonly possessed ; many people having a few favourite trees or shrubs, and pro- scribing nearly all others. I have been told of a celebrated landscape-gardener who always kept the nurserymen's stock of two or three particular trees at the lowest ebb, and could never get enough. And it is matter of gardening history, what thousands probably millions of his famous " locust-tree " Cobbett spread abroad throughout the country ; although it is now well understood that, for all practical uses, the tree, if even it would yield any available timber, is very nearly, if not altogether, worthless. But I cannot, and do not profess to comprehend, why gen- tlemen should impoverish their plantations, and strip their gardens of the first element of beauty, by cultivating only a I'.-w particular species of plants, and not merely harbouring, but cherishing a dislike to all others. A garden or plantation denuded of half or three-fourths of its proper ornaments, is much in the same predicament as an individual with only a portion of his ordinary garments. It is imperfectly clothed, insufficiently furnished, weak in its expression of the beautiful. Beauty of lines and forms is possibly less powerful than that of association ; but it is more prevalent, and better apprehended by the mass. A wavy, or undulating line, has been styled the BEAUTY OF LINES AND FORMS. 133 "line of beauty," and the assumption may be true, as far as it accounts that the most beautiful of lines. But in averring that there is no other line at all beautiful, it is of course far wide of the truth. Every one will acknowledge that the lines in a dove's body, when in full plumage, are exquisitely beautiful, and that a circle is one of the most pleasing of figures. But few, I should think, will deny that a cube possesses beauty, or that a triangle is not destitute of it. An avenue is the subject of universal admiration ; and so is a long straight road, that conducts up a gentle ascent, to a church, or other sufficiently dignified and commanding object. Still, an avenue to a common workhouse, as I have witnessed, loses its influence ; and a long road, ending in nothing, may simply be a dreary blank. The truth seems to be, that some kinds of lines require the accompaniments of fitness and association to render them interesting, while others have an inherent power of impressing men. A wavy line is the most truly graceful; it is the thing that imparts beauty of form to human beings and animals ; it is indefinite, and awakens the idea of infinity, with its exhaust- less stores for the imagination ; and it is of the commonest occurrence in natural scenery. Hence, it may fairly be invested with the palm. Beauty of form, in a work of art, is of a superior order to beauty of colour or embellishment. It betokens a deeper acquaintance with principles, a higher refinement, a finer-toned feeling. Colours are mere adventitious aids, and are always liable to fade or change ; while floridness of ornament simply pleases the fancy, but .rarely satisfies the mind, and soon satiates. Beauty of foi'm is the most enduring. The influence of this rule on all the adjuncts of gardening cannot be over-rated. It will affect the shape of the ground, the direction or curves and levels of the walks, the position and outlines of all the clumps and beds, and every sort of ornament that can be conceived of. It will be far more significant than mere costliness, or elaboration, or ingenuity. And it will extend 134 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. as much to the proportions of a place, as to its individual elements. Beauty of tint or tone, though inferior to that of form, is what must never be thrown entirely into the shade. Delicate colours are intrinsically the most beautiful. Shades of pink, or mix- tures of pink and white, light blues, pale greens, straw-coloured yellows, the softest tones of crimson and vermilion, are the most expressive of beauty. All stronger colours may be rich, showy, and valuable in contrast, but they are less positively beautiful. None of them need be kept out of a place ; though the above hints will be suggestive of what is most desirable, where the highest beauty is sought, and they may denote' tin- colours which should be selected in painting either the exterior or the interior of buildings, fences, &c. Nor do I seek at all to decry beauty of ornament and detail. It will, however, be necessary to keep in mind, that iniiiuU-r beauties do not tell in or upon objects that have to be viewed from a distance, and that, in architectural forms, they are more fitted for internal, than exterior decoration. A building that has to be entered should always be much more ornamented and enriched inside than it is without; and little delicate finishings, though highly expressive when in place, ought only to be put where they have to be closely examined, and near enough to the eye to be thoroughly scrutinised and appreciated. The beauty of association is founded on the suggestion of pleasing ideas, such as fitness, harmony, poetry, or the awaken- ing of images that have formerly delighted. It is especially connected with anything aged, with. that in which our ances- tors or family have borne a part, or in which we have personally shared. A tree or plant, which we, our relatives, or some known and noted personage have planted, or reared, or tended; a summer-house that is rich in family or other ancient records, or in which we or those we love have thought, or studied, or felt much; a retired nook or secluded little garden, which tin- fair hands of the departed have, by their former ministrations, BEAUTY OF ASSOCIATION. 135 hallowed and rendered sacred ; may all be abundantly fraught with the beauty of association. By this benignant law man is linked at once to the material and the spiritual world ; and the elements of a garden become pregnant with both poetry and history. The chords of the human heart are strung responsively to a variety of objects ; and a sight, or a sound, or a scent, may at any moment waken their melody. Delicate perfumes, bursts of Nature's vernal music, gleams of gladdening sunshine after rain, may stir the shades of long-buried thoughts and emotions, and quicken them into new life with a thrilling power. Practically, the beauty of association is hardly a thing to be aimed at or cultivated. It is an instinct which twines itself with our being, and makes its own existence known and felt. All that tends to excite or develop it may, however, be reli- giously fostered ; for it is as beneficial as it is pleasurable, softening and humanising the heart, and refining the entire nature. And even in the newest places, where not a solitaiy vestige of human feelings or interests is found, every plant, to the lover of a garden, may soon acquire a little history of its own, and be the source of endless amusement, by personal trimming and training, and watering, and protecting ; while a sentiment can easily be attached to particular spots, by dedi- cating them to the various affections, or virtues, or purposes, which adorn or illustrate human life. However unfortunate a disposition to allow plants to become overcrowded and spoil one another may be, one always augurs well of the heart, at least, of the individual who shows a peculiar sensitiveness about the removal or destruction of anything he has once cherished, and with which are swept away sensations and plea- sures never to be recalled. 23. Having thus gone over the numerous principles which those who would layout a garden will have to take into account, I have now to indicate the manner in which they can all be harmonised and combined, so as to compose a beautiful and consistent whole. It may appear to some that many of the points 136 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. discussed are incapable of being conjointly carried out ; that such things as variety are incompatible with unity and sim- plicity ; and that, in observing some of these principles, others must be violated. That such is not the case, I shall proceed to demonstrate. Let it not be supposed^ then, that any stress is intended to be laid on one principle to the depreciation of the rest, or that the marked elaboration of either is advocated. The perfection of a garden will consist in no one of them being carried to an extreme. Each is to be consulted separately ; but the joint teachings of all acted upon ; such as will best suit the cir- cumstances and demands of the case being kept paramount. Not that such things as different tones and styles are to be hankered after in the same place, unless it be pretty large, and susceptible of partial division. But that some kind of expres- sion, and one particular manner should be sought, and the place not be made devoid of manner, or expressionless. That simplicity is not altogether at variance with richness, however incongruous they may appear, there will be little difficulty in proving. A garment may be of the most superb material, and yet its shape and colour be very simple. Dignity and even majesty of mien may often be accompanied with an air of simplicity which may exalt rather than weaken it. And so a garden can be devoid of a single rudiment of complexity, be simple in its plan, and its purpose, and its ornaments, but that simplicity shall be so tasteful, and so noble, and sus- tained with such excellent materials, as that richness will be manifestly consistent with it. Nor will unity be a whit the more incapable of being attained in conjunction with variety. This last has only to be prevented from degenerating into extravagance, to be duly pruned and restrained, and not a thread of the woof of harmony need be broken. It is not any unusual number or diversity of instru- ments and voices that will jar the music of a chorus. Such a powerful orchestra will rather swell the concord, if well regu- lated and rightly attuned. And variety in a garden will alike COMBINATION OF PRINCIPLES. 137 heighten its harmony, when the multiplication of parts is effected with judgment and forethought. Connexion, again, has been shown, in an earlier page, to be not utterly foreign to contrast ; since things of opposite cha- racters may be brought together, and even into contact, by interweaving their parts freely with each other, or separating them by something of an intermediate tone. Utility and convenience might be adjudged alien to matters of ornament. But there is no reason why they should be so. A useful thing may likewise be an ornamental one. Taste and tact will adorn the commonest processes of life, and make them in the truest sense beautiful, sometimes poetical. So the useful and the necessary portions of a garden can be brightened by art till they will seem intended solely for ornament, though all the while accomplishing their primary purpose with the utmost fidelity. No breadth of lawn, some may be ready to urge, can be procured at the same time with any degree of intricacy. Yet nothing is more untrue. It is not a plain bare area, on the scale of a moderately large garden, that can give the impression of size. It is the indefiniteness which complexity produces, the partial revelations of side glades which the imagination is left to amplify and lengthen, that alone impart any adequate notion of extent. Plainness reduces the whole to a mere matter-of-fact, which is measured at once. A little innocent deception, by supplying food for the fancy, and preventing almost the possibility of estimating the actual proportions, always operates in favour of expansion. How, it may be further asked, are privacy and seclusion to be gained, without sacrificing all open views into the surrounding country ? Nothing is easier, I reply. If a house be on raised ground, as it should be, the planting of thickets of low shrubs (principally evergreens) near the boundary, where it is liable to be overlooked, at all such openings, will produce the desired seclusion, and still allow the eye to range over into the district beyond. Such thickets will also give a pleasing foreground ; 138 GENERAL 1'KINCIPLES. and they can be kept sufficiently low, if ever inclined to inter- cept the view, by irregular pruning, not clipping with the shears. Should a walk run immediately within them, it' they are not high enough to cover it perfectly, it can readily be kept down a foot or two lower at such parts. Originality, perhaps, may not "be deemed attainable while a due regard is paid to the requirements of law. Rules are not, however, made to fetter ; but merely to guide. A writer of fiction is not prohibited from representing character in a won- derfully developed and exaggerated manner. He is only for- bidden from caricaturing it. Developments and extravagancies that are according to nature, are, in fact, among the great c-t merits of a work of fiction. They are at once more exciting and more elevating. A celebrated artist is represented to have replied to a brother of the easel, who was contemplating one of his mystic productions, and complaining. that he had seen nothing in nature at all resembling it, " True, but don't you wish you could ?* Originality in gardens should thus be, likewise, but the development of rule, and the expansion of what is to be found in nature. There is all the dillcrcncc in the world between the freshness that spurns nature's sympathy and control, and that which travels by her side to her luii'u-st elevations, and then climbs with her into some ethereal region. The latter may be the mark of genius, the former is mere eccentricity and presumption. With respect to all other principles, in which there are no apparent repulsions, the means of combining them will be too obvious to need describing. They can therefore be dealt with or embodied in a place, as its peculiar nature or the inclinations of the owner may best warrant. ECONOMY. 139 CHAPTER H. GENERAL OBJECTS. A BASIS of sound principles being now laid, it will be neces- sary to advance a step further, and consider those objects worthy of attainment which are most likely to come within the scope of the majority of places. I shall thus descend, by gradual stages, into matters more and more practical, until, at last, minor details and operations fill up the scale of instruction. In a field so wide, however, it will of course be incompatible with the limits of a book like the present to touch upon any but the most important heads, or to do so otherwise than very lightly. 1. Economy is, perhaps, one of the first objects to be con- sulted in laying out a garden, that the means of the owner may be made to effect as much as possible, and that his subse- quent expenditure may be conformable to his circumstances. And here I must lay down as a broad principle that economy has no necessary connexion with the prime cost of a place. The garden on which least has been expended may be the most costly in the end, and often will be so. " A thing well done is twice done," says the old adage, with remarkable truth and clearness. A prime requisite towards securing economy is to study well beforehand what is likely to be wanted or desired, and form a fixed and definite plan of procedure. Many persons begin building a house and laying out a garden on the spur of some sudden impulse, and without at all duly considering or digest- ing their actual requirements, or the best method of accomplish- ing them. Hence, when they have got half through the work, 140 GENERAL OBJECTS. their attention becomes awakened to the subject, and all sorts of alterations, involving a great additional outlay, have to be effected ; and after all, the result will rarely be a connected and satisfactory one. To deliberate, and arrange, and deter- mine everything well before commencing, is, therefore, the only way of ensuring economy. The avoidance of broad and numerous walks, and the ada>- tation of the design to the existing levels of the ground, will tend powerfully to keep down the expense. The materials of which walks are made are often costly, and generally have to be carted and wheeled from a distance. Much moving of earth, too, is always an expensive operation ; as, in addition to the actual labour of shifting it, there will, if any depth of it has to be taken away, be the trouble of throwing off and restoring the surface soil, both from the place that has to be lowered and that which is raised. The cost of keeping up a place must also be thought of when the plan for laying it out is under consideration. To maintain a lawn in good order is, by some, deemed more troublesome than keeping beds and masses of plants clean. But if the whole of the labour has to be paid for, (none of it being done by members of the family,) and beds have a variety of flowers in them, and are required to be kept very neat and duly raked, they will be much more exacting in point of labour than grass, especially when the constant trouble of keeping their edgings cut with the shears is computed. Lawn is consequently, on the whole, less expensive to keep up than flower-beds and borders, anme soon exhausted. This diffusion and the multiplicity of parts in the resisting material renders it much more potent. Currents of air, which are very similar to currents of water, may be best broken by trees in the same way; only, the parts of trees and shrubs being more minute and numerous, they effect the object of shelter even better than any breakwater could soften the action of the waves. But plantations, in order to fulfil the purpose well, should be pretty dense, at the bottom as well as in the higher parts, and the broader they can con- veniently be made, the more efficient they will be. Mound < or banks of earth, with plantations upon them, will, perhaps be the best means of shelter in most positions. If walls be chosen, they will be much more useful when backed by a plantation. Fortunately, whatever is usually employed for shelter nerd rarely produce any kind of shade; the north and points adjoin- ing it being those which most call for protection, ami thuM- also on which the rays of the sun will never be intercepted. Thi - is SHELTER. 