(III|p i. m. Mill ffiibrarn Nnrtl? (Earnlina BtnU 3B465 ,^^ 1 This book was presented by Alfred B. Yeom-ons S00320559 O THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE DATE INDICATED BELOW AND IS SUB- JECT TO AN OVERDUE FINE AS POSTED AT THE CIRCULATION DESK. NOV 1 6 NOV a4 1994 DEC 1 6 1995 DtC i b 1996 OCT 2 2 1997 ! NOV 2 1 1997 /fyiiOi 8£P 0 ^ 2005^ f^BH « i,. MAAM EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE GARDENS European and Japanese Gardens . Papers read before The American Institute of Architects ^^£o^.^i\ (^Aj~-r\r^ ITALIAN GARDENS. By A. D. F. Hamlin ENGLISH GARDENS. By R. Clipston Sturgis FRENCH GARDENS. By John Galen Howard JAPANESE GARDENS, ^v K. Honda Edited for The American Institute of Architects By Glenn Brown, Secretary PHILADELPHIA : HENRY T. COATES & CO. 1902 UGHTED, 1902 T. COATES & Co. ;es i^- So Phi LA INTRODUCTION Only within a very recent period have architects of the United States appreciated the fact that the garden should be designed in connection with the house. To encourage and popularize this fact the Committee of Arrangements for the Thirty-fourth Annual Convention of the American Institute of Architects determined to make the subject of Gardens one of the principal topics of consideration. It was fortunate to have been able to secure papers from those who were such enthusiastic and scholarly students of the field which each presented in their papers to the Institute. The articles were read in Washington, D. C, December 14th, 1900, and they produced such a favorable impression that it was thought proper by the Board of Directors to have them, together w^ith the illustrations, printed so that their influence would be of a more permanent value. x\fter due consideration by the Board the publication of the material, under the supervision of the Institute, was given to The Architectural Publishing Company of Philadelphia. In the work as issued the authors have in some cases enlarged the scope of their papers and many illustrations in addition to those presented to the Institute have been inserted in the present volume. 88843 CONTENTS PAGE The Italian Formal ( Garden ii English Ctardens 67 French Gardening and Its Master 97 Japanese Gardens 131 Notes on a Japanese CiArden in California 159 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Italian Gardens : Villa Corsini, Stairway Front i Villa Corsini, Detail of the Stairway Villa Lante, (General View The Plan " ■ Approach to Central Fountain . . " Fountain and Stairway " The Central Fountain " Small Fountain ilia Pia, Bird's-eye View Plan of Casino and Terrace la Caprarola, The Lower Fountain Fountain of The (ioblet .... ilia Borghese, Fountain " Temple of yEsculapius " The Casino ■' Small Fountains and Sculpture . Avenue " Wall Fountain ilia d'Este at Tivoli, Bathing Pool " " " The Palace and Terracing " " " Ruined Water-Organ . . The Plan " " " Lower Level and Pools . Caserta, Approach to Rear of the Palace .... " Water Course " Upper Cascade and Action (iroup . . " Central Feature of Water Course .... (reneral \'iew of A\enue Villa Colonna, Entrance (Gateway Villa Pamfili Doria, The Plan \'iew trom the Terrace . . Royal \'illa Castello, Fountain \'illa Albani, \'iew from Colonnade Fountain and Terrace ^lece PAGE 63 10 21 29 35 37 46 13 14 16 32 17 19 26 34 43 60 17 22 33 54 39 20 40 41 41 42 23 24 25 27 28 44 Italian CiARDkxs — Coiitiniicii : page \'illa Alhani. The Central I'ountain 45 Entrance Ciatc 53 ^'illa (I'llstc on Lake ("omo. Cascade of Hercules 30 l'H)l)oli Cardens, [''ountain 36 .\\eniie 47 Ilex Tunnel 48 Amphitheatre 49 '• •• luitrance and Rear of I'itti I'alace 52 The Hill Walk 58 ^■illa Petraia, Fountain 46 Villa Medici. The Plan 50 Farnese (iardens, Section and Pers|)eitive (Drawings) 51 Villa Aldobrandini, The Plan 55 " " The Chateau d'Eau 56 Villa Torlonia — Conti, Water Works 57 Isola Bella 59 Hillside Cardens near Naples 62 Enc;lish Cardens : View from Montecute House 66 A Terrace at Montecute 68 Flowers against the Terrace \\a\\ at Montecute 69 A Double Bordered Path 70 A Garden backed with Trees 71 The Gardens at Frankleigh 72 A Shaded Walk at Frankleigh 73 A Walk before the House 74 On the Terrace at Frankleigh 75 A Ciarden Corner 76 Box Bordered Beds 77 Terraces 78 A Small House-Court 78 A Broad Walk to the House 79 The More l-ormal Garden, ^^'ilton 80 The Garden Walk 81 Gardens of Heathfield House 82 A Modern House and Garden 83 Cirass Terraces and Garden-House 84 Gardens of Kiddington Hall 85 The Si)acious I-Tfect at Eynsham Hall 86 The Wall of a Modern Garden 87 Ex(;lish (tAKDKXs — Continued: page A Level Stretch • . . . 88 A Pool 89 A \\'ell-lai(l Lawn 90 A (harden Path 90 The Oblong Pool 91 An Outlook from the House 92 A Hedge (Gateway 93 French Gardens : \'ersailles, The P)asin of Latone 96 Lead \'ase 97 The Plan 98 " Basin of Latone and the Tapis \'ert 99 P>asin of Latone and the Palace The Basin of Ajjollo The liasin of Ceres " (irove of the Colonnade " The Ikisin of the Dragon *' The Orangery The (xarden of the Orand Trianon Fontainebleau, The Cross of Franchard (xorge of the Medlars The Plan " The Palace from the Park " The Palace from the Parterres '' The Gardens Basin of the Cascade Chantilly, The Chateau from the Lake " The Gardens " " The Isle of Love " Marly, Plan of the Park The Tuileries, (ieneral View " A Promenade " The Main Avenue The Tuileries and the Louvre Luxembourg, The Medici Fountain " A P^ountain Gardens and Palace The Plan St. Cloud. The Plan The Park 19 French (jardkns — Confi/ii/ed : pace The (Irand Cascade 126 " Ruins of the Palace 127 St. Ciermain. The Terrace 128 JaPANKSK CiARIiKXS : Prince Hotta's (iarden 130 Mangwanji Ciarden 131 Plate I — Hill Garden : Finished Style 132 Duke Shimazu's Garden 133 The Mikado's Garden, Tokio 134 The Fukiage Garden 135 Garden of the Imperial Palace 136 Stone Lanterns, Uyeno 137 Sorinto, Nikko 138 Fukagawa Garden 139 Plate II — Hill Garden ; Intermediary Style 141 Plate III — Hill (iarden; Rough Style 141 Plate IV — Flat (iarden ; Finished Style 142 Kasuga, Nara 143 Bracket Bridge, Fukagawa Garden 144 A (Gentleman's (iarden, F3ancho 145 Plate ^' — Flat (iarden ; Intermediary Style 146 Plate VI — Flat (iarden ; Rough Style 146 Stone Steps, Hakone Temple 147 Kunoozan Temple at Shizuoka 148 Plate ^TI — (iarden Lanterns 149 Plate \l\l — Water-Basins and Lanterns 149 A Tea-House Garden, Tokio 150 (iarden of the Akasaka Rikiu 152 Plate IX — Garden Fences 153 Plate X — Garden Gateways 154 Plate XI — (iarden Bridges 155 Plate XII — Ciarden Arbors 155 A Japanese (iARDEN in California : (ieneral View 158 The F^ntrance 159 Mowers in Pots 160 Inside the F^ntrance 161 Summer- House and Stream 162 THE ITALIAN FORMAL GARDEN ^r Prof. A. D. F. Hamlin THE ITALIAN FORMAL GARDEN By A. D. F. HAMLIN AUJUNCT PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY I. A GARDEN is a portion of the earth's surface humanized. Nature is subjected to the designer's will ; trees, grass, flowers and shrubs are made to do his bidding, and an ordered design takes the place of the capricious wildness of the primitive growth. Gardening, as one of the decorative arts, deals with the materials of the earth's surface, and the vegetation and water which dixersify and embellish it. In any style of gardening the results of the designer's labors are, and must be, artificial, whether he seek to counterfeit the appear- ance of the primitive meadow, forest and thicket, or to arrange his combinations of earth, rock, plants and water upon some arbitrary and conventional system. The different schools of the art are distinguished largely by the degree to which they incline towards one or the other of these systems of treatment : — towards naturalistic picturesqueness, or towards monumental and artificial regularity. The Italian villa gardens of the Renaissance are the highest representative of the second system. Gardening is an art of peace and luxury, and, as an accompaniment of buildings, follows in the wake of architec- ture. " Without it," says Bacon, writing in Elizabeth's time,- " buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks ; and a man shall ever see that when ages grow to civility and elegancy,) men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely." As( an art of luxury it fared poorly in the Dark and Middle Ages ; but when the Renaissance revived the arts of ancient Rome in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the increasing sta- bility of the social order permitted the indulgence of personal luxury, gardening was revived with the other arts of antiquity, and its practice modelled after the suggestions offered by the ruins of ancient Roman prototypes. What these were we may D. H. HJLL UBRARY The Italian Formal Garden learn from descriptions made familiar in the letters of Cicero and Pliny. These i)icture extensix e domains, terraced, g^raded, embanked, halustraded, refreshed with fountains, adorned with every kind of edifice for ornament and rest, and beautified with every variety of foliage of trees, \ines and shrubs. They pre- sent the counterpart of almost every feature characteristic of the Italian villa gardens of the sixteenth century. How com- plete and perfect the modern reproduction could be is evi- denced by the famous Villa Barberini at Castel Gondolfo, sixteen miles southeast from Rome, w^hich Lanciani considers not only the finest he has ever seen, "but also (to quote his own words) the one which comes nearer than any other to the type of an ancient siilmrbaumu. ... Its general plan and outline follow precisely the plan and outline of the glorious villa of Domitian. . . . The ancient ruins, the foundation walls of the huge terraces, the nymphaea and other remains, are so completely concealed and screened by a thick growth of ivy, ferns and other evergreens, that one feels, more than sees, the antiquity of the place. B\- a singular coincidence no tree, no shrub, no flower, no bud that is not purely classic seems to be allowed to live in this magnificent domain. No flower is allowed to diversify the emerald green of the lawns, except the classic rose and violet, and to make the illusion more perfect, flocks of peacocks have selected the groves of this villa for their abode." '=' The Villa Pia in the Vatican gar- dens is another excellent reproduction in modern dress of the Roman conception of a villa of modest dimensions. Not only in Rome, but scattered also throughout central Italy, and along the Bay of Naples, were innumerable remains of antique villas, overgrown with ivy and weeds, but awaiting only the touch of the artist to bloom anew in fresh loveliness ; their terrace- walls and stairs rebuilt, their water courses and fountains again musical with running water, their thickets trimmed, and flower- beds once more blossoming on their terraced levels. These ancient gardens were extremely formal. No plant was allow^ed to grow uncontrolled. Trees were pruned, clipped, trained and trimmed into the semblance of any and every form except that of tree : a species of art called topiary ivork, which was revived in the Renaissance and carried to extremes by the gardeners of Holland and England in the seventeenth and * Ancient Rome in the Litjht of Recent Excavations, pp. 279-280. European and Japanese Gardens The Italian Formal Garden "^m^wi^ / PLAN OF CASINO AND TERRACE OF THE VILLA PIA Designed by Pirro Ligorio, 1540 European and Japanese Gardens eighteenth centuries. It is evident that the love of nature, as nature, for its own sake, is a purely modern sentiment, due in large measure to the influence of the poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The ancients regarded nature as a servant, not a mistress, and indulged little sentiment for nature in the abstract. The same is largely true of the Renaissance gardeners. They did not seek to counterfeit the meadows and forests, the hills and vales of wild nature or to bring trees and shrubs and topography into any semblance of the picturesque and accidental combinations of a natural landscape. Their gardens, and preeminently those of Italy, were each designed as a decorative setting to the palace or villa, or as pleasure- grounds in which what was most pleasing was the human ele- ment— the evidence of design, symmetry, order, balance, con- trast, ornament ; not the aspect of natural growth, but the evidence of nature subdued to human control. II. The steps by which the Renaissance garden, based upon these suggestions, reached final form, I have been unable to trace. No very early example remains to us, at least in the shape in which it was designed. With the progress of the art and changes in taste the earliergardens must have all been made over, for a garden is not, like a building, a finality when once fin- ished. It changes from season to season, and the growth and decay of its vegetation alike alter its pristine aspect. We know, however, that before the close of the fifteenth century the gardens of Naples were celebrated for their beauty, for Charles VIII, of France, writing in 1495 to Pierre de Bourbon, waxes eloquent in praise of those which had come into his pos- session in that city. But it was not till about 1540 that any garden receixed the form in which we know it to-day, e\'en in its general features. The classical tendencies of architecture and decoration had by this time reached their highest and finest development in the works of men like Peruzzi, Antonio da San Gallo the Younger, Vignola, Giulio Romano, Pirro Ligorio, and others. The influence of the taste of Bramante and Raphael was still potent, and the extra\'agances of the Baroque style were still in the future. The papal court had then reached its greatest splendor, and Roman society had begun to be domi- The Italian Formal Garden European and Japanese Garden; The Italian Formal Garden nated by the great ecclesiastical princes and the formidable array of Pope's nephews who monopolized the higher posts of Church and State. Most of the finest \illas were built for car- dinals and church dignitaries, of whom the majorit}' sustained this dubious relation to the head of the Church. The Lante, at Bagnaia, first built in 1477 for Cardinal Riario, was, about 1550, remodelled by X'ignola for one of the Farnese nephews. To this family also belonged the imposing castle and beautiful grounds at Caprarola, also Vignola's work. The superb Villa d'Este at Tivoli, one of the earliest as well as finest of extant works of the kind, was designed about 1540 by Pirro Ligorio, for the Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. At Frascati, the ancient Tus- culum, is an extraordinary group of contiguous villas — the Aldobrandini, Falconieri, Mandragone, and others, all built for cardinal princes by such artists as