143 assuming, however, that the materials used for shelter are kept mainly towards the outer edge of a place, which they always should be if the ground be nearly flat, because they would there tend to promote privacy as well. In a hilly place, the flower garden or pleasure grounds may require extra shelter, in their immediate neighbourhood. This should be occasioned, where possible, by shrubs only, or by trees of a lower growth, that the ground behind > may not be rendered useless by shade. As any openings in a line of objects producing shelter would only serve to draw in more violent and destructive currents of wind, it is essential that the material used should be pretty continuous. If it be a wall, or a hedge, or a bank of earth alone, or any other close object, this point will be of still greater consequence ; and the narrower the opening, the more fiercely would the wind sweep through it. Any obstruction to wind will drive it round the ends or through the apertures of that obstruction with accumulated force ; and the smaller the aper- ture, the more concentrated and powerful will be the volume that rushes through it, particularly if the obstructing medium be a hard and impervious one. All such openings will conse- quently be bad and destructive ; though any little variations of height in the upper line of sheltering plantations must not be condemned, because these will be beautiful in themselves, and will not at all dimmish the protecting power. Sea-breezes and gales occur with such frequency in some localities, and are sometimes so injurious, that protection from them should be obtained by the thickest and broadest planta- tions that can be afforded. And in such instances, even the openings through which views of the sea, or of a landscape in that direction, may be desirable, should be planted with low shrubs, that can be seen over, and not left unfurnished. For if the wind strikes at once on the ground, its full force will spread itself through the garden ; whereas, when it first meets with a kind of leafy or branchy network, however low, its momentum in the line of the ground's surface, where the most delicate plants are supposed to exist, will be considerably reduced. 144 GENERAL OBJECTS. 3. Modes of access to a house, whether by a carriage-drive or a walk, should be kept as far as possible out of sight of the pleasure grounds and principal windows, that neither of these may be overlooked by persons coming to the house. It is much better to cramp and confine an entrance than to open the garden to it. Not that I should choose to do either, but merely regard the former as by far the lesser evil. At the same time, it should be noted that no house ought ever, on any of its sides, to stand in a field or park, but should be entirely surrounded with a greater or less breadth of garden, to maintain its character as a house, and to harmonise with its domestic expression and objects. What may be termed an architect's view of a house, which is one that embraces the entrance and best garden fronts, looked at obliquely, so as to get them both in perspective, is often unattainable from a drive, without sacrificing too much of the breadth and seclusion of the pleasure ground. Still, it is very desirable that the first view obtained of the house, in passing along the drive, should be a favourable one, and that the approach should appear, at all points, to tend towards the house, and not to the stables or outbuildings, or in any other direction. Hence, it is always well that the architect and the landscape gardener should be consulted simultaneously, before the plan of the house is determined, that the architect may adapt the character of his elevations to the points at which alone they can be seen from the carriage-drive. An approach ought never to pass the house to which it lf:nls, and then return to it, for the mere sake of gaining length, or of showing off the house or grounds. Such an arrangement is most unnatural, and will do away with all the privacy of the place. Nor should the drive enter at the farthest point from the house, and skirt the boundary all the way to it, unless that is the most convenient or the only point at which an entrance can be made. There is great affectation in desiring mere h-n^t h in a drive, when it simply follows the line of the outside road. All drives or other approaches should rather take the most THE APPROACH TO A HOUSE. 145 direct and nearest course from the point that is generally entered at to the house. But if a little deviation from such a course, even to the extent of going beyond the house and re- turning to it, be ever justifiable, it is when the ascent to the front door is so steep as only to be comfortably reached by a circuitous route. No entrance should start at an oblique line from the outside road, unless it be at the corner of a place, or from a decided bend hi the road, as at fig. 90 ; and then the line of the drive Fig. 90. should decidedly turn away from the line of road. Generally, a drive requires to commence at right angles from another road, (fig. 91,) even though it should have to take a sharp curve in another direction almost immediately afterwards. In the great majority of cases, the wing walls or other fences on either side of an entrance should present a convex form to the high road, as this is the natural form of approach, and affords less oppor- tunity for the accumulation of weeds or nuisances. But if a dignified architectural character be sought, and the entrance is intended to be bold and imposing, walls of a reversed or concave 7 146 GENERAL OBJECTS. figure will perhaps be preferable, and a light post and chain fence, in a convex curve, can be placed outside, enclosing a Fig. 91. piece of grass, on which a few shrubs or trees may be scattered or grouped. As a house ought invariably to be on higher ground than the bulk of the garden, in order that it may not appear damp, or buried, and shut away from all views into the surrounding country, so the approach to it, especially where the place is small, should be contrived so as to be on a gradual rise all the way. A slight dip in the drive, with a subsequent and more decided ascent, may sometimes, where it exists naturally, be the means of heightening the ground about the house in appear- ance. But a constant rise in" the approach will be the most uniformly suitable. Any curves in a drive or walk to a house will be better if they have a very easy sweep, that there may be no temptation for vehicles or foot passengers to injure the grass verges by taking a shorter turn. In tracts of country that are excessively flat, and when the form of the house is tolerably regular, having a centre and two AVENUES. 147 wings, should the exterior boundary of the place be about parallel with the entrance front of the house, and the distance between the two sufficiently great, a straight drive, through an avenue composed of two, four, or more rows of trees, will often have a grand and noble appearance ; particularly if the grounds are otherwise arranged accordantly. And if the house be in any modification of the classical style, no kind of tree would be so well adapted for such an avenue as the Deodar Cedar. In this case, and wherever the drive is deficient in length, there should be only one row of trees on each side of the road, and the width of the drive and the distance from it to the trees should be also proportioned to the length of the avenue. As bearing directly on the subject of avenues, I shall make no apology for inserting the following extract, being part of a description of the park at Windsor, from a small work of mine on the "Parks and Gardens of London and its Suburbs," published in 1851. " The drive known as the Long Walk is described as three miles in length, in a straight line, and is supported on either side by two rows of Elms, which have attained their full size, and, with a very few unimportant exceptions, are yet in the greatest vigour and luxuriance. This avenue will be sure to strike the visitor as exceedingly grand. It is somewhat marred, however, by being carried over a considerable swell in the ground about halfway up it, which helps to shorten its apparent length, and to make the drive seem as if it were not straight, while a more decidedly objectionable feature is, that it ascends a hill away from the castle at the further end. If there are any two circumstances which, more than others, require to be kept in view in the formation of avenues, they are that the ground over which they run should be nearly level, or have one con- tinuous ascent towards the mansion or principal object to which they lead ; and that, consequently, this object should be on the highest ground, at least as respects the avenue. Any avenue that commences on a hill, and passes down that hill towards its terminating object, even though it afterwards rise again near 148 GENERAL OBJECTS. the end, must ever appear to some extent inverted ; and every undulation or swell of the ground in it will necessarily be a deformity. The idea which is conveyed to the mind by the elevation of the Long Walk at Windsor, as it reaches its termi- nation in the Great Park, is, that the Castle ought to be some- where about the site of the statue of George III., by which this walk is so appropriately finished. "Those familiar with the Champs Elysees at Paris will remember that the grand avenue there, like this at Windsor, is partly on a steep ascent, away from the palace of the Tuileries to the Triumphal Arch at the summit. And although this circumstance enhances the effect as viewed from the front of the palace, yet, regarded as an approach to the Tuileries, it causes the latter to appear more or less buried in a low marshy tract." Avenues that are not in a straight line, but are curved or otherwise irregular, may be convenient, or answer some useful purpose, as in the road on the north-west side of St. James's Park, London, but they can never rise to the dignity of art. And when, as is the case with one at Woburn Abbey, they are both curved and pass along the ridge of a hill, where, if seen from the side, and from a lower point, they exhibit a flat and monotonous sky line, and also appear thin and meagre, they are doubly objectionable. Anything in the shape of a single row of trees along the side of a drive, or a double row that is broken at intervals, unless this last be done in the most formal manner, and for the sake of opening out a decided vista, would be quite inadmissible in an artistic point of view. And the rule will hold good with reference to bold and important walks in pleasure grounds, except where a square or oblong plot, that is complete in itself, is merely flanked, on either side, with a row of appropriate plants, the two rows in such case, however distant from each other, actually constituting the avenue. There is commonly a great propensity to make the sweeps of gravel at an entrance door, for carriages to turn in, a good deal too large, for the accommodation of careless coachmen. This CAERIAGE SWEEPS. 149 disfigures and reduces the apparent size of a place considerably, and must be protested against. The smaller the space that can possibly be turned in, the better it will look. From thirty to forty feet in breadth will be ample ; and the former will suffice where the approach to the front door is by a nearly parallel line, or on a long and gentle curve. Where the entrance door is exposed to the outside road, in consequence of the shortness or directness of the drive, a small circular or oval clump of ever- greens (fig. 92) just opposite the door, with the drive passing alJ Fig. 92. round it, will be a desirable arrangement. In the case of a walk only, it may be curved so as to get enough planting in the swell of the curve to cover the front door ; and this is a matter which should always be aimed at, as it is pleasant to be able to dismiss 150 GENERAL OBJECTS. one's friends there, without being subjected to the public gaze of passers by. Fig. 93. Wherever it may be possible, the entrance door or porch of a house should be approached laterally, and so as to have the door on the left. It is very difficult to drive up to a door when the line of approach is at a right angle with the house, and demmnls much more space to turn in. By keeping the door on the left, Fig. 94. too, any one who may be riding with the coachman, or any lady who may be driven in a pony carriage or phaeton, will aliglit :it once from the side of the carriage on which they are sc-atc'l. Figs. 93 and 94 will exemplify this ; the former being a simple CARRIAGE SWEEPS. 151 sweep of the usual shape, while the latter is broken up by the insertion of a large shrub or group of shrubs in the centre. Fig. 95. Carriage sweeps that are of an angular form, whether it be a simple oblong, (fig. 95,) or the same with the corners cut off, Fig. 96. (fig. 96,) or an octagon, or other polygonal figure, are not so 152 GENERAL OBJECTS. satisfactory in regard to keeping ; but they are often the very fittest accompaniments to a house of a particular style, or to a garden that is treated very formally. Small stone blocks, too, may sometimes be appropriately placed at their corners, as will be shown in fig. 187 ; or the whole may be edged with ;i neat kerb stone, to which the blocks in question will be a suitable relief. Cases may further occur in which, from the extreme short- ness of the drive, or the character of the house, or the desire to make the garden private, or the existence of a natural bank of earth against the carriage sweep, the formation of a walled entrance court will be both prudent and ornamental. If the walls be but low, (three or four feet high,) the area of such a court need not be much larger than an ordinary carriage- sweep. But if the court be surrounded with walls ten or twelve feet high, it will require to be much larger, (as in figs. 122 and 123,) and be decorated with shrubs and climbers. In either case, the wall should be architecturally treated, and made a main element in the design. In obtaining access to the servants' apartments of a house, a few leading rules will have to be observed. If at all prac- ticable, it should be made quite a separate thing, from the outside, and will be more useful if it will admit carts to convey coals, n. EVERGREENS. 