Delia Porta, Giovanni Fon- tana, Olivieri, Martino Lunghi, Flaminio Ponzio, and others. At Rome the Borghese Villa, originally built for the dukes of Altemps, was enlarged in 1605 by (for) Cafi'arelli, nephew of Paul V ; on attaining the cardinalate he assumed the name of Borghese. The Farnese, Farnesina, Pamfili Doria, Albani, and a dozen others, owe their existence to the wealth and extra\a gance of these churchly lords. With the decline of the secular power of the Church consequent upon the Reformation, the social conditions out of which these vast establishments had grown, slowly passed away ; the building of new villas ceased, and it has been only with the utmost dif^culty that some of these vast and wealth-consuming estates have since been maintained in even tolerably perfect condition. Not a few have run to decay, and are to-day endowed with the new and melancholy charm of ruin. Nature has reconquered the domain where she was held captive to man's caprice, and vines, trees, shrubs, grass and dust have done their best to obliterate the work of human hands. Other gardens have been sold under the ham- mer or cut up into building lots, and there is no likelihood that many new ones will arise in their places, for Italy is poor, and there is no such concentration of wealth in strong families as to make probable the creation of new splendors of the kind. Those that remain are, therefore, doubly precious ; they are unique, for no modern imitation can reproduce their antique charm ; and nowhere else in the world is there the environ- ment of atmosphere, associations and art which envelops these 18 European and Japanese Gardens The Italian Formal Garden European Ax\d Japanese Garden; i^^ Ha i&fli ti'^ ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF THE VILIA GARDEN" Plan of Villa Lante At Bagr ancient and glorious estates with such loveHness of pros- pect and setting". Given the condi- tions which I have tried to sketch, it is easy to understand the results that came about in the domain of landscape gard- ening. The churchly patricians who built the villas were no recluses, seeking the solitude of the glens and forests to hold communion only with themselves and nature. They w^re the i)owerful, proud and wealthy leaders of a society conspic- uous for its worldli- ness and love of dis- play. Like true Ital- ians they loved the open air, but unlike the lords of Eng- land and France, they had no taste for the chase, and the necessities of their state precluded their resorting to distant castles embowered in the forests or hid- den in the gorges of the Apennines. It was to the villa that thev fled for The Italian Formal (jArden THIS IS TRUE OF THE GARDENS AS THEY APPEAR TO-DAY' The Palace and Terracing Villa d'fste, Tivoli European and Japanese Gardens refuge. Its "casino," or little house, was less a residence than a pleasure-house for their hours of relaxation or social amusement. Its alleys and terraces, walks and shelters took the place in their life which piazzas and "living-halls" do in ours ; in them they passed their leisure, walking with their friends, reclining under the arbors, lulled by the sound of the fountains; reading, meditating and conversing, or giving A SOMEWHAT PRETENTIOUS GATEWAY' Entrance to the Villa Colonna 23 The I faliAxN Formal Garden PLAN OF THE GARDENS 24 European and Japanese Gardens splendid entertainments to the brilliant companies that resorted thither. Passionate collectors of antiquities, and affecting, when they did not cherish it, an enthusiasm for antique life, they made their gardens veritable museums, even at last, counterfeiting anticjue ruins when they were not fortunate enough to find them ready at hand on their estates. The villa was thus no park, no reserved territory left to the beauty of its natural wildness, no mere spread of lawn diversified with trees and shrubs. It was designedlv an artificial creation, an artistic cnscn/b/c, of which the house and the gardens were distinct and complementary parts, the whole treated as a decorative composition, in which each portion and each detail played a definite role. It was formal and artificial, it was refined and classical in style and detail, because that was what the taste of the time demanded, and because no other treatment befitted the antique fragments and sculptures which formed the basis of their adornment. But these villa gardens, with all their formal regularitv of m^ .* lil^ M iKil^J l^^wPPP™ W '1.: A^-"~^'" " '^^^^^^^^ '^'' ^ ^ ^^ ^^JAJ ^ ^— ^W . __ L ._. THE JUXTAPOSITION OF ART AND NATURE iew from the Terrace Villa Pamfili Doria The Italian Formal Garden design, were and are still so beautiful that they have never ceased to excite the admiration of every visitor. They were designed by masters, men of taste and culture, filled with the sense of beauty, who wrought in harmony with their environ- ment and with the beauties of the prospect and atmosphere about them. However questionable the taste of certain deco- rative details, their general decorative effect is almost always Casino, Villa Bopghese THE CENTRAL FEATURE IS THE HOUSE OR CASINO' excellent and in harmony with the fanciful and wayward beauty of the gardens. At least this is true of the gardens as they ap- pear to-day, the crumbling stuccoes and the masonry stained by weather, tinged orange and green by lichens and mosses, over- run with ivy and creeping roses, and contrasting richly with the dark green of the stone pines behind and the ilex and box in front. Their charm is not wholly of atmosphere and color and rampant vegetation, nor merely the romantic half- melancholy of their silent walks, their grass-grown terraces, their whispering pines, and gentle decay. They possess a posi- tive artistic beauty in the proportion and balance which control 26 European and Japanese Gardens THE TERRACING IS WORTHY OF CAREFUL STUDY' Royal Villa Castello Near Florence The Italian Formal Garden the whole composition. There is enoui^^h architecture — not too much ; the contrasts are ne\er too violent ; sculptures and decorations are distributed with a rare sense of propriety ; the water works are pleasingly \aried and judiciously placed. Above all, scale is treated with consummate skill. A small garden is not designed like a great one, nor a monumental composition frittered away with pettv details. LEVEL VILLA ALBANI III. The essential features of the Italian \illa gardens are easily stated : first, the selection of a sloping site, cut into terraces affording a varied prospect from their successive levels. Sec- ondly, the distinctly architectural treatment of conspicuous points and features of the design. Thirdly, the use of running water in fountains and cascades upon each level of the design. Fourthly, the formal arrangement of flower-beds, hedges and 28 European and Japanese Garden; THE DECORATIONS OF ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE Approach to Central Fountain la Lante, Bagnaia avenues so as to provide vistas closed by decorative structures, and to offer at every turn a pleasing contrast in the juxtaposi- tion of art and nature. PZvery one of these elements has its origin in Roman prac- tice, as shown not only by ruins, but by frescoes in Rome (as in the Casino di Livia on the Palatine) and Pompeii. Each has in a measure been adopted in the landscape gardening of other countries, but rarely are all four elements combined as they are in Italy. On the other hand, the Italian gardener rarely or never employs the vast levels and long vistas of French gardening, while, in the treatment of water, he avoids the massive and lofty jets and immense basins which distin- guish the gardens of Versailles. Toward the sloping lawns and meandering paths of English and American grounds he feels much as the Frenchman did who said, " Nothing is easier than to lay out an English garden : one has only to make the gardener drunk and then follow his meanderings." The typical Italian villa — such, for instance, as the Villa The Italian Formal Garden Lante, at Bagnaia, near Viterbo, the work of Vignola, or Pirro Ligorio's Villa Pia in the Vatican grounds, at Rome — com- prises a rectangular territory of a few acres, rarely more than ten or fifteen, its length twice or thrice its breadth, and the major axis following the profile or slope of the hill on which it is laid out. It is divided into three terraces (rarely two or four), each faced by a stone retaining-wall, surmounted by a balus- trade, and reached by broad stairways leading to the other levels. The lower level, entered from the street by a somewhat pretentious gateway, is the flower-garden proper; on the middle level is the house or casino, with the more important architec- tural accessories, such as colonnades, loggias, and summer houses. Behind and above this, the third level, planted wdth trees, and less formally treated than the other two, furnishes a shady and secluded retreat, grassy under foot, leafy overhead, musical with the song of birds and the trickle of water in the Cascade of Hercules DECORATIVE AND FESTAL CHARACTER" At the Villa d'Este or European and Japanese Gardens fountain. From the point of view of design, the dense foHage of this upper terrace serves as a foil and background for the more open and artificial levels below it, and as a transition to the wilder landscape of mountain and forest behind it. The flower-garden is laid out in geometrical compartments bordered by square-clipped hedges of box, within which flowers and foliage plants are cultivated in beds forming elaborate scroll-patterns. The level walks are of gravel. An elaborate fountain adorns the central area, forming a focus and point of interest for the whole design. A high stone wall surrounds the garden on three sides ; it is usually covered with vines or hid- den by a profuse growth of box, yew, ilex, cypress, and pine, producing an impression of perfect seclusion with no oppres- sive display of prison-like walls. On the fourth side is the retaining-wall of the middle terrace, which forms a monu- mental decorative background for this lower garden, and a foundation and preparation for the elaborately architectural treatment of the second level. The central and dominant feature of the whole design is the house or casino on the second level, on which it sometimes advances to the front edge, as in the Pamfili Doria, its base- ment, entered from the garden, forming in such cases the cen- tral portion of the terrace wall. Designed chiefly as a pleasure- house, for short sojourns and entertainments, its architecture is usually of a festal and sometimes trivial character, perfectly in harmony with its purpose, and almost always in keeping with the fanciful, wayward charm of the gardens. Few of these casinos are commendable as architectural compositions, but the softening hand of time and the delightful beauty of the old gardens, which improve with age, impart to these somewhat dubious compositions an adventitious charm impossible to imitate. In the Villa Lante, at Bagnaia, near X'iterbo, there is an interesting departure from the usual practice. Two houses, or casiiii, stand one on either side of the central axis, permitting an unobstructed axial vista through the whole extent of the grounds, from top to bottom. Occasionally the casino is a palazzo of considerable size, as in the Villa d'Este at Tivoli ; while in the cases of the Pitti palace and the palace at Capra- rola (the Villa Farnese), the entire \illa grounds lie behind the residence. 31 The Italian Formal Garden AIR OF PLAYFUL CAPRICE' Fountain of the Goblet' Villa Farnese at Caprarola Coming down to specific details, the following features deserve special attention : First, the terracing of the Italian gardens is worthy of care- ful study. Originating in the preference for sloping sites by means of which successive and diftering prospects are secured from the various levels, without interference of one with the other, it became a means of admirable effects within the gar- den itself. With its stairs, niches, grottoes, pilasters and balus- trades, it was studied, proportioned and arranged with great care, and usually with great success. An instructive contrast in the treatment of the terraces appears between the abruptly sloping Villa d'Este at Tivoli, and the nearly level Villa Albani or the Ouirinal Gardens at Rome. Secondly, tJie decorations of architecture and sculpture. The judicious arrangement, distribution, and scale and balance of the architecture have been noticed already, and its j)redomi- nantlv decorative and festal character alluded to. This air of 32 European and Japanese Gardens playful caprice is often carried to extremes, especially in the later villas, but in general it is, and in its modern imitations it can always be, kept within the bounds of good taste, so that every feature shall not only be well placed and pleasing in its efiect, in conjunction with the foliage, grass and flowers, but pleasing also in itself as an architectural design. This was almost always true of the designs of Vignola, Giulio Romano, and Pirro Ligorio, l)ut not always of their successors. There is some- times too sharp a contrast between the florid stucco decora- tions of terraces and fountains and the classic dignity of the antique fragments that adorn many of the gardens. Based, as this style of gardening is, on the models and on the actual remains of ancient Roman estates, it is most successful when its adornments of architecture and sculpture are classic in spirit and design, a principle which should not be lost sight of in mod- ern attempts at this sort of gar- dening. In the Italian examples the chief features claiming atten- tion may be cata- logued as follows: terrace - walls, balustrades and stairs, gate- ways, fountains, loggias and other aedi- cules, exedras, stone benches, marble vases on _ _^ _ high pedestals, ^." ^' termini, and stat- uary in single fig- ures or groups. Every one of these features is PLAYFUL CAPRICE OFTEN CARRIED TO EXTREMES" , , j. Ruined Water-cgan Villa d'Este. Tivoli Capablc of grCat 33 The Italian Formal Garden ADORNMENTS . . . CLASSIC IN SPIRIT AND DESIGN ' Villa Borghese European and Japanese Gardens beauty of form, though requiring less fineness of execution than monumental buildings deserve. The triviality of many of the minor decorative figures and buildings of actual gardens in Italy in execution and detail, is no doubt reprehensible, but less offensive than one would imagine, because of their charm- ing surroundings and the obviousness of their role, not as works valuable intrinsically, but as mere adjuncts and features in the general scenic efiect of the whole. Thirdly, the trcatniciit of zvatcrm the fountains, cascades and basins of these gardens exemplifies sound principles cor- rectly applied. A very small volume of water is made to pro- duce a maximum of decorative efiect, and the greatest possible variety of effects, by repeated interruptions and changes of its movement from the reservoir above the upper terrace down to the last fountain basin in the flower-garden. Thrown up in small jets, it is poured from basin to basin of the fountains, in very thin but brilliant sheets or streams, to reappear, after "A SMALL VOLUME OF WATER . . . BROKEN AGAIN AND AGAIN " Lante Bagnaia The Italian Formal Garden THROWN UP IN SMALL JETS IT IS POURED FROM BASIN TO BASIN " The Boboli Gardens Florence passage through underground conduits, in the form of cas- cades, in which its fall is broken again and again by marble steps, basins and rockeries, massive cataracts, and lofty jets. The roar and agitation of powerful masses of water were rarely attempted or desired ; they would have been out of scale, so to speak, out of harmony with the refined elegance of the gar- dens. Great skill and taste were evinced in the design of the architectural and sculptural elements of these water works, which display generally the same sense of proportion and scale that has been already referred to, and there is often a touch of the grotesque, of humor and exaggeration in the accompanying sculpture, which like that of some of the statues on the terraces, enlivens the scene with a suggestion of comedy. Three typical examples of the handling of the water are furnished by the Villas Lante at Bagnaia and d'Este at Tivoli, and the palace gardens at Caserta. In the first-named, largely 36 European and Japanese Gardens FOUR SUPPORTING FIGURES BEARING THE INSIGNIA OF THE FARNESE FAMILY" The Central Fountain Villa Lante, Bagnaia Vignola's work, the amount of water used is infinitesimal, and all the fountains are treated with j^reat refinement of detail and smallness of scale, while in the flower-garden the fountain is chiefly sculptural, with four supporting figures bearing the insignia of the Farnese Family, for whom it was built. 