175 Of these, such as bloom gaily and abundantly, and particularly such as blossom in the winter, or bear showy fruit at that time, or have variegated foliage, should be selected, as tending less to create sombreness and gloom, and combining the elegance of their flowers or their appearance Avith the permanence of their leaves. Under the head of expression, in a previous chapter, a few of the gayest of the evergreen tribe have been enumerated. To those may now be added, more specifically, the various sorts of Holly, the double-blossomed Furze, several kinds of Broom, Garry a elliptica, Rhododendrons, Andromeda floribunda, JBerberis aquifolium, Gotoneaster mlcrophylla, nu- merous Heaths, Kalmias, rock and sun roses, Gum Cistus, the varieties of Alaternus, Junipers, Cypresses, Arbor-Vita?, Laven- der, Sweet Bay, Portugal Laurel, common Laurel, Daphnes, &c. Although evergreens may fitly thus prevail in a place, it Avill be unwise to cultivate them to the exclusion of deciduous shrubs. The latter, by their lighter foliage, and sprightlier manner of growth, and showier flowers, seem to be the natural bodying forth of summer's richness and gaiety. And this glorious season Avould scarcely appear rightly attended and adorned Avithout them. They are, indeed, as thoroughly the life of summer as eA^ergreens arc of winter ; and perhaps, of the tAvo, the absence of winter's decorations Avould be even least regretted by the mass. Nor must the higher forms of deciduous plants, Avhich take the shape of low trees, be at all omitted from our consideration. These, and a feAv of the more striking and peculiar kinds of larger trees, such as the purple Beech, the variegated Syca- more, the Scarlet Oak, the Lombardy Poplar, and numerous others, Avill be invaluable in the Avay of contributing variety, and improving the outlines. It Avill be sufficient to mention Laburnums, Almonds, the extensive and deeply interesting tribe of Thorns, the double Cherries, double Peach, and double Almonds, the Sumachs, the snoAvy Mespilus, the Pynis specta- bilis, the Bird Cherry, the Mountain Ash, the Services, Ford's upright Elm, and the various kinds of weeping Ash, Elm, Lime, 176 GENERAL OBJECTS. Beech, Laburnum, Willow, &c., as a few examples of this large and most useful class. 13. To produce a little undulation in the surface of a lawn, and give the beds and single specimens additional elevation and character, the soil in the beds should be raised several inches or a foot above the level of the grass, and each specimen should stand (tig. 115) on a small hillock. This practice will have the Fig. 115. further advantage of draining the plants well, and bringing their roots more within reach of air, of placing the best parts of the plants more on a level with the eye, of giving them more importance and making them look larger, and of throw- ing out their proportions better. It is likewise more accord- ant with nature ; for when these trifling elevations have fully settled down, they will but resemble, in a rather exairirrratfd form, the slighter swells common about the base of the trunks of old trees, and consequent partly on accumulations of vege- table matter, but principally on the expansion of the thicker roots. By raising the surface of the beds, moreover, an opportunity is given for exhibiting their outlines better, and for obtaining Fig. 116. more play of surface around them. But the raised parts must blend very gently, and sweetly, and by a scarcely perceptible convex line at the top, and a very easy and more or less prolonged concave line at the bottom, (fig. 116,) with the levels AKCHITECTUKAL GARDENING. 177 of the ground ; and the grass should ascend along their margin to within about two inches of the summit. Raised beds, thus softly shaded off and turfed at the edges, will present an incon- ceivably more beautiful outline than such as are merely flat. Indeed, with numerous and varied curves it is impossible to avoid a certain amount of tameness (and yet almost frivolity) on a plain surface, while a high stage of beauty in lines and shapes may be reached without difficulty with an elevated bed to operate upon. 14. The subject of architectural gardening has been inci- dentally discussed in relation to the geometrical style of treat- ment, and in other parts of this book. But the feeling for it is one that is so rapidly growing, and so little sound knowledge of its details is commonly possessed, that a few additional par- ticulars and illustrations become essential. In adverting to it, however, I am tempted to make a short incursion into the territory of a neighbouring profession, architecture, with which, indeed, it is so closely connected, that it would be im- possible to treat of the one without trespassing on the other. Gardening and architecture, like all the fine arts, have much in common. And that department of architecture which be- longs more exclusively to the garden has, especially, a great affinity with gardening in its broader principles. In fact, there is much more relation between the two than is usually admit- ted, or than the ordinary products of practitioners in either art would at all justify us in believing. Architectural decoration is not, as many would assert, unfitted for English gardens, on account of the coldness and dulness of our climate ; because stone gets speedily weather-stained and sobered down in colour, and the fine evergreens and beautiful grass of this country will, in association with architectural objects, impart sufficient warmth of tone. France, Italy, and even China, have been more zealous in applying garden archi- tecture than Great Britain. And the earlier specimens of English gardening are often richer in architectural features than those of a later period. There has, indeed, been a sub- 8* 178 GENERAL OBJECTS. sequent retrogression in this branch, in consequence of the introduction of a more natural manner ; for gardening, like most artistic pursuits, has had its historical cycles. Modern tendencies in gardening have been too much away from its character as an art, and the more it is restored to its legitimate position, the more nearly will it be brought into kindred with architecture. On the other hand, the too com- monly cumbrous, regular, and unyielding nature of architectural objects, when used for garden decoration, has tended still further to detach two pursuits which are essentially and obviously allied. For as a house and a garden are naturally and intimately asso- ciated, and it is a law of the universe that the boundaries of each domain in the natural kingdom should insensibly mingle and be lost in each other; so it is plain that an unvitiated taste would be most gratified when the province of architecture is extended so as to embrace lightly and harmoniously such parts of the garden as may be most contiguous to the house ; while the garden also, in these parts, rises in character to meet the requirements of the architecture, until either art is so refined and attenuated that it would be almost difficult to say what belongs exclusively to each. Still, there is that about gardening, which in the nature of things, and apart from the difference of the materials with which it has to deal, constitutes it a distinctive art. And garden architecture has lineaments of its own so decidedly removed from those of house architecture, and so seldom studied, that the ordinary architectural practitioner is at sea the moment he enters the region of the garden. It is less a matter of rule and measurement. Its effects are more to be judged of by the eye. It comprehends a far greater variety of combinations. It requires a man to be as much an artist (at least in feeling) as an architect, and to be familiar with natural groupings and tones; to take in an entire landscape in the range of his design, and not merely isolated or de^ched objects. In fact, the garden .architect has to make a general picture, and not simply to set a work of art, as it were, on a solitary pedestal. GARDEN ARCHITECTURE. 179 The province of garden architecture is, primarily, to supply fitting appendages and accompaniments to a house, so that the latter may not appear naked, alone, and unsupported. If judiciously applied, it will be effective in helping to produce a good outline or group ; to carry down the lines of the house ; to connect it with other buildings, such as a conservatory, arbour, &c. ; to provide a proper basement for the house ; to afford shelter and privacy to a flower garden ; to extend the fa9ade or frontage of a house ; to shut out back yards, offices, &c. ; to enrich, vary, and enliven the garden ; to supply con- veniences, such as shelter, receptacles for birds, plants, sculpture, &c., with museums for works of art or specimens of natural history, and supports for climbing plants ; to indicate refine- ment, wealth, and a love of art ; and otherwise to blend the various constituents of a garden with the house, and harmonise the two by communicating a more artistic tone to the garden. Wing walls to a house, broken by a conservatory, and termi- nated by a summer-house, aviary, museum, or sculpture-room ; corridors, similarly broken and terminated, and glazed or open so as merely to form covered ways ; conservative walls, either- glazed or simply protected by bold projecting piers and copings ; viaducts, aqueducts, arbours, arches, arcades, tunnels, boat- houses, temples, prospect and flag-towers; with an almost infinite number of smaller objects, such as sculptured figures, sun-dials, statuary, pillars, obelisks, terrace walls, &c., con- stitute the elements with which garden architecture has to work. In its leading traits, it necessarily conies within the same category as house architecture, and is governed by the same principles. Like the house, it should exhibit design, some degree of symmetry, harmony of parts, unity of expression, consistency of style, fitness for the locality, adaptation for the intended purpose, and stability and permanence of appearance. But it should also display a greater amount of lightness and elegance ; a comparative absence of regularity ; a decorative rather than an exclusively useful purpose ; a superior variety 180 GENERAL OBJECTS. of outline ; extreme attention to general grouping ; a blending of its forms with those of nature; an especial regard for placing its creations where they will have a distinct meaning and ol>jret ; a leaning to the use of good materials, but somewhat rougher than those employed in the house ; a preference rather for a picturesque outline, than for mere ornamental details; ami. as a most important characteristic, a marked boldness and pro- minence of parts. Indeed, picturesqueness, such as would be occasioned by changes of level in the ground, by diversity in the heights of walls, by prominent piers, buttresses, or cornices, by broad projecting eaves to the roofs of buildings, and by any arrangement that will yield depth of shadow, should be the ruling constituent of garden architecture. Every architectural object, admitted into a garden, should form part of the general plan of that garden, and fit into its proper place. It will create a serious incongruity if merely put down at random, or not duly established as a part of the main design. Smaller architectural ornaments, too, must be adequately connected with and kept in the neighbourhood of the house or other sufficiently important building; otherwise, they will be too different from the forms of nature to appear harmonious. A strictly garden building, or object, unless very large, should never be obtrusive. It ought always to be quiet-looking, and not violently different in colour from the surrounding vcgi-tation. Hence, white, whether in marble, stone, or painted objects, is decidedly to be avoided, and a warm drab, or darker tint preferred. When a terrace or other ornamental wall whether balus- traded or otherwise pierced, or simply devoid of any relief in the Avay of openings becomes the principal foreground to a garden or other scene, as viewed from the windows of the house, it will, however much it may be broken up by piers, vases, &c., appear too hard, dfld, and monotonous without some aid from grass and shrubs. In all such cases, therefore, tin-re should be a broad band of grass between the terrace walk and GARDEN ARCHITECTURE. 181 the wall, and a few clusters of evergreens, rising in broken masses above the line of the wall, or of climbers mantling its summit in occasional patches, will require to be skilfully intro- duced, otherwise the wall would seem to divorce rather than mingle with the landscape beyond. To pass from the consideration of garden architecture, which, however seductive a topic, scarcely falls within the range of this work, I now return to the subject of architectural gardening. Its distinctive principles are a strict observance of rule ; a prominent indication or exhibition of art ; the maintenance of a decided harmony and connexion with the house and other architectural objects ; the adoption of regular figures ; the employment of rigid, formal, and exotic plants ; the necessity for flat and even surfaces, with the use of terrace banks or extremely regular slopes ; and the production of a conspicuous character of dignity and repose. The proper sphere of architectural gardening is the imme- diate neighbourhood of the house ; as an accompaniment to par- ticular styles of architecture, especially the Italian ; in con- nexion with detached architectural structures, as temples, plant- houses, &c. ; within the circuit of the flower garden, parterre, rose garden, &c. ; in the gardens attached to a palace, mansion, or first-class villa, rather than to a small villa or cottage residence ; the kitchen garden ; and, where the circumstances are favourable, the town garden. There are certain incongruities and defects which frequently attend the practice of architectural gardening, and which should be sedulously avoided. Some of these are the mixture of inharmonious styles ; the use of rustic or unarchitectural ornaments, except in remote parts, and where they will not be observed as constituents of the general scene ; the placing of terrace walls or other erections on a sloping bank, or where they have shelving ground immediately below them; the extension of a formal mode of treatment into the park ; gene- rally the obtrusion of a flower garden into the view from the principal windows, unless it be on a lower level than the base of 182 GENERAL OBJECTS. the house ; an avenue or row of trees that crosses any main line of view, or one on the summit of a hill that forms the line of horizon ; a curved avenue ; a ground line that is oblique to the basement of the house, on either of its chief fronts ; diagonal lines of walk on lawns, or walks crossing or starting from other straight walks at any but a right angle ; plants trimmed into formal or grotesque figures, unless it be the heads of standards, plants with naturally appropriate habits, or confined in tubs, being preferable ; gravel walks, in flower gardens, that are inaccessible ; monograms, or very intricate patterns, in which the beds are too small to admit flowers, for parterres ; and the employment of pavements, gravels, or sands, of different colours, in the place of flowers, or merely for producing variety or contrast. Among the most characteristic details of architectural garden- ing, prominence should be given to terraces ; broad, flat, and conspicuous walks; extreme smoothness and polish ; changes of level, effected by formal banks or walls ; raised beds and sunken panels; avenues, vistas, rows of flower beds; walks and vistas terminating with some proper object, as a temple, obelisk, pillar, Ia<-k species of trap, with white free-stone coping and dressing. ARCHITECTURAL GARDENING. 187 The terrace, (1,) which stands about three feet above the lawn, and is supported by a neat parapet wall, extends along the northern and eastern sides of the house, and in front of an ornamental wall connecting the latter with a Camellia house, (9,) from whence it passes eastwards, and terminates against a steep bank, the walk ranging round a raised bed of ever- green shrubs, (11), with a stone edging to it. There are steps and communications from this terrace, at various points, with other parts of the pleasure grounds. The kitchen court is at 2, and 3 points out the back approach to it. A leading walk from the terrace, opposite the principal tower of the Hall, conducts us over a viaduct (4) of several arches, to other important walks not included in the plan ; and from the viaduct, there is a view of the winter garden to the south, and of a small irregular lake on lower ground to the north. The flower garden is at 5, on the south side of the house, and is enclosed by an ornamental wall, about eight feet high, with buttresses. It is divided into two parts, separated by a terrace bank and a low wall with vases upon it ; the part 5 being intended for purely summer flowers, in beds of one colour, while the upper half, (6,) which is four feet higher, is designed for mixed herbaceous plants. The whole is diversified with speci- men plants and vases, and the centre walk is terminated by a summer house, through which the walk passes, between high banks, clothed with Rhododendrons, and beneath the back road by a small tunnel, (8,) till it emerges, through a door in the wall, on to the terrace at 9. From the southern arm of the terrace, an ascent is made, by steps and an inclined walk, to a raised mound 10, on the summit of which, twelve or fourteen feet above the general level, is a canopied seat, from which there is a view of the whiter garden and the principal part of the pleasure grounds. A branch walk from this elevated point descends rapidly into a narrow natural valley, commencing at 24, through which the walk winds, the banks being covered with rocks and roots, as receptacles for ferns and similar plants. At 12 is a basin of water, in which is 188 GENERAL OBJECTS. being erected a very costly fountain, composed chiefly of bronze figures. The walk to the east and west of this basin has, on either side of it, a row of small groups of statuary, on pedestals, alternating with specimen evergreens ; and the octagonal figure between 12 and 10 is furnished and surrounded by beds and specimens of the greatest possible variety of dwarf evergreens, arranged as a winter garden, the wall at the back of the eastern terrace being also covered with evergreen climbers. At 1 3, and in a corresponding position at the centre of the winter garden, it is proposed to put large groups of bronze figures, on \ >e< lest als, and the squares which will be noticed in the walks to the cist and west of the winter garden, contain vases, on pedestals, in their centres. The ground falls rapidly from 13 towards the viaduct 4, and continues to descend on the northern side of this latter. 14 is a drying ground, and 18 a yard for receiving rubbish, and for the gardener's use, there being also a small tool-shed between it and the terrace. The kitchen garden, garden yard, and sheds lying at a considerable distance, and being on very much higher ground, it is convenient to have the means of depositing rubbish and storing tools at this point. Several projecting parts or bastions, for the purpose of obtaining more variety, are made in the principal terrace, and the effect is further heightened by the introduction of vases into these. At 15 are two urn-shaped vases, of Aberdeen granite, or other dark material; while there are two sun-dials, on white stone pedestals, at 16, and a large white Warwick vase at 17. The walk between 7 and 8 is, as has been mentioned, cut through between high banks, the natural level there being twelve or fourteen feet above thatof the flower garden. Flights of steps ascend from this walk to a detached space, 19, which was arranged for a Rosery, but, like some of the other details, is not yet executed. In the centre of this plot is a basin of water, intended to be canopied by a wire temple, for supporting climbing Roses, which would thus be reflected in the water. At 20 is a rustic summer house, with an open porch from the principal walk to it, and this was to be the medium of exhibit- ARCHITECT URAL GARDENING. 189 ing the freer growing and more rambling kinds of climbing Roses, which would scramble over both the sides and roof of the summer house. Two span-roofed glasshouses (21 and 22) were to be placed at the sides of the garden, for receiving the more tender sorts of Roses, the one house, (22,) which is nearest the back road, being heated, and the other not. It was proposed to plant out the Roses in these houses, and train climbers also to the rafters, and use the low external wall for supporting the dwarfer and more delicate varieties of hybrid China and Damask Rose. The beds in the Rosery are arranged to receive one family each, and space is allotted for Standards and pole Roses ; the whole being screened from the back road and the park by a plantation, chiefly filled with evergreen shrubs. The ground at 23 rises rather abruptly towards the east, and becomes an appropriate position for accommodating some of the finer members of the. Coniferous tribe, which, being scat- tered in groups on this grassy bank, show themselves to advan- tage, and associate well with the winter garden. They are backed, as is the whole of the pleasure ground to the east and south, by an old wood of Oaks, Larches, and Spruce Firs. The small circles at 25 enclose two specimens of the Cedrus deodara, and there are masses of evergreens, and a very pic- turesque old oak, in the larger circle. Leighton Hall, a new and capacious mansion in the decorated Gothic style, designed by Mr. W. H. Gee, of Liverpool, and distinguished for its superb collection of modern pictures, is situated in the Valley of the Severn, and in the midst of what will ultimately be a park of about 1000 acres, with a surround- ing estate of ten or twelve times that extent. Being nearly opposite the seat of Earl Powis, which is on the western side of the -valley, it receives all the benefit of the noble woods and stately old castle which adorn that domain. Mr. Naylor has likewise erected upon his property, at a considerable outlay, a beautiful new church, which is a conspicuous object from the Hall, and which I have made the vista point of one of the longest walks in the garden. 190 GENERAL OBJECTS. The next plan which I shall present is of a terrace, and some of the contiguous parts, (fig. 121,) in the pleasure grounds of Davlesford House, Worcestershire, formerly the residence of Warren Hastings, and now the property of Harman Grise- wood, Esq. The plan was designed by me in the autumn of 1855, and has since been faithfully carried out; the erection of the terrace walls and many extensive improvements in the house having been previously effected under the direction of Mr. Robert Trollope, of Parliament Street, London. The house is entered, on the east side, from a platform at least ten or twelve feet higher than the level of the flower garden ; and this entrance platform constitutes an elevated terrace by itself. The house is in the Italian style, and the terrace walls are all balustraded. Two flights of steps from the entrance platform lead down to the flower garden, and there is a broad paved path alonir the eastern end of this lower terrace, terminated by a scat. The centre and part of the front of the flower garden are sunk two feet below the ends and the side next the house; and the balustraded wall is correspondingly depressed opposite this middle portion. The basement story of the house is occupied by garden rooms on the south front, and there is a porch with a garden door in the centre of this front. The ground beyond the flower garden terrace, and along the walk at the west front, is between two and three feet below the flower garden, and afterwards falls rapidly both to the south and the west. At the eastern end of the terrace, the descent is still more sud- den, being about nine or ten feet. Altogether, from the varied form of the land, and the different heights in the ter- race wall, an opportunity is given, by the introduction of bold masses of shrubs in the corners of the terrace, and on the banks outside, of producing some striking results in the way of grouping ; although at present, from the newness of the whole, the full effect is not apparent. In the middle of the flower garden, a space is left for an ornamental basin and fountain, (1,) which is not yet formed. Fig. 121. 192 GENERAL OBJECTS. There are circular flower beds at 2, with vases, on pedestals, filled with flowers, in the centre of them. At the four corners of the middle plot, are four small upright vases, for flowers, (:},) also on pedestals. And the figures 4 represent large flattish tazza-shaped vases, for flowers, at either end of the broad western walk. There is another vase for flowers, surrounded with grass, in the recess of the eastern terrace, (5,) opposite the entrance door. The remainder of the figures of reference denote specimens or clusters of shrubs, as follows : 18. Scarlet Thorn. 19. Erica mullijiora. 20. Clump of mixed dwarf Ever- greens. 21. Do. of Double Furze, 22. Cluster of Red-flowered Arbutus. 23. Portugal Laurel 24. Cuprtssus torulosus. 25. Aucvba japonica, 26. Tamarisk-leaved Savin. ?T. 1 '.<( I of (ilic-nt Azaleas. 29. Variegated Prickly Holly. 6. Half Standard Roses. 7. Erica cameo. 8. Irish Yews. 9. Andromeda floribunda. 10. Beds and banks of Cotoneasttr nticrophyUa. 11. Clusters of mixed Daphne pan- tiCa and Berberis aquifolium. 12. Do. of Rhododendrons. 13. Beds of Hybrid China Roses. 14. Bed of mixed Heaths. 15. Specimen Rhododendrons. 16. Aucuba japwiica. 17. Laurustinus. In the house, the billiard-room, saloon, and drawing-room occupy the south front, above the garden rooms ; while a large corridor fitted up as an ante-room, the dining-room, ami tin- library are on the west front, with no other rooms beneath them. The situation of the house is, on the whole, a happy one, and the park is well timbered and contains a small lake. The views from both the house and grounds are varied and rich, and the town of Stow in the Wold, on a range of hills about five miles distant, with a glimpse of the road winding up the hill to it, makes a really agreeable element in the scene. Another illustration, but in a different style, and of a much smaller place, may be drawn from "Worcestershire, being the grounds attached to a newly-formed Kertury. The land for this was purchased by the present rector in 1854, and the plans prepared by me in the beginning of 1855; a rectory -house ARCHITECTURAL GARDENING. 193 being subsequently bui't, though the garden arrangements have been somewhat altered. The land comprises about five Fig. 129. acres, and is of an almost triangular form. It is situated near 9 194 GENEliAL OBJECTS. the summit of a gentle eminence, sloping gradually towards the south-east; with a comparatively tame but not unpleasing country in the front of it, the views being confined to the south, south-east, and east. There was no timber upon it except that which existed in the hedge-rows. It is very conveniently placed for the purposes of a rectory, lying close up to the churchyard ; and from the entrance court and other parts of the grounds, the tower of the church mingles conspicuously in the general com- position of the landscape. There is a public footpath traversing the land, making a nearer route to the church from some points in the parish. But by sinking this path a little, and throwing up a bank against it, opposite the pleasure-grounds, and cover- ing the bank with evergreen shrubs, it will soon cease to intrude itself on the more private grounds. From fig. 122, a general idea of the whole place will be obtained, and the relative position of the church will be under- stood. This engraving will also show the mode of planting the field, so as to assist in giving a more finished foreground to the country outside the place. To the north-cast of the pleasure-grounds and the public path, it will be further seen that there is a small detached field, at the northern corner of the property ; and this field has some fine old beech tret's in the hedges on either side of it. From its position, near the village and the rectory, and the shade and shelter afforded by the trees just mentioned, it is proposed to be usi-d ly the rector on the occasion of any village festival, when the grounds of the rectory would likewise be thrown open to the parishioners. In order that the details of the plan may be better compre- hended, the part which embraces the grounds (fig. 123) is inserted on a larger scale, and with great minuteness of refer- ence. The house is in the style of the fourteenth century, with open-timbered walls, and tiled roofs, of which some fine examples exist in the district. Of its interior plan, A is the dining-room, B the drawing-room, and C the library, with a passage leading to a garden door between the two latter. But these are capable of being united, and including the passage, by ARCHITECTURAL GAEDEXIXG. 105 opening folding-doors, at pleasure. D is a private room or study, with access to the library from an exterior lobby. E is a corridor, F the hall, and G an entrance porch. H is a store- room, I the butler's sleeping room, J the butler's pantry, K the housekeeper's room, L the kitchen, M the servants' hall, N the larder, O the scullery, P the dairy, Q a place for cleaning knives and boots, and R a coal-shed. There is a small court at 2, and another adjoining it, and extending round to the back or north-west side of the house ; the back entrance to the house being opposite the figure 2. The whole of the details and those of the adjuncts, are worked out with great care and taste by the architect. It will be at once apparent that the entrance to the place is by an oblong court, (1,) nearly surrounded with walls; the space being diversified by the introduction of grass margins, spudded irregularly with shrubs, by a grass plot in the centre partially clothed with shrubs, and by climbers trained to the walls. The stables and their accompaniments are at 3, and the stable-yard at 4, with a separate access from the outside road. There is a back path to the house at 15 ; and because some farm-buildings occur opposite the principal entrance, the view of these is broken by a cluster of hollies at 16. The wall (5) separating the entrance court from the kitchen-garden, extends round the south-west and all along the north-west side of the latter, (12,) and also of the fruit-garden, (13,) and divides both these from the churchyard. More than a hundred yards in length of a fruit wall with a south-east aspect are thus secured ; and a pro- longation of the same wall severs off the reserve and frame ground, (14,) which is conveniently annexed to the stable-yard. The walls round the entrance court, one of which is useable on both sides, present, by their varied aspects, the means of growing a great number of interesting climbing plants, and this facility is increased by the addition of a covered way, (6,) terminating the terrace garden, and having a series of trellised arches, for climbers, on the north-east side. Two covered seats at 7 make a proper finish to the long walk beneath the terrace, and the Fig. 123 Fig. 123. 198 GENERAL OBJECTS. one at the north-east end has a door at the back, communicat- ing with the public path. A handsome walk, 18 ft. wide, (8,) along the front of the house, furnishes an open and yet sheltered promenade, and is returned by the end of the house, till it narrows into a path to the church through the fruit-garden. The space between the broad walk and the terrace bank, (9,) is mostly devoted to a flower-garden (10,) which is cut into two by a walk from the garden door to the lower and longer path. Among the flo\ver beds, are specimens (18) of Andromeda floribunda. The bor- der on the south-east side of the wall, between the entrance court and the pleasure grounds, is for spring flowers and bulbs, as well as climbing plants. A few old trees (17) occur towards the southern end of the terrace, and on the lawn at the north side of the house. The rest of the figures may be explained as follows : 19. Rose beds. 20. Bed of Ghent Azaleas. 21. Rhododendron hirsutum. 22. ferrvgineum. 23. mixed Heaths. 24 Rhododendrons chiefly. 25. Bwlcria aquifolium, with a few B. dulcis. 26. Arbutus. 27. Hybrid Rhododendron. 28. Common Laurustinus. 29. Black-leaved do. 150. Irish Yew. 31. Half Standard Rose. 32. Aralia japonica. 33. Aucula japonica. 34. Hodgins's Holly. 35. Scarlet Thorn. 36. Cupressus macrocarpa. 37. Cluster of 3 Common Savin. 38. Ilex marginaia. 39. Spiraea Lindlfyana, 40. Daphne politico. 41. Berberis dulcis. 42. Cluster of 3 Tamarisk-leaved Savin. 43. Standard Rose. 44. Double Furze. 45. Philadelphia grandiflorus. 46. Double Pink Thorn. 47. Golden-blotched Holly. 48. Cluster of 3 GauUheria shaUon. 49. Daphne pontica. 60. Araucaria imbricata. 51. Cydonia japonica, 52. Ctdrus deodara. 53. Silver-blotched Holly. 54. Three Cotoneaster microphyUa. 55. Pernetlya mucronata. 56. Three Daphne cneorum. 57. Cedrus deodara (in field). 58. Masses of Double Furze (do ) 59. Common Cypress. 60. Chinese Juniper. 61. Red Cedar. 62. Sweet Bay. 63. Yellow-berried Holly. 64. Garrya elliptica. 