37 The Italian Formal Garden At Tivoli, where there is too much water rather than not enoug'h, and where the upper grades are very steep and the lower ones very grackial, the upper terraces of the ViUa d'Este abound in monumental fountains and cascades, as well as in the ruins of innumerable trick fountains and aquatic eccentricities orig- inally designed to be set in operation by the unwitting steps of the \isitor. Among them was formerly a celebrated water organ, now ruined and silent. The central cascade, or line of cascades, was of great volume, proportioned to the large scale of the whole villa, while on the lower, easy gradients, the water flowed quietly into and through great basins, bordered with vases, shaded with trees, and emptying by little cascades from one to the other, till the water finally disappeared underground. Carlo Fontana, rightly named, was the artificer of these water- works. Several of the villas at Frascati, like the Mondragone and the Aldobrandini, illustrate the same principles. At Caserta we have the one example of the colossal in the scale of the water works of an Italian garden. These grounds were laid out by Van Vitelli in 1753, after a sojourn at Paris and Versailles, where he had studied the vast landscape-works and fountains of Le Notre. In the Caserta grounds, if he did not better the instruction, he at least showed consummate skill in the adaptation of its teachings to his special conditions, wholly different from those at Versailles ; for the Caserta grounds are but one thousand feet wide, extending back two miles, first with a gentle grade and then by a steep ascent reaching the summit of the thickly-wooded hill far behind the palace. The water tumbles for nearly a mile over a channel filled with broken rocks, which churn it white, so that it is visible and effective even when seen from the palace two miles away. It then passes through a succession of immense basins, from each of which it issues by a cascade twenty or thirty feet high, each differing essentially from the others, and several of them adorned with statuary not always in the best taste. The architectural treatment of the successive cascades is ingeniously varied, and in several of them is conspicuously successful. A strip of grass two hundred feet wide on either side, planted with occasional flower-beds and flanked by wonderfully beauti- ful ilex avenues next the side walls of the grounds, completes the simple but effective plan of the gardens. Here the water is purposely handled on a colossal scale, suited to the great 38 European and Japanese Gardens The Italian Formal Garden European and Japanese Gardens A CHANNEL FILLED WITH BROKEN ROCKS' Upper Cascade and Actaeon Group The Italian Formal Garden THE SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE PLAN OF THE GARDENS' General View of Av length of the grounds and to the vast size of the palace. It is a royal park, not a private citizen's garden. Fourthly, the tycatinent of the trees and grass is also char- acteristic of the Italian gardens. The American and English styles of park gardening, with broadly-sloping lawns sprinkled over with clumps of shrubbery and groups of trees, in a stud- iedly accidental and picturesque arrangement, with winding walks and drives giving the sense of distance and ever-chang- ing prospect, is not practised in the villa gardens, because it represents a wholly different conception of purpose and function from that which created them. Occasionally, as in parts of the Borghese grounds, one finds broad meadows, sloping lawns, and a natural or artificial wild-wood, but it is in most cases sharply distinguished from the formal part of the grounds, in which there is no mixing of the two sorts of gardening. Trees are used chiefly in two ways — first on the upper ter- race and around the outskirts of the formal garden, to serve as a picturesque background silhouetted with its stone pines and 42 European AND Japanese Gardens cypresses or poplars against the sky, and contrasting in tiie purple darkness of its evergreen foliage with the lighter and gayer colors of the bright, sun-bathed architecture and garden walls. These trees furnish shade, coolness and repose, and in the older gardens they are sometimes of enormous size. Secondly, they are used to form a\enues where the grounds are sufficiently extensive, as in the Pamfili Doria Villa, the Villa d'Este, or the Mattel Villa. Thirdly, at specified points in the flower-garden, or even on the second terrace, to relieve the THE TREATMENT OF TREES IS CHARACTERISTIC" Avenue of the Villa Borghese Rome formality, flatness or brilliancy of the parterres, gravel walks, and marble pavements. The trees most in use are the stone pine, poplar and cypress, for the more massive eftects ; palm trees occasionally for isolated points of interest, and the ilex, box and yew for hedges and for the smaller avenues ; these last three being well adapted for topiary-work or tree-clipping on account of their fine and very dense foliage. The stone pine with its straight trunk and dignified outline, with its dark and 43 The Italian Formal Garden European and Japanese Gardens spreading top, is one of the most picturesque and decorative of all trees for backgrounds and large efltects. The oak and chestnut also abound on the upper terraces of Italian grounds and in those wilder portions of wooded land which sometimes surround the formal garden. The ilex is a low shrub-like tree, of very slow growth but dense foliage, admirably suited for those tunnel-like walks forming long, natural arbors, which in ■wmkMrvistmF: CYPRESSES SILHOUETTED AGAINST THE SKY" The Central Fountain Villa Albani, Ror the Boboli and other gardens are so delightful and restful a resort. Closely cropped grass is used only as an accessory feature in the Italian formal gardens. The lawn, for its own sake, rarely figures in the Italian designs except in those large, pub- lic parks, which, like the Giardino Pincio and the Borghese gardens at Rome, serve a function like that of our city parks. The nearest approach to the lawn per se in the villas is in the grassy amphitheatres of some of the larger gardens like the 45 The Italian Formal Garden European and Japanese Gardens Boboli at Florence, belonging to the Pitti Palace, and the Borghese at Rome. These were terraced to afford an arena and open-air seating for athletic sports and mummeries in the olden time, and may not always haxe been covered with grass, but they are very beautiful in their present condition of refresh- ing greenness. IV. The garden, thus treated, was, as I have said, designed under special conditions and for a particular purpose. It was WHERE THE GROUNDS ARE SUFFICIENTLY EXTENSIVE' The Boboli Gardens intended first as the decorative setting for the social as well as private life of a very rich, worldly and splendor-loving aris- tocracy ; secondly, as an approach and environment for the palace, villa or casino of the proprietor, with which it must form an artistically congruous whole. It is evident that there could be here no question of rivalry with other kinds of gardens. The 47 The Italian Formal Garden vast park, with its drixes for iiorseback riding, its brooks and bridges, its covers for game, its preserves for deer, all that was peculiar and essential to the life of the English or French nobleman, was wholly out of the question here. All the ideas and conceptions of landscape gardening which, inherited from our English and French ancestors, we have derived from their ideal of the forest park, with its vast expanses of grass, thickets and trees, trimmed out and smoothed down b}' the gardener's care, and extended by art over other expanses at first destitute LONG NATURAL ARBORS' The Boboli Gardens, Florence of shade or wanting in natural picturesc|ueness — these ideals and conceptions were, perforce, excluded from the problem of villa design. The two kinds of gardening serve diflierent pur- poses and belong to different conditions. Each has its own beauty, each is perfectly legitimate ; both systems alike com- pel nature to do the designer's bidding, both involve the re- modeling of the earth's surface, the destruction of some of nature's productions, the recreation or substitution of others. But they proceed upon dift'erent lines, by difterent methods, 48 European and Japanese Gardei The Italian Formal Garden Lu-iiU wt _J"^^ A'] QlnaiiaaiiBflj m ill) i I 111 0 J ffl |0J^ ^.9 ] toward different results. As an abstract and academic ques- tion, controversy as to their relative merits is without signifi- cance or reason. Such discussion has its place only where specific prob- lems are pre- sented for solu- tion. It is, of course, open to question, whether, u]3on the site and within the lim- its of Mr. A.'s property, or with the sum which Mr. B. puts at the landscape gar- dener's dispo- sal, or in the climate and with the partic- ular surround- ings of Mr. C.'s estate, a formal or a pictur- esque treat- ment will be best. I hold no brief for the Ital- ian formal gar- den as against the park and wild -wood. I have simply tried to set forth the con- ditions under which it came into being, the artistic principles which controlled its design, and some of the methods and devices which produced the results attained. Some of the errors and defects of these methods I have suggested ; others are patent to' every observer. fS PLAN OF THE VILLA MEDICI GARDENS Rome 50 European and Japanese Gardens It is manifest that any attempt at a detailed reproduc- tion in this country of the exact dispositions of any given ItaHan villa would be pedantic and irrational, if not absurd, because of wide divergences of condition, climate, life and environment. But it is not irrational to study the principles and methods of this highly developed art, and to adapt to our own con- ditions such of those principles and methods as lend them- v*^?^ .^-f -i-'i --j'*'. ''"i'^ fv ORTI FARNESIANI IFARNESE GARDENSI ROME I Demolished I — Section and Perspective selves readily and artistically to those conditions. One or two cautions are, however, necessary. One should never forget, for instance, that many elements in the present aspect of these gardens are adventitious and wholly unforeseen in the original design, and that such as are due to the action of time and weather cannot be imitated or reproduced. Trees persist in growing, so do hedges. Masonry persists in crumbling ; The Italian Formal Garden gardeners will undo their predecessors' work, and not a garden looks in 1900 precisely as it did in 1600. One should also dis- criminate carefully between the composition and the details of a design, since one may be excellent and the other very infe- rior. There is no one recipe or model for the Italian garden ; differences of site and size and environment have resulted in a marvelous variety of actual designs, in spite of the uniformity of their controlling elements, and the problem of any given AN APPROACH AND ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PALACE' Rear of Pitti Palace Boboli Garder site offers the widest opportunity for variety both of scheme and of detail, and for the exercise of good taste and discrimi- nation. No formula can take the place of good taste. V. A few words are now in order as to the location of the most important examples of this art. They are naturally to be found in greatest number in or near Rome, the seat of the lux- 52 European and Japanese Gardens ENTRANCE GATE OF THE VILLA ALBANI urious Papal court and aristocracy of the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries. Within the walls, in the northern part of the city, and adjacent to the Passeggio Pubblico or Pincian gardens, is the Mlla Medici, overlooking the walls into the Borghese Villa, which spreads its vast expanse northwards into the sub- urbs, and commanding westwards a marvelous prospect of the city and of the glorious dome of St. Peter's across the ri\er a couple of miles away. The Villa Torlonia is at the northeast corner of the city, next the Porta Pia. The Ouirinal Hill is largely occupied by the royal palace and gardens, the latter very extensive and beautiful, but too flat and uniform to cap- tivate the beholder as do some of the other gardens. The cen- tral zone of the city contains no important gardens on the cis- tiberine side except the Piazza \'ittorio Emanuele and the Botanical Gardens ; the southern zone boasts the \' ilia Mattel (now, I believe, the property of an American, the Count Hoff- mann), a villa full of the restful charm of antiquity, though it has suffered from modern alterations. The finest Roman villas 53 The Italian Formal Garden lie either on the