65. Buxus baltaricus. 66. Tree Ivy. 67. Common Savin. 68. Cotoneaster microphyUa. ARCHITECTURAL GARDENING. 199 69. Variegated Prickly Holly. 72. Mahonia fascicularis (partially 70. Siberian Arbor Vitts. trained to wall). 71. Magnolia grandiflora (Exmouth 73. Common Holly. variety, to be partially trained to the wall). To render the account of this place more complete, several sections, (124 to 1 28,) are now added, by which the various levels SECTION A will be distinctly seen, and the shaping of the ground become more intelligible. The scales to these sections are attached to the last of them, fig. 128, and the vertical scale has been made twice as large as the horizontal one, for additional clearness. It i! SECTION C Fig. 126. will be apparent from the sections that the kitchen-garden is 200 GENERAL OBJECTS. about eighteen inches higher than the entrance court, a cir- cumstance that was purely unavoidable, and is of no practical moment. The bank by which the public path is shut off from the pleasure-grounds, and the way in which that path is sunk at the same point, will further be made manifest. It will be SCALE OF FEET HORIZONTAL SCALE 10501020 30 40 BO IOO ,-,o VERTICAL SCALE 20 30 40 50 Kg. 128. evident, too, that the pleasure-grounds are divided from the field by a wire fence, which, being light, and several feet below the level of the house, will be virtually overlooked from the windows. The terrace-garden (fig. 129) which I have now to describe, was designed for a romantic situation in Miller's Dale, Derby- shire, and is at Cressbrook, the residence of Henry McCoimrl, Es j. The house (1) stands almost on the edge of a steep declivity, clothed with old forest trees, the tops oi' which use up Fig. 129. 202 GENERAL OBJECTS. and mingle with the ornamental parapet wall. This wall is built partly on the sloping bank, and the plateau between it and the house is valued as being the only level piece of ground any- where in the neighbourhood. A pleasant stream winds along the valley at the base of the bank, and a bare grassy hill ri-rs abruptly from it on the other side. The object of the design was to produce such a combination of flowers and shrubs as would suffice to clothe and decorate the platform, without materially interfering with its size, or marring the picturesiiue- ness of the outlying portions of the scene ; while at the same time, it was sought to give such an amount of regularity and symmetry to the arrangement of the beds, as the artiticial character of the terrace, and the nature of its circumscribing wall appeared to demand. Each of the principal windows of the entertaining rooms of the house (which is in the Tudor style) has a flower-bed in front of it ; the rooms lying on the east, south, and west sides. The offices (2) are to the west of the house, and they are partially concealed, while their effect in regard to grouping is improved, by a handsome conservatory, (3,) of which the plan contains a suggestion for the interior arrangement. It was p , . >- posed to divide the space into beds, edged with a neat kerb- stone, and broken by vases and specimen plants. And the grating along the front, on the outside, is for admitting air, which would pass over the heating pipes. At 4 and 5 are a small hot-house and propagating house, to assist in supplying the conservatory and flower-garden. The borders (6) are for select and rare flowers, and for receiving climbing plants, which would be trained against the higher walls behind them, that at 8 being about six feet high. The figures 7 indicate the course of a very superior perforated parapet wall, in the style of the house, and a stone seat, stopping the terrace walk, and yielding a view of the larger part of the garden, conservatory and house, is placed at 9. An entrance-court, with retaining walls about four feet high around it, and having a steep bank clothed with patches of ARCHITECTURAL GARDENING. 203 heather and American plants round the outer sides, is partially shown at 10, and the approaches are from both the north-east and the west. This court, and the chief rooms of the house, are from eight to ten feet above the level of the terrace-garden ; but there is a billiard-room and garden-door on the same level as the terrace. On the east side of the house, where, from the contour of the shelving bank below, the terrace is contracted, and takes the shape of a large recess, is a detached flower-garden or parterre, bounded by walks, with a few specimen plants interspersed among the flower-beds. The figures of reference will suf- ficiently elucidate the remaining portions of the plan. 11. Large vases, or sculptured figures, on pedestals. 12. Standard Roses. 13. Irish Yews, 4ft. high. 14. Fuchsias. 1 5. Andromeda floribunda. 16. Common Laurustinus. 17. ,, Arbutus. 18. Irish Tews, 5 ft. high. 19. Araucaria irribricala. 20. Hydrangea hortensis. 21. Cedius deodar a. 22. Erica multiflora. 23. Rhododendron Mrsutum, 24. Gaultheria shallon. 25. Tamarisk-leaved Savin. 2G. Clusters of Common Savin. 27. Erica carnea. 28 Gaultheria procumbens. 29. Daphne cneorum. 30. Epigcea repens. 31. Beds of Ghent Azaleas. 32. Hybrid China Roses. 33. good hybrid Rhododen- drons. 34. Daphne ponlica. 35. ,, Aucuba japonica. 36. Double Furze. 37. Cream-coloured Broom. 38. Berber is aquifolium, with a few of the dwarfer kinds of Berberry mixed. 39. Helianthemums. 40. Cluster of Hodgins's Holly. 41. Beds of mixed evergreen and deciduous shrubs. Cressbrook is not, perhaps, in the wildest part of Miller's Dale, and, from the narrowness of the valley, and the loftiness of the opposite hill, the view from it is limited. But its position is a really interesting one ; and as the Dale is little known, in consequence of its only being accessible by a footpath, it may be well to hint that the lovers of the picturesque will find in it some very unique scenes; the rocks, especially, assuming a massiveness and a character quite peculiar to this locality. 204 GEXEKAL OBJECTS. Although the place of which a plan (fig. 130) is added does not strictly contain any architectural ornaments, beyond a pro- posed greenhouse, it is arranged so entirely according to the system of gardening which may be denominated architectural; that it will supply a fresh and distinct illustration of the subject. It belongs to P. S. Humberston, Esq., and is at Mollington, near Chester. My plan for re-arranging it was made in the beginning of 1856. The house, which is an English Gothic structure, will easily be distinguished on the engraving; and the carriage sweep and approach are repre- sented as they will probably be made at some future period ; the house standing about forty or fifty yards from a high road. The garden and the adjoining fields are tolerably level, except that, beyond the fence of the pleasure-grounds, the land slopes decidedly to the west. The landscape to the south includes :i rather picturesque view of Chester, about a mile and a half diMant, and the south western and \\e-t. -ni views take- in the whole range of the Flintshire and Denbighshire hills. From the scale of the plan, and the size of the page, some portions of the pleasure-grounds, the stables and stable yard, the farm- buildings, and the greater part of the kitchen-garden, are neces- sarily excluded; but these do not affect the general object of the illustration. In the plan, the house-yard is at 1, and a smaller yard for coals and other conveniences at 2. The stables arc at 3, with an archway through them from the carriage-drive to the stable- yard, 4. At 5, is a separate yard for farming purposes, poultry, pig-styes, &c., as Mr. Humberston farms his own land. A fruit- garden, which also serves as a supplementary kitchen or herb- garden, is placed at 6, the larger kitchen-garden being at 10. An ornamental greenhouse, which would happily finish one of the leading walks, is intended to be placed at 7; and there would be sheds (8) at the back of it, and a small garden-yard (9) for the gardener's use. That which imparts most character and distinctiveness to the pleasure-grounds is the arrangement of the walks and shrubs. Fig. 130 200 GENERAL OBJECTS. On the southern side of the house, the lawn is furnished with beds of dwarf evergreens, (14,) such as Erica carnea, JRhodo- dendronsferrugineumand hirsutwn, Gaultheria sh(i?lon,&c. y and there are specimens of similar plants ; the whole being Hanked and framed by plantations of evergreens, of which Rho- dodendrons form a principal ingredient. On the western side, the site of an old marl-pit (11) has been converted into a sunk flower-garden, which, being four feet below tin- lawn, is very much sheltered from the west winds. The flower-beda :uv separated by gravel walks, with box edgings. On the grass bank around this sunk garden, patches of Cotoncaster arc- occa- sionally planted, to mitigate its stiffness, and unite it better with the shrubs behind. The beds (13) in the centre of the vista (12) are filled with Herberts aquifoJi'nn, and have a single plant of Andromeda- fioribunda in the semicircular projection at each end. The sides of this vista, and of the walk (12) towards the greenhouse, as well as of the entire lawn on the western side of the house, are planted, as shown on the plan ; the front row or edging on each side being JBerberisafjuifoliuni, with a line behind this, about three feet from the front, of alternate golden- blotched Hollies and Ancubas, at intervals of about ten feet, the rest of the borders being filled up with Rhododendrons. "NY hen the latter get high enough to afford some amount of shelter, (the north-west winds being rather severely felt here,) it is pro- posed to insert half-standard Roses, between the Hollies and Aucubas, and in the same line, to secure a little extra summer inflorescence. The entire pleasure-grounds are bounded 1>\ a light iron hurdle-fence ; and the larger masses of plantation are filled with the usual admixture of shrubs and trees. The last design I shall give in relation to this branch of inquiry is one made in 1853, for Messrs. R. and T. G. Frost, of Queen's Park, Chester. These gentlemen being brothers, and having only rather more than an acre of land between them, wisely determined to have their gardens laid out in unison ; so that, although they are actually separated by a slight wire fence, and neither of thorn need be intruded upon by the other, ARCHITECTURAL GARDENING. 207 and none of the windows of the living rooms of either house look into those of their neighbour, yet the whole appears con- tinuous, the lawns are connected, and the groups and single plants are so disposed that each occupant gets the benefit of Fig. 131. what the other has dons. Latterly, (1858,) Mr. T. G. Frost, who owns the easternmost plot, has also purchased an additional half acre of land to the east of his present garden ; and this, as it nearly terminates the available land for building in that direction, will secure him against what neighbours may do in 208 GENERAL OBJECTS. the way of building, and give him some additional pleasure- grounds, and a sufficient space for a kitchen-garden in a part where it will not be seen from his house, and also supply him and his brother with land for erecting stables. Mr. Frost, senior, the father of these gentlemen, has likewise bought land for a house to the westward of the plots shown on the plan ; and as he purposes arranging his ground so as to unite with what has already been done, the entire space, which will only slightly exceed two acres in extent, will probably present a remarkable (and certainly gratifying) example of what can In- done in this way by the combined efforts of several members of a family. In the gardens now under notice, the distinguishing points are their proximity to the river Dee, which flows immediately below them, on the north side, and the existence of an abrupt rocky face, of red sandstone, which is denoted by the dotted line (5) in the westernmost garden, and which hasbee;i worked out into a quarry, occupying the chief part of the northern side of the easternmost house. The site of this quarry has suj plied the foundation of a terrace-garden, which, when the shrubs, ferns, and climbing plants about the walls and rocky banks have had a longer period for developing themselves, will doubless become picturesque, and, as an adjunct to a suburban vi!la, really extraordinary. Casting the eye generally over the plan, the diftcrcn< of shading will show at once where grass banks are employed, and where walls are used. In two of the latter instances, rough walls have been thrown out in the form of bastions, (1,) from which separate views of the garden below and of the river are gained. The recesses (2) are, like the bastions, intended for seats, and the space (3) below one of the bastions was to be roofed over, and thatched with heather, as a summer-house. The border (4) is filled with choice Roses, and the wall along the northern boundary supplies an excellent means of growing the better sorts of climbers. On the face of the rocks round the sunk garden, r.nd those on the line r,, pin,- -s for ferns, ARCHITECTURAL GARDENING. 209 trailing plants, dwarf evergreens, and alpine plants, arc abun- dantly provided ; and the collection of these will gradually stamp a most interesting and delightful character upon the place. The section below the engraving, which is to the same scale as the plan,* shows the form of the ground on the line A to B ; and reveals that the point A is about twenty feet below the base of the house. All the lower part of this garden is occupied with clumps of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and other dwarf American plants, and small evergreen shrubs, and the circles in the walks are filled exclusively with Rhododendrons. * In this section, contrary to the usual practice, the vertical and horizontal scales are alike. 210 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. CHAPTER in. PARTICULAR OBJECTS. ANOTHER step downwards towards what is practical has now to be made. Several peculiar and more definite objects, which could not with propriety be called general, because they a]>]>lv to special cases and less common circumstances, have here to be discussed. And in thus travelling towards minuter matters, I cannot do better than begin with noticing the influence of little things on all questions of taste. 1. As most of the comforts, and all the elegancies and refinements of life, consist in attention to numerous small matters which are in themselves insignificant, but which, together, compose a beautiful and agreeable whole; so the expression and character of a garden will be cultivated :ini of buildings, there are three distinct classes, easily recognisable by the particular shape their heads and blanches a^nme. The first and largest group produces roundish and clustering heads, when their full growth is attained. The Oak, the Ash, and the Elm arc familiar examples. Another set, much more thinly scattered, send out their branches horizon! ally throughout their whole height. The Cedar of Lebanon,! lie varieties of Kir, (not ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER OF TREES. 217 Pine,) the common Yew less perfectly, the Larch, and the de- ciduous Cypress in its usual state, will illustrate this section ; though the Scotch Fir, when quite old, is admirably flat-headed. The third tribe, which has very few members, consists of upright or fastigiate trees. The Lombardy Poplar is the commonest instance ; though the upright Elm is another very good example. If such as have pointed or spiry heads be included, many of the second class will come within this also, the Firs especially. Larch, and several round-headed trees, in their younger state, before the upper branches get dense and spreading, will give a pretty clear idea of spiry-topped trees. Mr. Repton, in his " Sketches and Hints" on landscape gar- dening, lays it down as a general principle, that round-headed Fig. 134 trees harmonise best with Gothic forms of architecture, and trees of spiry shape (fig. 134) with Grecian buildings ; on the ground that the horizontal lines which prevail in the latter style, and the perpendicular in the former, are best exhibited and relieved by contrast with vegetable forms of an opposite 10 218 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. character. Without questioning the soundness of the rule, which appears quite unexceptionable, it may be doubted whether, in the case of Grecian and Italian structures, at least, the appropriateness of the Fir and Cypress tribe is not the result of association ; as the Cedar of Lebanon, the branches of which are purely horizontal, is the most magnificent of all accompaniments for any variety of Grecian architecture, but is Fig. 135. not at all suited for either of the forms of Gothic. And so, perhaps, the old ancestral Elms and Oaks, in which many an English Gothic house is often embosomed, (fig. 135,) may, by the commonness and antiquity of the usage, have given a pro- priety to the employment of that kind of tree in relation to all similar edifices. Still, if it be admitted that certain descriptions of trees throw ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER OF TREES. 219 out and accord with the forms of certain architectural styles, it may, for aught that appears to the contrary, be fairly assumed that the use of those trees in such situations had its origin in their fitness, or supposed fitness, for the purpose; and that, though they may be peculiar to any given country in which the style of building to which they are now allied, preponderates, or has at some former period prevailed, that very style may have been founded on its adaptation to the natural characteristics of the country, trees not being among the least significant of these. Possibly I may not be far wrong in accounting for the con- nexion, which has, somehow, sprung up between particular classes of trees and particular styles of buildings, by a reference to the character of the leaves rather than the distinctive lines of the branches or heads. Light, thin, and feathery leaves charac- terise all the plants that look best when in contact with the varied class of Grecian structures, the heaviness (or rather massiveness) and regularity of Grecian forms demanding some such contrast and mitigation. Gothic buildings, on the other hand, already light and playful, full of variety, and abounding in small decorations, require more of the depth and breadth of foliage for which round-headed trees are conspicuous, to bring out their elegance, and impart, at the same time, a more sub- stantial character. Practically applying the subject, however, the very upright and the very horizontal forms of trees, such as have spiry heads, and those of which the upper branches are nearly flat, may occupy any desired position in the neighbourhood of Grecian, Roman, or Italian houses; while shrubs of similar (but chiefly upright) habits, and such as are pruned or trained into standards, with formal heads, will suit gardens laid out in any kindred style. In addition to those which have been named, I may note the Deodar Cedar, the Araucaria imbricata, and the Hemlock Spruce, with the Cypress tribe, and especially the Irish Yew, for gardens, as deserving of particular praise. Larch, Birch, Acacias, the purple Beech, (though principally for 220 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. its colour,) the fern-leaved Beech, the Turkey Oak, and the Lime, will further be suitable for the same style of erection. On the principle above suggested, besides the numerous species of round-headed trees, of which the Sycamore for westerly districts may be specially singled out, and the Horse Chestnut and Spanish Chestnut for more inland counties, all the broader-leaved sorts of ornamental low trees and shrubs will be preferable for the immediate vicinity of Gothic houses. Por- tugal Laurels, common Laurels, different kinds of Magnolia, Ivy, Hollies, the Yew for its dark sombre colour, the Arbutus, Aucuba, &c., will all be to some extent harmonious. And com- moner and less exotic plants may generally be brought closer to a Gothic house without injuring its effect, than they can be to any more classical structure. The hitter seems to require associating with more foreign species. And the same remarks will hold good with respect to gardens treated in either the classic or irregular style. Rarer and more unfamiliar forms are required for formal gardens. Those in the flowing or English manner will be fitly supplied with a mixture of both common and valuable varieties. Trees can, without impropriety as to appearance, be placed nearer to a Gothic then a Grecian house. Gothic architecture is rather improved by a frame-work of trees ; Grecian only just tolerates them. With either style, however, the sudden dip of the building to connect with it a low wing, or the equally abrupt rise to form a tower, may often be softened with ad Min- tage by the introduction of a good and appropriate tree in the angle, if this does not cover any window or other detail of con- sequence. In the same way, a suitable lower plant or shrub in a deep angle of the building, or at a very bare corner of it, will sometimes divest it of a cold and naked appearance, and adorn rather than deface it. If one corner of a building stands higher above the level of the garden than the other, as will sometimes be the case on sloping land, it will particularly require help from a good large shrub or group at the corner that rises most out of the earth, to give it the requisite balance. TREES AS ACCOMPANIMENTS TO BUILDINGS. 221 The high ends of buildings frequently demand some kind of plants to support them, and take off the hardness of their edges. No building should appear altogether naked and alone, but form a constituent part of a landscape. If the lines, therefore, be not duly carried down in the erection itself, and blended with those of the ground, a thing which can very rarely be accomplished, the effect of connexion should be attained by accompanying trees. Where a house is placed on a knoll, mound, or other kind of elevation, some such assistance becomes all the more essential. But the trees need not in all cases approach closely to the end of the building ; as enough of union of lines and balance of parts may mostly be produced by placing them at a little distance from it. No subject, perhaps, is less studied by landscape gardeners, or occasions more alarm in the mind of an architect, than the necessity that exists for assisting the effect of houses by the felicitous introduction around them of a few trees or shrubs at the right points. "Without some such help, a house might almost as well be in a town as in the country ; and the most artistic combination of parts will fail to satisfy a tasteful observer, unless there blend with the building, at certain intervals, larger or smaller patches of green foliage. Even a mansion of the highest and most classical kind will not be exempted from this rule ; as any one may perceive who examines the principal or entrance front of what is probably the most magnificent pile of its class in this country Blenheim. Unquestionably, the architect has done everything to vary and enrich the elevation, which is grand and palatial to the last degree ; but for want of a little daring in the treatment of the entrance-court, so as to obtain such trees and shrubs as should, without marring the design, subdue the glare of the masonry, and mingle appropriately with its outlines, the entire effect, unless from some point in the park where the Beech trees of the latter can be brought into partial connexion with the palace, is cold, harsh, and intensely unsatisfactory. The same remark (if I may venture to comment, for a 222 PAETICULAR OBJECTS. moment longer, on so truly noble and national a production) will apply to the bridge across the lake on the approach to Blenheim. Here the happy audacity which raised such a lofty and gigantic work, and which must have braved an immense amount of probable temporary criticism as to its height and size, with the far-seeing consciousness that nothing lower could ever form such a stand-point for exhibiting the mansion, park, and lake to advantage, while nothing smaller would fitly unite with the other grand features of the place ; has had no seconder in the accompaniments to the bridge, so that its outlines re- main, in many respects, rude and hard as at first, while a few evergreen trees and shrubs would speedily soften away and remedy all the defects, and cause the bridge to seem, as it were, to be growing out of the banks on either side. It may possibly be a legitimate subject of doubt whether the yet more majestic residence of our Sovereign at Windsor, pic- turesque and princely as it is universally acknowledged to be, and deriving so much of artistic finish from the variety in the height and form of its towers, from the expansion of its dependent parts in the direction of the town, and from the trees (out of the tops of which it appears to rise) on the precipitous slope at its northern base, would not materially gain in intm-st and in pictorial power, if not in dignity, by the interfusion (so to speak) of a few venerable Elms or Oaks among its tamer j >art s, ami about its abrupter corners; although it is admitted that a structure of such breadth and magnitude, crowning a rocky steep, actually requires the aid of trees less than almost any other kind of edifice or position that can be imagined. 4. To produce strong and striking effects in a garden, there must be not merely a tolerably varied collection of plants, well mixed up together, and disposed BO as to give variety and contrast, but groups of particular kinds should be planted in prominent places, that occasional broader masses of a peculiar form or colour may be obtained. From three to six or even eight specimens of some showy kinds may thus be planted in an irregular group, at any jutting point in a bed, or on some swi-11 GROUPS OF ONE KIND OF PLANT. 223 of a mound, and will create a very striking impression by their foliage or flowers. They should be placed near enough to each other to grow into a thicket, without injury to any of the plants, that only one dense mass of heads, and none of the individual stems may be seen, and that the effect may be more like what one immense specimen would yield. This system of arrangement, combining the advantages of massing plants of one sort without any of its evils, is well worthy of being more freely pursued than it is at present. A group of pink or crimson Rhododendrons of one kind, that will bloom all at once ; of Herberts aquifolium, for both flowers and fruit ; of the red-flowering Currant, which is all the gayer for appearing so early ; of Laburnums, the English and Scotch varieties being mixed ; of common Lilacs ; of the Cydonia japonica, with only about three plants ; of yellow or mixed Azaleas ; of any bright or dark-flowering sort of Rose ; of Daphne pontica, for its form and scent ; or even of common Dog- woods, which are particularly attractive in autumn, when the leaves begin to change colour, and during winter, when their blood-red branches have the effect of flowers at a distance, and are well-fitted for clothing small islands ; of Tamarisk, over- hanging the steep face of a mound ; of Broom, in a more open part of an outside plantation; of Savin, Heath, or Cotoneaster vnicrophylla, or Gaultheria Shallon, where a tuft of dwarf plants is wanted ; and, not to multiply examples further, of any variegated, or pale green, or silvery-leaved variety that does not grow too large ; will add a novel and most inviting feature to a garden, and make it very conspicuous at particu- lar seasons. For the still lower tribe of plants, and even for annuals, the plan is fully as suitable. Every one is now aware what splendid displays are created by the various kinds of half-hardy plants with which gardens maybe decorated hi masses during summer. Some things, in fact, which would, when solitary, be almost contemptible, acquire a marked showiness if collected into a group. And many annuals, that are straggling and poor 224 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. as individual objects, become, in broad patches, (which is the best way of growing them,) highly ornamental and handsome. 5. When planted on the sunny side of a garden, or of any part thereof, trees (and shrubs more feebly, and for a shorter period) project a variety of shadows, which an artist would rightly esteem some of the most decided beauties of a landscape. Light and shade is what an architect of sound feeling will always aim to procure in the exterior of his building; and the plan that secures a due admixture of these will be most praised and admired, other things being equal. In a garden scene, too, although this is a matter very little considered, an immense deal of the beauty will depend upon the nice arrangement of parts to secure these. Open bursts of sunshine are not more essential, and are generally less effective, than shadows in a landscape. It is during showery weather, when gloom and sunlight are continu- ally succeeding each other, and Nature is shrouded in dulness one moment, but brilliantly illuminated the next, when the outlines and motion of the clouds are faithfully pictured on the earth as they hurriedly sweep over hill and valley, that beauti- ful scenery becomes far more lovely and pleasing. And there must be a compounding of the same elements of light and shade in a garden to give it its last finish. It will, however, be chiefly on the west and south-west sides of a place that the shadows will be most interesting. The sun is too high in the heavens at midday to occasion any but the smallest shadows, and those only to the very tallest trees. It is towards evening, when the stillness and softness of the air, or the glory of the descending sun, invite to a closer communion with Nature, that shadows will be most conspicuous, and most rapidly changing. The lines or grouping of western and south- western plantations should be particularly arranged with refer- ence to their shadows ; that these may be varied, but pleasingly rounded, and softly mingled. And as the shade from every- thing becomes exaggerated in its dimensions the lower the sun descends, there will be the more necessity that the upper lines TREATMENT OF SHADOWS. 225 of the plantations under notice shall be gentle, elegant, and finished ; while the plants should rarely be very large, or their shade will cover the whole garden towards evening, and lose its effect. If the full light of the sinking sun can be let in uninterruptedly through two or three openings on to the lawn, the result will be a more chequered, and therefore a more beautiful one. There may be a large amount of plea- sure drawn from this source by a devoted student. Other sides of a place, though of less consequence in regard to shadows, will not be unproductive of them. On the south margin, it must be a pretty high tree that will produce any very manifest effect ; and large trees can be very little tolerated in that quarter. More than two or three, at distant intervals, would be decidedly undesirable. Further east, a little may be done ; but it must be set about cautiously, for fear of creat- ing injurious shade. Ah 1 the specimens and groups on a lawn will, at some period of the day, give forth partial shadows, and this will be one of the advantages of varying their out- lines and arrangement. As a series of only little patches of light and shade would be wearisome and distressing to the eye, this shows the necessity of having a good open glade of lawn, entirely free from plants, in another and vivid light. 