hillsides — r. ^i,":, the Villa Pia and the Vatican Gardens, the V^illa Barberini — now greatly altered, I under- stand, from its j)ristine state and used as an insane asylum — close to St. Peter's ; the Villas Lante and Corsini, conti^^uous to the public parkway of the Passeggiata Margherita ; or out- side the walls, like the immense Villa Pamfili Doria, outside the Porta S, Pancrazio ; the Villa Borghese, also of vast extent, and, like the Pamfili Doria, comprising both picturesque parks with winding drives and the formal gardening I have been de- scribing ; and the magnificent Villa Albani, the most formal and monumental of all the Roman gardens, near the Porta Salaria. Blli.,:jB THE ONE AT TIVOLI the Villa d'Este 54 European and Japanese Gardens ONE OF THE REMARKABLE GROUP AT FRASCATI Plan of the Villa Aldobrandini The Italian Formal Garden STRIKING VISTAS AND MONUMENTAL EFFECTS' The Chateau d'Eau Villa Aldobrandi European and Japanese Gardens WATER WORKS Ha Torlonia-Conti UNUSUALLY ELABORATE AND EFFECTIVE' Two other groups of villas are of easy access from Rome : those at Tivoli, or rather the one at Tivoli — the Villa d'Este, and the remarkable group at Frascati, comprising the Aldo- brandini, Falconieri, Muti, Conti, Mondragone, and others : 57 The Italian Formal Garden FOREMOST IS THE BOBOLI GARDEN' The Hill Walk Boboli Garden, Florence European and Japanese Gardens "stretches along the LAKESIDE' Lake Maggiore while at Castel Gondolfo is the beautiful Villa Barberini, which reproduces the arrangements and aspect of the ancient villa of Domitian. All these villas among the Alban hills differ radi- cally from those at Rome in tw^o respects. The house is not a mere " casino," but a permanent residence or palazzo, and the abrupt slopes of the hillsides give opportunities which are skilfully availed of, for striking vistas and monumental effects. Owing to the abundant mountain streams, the water works in these gardens are unusually elaborate and effective. Further away from Rome is the hill on which stands Caprarola, with the imposing pentagonal palace and the beau- tiful gardens of the Farnesi, built from Yignola's designs ; and a few miles further yet, the Villa Lante at Bagnaia, near Viterbo, one of the most perfect and typical of Italian villas. Florence is naturally the center of another group of villas, erected either by the Medici or by grandees of the Medi- cean court. Foremost is the Boboli garden belonging to the 59 The Italian Formal Garden WALL FOUNTAIN BY CARLO RAINALDI Villa Borghese European and Japanese Gardens Pitti Palace, just without the Porta Romana ; a garden of vast dimensions, with less of architectural interest than most large palace or villa gardens, but possessing many features of great beauty. At Poggio a Cajano is a villa dating from the early sixteenth century, with a fine old park. A little further from Florence is the Villa Medicea in Careggi, once the property of the Dukes of Tuscany, and dating from 1460, but (I believe) without important gardens. Still further to the northwest is the Villa Petraia, and west of it the Villa Castello, both now belonging to the crown, and having very elaborate and beau- tiful gardens, which are well worthy of a visit. Another Me- dicean villa near by, the Quarto, with a fine garden, belongs to the Stroganoff family. One or two other villas are to be seen on the way to Fiesole. The fine Villa Poggio Imperiale, dat- ing from 1622, is now a girls' school and not open to the pub- lic. At Genoa are no villas of the first importance, nor do I know of examples elsewhere in Italy comparable with those hitherto mentioned, either in historic or artistic interest, except the Caserta palace gardens already mentioned. There are, however, both in Northern Italy, especially near Genoa and about Lake Como, and in Southern Italy in the vicinity of Naples, many villas of the second rank, some of quite modern date, others dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These, in their measure, embody the same principles and possess a like charm with those of which I have gi\en some account in and near Rome. The difterence is in degree rather than in kind. I have discussed only the Italian villa, because it is the most monumental and characteristic form of the Italian gar- den. There are thousands of public and private parks and gar- dens which, owing to different controlling conditions and to the influence of English and French models, depart radically from the formal villa-type. Long, narrow stretches along the river- side or lakeside, small areas surrounding railway stations, open squares in the cities, demand a difterent handling from that I have described. In these we meet with both good and bad examples, but most of them are delightful, if for no other rea- son, because of the brilliance of the grass and of the flowers and foliage plants, and because of the lovely atmosphere and surroundings of the scene. Everywhere is water — in jets or cascades, and always with architectural accompaniments and The Italian Formal Garden decorative sculpture, not always ^^ood but seldom offensive, and sometimes meritorious, the shores of Lake Como, the Cascine at Florence, the Chiaja at Naples, are familiar to every tourist, and serve to call up memories of delight. But these do not fall within the cate^^ory to which I have preferred to confine mvself. HILLSIDE GARDENS NEAR NAPLES European and Japanese Gardens DETAIL OF THE STAIRWAY Gardens of the Villa Corse (See Frontispiece) ENGLISH GARDENS By R. Clipston Sturgis lEW FROM MONTECUTE HOUSE ENGLISH GARDENS' By R. CLIPSTON STURGIS FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN INJIITUTE OF ARCHITEC'I AS with English architecture the chief interest centers about the simpler work, the homely quality of which di- ^ rectly appeals to one, so the smaller and less pretentious English gardens seem in every way most perfect. There one finds no question of the rival claims of formal and informal school, of Italian, French or English styles, but merely a nat- ural common-sense adaptation of means to an end, a direct meeting of needs. In the great Italian and French gardens one feels the presence of a complete and studied scheme, and also of a conscious effort for effect. As exponents of the art and science of landscape gardening, French and Italian ex- amples are distinctly superior to the English ; but for mere, lovable beauty fitting the needs of true country-lovers, nothing can approach the English garden. In many periods of English gardening the influence of foreign styles and fashions has been felt, and has to a certain extent modified the planning and planting of grounds; but except in those places which have attempted grandeur, one finds no purely scholastic work. The earliest work of which we have any perfect knowledge is that which was influenced by the Italian Renaissance. When Inigo Jones and Sir Chris- topher Wren introduced the balance of classic planning and the detail of classic work, the gardens develo]3ed on similar lines. This period gave us the formal terrace, the walled gar- dens, the bowling-greens, the clipped hedges, and the intelli- gent use of architectural accessories which mark the majority of good English gardens. The general character of this work ' This article was a paper jirepared merely for a short address to fellow architects and makes no pretense to anything hut the most cursory survey of this most delightful and inexhaustible study. The article was not written with a view to being illustrated, so that the photographs now published do not bear any very close relation to the text. It is hoped, however, that they may give some idea, clearer than I can convey in words, of the charm of the English work. 67 English Gardens remained practically unchanged tor a couple ot centuries. With the beginning of this century, when taste in architecture and art was distinctly declining towards its final depth in the thirties, there came first, a carelessness for the beauty of the old gardens, which resulted in neglect ; and then the period when, under the guidance of Brown, the imitation of nature and the making of pictures was the aim everywhere. This resulted not only in the destruction of many fine gardens, but TERRACE AT MONTECUTE in a general perversion of taste which it has taken many years to counteract. The reaction from Brown's hopeless endeavor to imitate nature and to avoid everything pertaining to formality was very quick, and yet it is indicative of the English temper that it was not a violent swing of the pendulum to the other ex- treme. Kemp, writing between fifty and sixty, laid down rules, or rather suggested principles which seem thoroughly sound and sensible. He urged the necessity for formal treatment in 68 European and Japanese Gardens ExNGLisH Gardens DOUBLE-BORDERED PAT^ and about the house, and yet valued the freer and more natural possibilities which were unaffected by the immediate proximity of architecture. He deprecated the imitation of nature and made a strong plea for retainintr " art," by which he meant any- thing of a formal or studied nature. Simplicity, convenience, seclusion were amoni^ his chief aims, and it is characteristic of the Englishman, that, in enumerating the things which require consideration when planning the grounds, he named economy first. By this he would include not merely making the plan on such a scale that the owner could afford to lay it out, but he would consider also the cost of maintenance, and still fur- ther, the arrangement of the place so that the maintenance could be done with economy. This is a matter of great im- portance, and to its just consideration is due to a large extent the number and beautv of the English gardens. As a rule 70 European and Japanese Gardens work is not laid out or undertaken which cannot l^e easily exe- cuted and maintained without taxing the resources of the owner. With the English, gardening is so old an art that the cost of maintaining can be as readily estimated beforehand as can the cost of the execution. Tradition, habit, social custom have all combined to fix the lines on which work shall be conducted, and thus to make a standard of "form" used in the athletic sense, for the maintenance of the service of the house, the stable, and the grounds. If a man can afford but three servants, his house is arranged on the basis of what three servants can do thor- oughly well, and he will not have a larger house unless he can afford to have his service adequate. His stable will be regu- lated with equal care. He will have only such horses and car- riages as can be kept in first-rate condition. Applying these same principles to the garden, collecting and making use of the cumulative experience of many generations of gardeners, he lays out his ground with clear foresight as to its mainte- nance. Nothing is to be slovenly, nothing neglected. The A GARDEN BACKED WITH TREES English Gardens European and Japanese Gardens SHADED WALK AT FRANKLEIGH results amply justify this course. The thoroughness of the Eng-Hsh garden is the very root of its charm. The garden, whether large or small, shows care in every part, and not only care, but generally the loving care of the man who is really fond of his garden as a whole, and of his plants individually. One cannot go through a garden with the owner or his gar- dener without feeling that to them the garden is as intimate as the house. The whole attitude of mind of the Englishman is the de- sire to satisfy a need rather than to supply a luxury, and there- fore this is generally found to be the chief motive in the laying out of his garden. The great majority of English gardens have developed in direct response to practical needs, and if one studies these needs and sees how they have been met, the his- tory of nine-tenths of the English gardens is given. The needs of the house are approaches and courts or yards. The main approach is for the convenience of the family and their guests ; it is not considered as a portion of the grounds especially desirable as an outlook. The chief living rooms are where aspect and outlook are most favorable ; so that the entrance hall is naturally given the less desirable •Ji English Gardens aspect. On this account, if tor no other, the immediate ap- proach to the house is not so capable as other places of being made livable. Considerations of utility are therefore paramount. If it is a carriage entrance, a short drive and a convenient turn are the things sought. This has resulted in a number of types of which the most familiar are the simple in-and-out on different lines, and the straight drive finishing in a circle. Both these lend themselves readily to a formal treatment, and trees planted regularly, hedges or walls give an element of style to the simplest of plans. The kitchen approach is even more utilitarian ; the chief object being to keep it separate from the master's approach and screened from view. The most direct approach is the simplest of turns ; privacy is obtained by walls, fences, hedges, or, in the case of basement offices, by sinking the road below the general grade. The formal planning of the early seventeenth century, which developed the H and E plans, suggested the partial or complete enclosing of the two approaches. It reproduced in more regular form the early forecourt and basecourt. The for- mer name is still generally in use, the latter is more generally referred to as kitchen-court. The forecourt became at once an interesting feature of the plan, but never lost its true status. It A WALK BEFORE THE HOUSE 74 European and Japanese Gardens English Gardens was always the approach and never a place to idle or take pleasure in. Its beauties are such as can be readily appre- hended at a g"lance. One finds none of those hidden nooks, and unsuspected charms, which are incidental to the garden. A simple piece of greensward, a few trees, possibly such statu- ary or vases as will tell at a comparative distance and can be comprehended in a glance, — these are the general features of forecourts. Sometimes, but rarely, one finds paved forecourts, but this is unusual, and the English are more apt to reduce their pavement or gravel to the smallest dimensions rather than increase it unnecessarily. The kitchen-court is entirely for the use of the trades-peo- ple and for the accommodation of the kitchen service. It may sometimes serve as a drying-yard, though this is generally sep- arate. It is therefore paved or gravelled throughout to be dry under foot and to allow the free handling of wagons. It is the noisy and disagreeable part of the establishment, and it is con- sidered essential that it should be removed as far as possible GARDEN CORNER 76 European and Japanese