6. To furnish the means of growing to perfection the very charming tribe of climbing plants, beyond the mode of train- ing them to poles, there will occasionally be places in a garden where a small covered way, formed of wooden or wire trellis, can be erected, and rendered both ornamental in itself and fitted for supporting a few choice Roses, &c. Such an object may either be attached to the front of a wall, and be open only at one side, having a close roof; when it will be a good means of disguising a blank wall, and, if attached to the house at one end, will make a dry and agreeable winter promenade. Or it may be in the shape of an arch, trellised all over, and capable of sustaining plants on its entire surface. As a connecting link between the pleasure-grounds and the kitchen-garden, or from the general garden into any retired rosery, or flower-garden, or 10* 226 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. other separate part ; or even over one of the common walks, where the shrubs close in upon it on either side, and it will not be seen from the house ; an arch of this kind will be very useful and pleasing. Wire is the most durable and wood the most effective material for composing it, and can be worked into any shape. It will possess more style if, in addition to the simple arch, it assume, without heaviness or intricacy, some rather architectural form, in accordance with the character of the house'. Anything in the form of a verandah, or an external corridor put in the recess of a house, would furnish another means of growing the better sorts of climbers ; and would likewise, especially in very hilly or picturesque localities, or with refer- ence to any house that partakes of a cottage character, or that would admit of such an accessory, assist materially in improving the outline, and in creating effective masses of shadow. If made sufficiently lofty, too, such verandahs need not at all interfere with the admission of light to the windows of the house ; and, in summer, when the climbers would be in fuller foliage and more diffuse in their growth, the little extra shade they would occasion would be grateful rather than annoying. For the centre of a rosery or secluded flower-garden, or in the middle or at one corner of any flower-garden that does not immediately adjoin the house, or at the end of a straight walk in some situations, a small ornamental wire temple, for training climbers upon, and supplying a summer arbour, will sometimes be a very pretty and pleasant feature in a garden. It should, however, be chaste in design, and not at all elaborately deco- rated ; being rather of a good general shape than ornate in the details of the pattern. Bottle-shaped wire frames, with a re- curved rim ; those with the figure of a flat vase, having the rim also turned down ; pillars made of open wire, with a proper capital ; the more common umbrella-shaped wire stands ; wire baskets, either with or without stands and handles ; and a multi- tude of other suitable and elegant forms in which wire can be worked, will be very interesting accompaniments to a flower- garden, or decorations to a lawn, when covered with some rapid- DWARF EVERGREENS FOR BEDS. 227 growing summer-climbers. "Whatever figure may be selected, however, for the frame, it will always exhibit climbers better if its upper edge be curved outwards and downwards, that some of the shoots of the plants may curl over, and dangle gracefully in the air. 7. Lest the occurrence of a number of empty beds on a lawn or in a flower-garden, where the system of massing summer plants is adopted, should impart to a place a bare and desolate aspect during winter, a store of the lower kinds of evergreens should be kept in pots, and plunged in some part of the kitchen- garden, or in any reserved corner through the summer, to be transferred to the flower-beds directly their gayer furniture has been cleared away in autumn. Such a plan is less troublesome than it appears to be ; for if the plants be kept constantly in pots, summer and winter, and merely be plunged in the ground ; a simple re-potting once a year, with an occasional watering in only the very driest summer weather, will be all the attention they want for three or four years, when they will require renewing by propagation. The fittest kinds for the office will be several dwarf Heaths, particularly the Erica carnea, Cotoneaster microphytta, Herbe? ris aquifolium, Menziesia polifolia, Andromeda floribunda, Pernettya mucronata, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Gaultheria Shallon, G. procumbens, Ledum buxifolium, Rhododendrons ferru,gineum and hirsutum, the common trailing Savin, the tamarisk-leaved Savin, Sun Roses, and the varieties of the minor Periwinkle. By a judicious choice and variation of these, putting one sort only to a bed, some amount of verdure and liveliness will be produced during winter, at a cost of labour and materials which are entirely insignificant in comparison with the effect realised. The intermixture of a few beds of variegated Ivy, or variegated Periwinkle or Savin, or even the variegated Hollies, (especially the prickly,) variegated Yew, and Aucuba, kept dwarf, would increase the variety. The plants should be potted in rather a poor soil, lest they grow too luxuriant, and send their roots too far beyond the pots. 228 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. 8. Beneath trees and shrubs which are so dense or create such a thick shade that grass will not live, and has to be renewed every year, a simple and convenient plan of carpeting the ground is to plant it with patches of Periwinkles, English and Irish Ivy, and Hypericum calycinum. Bare earth, which does not even produce weeds, and on which, in consequence of the number and strength of the roots from trees, a sufficient under- growth of shrubs cannot be obtained, has an exceedingly cold and poor appearance in some parts of a garden, and tends to make a place look smaller. Irish Ivy and the larger Periwin- kles form a rich and luxuriant carpet in such places ; while a few masses of the other kinds mentioned will cause a pleasing change, especially at some seasons of the year. But these dwarfer sorts of undergrowth are principally adapted for such plantations as are nearer the outside of a place, and those which may run along the sides of a shrubbery -walk in a field ; and they must be well- watered for a year or two after planting. 9. Where hedge-rows are employed as a boundary-fence, or are used inside a wall or paling to conceal it from view, their ordinary unsightliness and hardness of line may be very greatly relieved by a little attention to pruning, and by fronting them here and there with a few scattered bushes of the same or other kinds. In assuming that a hedge is unsightly, however, I would not be misunderstood. When perfectly developed and furnished, and nicely trimmed, a good hedge is rather a beau- tiful than an ugly thing in itself; but, as I have before alleged, no description offence conveys an agreeable idea ; and one that is formal becomes ah 1 the more distinct, setting a conspicuous limitation to a place, and interfering with, or cutting off, the landscape beyond. The more effectually a boundary line is disguised and got rid of, therefore, the greater latitude of dimensions will be attained. But a hedge, when it is seen for any length of its line, is quite fatal to such indefiniteness. One way of dressing a hedge so as to destroy its regularity of line, is, after it has become sufficiently strong and sturdy, to prune out individual branches only, and not cut it to a uniform BREAKING THE LINES OF HEDGES. 229 height. Several of the plants may, in places, have their heads individually cut down, without destroying the smaller spray ; while in other parts, at unequal intervals, only one, two, or three heads need be cut off. By carrying out this plan with the utmost irregularity, and letting some of the bushes grow up more wildly, a ragged, broken, and more natural-looking line may be produced ; and this is particularly important where, in the case of a high hedge, it rises above the line of the horizon, or stands across a view that is obtained into the open country. But, however tastefully a hedge may be cut, its ground line will still remain a straight one ; and, to vary this, a few tufts of bushes, such as common Thorns or Hollies, may be scattered at different distances, and in different numbers, along its front, as in fig. 136, and never be pruned at all. Of course such V Fig. 136. plants should be put only where the hedge behind them has been left comparatively unpruned, and not opposite the pruned parts. In this manner, by the exercise of a little jndgment in disposing and diversifying the groups, the harsh line of a hedge may be nearly hidden ; and a wall or close paling, where there is no hedge, might be similarly darkened and concealed by the same means, taking care to prune down the plants partially and irregularly at points where, after they acquire their full size, they would intercept the view. The propriety of using common Thorns and common Hollies jointly for this purpose will be seen when it is remembered that they are both indige- nous plants, and both grow naturally into irregular and pic- turesque shapes, and both, when quite established, are sturdy and prickly enough to deter cattle from attacking them. One of the chief advantages of the plan is, that though the 230 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. plants thus used will require protection from cattle till they have thoroughly grown, they may subsequently be left entirely unprotected. For varying hedges, or hiding other fences that are at some distance from the house, the common Furze may now and then be used with good effect, as it is free-growing, of a natural appearance, does not reach a great size, and is an evergreen. In contrast with Thorns, it will work in beauti- fully, and resists cattle particularly well. 10. New plantations will often call for a greater or less amount of temporary shelter, as they may happen to be in any degree exposed, or as the plants in them may want what is usually styled " nursing." In some districts, as along the whole of our north-western coast, where gales laden with saline matter are so baneful to the progress of young trees, a few coarse and rapid growing kinds, towering above the mass of the plantation, will catch and break the power of the breeze, and, if in foliage, preserve the lower and better sorts wholly unharmed. Several species of Poplar and Willow are found to be the most valuable of such nurses ; and their mean appearance may be well endured for a time, in consideration of their services ; but they should be gradually cut out as they become less needed, and entirely destroyed as soon as they have thoroughly done their work. Poplars, Larch, Wych-elm, and Scotch-fir, will, with a few others, be useful in more inland places, when scattered among the better kinds temporarily, to give them a good start. An ornamental tree or plant, so far from being injured by having rather near and common neighbours for three or four years, is thereby aided in making an energetic and more speedy growth ; and if the nurses are not placed too close to the per- manent plants, and are kept within due bounds, they will assuredly be beneficial in helping forward the plantation, and can be taken up or cut out at any time. Exactly the same principle will apply to shrubs, among the best of which Privet, common Laurel, common Holly, common Broom, &c., may be found of the greatest use in encouraging them onwards for a few years; though greater care will be- TEMPORARY SHELTER. 231 requisite here to hinder the inferior things from trespassing on their more aristocratic companions, otherwise they may do them irreparable mischief. In those parts of the country where the prevalence of par- ticular winds at certain seasons renders special shelter for newly- planted shrubs indispensable, this should be afforded on the like basis to that previously recommended for general protection. Light and air must not be excluded. And the materials of shelter should be placed on one or two sides only, shifting them about as the wind may come on to blow injuriously from any quarter. Such materials, also, as are partially open, and not perfectly impervious, will be preferable, as staying, and not merely turning the violence of the wind. Large Fir or Pine branches stuck in the ground at a short distance from the plants to be protected, or hurdles interlaced with the same, or with reeds, strong rushes, furze, or laths, and placed about a yard from the plants, will afford enough of shelter to them without diminishing their hardihood. If necessary, the same kind of screen can be renewed in succeeding years. 11. Edgings for walks may be exceedingly various ; but there are very few indeed that will give lasting satisfaction. Grass is almost the only one that can be altogether commended for pleasure gardens ; and it is one which, if carefully laid, and diligently kept, will be sure to please, for it has a good colour, smoothness, regularity, durableness when not under trees, and harmony with both the architectural and the vegetable con- stituents of a garden. It furnishes, likewise, the best ground- tint for setting off the colours of flowers, as in a flower-garden. As an edging, it should invariably be flat, and at an equal height (not more than half-an-inch) above the surface of the walk at its margin, with about an inch or even two in depth along the inner line, next the bed or border, to allow for the washing down of the soil towards it. It must not be too narrow, or it will be difficult to keep cut, and the sides will be likely to crumble away. Box edgings are troublesome, liable to great irregularities, 232 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. apt to harbour insects, and suitable merely for quaint figures and old-fashioned geometrical designs. They are the proper accompaniments of parterres and small flower-gardens that are laid out with numerous narrow gravel walks ; though near the house, in a truly architectural garden, neatly dressed stone edgings will be still better. Rougher stone, bricks, thick slates, and tiles may make strong and durable edgings for kitchen- gardens. Thrift edgings, in connexion with cottages, are very pretty when perfect. They want replanting, however, every three years, and parts of them frequently perish, leaving the ugliest gaps, where they have been long grown in the same spot, though the plants should be ever so punctually divided and re-set. The dwarf Gentian, (Gentiana acaulis,) if planted in double rows, sometimes, in soil that suits it, makes a neat edging. Heaths, also, particularly the common Lyng ( CaUuna vulgaris) may, when promptly trimmed, produce an excellent edging for a heath garden, or bed of American plants. The smaller Periwinkle, kept in due limits, is useful as an edging under trees ; as is the common Ivy. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi will be appropriate in the same position as Heaths, and many varieties of Rock and Sun Rose, though a little too straggling, will supply a novel and consistent edging to a border in which masses of stone and rock plants are freely mingled. The Cotoneaster microphytta is likewise suitable, whether on level ground, or among rocks, and will bear a great deal of trimming. The most valuable requisites in an edging are evenness, diminutiveness or capability of being regularly trimmed, quiet- ness of appearance or harmony with whatever is behind it, and permanence. In each of these respects, grass will, in nearly all circumstances, except in the kitchen garden, have the advan- tage. Where it is least in character is immediately alongside of any rocky surface. There, the common Heath, undressed, would be most expressive and characteristic. Of late years, it has become the fashion, in many cases, to put edgings to beds, whether these be filled with dwarf shrubs or with flowers. In respect of beds arranged formally, and occu- EDGINGS TO BEDS. 233 pied with dwarf shrubs, as in regular winter gardens, or in peculiar positions on lawns, (see, for example, the beds marked 14 in fig. 130,) edgings of some dwarfer shrub than the one employed in the centre of each, may help to define the beds more clearly, to impart an additional air of neatness, and to secure greater contrast and variety. For flower-beds, again, the same practice, where a plant of a dwarfer and compacter habit is used as the edging, may be equally suitable ; and if a decided change of colour be thus introduced, the effect may become even brilliant. But the system requires to be pursued with judgment and caution, and in reference more to individual beds or small groups than to a regular flower-garden. A degree of quaintness, and an appearance of antiquity, are sometimes attained by surrounding large flower beds on lawns with an edging of some shrub or tree, and keeping this duly clipped. I have even seen the common Oak and the Turkey Oak thus applied, and kept at the height of about nine inches, presenting a dense mass of leaves in the summer season. With the ordinary materials for a hedge, Box, Yew, &c., or with Ivy, the larger variety of variegated Periwinkle, Cotoneaster, Lyng, &c., the formation of an edging of this sort w r ould be by no means difficult ; though its value appears to me to be at least doubtful. Ornamental wire edgings, of various forms, but generally with the rim curved outwards, are occasionally serviceable in the case of large flower beds, as they may be made the vehicle for displaying several pretty summer climbers that could not in any other way be conveniently placed upon a lawn. The varie- ties of Maurandya, Lophospermum, Tropa3olum, and twining Convolvulus, may be instanced as examples of this class. And it may not be out of place to mention here that an edging to flower beds composed of rough blocks of larch or oak, not denuded of the bark, will, if sparingly adopted, answer a most important purpose, by lifting up cei'tain of the beds, and thus giving greater elevation and distinctness to the plants in 234 PARTICULAR OBJECTS. them, besides divesting a parterre or a group of everything in the shape of flatness and sameness. Such beds may be raised one, two, or even, three feet above the others, according to the precise circumstances of each case, and the blocks surrounding them may be vertical, or (as is better) may slope outwards, and may have flowering plants of trailing habits, or simple climbers, dangling irregularly over the sides in summer. THE PARK, FIELD, OR PADDOCK. 