Gardens BOX-BORDERED BEDS from the main house and as much shut off as may be. House- hold service is brought to much greater perfection in England than in this country, so that distances, which to an American housekeeper would seem impossible, are deliberately planned for, that offices and service-yards may be out of sight, smell and hearing. Generally the kitchen-court is shut off by part of the house itself, and if this is not possible, it is screened by high walls. The drying-ground is generally more open and sunny, and not infrequently clothes are dried on the ground instead of hung on a line ; so that the drying-ground may be a pleasant piece of turf, not unsightly even when covered' with white linen. Thus in meeting the need of approaches to the house the two courts are developed. Before taking up in detail the needs which decide the character of the grounds more removed from the house, it will be well to point out that the English invariably carry into their 77 English Gardens A SMALL HOUSE-COURT 78 European and Japanese Gardens A BROAD WALK TO THE HOUSE grounds the same desire for privacy and separation which is noticeable in the house. The careful separation of the kitchen and offices from the master's quarters has already been re- marked, and a similar separation is to be found between other parts of the household and between individual rooms. The nurseries are apart ; the master's own rooms are apart ; the guest-rooms are apart ; and finally, except in suites of rooms used only for entertainment, the individual rooms are well divided from each other. This same principle underlies the garden plan. The place is considered as an outdoor house. The grounds are divided up according to their use, and each portion has its well-established boundaries. In a place of even an acre or two the first consideration is what can be got from the land in the way of actual return, and the space for a kitchen-garden is almost the first consideration. The demands of pleasure may march side by side with this utilitarian requirement, but it is very rare to find a man laying 79 English Gardens THE MORE FORMAL GARDEN out liis place with no thought of anything but beauty and pas- time. One may therefore be justified in considering the kitchen-garden as the most prominent necessity after the approaches. This garden must be near the liouse and near the kitchen and the gardener's house, and yet not too evident. It is never, however, treated as an unsightly part of the estab- lishment ; and, indeed, there are manv kitchen-gardens which 80 European and Japanese Gardens yMHA f 1 mS^^^B^^ I^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^ ^^ ■-tm-^" -:.mJ^..:.:-..---.. a.pr;^%^r:- , . ^P« ■ w^S^?^ •.•••.-V-' _^^^^^^^P^.^^--- ...V, Ji ^ HBB^'. THE GARDEN WALK are quite delightful spots in which to ramble. A garden at Wells has dwarf espalier apples bordering its path, beautiful fruit trees on its fine old walls, standard roses marking the lines of some of its paths, and the flowers and fruit are helped, rather than hurt, by the peas and beans, the splendid blue- green of the cabbage tribe, and the rich brown of the turned- over soil. As the kitchen-garden is to be an apartment by itself, as it were, it is bounded, and at the same time pro- tected, by walls. Large gardens would be subdivided, and one might find separate gardens for herbs, for small fruits, for roots and for the more quickly growing crops, such as beans and peas. The necessary water is made use of as an interesting feature. Water which has lain in the sun is better than cold well water, or water just from the town mains, so one generally finds a good-sized basin making an interesting pool in the gar- den. A proper place for tools creates a garden-house — fre- quently quite a delightful feature — and the greenhouse, hot- English Gardens European and Japanese Gardens bed cold-frames, bins for leaves, and all such accessories of garden-work are made to lend interest to the kitchen-garden and give it the air of order which is characteristic of all English work. The desire to make the most of every scrap of ground induces the utmost care in getting all that is possible out of smallest compass. The walls, as well as the ground, must yield their increase, and all must be in compact form. This has pro- A MODERN HOUSE AND GARDEN duced the many varieties of dwarf trees which add interest to the garden, and has led to the careful rotation of crops, and the following of crops in the same season, all of which increase the appearance of care and thoroughness. Flowers are so interwoven with kitchen-garden, part of which is generally occupied by the varieties which are more useful for cutting than for their beauty out of doors, as to lead one to the consideration of the flower-garden as the next need to be satisfied. The flowers one might divide under three 83 English Garden; GRASS TERRACES AND GARDEN-HOUSE heads : roses, perennials, annuals. This is of course a very primi- tive division, but those three classes are represented in e\'ery English garden ; and the three, as befits their dift'erent charac- teristics, are generally separated, so that one has the rose-gar- den, the perennial beds or borders, and the parterre of annuals, Roses are the special pride of the English gardener, and with climbers, standards, and low-budded roses, and all the \arieties of briars, almost anything can be done with the rose-garden. Like other parts of the place it is enclosed with walls or a hedge. The perennials, being like the roses permanent occupiers of the ground, are placed in deep rich beds ; and for convenience both of tending and picking, are frequently in long, narrow borders against the walls. This gives the tall growing plants the support and protection of the wall, and leaves room for the various smaller varieties in the edge. Such a long border, with perhaps a hedged walk or bowling-green running the length of it, is a familiar and most charming feature. The annuals European and Japanese Garde NS English Gardens European and Japanese Gardens IE WALL OF A MODERN GARDEN are in small beds by themselves, the beds often bordered with dwarf box, — so that the regular outline of the beds may be pleasing even when the beds themsehes are empty. To reach the gardens and to enjoy them when in their midst, one finds pleasant walks, some shady, — perhaps completely embowered, — others sunny, for use on cold days. There are also seats and garden-houses. In laying all this out, there is generally a double aim ; first to give, by occasional long vistas, a sense of size ; and sec- ond, by screened enclosures and half-concealed exits, a sense of privacy and a stimulus to the imagination for what lies be- yond. In the most interesting gardens the element of the un- expected is always present, and the fact that it cannot be a sur- prise to the owner does not really detract from its value ; to every visitor it is a source of delight, new pleasures still unfold- ing until the last surprise of the round is in finding oneself back again at the starting-place. Architectural laws demand a certain amount of le\el space immediately about the house, and various sports require level 87 English Gardens i^round further afield. The bowhng-green, crociuet-ground, and lawn-tennis courts have formed at one time or another necessary parts in the layout of even a small place. These fiat pieces of the splendid turf which is so common in England are among^ the most beautiful features of the English garden. Here again the love for retirement suggests enclosing walls or hedges, so that the court or the green is really a great out-of- doors room, with garden seats and benches about, or perhaps in the more stately ones, busts on plinths in Italian fashion set against the somber green of the yew hedge. Again one sees that this feature is produced in direct response to a need. Le\'el ground cannot always be obtained naturally, and the need of it has developed the terraces which abound in the hilly districts. These may be the mere formal treatment of the plat- form on which the house securely rests ; or they may form the various divisions of the hillside garden ; or again, surrounding the sunken garden, they may give the pleasant walk and that most delightful of all views which one gets of a small garden, A LEVEL STRETCH 88 European and Japanese Gardens the view looking down. All the features we have considered may be worked out on a groundwork of terraces, and their possibilities as well as their charms, are endless. Sedding well said that howe\'er much we were refined and cultivated there was always an underlying sa\'agery which at times demanded satisfaction. One must tire of the sure mark of man's hand, and long for nature unrestrained : the wide sea- board and the rude forest. So one finds in almost every Eng- lish place of any size some wilderness, some copse, or combe, which shall be left free and wild, or at the least a reminder of nature quite free. But the transition from the cultivated aspect of nature to its wilder form must be gradual ; one does not want to open the garden-gate in the wall and be in the forest. Between the two, one finds the pasture-lands, rolling, sheep- cropped fields, bordered not with the masonry wall or the clipped hedge, but with the wild hedgerow% thick with thorn and holly and punctuated with the upstanding elms. From the pastures to the copse and the woodland the transition is easy. English Gardens A WELL-LAID LAWN A GARDEN PATH 90 European and Japanese Gardens THE OBLONG POOL Thus the En^Hsh garden has its forecourt and basecourt, its gardens for fruit, vegetables and flowers, its places for sport and recreation ; and to guard and protect all these from search- ing winds and prying eyes, are the boundaries, the divisions, the walls and the hedges. The walls, especially those near the house, are always in close touch with the house itself. They are built of stone if the house be of stone, and of brick if the house be a brick one, and in their ornament, balustrades, gate- ways, posts, copings and finials, they echo the character of the house. As one goes further from the house the walls are less architectural and more purely utilitarian. The boundary wall of the place, or the north or east wall of the garden may be ten or twelve feet high, for these are to serve as a real protection ; others may be but two or three feet high, mere boundaries to mark a line. The hedge is perhaps the commonest bound of all, and this varies from the rough pasture hedgerow to the clipped yew, or holly, or box. The ornamental clipping of 91 English Gardens hedges and indixidual trees, or what is known as topiary-work, was an importation from Holland, and at one time was very popular. There are many examples of this work in the older j^ardens, but to-day clipped work is rather more sober, and, on the whole, more in keepin^t^ with the common-sense beauty of the English garden. Shrubs are rarely seen as individual show-plants, but are generally massed and placed with some special end in view AN OUTLOOK FROM THE HOUSE beyond and apart from their mere beauty. They will serxe to screen the offices or the kitchen-yard, or to make a windbreak for more delicate things growing on the borders of the lawn. Trees also are used very cautiously as individual specimens. Occasionally a great plane tree or an ilex stands in lonely gran- deur at the edge of the lawn ; but, as a rule, the trees are planted in groups to serve definite purposes, — sometimes to shut out an undesirable view, sometimes to form a vista towards a pleasant scene. Again, a group of elms at the end 92 European and Japanese Gardens of a place may simply serve as a background, a j^reat drop- scene, which finishes the \'iew and lea\es one in doubt as to how much more there may be beyond. Many a small place of two or three acres gives an impression at once of seclusion and of size, because the great trees pre\'ent one's seeing what lies beyond. The larger places will, of course, have their copse and woodland ; but even here the marks of axe, mattock and saw show that thoroughness and care, and that eye to profit which per\'ade everything ; for dead wood is always cleared out, the spindling trees are felled, the brushwood is cut and tied in fagots. Everywhere there are signs of an old industry, a well-worked country, where e\erything must be turned to account. When one wanders through English gardens and feels all their delight, one cannot but be con\inced that com- mon-sense and thrift are the roots on which the beauty has grown and thrived. A HEDGE GATEWAY 93 FRENCH GARDENING AND ITS MASTER 5v John Galen Howard O £ ? E FRENCH GARDENING AND ITS MASTER By JOHN GALEN HOWARD FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF A RCH IIECIS SUCH a subject as that upon which I have been asked to say a few words is of far too \ast a scope to be adequately treated within the Hmits of a short paper. I have therefore thought it wise to single out one great epoch and to con- illustrate ; fine my re- a n d e \' e r marks and since that my illustra- '^BEA^«^^IIBiBI time, all work tions mainly ':&BBHpHh^ ''- ^^^^^^Ri of French- tothatperiod. ImP'^W^^^mIHH 1 men in land- This can the ^^^^BS^^ -'^'L. -^ *' "^^jIBj^BS^^^H^B'S scape design more justly and the more I^^IHR^^^--, has been done with readily be that age of done in ■ ■ mL^ ■ f, achievement speaking of .^mh'-^\ ^ . very vividly French gar- dens, inas- m-^'s^^ ^Ul^ in the eye of the artist, much as all whether he the early his- "^—^- worked from tory of hor- ■ 1 it as an ac- ticulture i n cepted proto- France leads ... t -^^pK|^^.-|y '^^ i^afwiify "• type, or fiung up to the per- A LEAD VASE himself into iod I propose Basin of Neptune, Versailles eager oppo- especially to sition to the principles which governed it and made its greatness. The entire history of French gardening is dominated in a degree very exceptional in any art or people by a single per- sonality— that, namely, of Le Notre. I do not mean to say, 97 French Gardening and Its Master of course, that there was no important gardening in France before or after his day, or by other men during the period of his own activity. The gentle art was indeed practiced with keenest deHght, and with signal success, by countless genera- tions of Frenchmen before the man I have named began his career ; and to so great a degree is this true, that the French may fairly be called a nation of garden builders. There has always, from the *% V e r }' earliest times, been, in the French character, a special fondness and aptitude for the art of horticul- ture ; and from the earliest times there have been striking examples of gardens whose design has been developed in obe- dience to the laws not merely of an art, — that is to say, a science, — but of a fine art, strictly so-called. No medieval stronghold or re- ligious establish- ment was com- plete without its space (however small) set apart for the special purpose of a garden — a pleasure-ground where flowers and fruit-trees were disposed in such forms and in such combijiations as to give not only a practical result as a matter of agriculture, but a grateful effect from the point of view of pure beauty. The French seem always to have felt an instinctive delight in the simple pleasures of the o])en air: in flowers and trees, and vistas, and run- PLAN OF THE GARDENS OF VERSAILLES 98 European and Japanese Garde NS French Gardening and Its Master BASIN OF LATONE AND THE PALACE VERSAILLES ning waters, — which led them to bring all these things into their own homes, to add them as so many intimate features of the greater house. But all this instinctive delight in the gar- den, all this acquired skill in garden-making, led on and up to THE BASIN OF APOLLO European and Japanese Gardens the climax of accomplishment under the famous gardener of the Grand Monarque, who in his single practice summed up all that was best in what preceded him. It is easy to see the influence that Italy had upon the early development of agronomy in France, just as it is easy to trace the growth of the other arts from Italian sources. Italian en- lightenment preceded the French ; and in the same wav that, W0 \^mm^ jlK^^:^ THE BASIN OF CERES VERSAILLES in the early centuries of the Christian Era, Gaul drew her in- spiration from Rome, so later through the ages, France, while always coloring with her own character what she appropriated from her instructress, sat at the feet of Italy. This is true in a measure of all the arts, — but most distinctly so in gardening. It would even be difficult in many instances to distinguish the design of a French garden of the middle ages from an Italian example of a similar period. And this for a twofold reason : — French Gardening and Its Master TO'.- GROVE OF THE COLONNADE first, the French civiHzation followed in the wake of the Italian, and second, the art of gardening was at that time little devel- oped, compared with what it afterward became, and was, in 4r 4^ THE BASIN OF THE DRAGON VERSAILLES European and Japanese Gardens THE ORANGERY VERSAILLES effect, the least advanced of all the arts. Consequently the characteristics of the various peoples practicing it were little marked, for the early arts of all peoples much resemble one another ; it is only at the higher, and especially the highest points of their respective developments, that the finer and more characteristic elements of a race are brought out in its art accomplishment. Du Cerceau, in commenting upon the undoubted influence which the taste of the Italians exercised over their northern neighbors, outlines the type which was common in both France and Italy. "Everywhere," he says," were great divisions with avenues of high trees, fences of hazel, and hedges of hawthorne. Long, trellised arbors, opening out at intervals into shady sum- mer-houses, ideally arranged for scenes of gallantry, sur- rounded the open central space, or divided it into several individual gardens. Marble basins with spouting water-jets and cascades, gliding from artificial rocks, made up the prin- 103 French Gardening and Its Master European and Japanese Gardens cipal remaining- features of the rather chiUing- and over-sym- metrical decoration of the ItaHan gardens, in which everything seemed obedient to a singfle demand, — coolness, shade, mystery." The transition from the dark ag"es to the Renaissance was marked in gardening- more by a change of scale than by a change in kind, or point of view. Whereas the old-time castle THE CROSS OF FRANCHARD FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU garden, or cloister garth, had been a small and confined area, — what could without too much sacrifice of security and increase of protective garrison be aft'orded within the moat, — the fifteenth century brought in larger ideas, and not only the desire, but the possibility of using wider spaces. Gardens expanded, accordingly, from cramped, walled spaces, strictly within the precincts, to wide free fields stretching far out over the plain, and even into the forests, — themselves more and los French Gardening and Its Master GORGE OF THE MEDLARS FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU European and Japanese Gardens more frequently being- brought into the great scheme by means of long straight avenues cut across through the thickest woods and gi\'ing centers of interest from which again new lines of view were opened out, and out, till wide regions, many miles in extent and of the most diversified character, were held in PLAN OF THE PALACE AND GARDENS OF FONTAINEBLEAU leash, as it were, — their wildness preserved as their most pre- cious quality, yet netted and meshed across by lanes, round points, paths and avenues, which give them a fascinating sem- blance of complete submission to civilizing influences. Who has traversed the marvelous forest of Fontainebleau, for exam- ple, but with a new sense of the wildness, the strangeness, the indomitable spirit of nature ? Vet all that wild territory is but a vast garden, its design composed and adjusted with the last degree of skill, and cultivated with a care as extreme in its large way as that with which, in their more intimate fashion, the Luxembourg gardens, for instance, are dressed and cod- dled. The principal professional garden-makers of the Renais- sance were the three Mollets, Bernard Palissy, and Olivier de Serres, the last being rather a practical man than a designer. The Mollets seem to have been a sort of dynasty in the art, the first of the name having created for the Due d'Aumale the famous gardens about the Chateau d'Anet, of which practically nothing is left. The castle itself has been razed, with the exception of some of the loveliest portions, which were removed to the court of the School of Fine Arts in Paris. Claude Mol- 107 French Gardening and Its Master let, the son of the first, is considered as the immediate prede- cessor of Le Notre himseU" ; to him is ascribed the invention of fioral embroideries. He is largely responsible for the gar- den schemes at Fontainebleau, and at St. Germain-en-Laye (1595). His work in the Gardens of the Tuileries was, how- ever, totally destroyed by freezing. Andre Mollet, the third of the family and son of Claude, became gardener to Louis XIII. He was afterward called by James I to England, where his work had a determining influence on the development of gardening in the United Kingdom. Bernard Palissy, the same who is better known for his work in porcelain, is remembered in gardening annals for a certain fabulous pleasure-ground which was carried out, accord- ing to his unbridled imagination, for Catherine de Medici at Chenonceaux, where he completely abandoned himself to his fancy for rockeries, basins, frogs, turtles, snakes, shell-work, etc. A long ''dialogue" of his on this subject, expatiating on the beauties of the work, is quoted by Mangin in his interest- ing book. THE PALACE FROM THE PARK FONTAINEBLEAU 108 European and Japanese Gardens French Gardening and Its Master European and Japanese Gardens BASIN OF THE CASCADE FONTAINEBLEAU But it was not the professional i^^ardeners alone who were successful in the art. Many of the finest gardens were laid out by architects who designed the grounds to harmonize with their buildings. The finest garden of that time which has been pre- served for us in anything like its original beauty, in fact the only remaining Renaissance garden in Paris, is the garden of the Luxembourg, which was laid out, between 1615 and 1620, for Marie de Medici by Jacques Debrosse, the architect of the palace of the same name. Originally these grounds were of great extent, but they have been repeatedly curtailed and en- croached upon, only the central portions immediately about the palace retaining their original character. There are cer- tainly few spots in the world which possess a more exquisite, a more satisfying charm. But all of these men, successful as they were, yield the palm to Le Notre, who occupies much the same place in the art of gardening as Shakespeare fills in poetry ; a place recognized not bv his own race alone, but by the world. Le Notre, indeed, French Gardening and Its Master is a name known to all men, — and of how many other names in his art can that be said ? How many of the names I have mentioned are kno\vn, except Palissy, whose work in other lines is his chief claim to renown, beyond the circles of those who have made a special study of the history of horticulture ? In other arts one can run through a dozen names with ease, but in gardening there is one man, and one only, of such com- manding genius that his name is a household word and his chief work a recognized classic. Le Notre resembled Shakes- peare in another point, namely, that he was content to take THE CHATEAU FROM THE LAKE CHANTILLY the material ready at hand and perfect it, rather than run to the ends of the earth for new motives on which to build, new forms in w^iich to cast his work. The poise, the insight, the imagination of genius of the first order was his ; but he saw his field to be large enough in perfecting and in inter- preting what his predecessors had prepared for him. The quintessence of genius and of wisdom, this, — not to throw away as nothing worth the skill of preceding ages and his own ; but to seize it, treasure it, transmute it in the alembic of his own per- sonality,— put it forth at last pure gleaming metal of creative power. Of such stuff was the originality of Shakespeare in European and Japanese Garde NS French Gardening and Its Master European and Japanese Garden; PLAN OF THE PARK OF MARL\ poetry, and of Le Notre in gardening^. Of what immense inter- est it would be to show how this principle holds through the history of all the arts, — that he is greatest who can take what other men have done and better it, perfect it, — not he who pre- sumptuously shatters traditions, essaying, as it were, what no one has ever succeeded in doing, anew and alone to construct an art out of his own inner consciousness. Andre Le Notre was born at Paris in 1613. He was the son of the King's snn'ntendant, as his title was : what would correspond, I suj)pose, in our time and tongue, to Director of Works, — head gardener and outside man. The father was anxious to have his son become a painter, though in those days the natural course of events was for a man's son to follow in his father's footsteps. We are forced to draw the conclusion that the surintciidaiit had found his calling none too much like the beds of roses his business was to cultivate, since he went so far out of his way to induce his son not to 115 French Gardening and Its Master European and Japanese Gardens follow it. However that may be, the son showed early a fondness for things beautiful, was always, from his earliest childhood, about the gardens of the King, with his father, and showed an aptitude for drawing as well as cultivating. At his father's instance he studied painting under Simon Vouet, in whose studio he met, among others, Le Sueur, Mignard and Lebrun ; but his heart turned ever to the paternal calling, and his incli- nation was finally so strong as not to be denied. He took up the profession of gardening in the highest sense, — what we call landscape architecture. It is certain that his training in a studio where he came into personal relations with the leading painters, sculptors and architects of his time, had a definite and very powerful influence over the young man's development, giving him a wider range and a truer artistic sense than even his genius could have commanded otherwise. The practical knowledge, which was his as a direct heritage from his father, become virtually his second nature, was thus linked with the broadest artistic education of his time. Beside these advant- ages he possessed an intellect of great clearness and power, A PROMENADE IN THE TUILERIES French Gardening and Its Master European and Japanese Gardens and a personal character at once of winninj^'- charm and of masterly strength. An individuality so marked as his would have achieved greatness in almost any time or land ; small wonder, then, that in a period so sympathetic with his nature as was the age of Louis XIV in France, — an age of luxury, limit- less expenditure, devotion to art, to pomp and to ceremony, an age which played upon his own nature and formed it, and in turn was played upon and formed by it, — we find him accomplishing a work very exceptional in its extent and its THE TUILERIES AND THE LOUVRE variety. No doubt ne had countless assistants in his multifa- rious tasks, but his spirit informs and distinguishes all the end- less list of works which are counted among his masterpieces ; and, in addition, the indications of his genius served to remodel, and practically reconstruct, many of the gardens of an earlier day, already famous, but transformed and made to blossom anew under the suggestions of his enlightening imagination. He stands alone for his art, through the century, which was honored by his birth, and the succeeding one. He summed up all that was best worth while in the garden practice of his own time and that preceding it, and welded it into a consistent whole, through sheer force of creative power. He invented, indeed, no new kind, but he ennobled and synthesized the French Gardening and Its Master THE MEDICI FOUNTAIN GARDENS OF THE LUXEMBOURG European and Japanese Gardens A FOUNTAIN GARDENS OF THE LUXEMBOURC insignificant and scattered elements of preceding practice into a finely realized ensemble which stands up proudly, over- shadowing the earlier time and shedding light over our own. Before his time there had been comparatively little varia- tion in the design of gardens. One work mimicked another, the same effects being reproduced with only slight changes to suit the individual requirements or difficulties of the client or the situation. No great underlying principles of design were recognized, and no effort had been made to get outside of the work and look at it in a large way, objectively. Errors and imperfections had constantly arisen from miscalculations of foreshortening, the easiest of faults to make, and the most difficult to obviate, except by long and dearly bought experi- ence. A plan or bird's-eye view, as everyone knows, may be charming, and yet the execution prove very disappointing, owing to just this awful difference in the foreshortening. If this is true now, with numberless examples of landscape work from which