235 CHAPTER IV. SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS. IF a place be analysed, and separated into its constituent elements, it will be seen to consist not only of a number .of general and particular objects, but to comprise at least a few individual departments that have features of their own, and demand peculiar treatment. Should any of these not be very important, in point of extent, much of what is lacking in dimen- sions may be made up and compensated by extreme attention to the disposal and regulation of every part, that if there be no palpable merit there may be perfect freedom from fault. 1. To make anything of a, park, field, or paddock,* it must be managed simply as if it were a park, on however diminutive a scale. Its size will not materially affect the question of design ; for the largest field or park would only contain similar features, much more boldly carried out. In the arrangement and furnishing of a park, the same prin- ciples are to be observed as in the treatment of a garden, only in a much rougher and bolder way. There should be breadth of glades, with planting chiefly at the margins, disposed in masses or groups, with openings between, and fronted by occa- sional single specimens. Bareness and baldness will be as faulty as on a lawn. The attempt to save a few yards of ground for pasture, at the expense of all richness of clothing or variety of aspect, will be but a short-sighted policy. Around the sides of parks or paddocks, any smaller planta- * I use the word paddock as descriptive of a smatt field, attached to the garden and in view from the house, and not of a mere enclosure for receiving horses, deer, or other animals. 236 SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS. tions may be composed of a coarser and commoner description of plants than those used in the garden, and evergreens need not be so abundant. The common Holly, Yew, and Box will be the most appropriate of these, and Thorns of various kinds can be freely intermingled, especially the common one, as a sort of undergrowth. Such plantations should always be pretty dense, with a lower growth of the commoner shrubs, to give richness, massiveness, and depth. Very dressy or very rare and exotic plants will be entirely out of character as specimens in a park. Ornamental trees that are not conspicuously peculiar may be admitted, though not liberally ; and scarcely at all, if they flower much. White- blooming Thorns will be very suitable ; but not scarlet ones, unless in the close neighbourhood of the garden, and double- blossomed ones on no account. Shrubs will be wholly improper on the grass, except groups of common Hollies, where they will almost adjoin a plantation, and such bushes as the common Hawthorn. Bushes, indeed, where there is any extent of park land, will be invaluable, as they will break it up better into glades, and destroy the monotony which trees alone are apt to produce, on account of the latter being browsed by animals to the height of several feet from the ground. By way of con- tributing additional furniture, too, patches of Furze or Broom, on rising slopes at some distance from the house, will often prove most effective; and wild heather or fern may, in similar places, be permitted to grow, so as to remove everything like excessive smoothness and tameness. The common Juniper, where it is indigenous, in chalky districts, will sometimes also spring up in broken tufts about a park, and may, with careful weeding out, be rendered highly ornamental. Where bushes exist, moreover, in a park, they should on no account be trimmed at the base, which would assimilate them too much to trees ; but their branches should be allowed to spread freely down to the ground, that the eye, in glancing over a series of glades, may have to travel round the bushes, and that thus a more varied and inviting range of views may be TREES FOR PARKS. 237 offered from different points. Bushes are sometimes very use- ful, also, when sparingly scattered about groups of trees, in carrying their outlines better to the ground, and softening away everything like abruptness or want of pliancy. The kinds of ornamental tree that are most admissible into a park are the purple Beech, the red-flowered Horse Chestnut, the Scarlet Oak, the deciduous Cypress, (where the ground is at ah 1 moist,) the mountain Ash, the common Whitebeam, and the snowy Mespilus. Laburnums might be added at the outer edges of other groups. And, among evergreens, the evergreen Oak, (Quercus Ilex,) and all the commoner species of the Pine and Fir tribe, will be entirely in place. The Scotch Fir and the Austrian Pine are particularly worthy of use ; the first of these, when it becomes old, making the most splendid and diversified groups. The Cedar of Lebanon, too, and the Deodar Cedar, will promote an expression of dignity and refinement ; and the Pinus excelsa, and Abies Douglasii, will make very noble specimens. To form and plant a park effectively, requires almost greater care and attention than designing a garden ; inasmuch as the trees used are of a grander character than the plants employed in a garden, and, if placed improperly, become more offensive and obstructive. An error into which the unpractised commonly fall is in making the whole spotty, by the too liberal insertion of single trees, or by needless interruptions to the breadth and continuity of glades. The glades are of the very last impor- tance, and should, fi-om the house, the drive, and the chief walks in the pleasure grounds, be extremely unmistakeable and decided, although their edges must, like those of the glades in the garden, be most irregularly furnished. Of course, the glades in the pleasure grounds and those in the park should unite, and continue expanding in the latter till they reach the boundary, where, by means of a low fence, or of only small bushes, they must be carried forward into the more remote distance. Single trees in a park, however beautiful they may be as 238 SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS. individual specimens, ought not to be very freely multiplied, and should rather, as a rule, attach themselves, as off-shoots, to clumps and groups, than stand entirely alone. It is masses of trees, varying in number from two to twelve or fifteen, and exhibiting the most irregular arrangements and combinations, that are chiefly suitable for parks. And, as the lower branches are generally eaten off by cattle, the disposition of the stems or trunks often enters materially into the character of the grouping. Occasionally, seven or eight trees of the same kind, (as the Weeping Birch) planted near to each other, though at varying distances, will, when the heads are thrust out by the expansion of the interior trees, cause the stems to become crooked, and to assume the most picturesque outlines. And such a group would have the happiest effect on the edge of a rough slope, or on comparatively broken ground. In shaping the land, too, while a certain amount of smooth- ness and ease are desirable in the ground lines where they approximate to a garden, a greater degree of roughness and irregularity should be preferred towards the outer boundaries of the park, thus assisting to render the transition from the garden to the land beyond as gradual and as gentle as possible. It is principally of consequence to regard a park as a link between the dressed parts of a garden and the wilder and freer characteristics of nature. In its furniture, therefore, it should assimilate to the garden about the parts where they unite, and with the more general features of the country towards its outer edges. It must by no means be a detached and isolated thing. Nothing in Nature is so. The plantations at the bottom of the garden may decidedly run into those of the park or field, and be extended into it as far as comports with obtaining proper views from the house. Indeed, the garden and the mere field can be yet further united by the employment of a shrubbery- walk round the whole or a portion of the latter. Notwithstanding the rhnnjn- >f affectation so freely imputed to walks of this kind, because they skirt the actual boundary of a small place, it must be avi-rn-d SHRUBBERY WALKS. 239 that they are very useful in affording exercise within the private domain, and in presenting the garden, hpuse, and exterior country in more varied aspects. In relation to a large park even, a walk may often appropriately be carried for some distance along one or more of its sides, or be directed through some of its woods, especially where any picturesque natural elements, such as rocks, broken ground, or steep banks exist, or where the woods adjoin and furnish a sheet of ornamental water. A shrubbery walk should be, in all respects, below those of the garden in point of art. The curves should be less studied, the margins slightly rougher, and the material of an inferior and less polished kind. The keeping, also, should be decidedly less perfect ; the dress and finish of the garden being quite undesirable here. As much shade and shelter as possible should be attained in such a walk; but it must not be without open parts, for sunshine and views. Here and there a seat may be placed for rest, or for enjoying a prospect, and clusters of common Roses, or particularly sweet-scented flowers, or even patches of Strawberry plants, may occasionally be put in to attract persons to use it. Fruit trees may often be used in its plantations for the same purpose. Of course, like the garden walks, it should break away from the boundary fence, as freely and irregularly as the space will permit ; and it is by no means necessary that the plantation be continuous, as the walk may pass out into the open field or park in a few parts for variety. Advantage should be taken of any peculiarities in shrubbery walks that may be favourable to the cultivation of particular tribes of plants, that the walk may by such means be rendered more interesting. Indeed, a walk of this description, where the locality allows, may be made into a small arboretum, in so far as one or more families of plants is concerned, except that the specimens should not all stand apart and alone, but be dispersed through the fronts of the ordinary plantations, and now and then brought together into groups. A very pleasing collection of the best Coniferous plants, including Cypresses, Junipers, 240 SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS. and their allies, or of such a highly useful and delightful genus as the Holly, or of Rhododendrons, or of American plants generally, might in this way be accommodated ; and would at once stamp a character of novelty on the part containing them. It might frequently happen in such a walk, too, that a well- contrived little episode, such as would be yielded by converting a small dell or hollow into a rockery or an American garden, could be easily accomplished. Or a pond for the use of the more elegant aquatic birds, or for the growth of rare water plants, might be brought into notice. Or a spot by the side of a shrubbery walk might be selected where a patch might be devoted to wild natural vegetation, in which Briars, Brambles, Thorns, Honeysuckles, Clematis, and other picturesque indi- genous plants, could be allowed to assume their native luxuri- ance, and tangle together in unrestrained profusion. In any case, the sides of the shrubbery walk, and the ground beneath its plantations, can always be appropriated to the growth of such British flowers as Violets, Snowdrops, Squills, Ficaria, Primroses, Lychnis, Wood Anemones, and other showy or early-flowering species, which can readily be induced to carpet the ground in sufficient masses to render their eflect conspicuous and even striking. Ferns, in all their elegant variety, may also sometimes find a congenial home by the sides of streams, or in sheltered dingles, or on shelving banks, that are brought within the range of the shrubbery walk. To enliven a park or a paddock, and give life and motion to a home scene, sheep and cows may be freely admitted. Sheep of the larger and better breeds are always the most quiet, and crop the grass most evenly, and are less disposed to injure shrubs and trees ; such as have been reared in hilly or poor districts being exceedingly wild and objectionable. Perhaps the Alderney breed of cows will be the most beautiful and appropriate in a small place. Horses and colts are particularly mischievous where they can reach the branches of trees, and should therefore generally be kept out. Deer are similarly inclined to damage trees, and, ROOKERIES. 241 when they are admitted, will always require extra fencing to keep them from young trees, and to prevent them from straying. Another element of liveliness in a park, and one which generally becomes an object of attraction to its possessor, is a rookery. To an attentive observer, there is a wonderful amount of beauty in the motion of rooks as they sail gracefully about in the air on a calm evening, or appear to grow excited with the turbulence of the elements as they flit across the vision against a stormy background of sky. But a rookery should never be very near to the house, as the noise of the birds is only pleasing when subdued by distance. Nor should it be in a wood that is traversed by walks ; for the ground beneath then- nests is kept in a state of constant litter by the dead twigs which they break so freely from the trees. From the limited size of these pages, it is obviously im- possible to illustrate the treatment of parks of any magnitude. But two or three designs, embodying some of the more essential constituents, may now be given. The first I shall present necessarily on a very small scale is a plan of the grounds, and what may be called the home pasture, of an entirely new place which I arranged for Charles Longman, Esq., in 1854-5. It is named Shendish, and is between Hemel Hempstead and King's Langley, in Hertfordshire. The house and homestead have been erected on the summit of a hill, where there was an excellent platform for the purpose, and from whence the ground descends, in a convex form, gently at first, but afterwards more abruptly, till it falls into a valley on all sides. Unhappily, the estate had been sadly denuded of trees by former owners, and a good deal of planting has therefore become requisite. The position, however, commands an extensive variety of wooded undulations, both in the middle distance and the distance ; and the great desideratum was therefore to create, within and in the neighbourhood of the pleasure gardens, a suitable and suf- ficient foreground. The engraving (fig. 137) will evince pretty clearly the way in which this has been accomplished. The house is approached 11 242 SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS. from the north-cast by a constantly ascending drive of about half a mile in length, which, after crossing the London and Fig. 137. PUBLIC PATHS ACKOSS A PARK 243 North Western Railway by a characteristic bridge which is now (1858) being re-erected, winds up a natural hollow, with the undulating slopes of the park on either side, till it passes over a sunk public footpath by another appropriate bridge, (30,) and enters what I have termed the home pasture, (29,) traver- sing which it soon after reaches the enclosed pleasure grounds, and thus arrives at the house, stables,