to argue, on which to base one's judgment, how much greater must have been the difficulty in former times. French Gardening and Its Master European and Japanese Gardens That it was well-nijvjfh insurmountable we know. But the instinct of Le Notre for the pecuHar beauty of g^ardens, united with a clear imagination, enabled him to free himself, to a remarkable decree always, and in some instances absolutely, from the cruel hamperinof of conventional materials of study ; and at Versailles, probably his finest work, certainly the finest that has been preserved to our day, his spirit seems to have risen entirely superior to ordinary limitations, and has pro- PLAN OF THE GARDENS OF THE LUXEMBOURG duced a work as perfect in its complex simplicity, and in every detail of its eftect as adequate and as just, as it is impressive. Le Notre possessed in preeminent degree what his race calls "the sense of the beautiful in space"; and in like degree he had, to quote one of his biographers, " the sense of elegance in majesty and regularity." He was especially fortunate in his patron. Louis XIV was an ideal client for a designer like le Notre. While he seems not to have been the actual discov- erer of his gardener's talent, he at any rate gave him his noblest opportunities, took him literally into his heart, and heaped benefits and honors upon him. I fancy, from the 123 French Gardening and Its Master PLAN OF THE GARDENS AND PARK accounts of his dealings with his artists of various ivinds, that the Grand Monarque was far from being what an architect would call an easy client. He had ideas of his own, thought he knew it all better than the cleverest of others, made changes from beginning to end during the progress of the work ; and indulged, without a thought of the other man, in all those annoyances which, if they were not at times so difficult to bear with, we should call petty. But with all that, he recog- nized very substantially, in honors, in pecuniary grants, and, best of all, in enlarged opportunities for work, his indebted- ness to those who worked for him. Le Notre was a consum- mate courtier, never for a moment presuming to a semblance of social equality with the great nobles for whom he worked ; but at the same time giving rein, in their presence, to the charming child-like good nature and enthusiasm which was so important a factor in his success. Those who employed him loved him, and he made his way, and got his way, quite as much, probably, by the exercise of his personal charm as by bringing into play the more masterful powers of his intellect. European and Japanese Gardens French Gardening and Its Master In the midst of pompous formality he was a playful child, and the great world liked the contrast. At one time in his career he visited Italy, wishing to see what had been done there in his art. While in Rome he was summoned to the presence of the Pope, Innocent XI. The great prelate entered into familiar conversation with the gardener, complimented him upon his wonderful successes, and expressed regret that he had never had the opportunity of seeing his work. Le Notre entered into the subject with enthusiasm, abandoned all for- mality, assured the Pope that he must visit France, and see his Versailles. At this. Innocent protested as being too old to undertake such a journey. " But your holiness is still vigor- ous," cried Le Notre, " and I wager will bury the entire college of cardinals ! " With that he threw his arms about the Pope's neck and kissed him effusively, — an unheard-of liberty, which seems to have delighted the head of the churh. One is left to THE GRAND CASCADE 126 European and Japanese Gardens RUINS OF THE PALACE imagine the charm of ingenuousness with which such antics must have been accompanied for them to have been received as they were. When word of this e\ent reached the court at Versailles, high wagers were laid that the tale was untrue be- cause incredible. But Louis XIV, when he heard the account, burst into laughter, asserting he knew it was true, " Because " said he, " he kisses even me, when he has been long without seeing me ! " M. Andre maintains that the great Frenchman found nothing in Italy worthy of his attention, and returned without having learned anything, — a claim which we need not take too seriously. He busied himself, while there, by creating two of the finest gardens in the vicinity of Rome, those of the Villa Pamfili and the Villa Ludovisi. He was ennobled in 1665, and died in 1 700. Coysevox, the sculptor of many of the exquisite details of the great gardener's work, executed his bust, which is now in the Louvre. A list of Le Notre's works would be too long for me to give here ; but I must mention, in addition to his masterpiece at Versailles, his gardens at Marly, now nearly obliterated, but which must have been only less fine than Versailles, though in 127 French Gardening and Its Master an essentially different manner. The gardens of the Tuileries also are in large part his, though the scheme as a whole is hardly distinguishable, owing to serious changes in portions. Of course his tour-de-force for Fouque at Vaux-le-Vicomte, one of his earliest great efforts, is famous for the jealousy it roused in the king's breast when he saw so magnificent a work exe- cuted for his financier. Le Notre soon after began the mar- velous series of works for his royal master Louis XIV himself. Other of his important designs were at Sceaux, Meudon, Chan- tilly, and St. Cloud. In closing this hasty sketch, I can hardly do better than to quote, in translating, from that fascinating work, Lcs Jardins, by M. Mangin, to which I am largely indebted for the facts I have presented. M. Mangin says, in speaking of Le Notre : — '' What he accomplished was to naturalize in France the classic style, that of the century of Augustus and of the Renaissance. Far from breaking with tradition, Le Notre was on the contrary its most eminent representative in modern times, and his supe- riority over his immediate forerunners comes from the fact that although the faithful disciple of the old masters, he knew how to draw inspiration from their lessons without copying their works." THE TERRACE AT ST. GERMAIN 128 JAPANESE LANDSCAPE GARDENING By K. Honda JAPANESE LANDSCAPE GARDENING (Notes to the Lantern Slides) By K. HONDA MEMBER OF 1 HE JAPANESE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY IN Japan we have many types of garden construction which have been described by different authors. In this paper we confine ourselves to the most important and interesting- designs chosen from the best sources. The south is always considered the most suitable ex- posure for dwelling's among Japanese, as the summer breeze generally prevails from this direction. This idea is so well ob- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1^^' !■ 1 ^^H^HHHfP^^^ ' ^^ m ll^i^ffiMBP J^^^^ *^BBBBimBBMfeBf'ii ^^'^ MANGWANJI GARDEN 131 Japanese Landscape Gardening PLATE I HILL GARDEN-FINISHED STYLE served in garden construction that everyone adheres to the principle. In general, the composition of gardens may be treated under two divisions : Flat {liiranhua) and Hill Gardens [tsiikiyaina-niwa], both of which may be again subdivided into three different forms called, respectively, "Finished," "Inter- mediary," and " Rough." HILL GARDEN — FIXLSHKI) STVLP:. Plate I represents an ordinary Hill Garden of the finished style, and may be taken as the best form suitable to spacious land, located in front of the principal building. The positions of the principal hills, stones, trees, cascades, bridges, and isles are all arranged, as shown upon the plate. HILLS. Hill I, which forms the central feature, represents a moun- tain of considerable size, and should have broad sweeping sides. Hill 2, always taken in connection with No. i, is to be placed close by the latter, but is somewhat lower and consequently is 132 European and fAPANESE Gardens Japanese Landscape Gardening of secondary importance. Hill 3, placed on the opposite side of No. I, occupies a part of the foreground. It is intended to represent a lower hill or spur divided from the principal moun- tain by a lowland. The lowland is supposed to be occupied by a hamlet, road, or stream. It must be planted with a few trees or shrubs of thick foliage, so as to give an idea of a sheltered and inhabited dale. Hill 4 is a small eminence, generally dis- ■■■ ■r r- ^^ ^^ jL£ '.■■ «ii' -^^^ •{ ' 11.; 1 .<£ ^ 1 •• 1- "^i*r"ii:iwB^ w>-<'»i.-^ ,.- •. ^^mf^^ THE MIKADO'S GARDEN posed in the near foreground, which forms a part of the hill- side. Hill 5 is placed in the farther end of the garden, in such manner that one can have a view of it between Hills i and 2. As this hill is intended to look like a distant peak, it must be executed so as to have a precipitous appearance, while its bot- tom must be covered perfectly to gi\'e only a suggestion of foreground. The illustration shows ten important types of rock-stones, of which the following is an explanation : 134 EuRop \N AND Japanese Gardens / Japanese Landscape Gar ening European and Japanese Gardens STONES. No. I, termed "Guardian Stone," is a high one and is placed in an upright position. It is situated in the center of the garden, and is called the dedication stone. No. 2, forming a balance with No. i, is placed on the opposite side of the cascade. No. 3, large and fiat, is termed " Worshipping Stone." It is placed generally in the foreground, or, some- times, on the center of an island, or even on an open space, accessible by stepping-stones. In the illustration it is repre- sented as located on an island. The conil)inati()n of No. 1 and No. 3 can never be omitted from a garden. No. 4, termed " Perfect-View Stone," is placed in the " near foreground." It is equally good to have it on a side of the garden, if by the latter position it maintains a due prominence. Often two or more flat stones are used. No. 5, situated on the other side of the gar- den, and just in front of No. 4, should be so placed as to be in STONE LANTERNS 137 Japanese Landscape Gardening SORINTO, NIKKO European and Japanese Gardens harmony with a flat one, termed " Water-Tray Stone." Both are situated on the shore of a lake, and are carefully arrang-ed in connection with the hi^h-water level. No. 6, called " Moon- Shadow Stone," occupies an important position in the distance being placed in the valley between two principal hills, just in front of the peak (Hill No. 5). No. 7, called " Cave Stone," is upright and is very similar in use to the " Guardian Stone," for which it is often substituted. No. 8 generally goes by the name of " Seat-of-Honour Stone." It is broad and flat, and LANTERN AND WATER-BASIN FUKAGAWA GARDEN placed in a horizontal position, next to the "Worshipping Stone," it is an important feature. It answers to a small vertical of second- ary importance. No. 9, called "Pedestal," or "Snail Stone," occupies the first rank among the stepping-stones, and is ar- ranged in the foreground. It is somewhat higher than the others. No. 10, called " Idle Stone," consists of two broad, low, and somewhat round stones, should be placed in the shade along the water. Others shown in the plate are of minor im- portance, and their special names are not given ; they are merely arranged to produce harmony in the composition. Japanese Landscape Gardening TREES. Before giving a full account of the vegetation in Japanese gardens one must mention that a particularly noteworthy tree is always found among several others of less importance. No. i, termed "Principal Tree" [S/iojin-boku), is a pine or an oak well grown, accompanied by other trees with thick foliage. No. 2, called "Perfection Tree" {Keiyo-hoku), is only second in importance to No. i. Its trunk, branches, and foliage are objects (pf particular interest. No. 3, called " Tree of Solitude " [Sckizoi-boku), may be either single or grouped, but must always have thick foliage. It is intended to give shade and to impart a very secluded aspect to the garden. No. 4, called "Cascade Circuit" [takigakoi], consists of a number of low trees or even bushes. They are planted around the waterfall in such a manner as to shelter the cascade from too much bold exposure to the eyes. No. 5, having the name of "Setting Sun" [Sekiyo-boku), is planted in the background of the garden. The tree is planted to turn westward, and is intended to screen the garden from the rays of the setting sun. The tree best adapted for the purpose is generally maple, or, if this cannot be obtained, at least another red foliage tree should be pro- cured that would produce a striking effect under the evening sunshine. They are sometimes replaced by the cherry and plum tree. No. 6 is called the "Perspective Pine" {Mikosi- matsii) ; it is designed to give an effect of extended distance and naturally is placed behind a garden or in a place partly concealed. No. 7 goes by the name of the " Outstretching Pine" [Nagashi'-ina/sH), suggesting branches overhanging a stream or a lake. This is generally a single evergreen tree in the foreground wdth branches outstretching over a stream. Other accessories are : A, a well, with a weeping willow ; B, a lantern, just close to the tree No. 2 — the light from the lantern is thrown over the water ; C, the back-gate of the gar- den ; D, a bridge leading from the mainland to the lake islet ; E, small passway on a plank ; F, an arched stone bridge with moulded stone parapet ; G, a w^ater basin with a sink and a pool ; H, a stone lantern behind the w^ater-basin. The step- ping-stones in the foreground guide the steps of a stroller from the garden to the veranda, while the entire ground is covered with well-prepared earth. 140 European and Japanese Gardens ILL GARDEN— INTERMEDIARY STYLE ILL GARDEN ROUGH STYLE HILL GARDEN — IXTERMP:DLARV STYLE. Plate II represents a Hill garden of the intermediary or semi-elaborated style. Here only four hills are given, corre- sponding to Hills Nos. I, 2, 3, 5, produced on the Plate I. In 141 Japanese Landscape Gardening this garden the examples of "distant mountains," "near mountain" and " mountain spur" are only suggested by the general outline. FLAT GARDEN— FINISHED STYLE STONES. Stones I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 7, 8 and 9 are similar in arrangement to those shown in Plate I. It must be observed that the stone No. 5 has been submerged into the water, while in Plate I it is shown quite distinctly. Other stones, too, have been replaced by large ones. As a rule, the heavier and larger the stones used, the smaller they are in number. Stone 10, placed by the wooden bridge, is termed "Edge Stone." Stone 11, called "Screen Stone," forms another type of perfection in the back- ground. No. 12, placed vertically, and No. 13, placed hori- zontally, form the bottom of a cascade, and together with other stones form a rockery. The "Principal Tree," No. i, is a single pine tree with a bush placed beneath. No. 2, "Tree of the Setting Sun," is planted at the extreme west. No. 3, "Tree of Solitude," some- European and Japanese Gardens Japanese Landscape Gardening BRACKET BRIDGE FUKAGAWA GARDEN what larger, fronts to the east. No. 4, " Cascade Screening Tree," is an outstretching pine, which partly shelters the water- fall. "Perfection Tree," "Perspective Pine," and "Stretching Pine," are not placed in this form of garden. The lake is smaller than the waterfall ; here it is well represented with an islet and a bridge over it. " The Snow-View Lantern," as shown in Plate I, is placed in the background and in close connection with the "Western Tree" and the "Distance Stone" (No. 1 1 ). The other stone-lantern in the center is much larger in size, and plays an important role in the whole composition. The arbor, water-basin and other features profusely used in the elaborate style are wanting in many instances in this style of garden. For the enclosure a bamboo fence only is used. HILL garden — ROUGH STYLP:. Plate III gives a model of a rough hill garden, where only the principal points of interest are given. Here two small mounds answer for hills, and give an idea of slight elevation, European and Japanese Gardens but the representation of the " Distant" and " Near Hills" are always kept in the scheme. A few stones disposed tastefully suffice to g"ive a faint resemblance to the original elaborate fin- ished style. Stone i, the "Guardian Stone," marks one of the principal points, and is backed by a tree of somewhat smaller height with fiat stones and bushes. No. 2, ha\ing the name of the " Moon-Shadow Stone," occupies a position on the furthermost prominence, paired with a flat stone ; the same eftect may be produced by a group of shrub bushes, with a stone lantern of larger size, and a spreading pine-tree. No. 3, a flat stone of same group, corresponds to the Hill 2 in the " Finished Style." No. 4 is indispensable. The " Principal De- clining Stone" is placed by the water. It may serve as an " Idling Stone," No. 10, of the Plate I, previously described. No. 5 is the " Seat-of-Honour Stone," accompanied by a com- panion stone and bushes, and is often backed by the "Tree of the Evening Sun.'' No. 6 forms the bank of the stream and extends to the east. Here the lake is reduced to a mere stream. It has its source behind the "Guardian Stone," amidst rock- work. Both sides of the stream are connected by a log bridge. A water-basin in the foreground is quite alone. The stepping stones are somewhat larger. No. 9, the " Pedestal Stone," and No. 8, the " Label Stone," are intended to be equally perfect imitations of nature. A GENTLEMAN'S GARDEN 145 Japanese Landscape Gardening FLAT GARDEN— INTERMEDIARY STYLE FLAT GARDEN — ROUGH STYLE 146 European and Japanese Gardens ■ -^^ s 'i. t _.^ ^^H 1. ■ w^-' ^•»^, ^ - ^^ % Si^l li^ STONE STEPS HAKONE TEMPLE FLAT GARDP:N — FINISHED STVLK. Now we have to describe the Flat Gardens [liira-uiica) shown in Plates I\\ V and VI. Here is shown a \alley or a pond. The three styles: Finished, Intermediary and Roiig'h are as important in Flat Gardens as they are in Hill Gardens. Japanese Landscape Gardening ,-.-j'.yjj'4-a.-..-ii. KUNOOZAN TEMPLE AT SHIZUOKA European and Japanese Garde NS In an example of style (Plate IV) most of the ground is covered with fine earth. Stone i, the "Guardian Stone," and Stone 2, " Principal Rock," occupy the center, and with other rock-work form the mouth of a cascade. Although no water is visible, yet the conception of the source is never neglected, for it is represented bv a white peb- ble. It is backed by stones Nos. 3 and 4, which would not GARDEN LANTERNS WATER-BASINS AND LANTERNS 149 Japanese Landscape Gardening fail to give an idea of the hidden spring. Stone 5, " Worship- ping Stone," occupies a very important position in the center of the ground. No. 7 is called the " Island Stone," as the land extends far enough to give an appearance of an island. No. 6, the " Perfect View Stone," besides the well, is arranged with shrubs in connection with other stones. No. 8, " Moon-Shadow Stone," is re-enforced with rock- work and bushes. No. 9 is a group called the "Stone of the Evening Sun." Behind them HOUSE GARDEN we have the large "Tree of the Evening Sun." Tree No. i, the "Principal Tree," and the "Cascade Tree," are evergreens, to be visible between Stones i and 2. The "Tree of Solitude" is represented by two small pines in connection with shrubs. Plants and a stone lantern marked D are also placed so as to be attractive. A well, and a water-basin, as well as the ever- greens, form a part of the foreground. On the western side one notes a water-basin A, a stone lantern B, a screen fence, 150 European and Japanese Gardens and a trained pine. This comljination shows a cultivated taste. In the foreground is placed Stone No. lo, termed "Stone of the Two Gods." No. 1 1, " Pedestal Stone," and No. 12, "Level Stone," are placed among^ the stepping-stones. In this form of garden a cleared ground is arranged in the center. Stepping-stones are placed near the well and water- basin and mark the boundarv. FLAT garden — INTERMEDIARY STYLE. Plate V is intended to give an idea of the " Intermediary Style" of a "Flat Garden." It is somewhat more boldly exe- cuted than the previous one. In the middle and in front of No. 2 or "Seat-of-Honour Stone " one hnds the " Guardian Stone " No. I, with pagoda stone A as well as a pine-tree and a few shrubby plants. No. 3, " Moon-Shadow Stone," is placed in the further end in combination with a flat stone. No. 4 and No. 5 consists of the "Worshipping Stone" and the "Stone of the Setting Sun," as they are designated. The latter fronts to the west; thence comes the name. No. 6, "Stone of Two Ciods," is similar to the previous one. No. 7, "Pedestal Stone," and No. 8, "Level Stone," form a feature of the foreground and with a few^ stepping-stones form the border of the ground and lead from the gate to the well. Besides these there is also a large oblong step in front of the veranda answering to the threshold. An open space in the center of the garden is the ideal representation of water while the "Worshipping Stone" there signifies an island. The well, as might be judged from its appearance, is rather primitive in style, being made of a rough- hewn stone, and being perfectly overhung with thick pines and a few^ aquatic plants. The arrangement of the water- basin, fence and lantern is very similar to the preceding one, but in this example a bolder and simpler form is adopted. Of the two stone lanterns, the one in the east is arranged with rocks and the other with a small clump of trees. No. 3 rep- resents the "Tree of Solitude ;" No. 2, the "Tree of the Evening Sun." A large pine No. i, besides the " Worshii)ping Stone," plays a very important role ; No. 4, the " Outstretching Pine," overhangs the well. 151 Japanese Landscape Gardening FLAT GARDEN — ROUGH STYLE. Plate VI will give an idea of this style, in which the ele- ments so luxuriously represented in the previous forms are simplified ; in this case the ground itself is reduced to a layer of fine earth. A well, a lantern, and trees, stones, etc., illustrate this peculiar type with a water basin and a drain, two small groups of stones, a few stepping-stones on spa- cious ground. Stone i, in the center, is termed ''Guardian Stone"; Stone No. 2 is known as "Worshipping Stone," or "Honour Stone"; the two merge into one, with two combi- nations of the Stone 3. Stone 3, located in the west and termed the "Stone of the Setting Sun," forms a quite im- portant element, to which are combined two other rocks, one bush, and one large-leaved plant. No. 4, called "Stone of the Two Gods," is the typical one among a smaller group of orna- ments in the eastern foreground. Here the stepping-stones are rather few. They are bolder, and somewhat rough in nature. GARDEN OF THE AKASAKA RIKIU 152 European and Japanese Gardens but no hewn stone is introduced in this style of garden. Two pines, shrubs, and a group of low plants are all the vegetation required in the garden. These, together with a few water plants, serve to cover a rustic well. A large "Snow-stone lant- ern " also forms a part of this group. In the corner of the foreground to the west are shown a water-basin, a drain, and a screen fence. A bamboo enclosure of simple nature encircles the garden. iJ liMpHU GARDEN FENCES LANTERNS. Plate VII gives the different types of garden-lanterns. Every Japanese garden must have a stone lantern. They add greatly to the composition of the garden in connection with rock-work, shrubs, trees, fences and water-basin. In introducing stone lanterns, however, strict principles of harmony, both in size and form, must be observed, otherwise it would be detri- mental to the effect of the garden itself. They are generally located at the foot of a hill, on an island, on the bank of a lake, by a well or a water-basin. The use of the lantern ■53 Japanese Landscape Gardening GARDEN GATEWAYS is not to give light, as might be supposed, but it serves only as an architectural ornament. True, sometimes the lantern is lighted, but it is generally in a very limited extent. When the lantern is situated along the lake or by a stream, it is generally lighted, to produce a fine efi'ect against the water. watp:r-basins. Plate VIII represents dift'erent styles of water-basins and stone lanterns, not mentioned elsewhere. The proper use of a water-basin, is for washing the hands; and it is therefore placed near the veranda of a house ; but water-basins, with other accessories, such as lanterns, bridges, etc., are designed to be an attraction in a garden, and when placed beside orna- mental hedges or concealed by foliage are very pleasing in effect. GARDEN FP:NCES. Plate IX gives different types of hedges and bamboo screens such as are used in the garden. Sometimes they serve as the boundary of the garden ; on other occasions they serve to shelter obstacles, while in other cases they only serve as or- naments. They are arranged along water-basins, and are 154 European and Japanese Garden; ^^ia» GARDEN BRIDGES GARDEN ARBORS termed "Sleeve Fences" {sode-gaki). They are generally made of bamboo, held by wooden frames, twigs or branches. They are intended to give a rustic aspect. Cords and knots, as used for force work, are always objects of high importance. Fibers of sago, fancifully colored, are well deserving of merit, although in many cases creepers are used. 155 Japanese Landsape Gardening GATFAVAVS. Plate X gives grates and gateways. Every garden is pro- vided with different forms of entrances. Tliese forms vary ac- cording to the size, style, and nature of the garden. The site of a eatewav is alwavs carefullv chosen. CzARDEN BRIDGES. Plate XI illustrates different kinds of garden bridges. Some of them are made of stone, while others are formed by rock-work, with earth on them. It is not intended to give a quick access over a water course, but rather to add an attrac- tion to a garden. It equally serves to allow a pleasant view of the pond and stream beneath to those who may stroll over it. SUMMER HOUSES — ARBORS. A large garden is invariably provided with one or more summer houses or arbors, constructed on a hill or other emi- nence. From the summer house usually a charming view can be obtained of the garden. Different types are given in Plate XII. They vary from the simple to a very artistic construc- tion, with floors, doors, and windows. The Japanese denounce geometrical regularity, as it is always thought to vitiate the taste. 156 NOTES ON A JAPANESE GARDEN IN CALIFORNIA ^V C. H. Townscnd NOTES ON A JAPANESE GARDEN IN CALIEORNIA By C. H. rOWNSEND AN experiment has been in process of development in San Francisco, wliich illustrates the possibilities of 1^ introducing the pleasing and picturesque effects of Japanese g'ardens in a foreign country. The accompanying- illustrations from this garden are interesting when studied in connection with the subject as it is presented by Mr. Honda, and as it has l)een shown in the \ arious illustrations from exist- ing gardens in Japan. THE ENTRANCE JAPANESE GARDEN IN CALIFORNI 159 Notes on a Japanese Garden in California It is interesting to observe the variations in feelin^^^ and effects between it and the i^^ardens in Japan. The greater free- dom of treatment and less conventionality shown in this gar- den may probably be attributed to the influence of work in this country on the gardener, or possibly to the lack of age, which is an im- portant factor in the hnal produc- tion of the effects attained. A Japanese gardener, Mr. Hagiwara, and his family were secured, and the design, planting and making of the garden was left entirely in their hands. This garden is probably the only important one of its kind in this country, but its accessibility to the public has been the means of at- tracting consider- able attention to the methods of the Japanese gar- dener. The gar- den was opened to the public as a Japanese Exhibit at the Mid-Winter Fair in California in 1893. Its attractions were immediately recognized and its development has prospered under the Park Commission, which is fully alive to its value as one of the city's pleasure grounds. The tract selected for the garden was covered with a scat- tered growth of pine trees perhaps fifteen years old, most of which were permitted to remain, but which have been consid- FLOWERS IN POTS A JAPANESE GARDEN IN CALIFORNIA European axd Japanese Gardens Notes on a Japanese Garden in California SUMMER-HOUSE AND STREAM A JAPANESE GARDEN IN CALIFORNIA erably altered in appearance by Mr. Hagivvara. The ground occupied is nearly an acre in extent. A Japanese family reside in the garden, the ladies, always in native costume, serving tea to visitors for a small charge. The garden at San Francisco is one of very brief growth as compared with the ancient gardens of Japan, but its at- tractions have been added to from time to time and have increased with its age. The composition of the Japanese garden depends chiefly upon the arrangement of its trees, boulders, paths, streams, bridges and other artificial structures. It is, least of all, a flower garden, and is probably best under- stood when regarded as a reduced copy of the scenery of a country — conveying the impression produced by a picture. While it is true that most of the visitors to this transplanted garden regard it as merely a novelty, it is nevertheless one of a type that would be most satisfactory if adopted generally in this country. Its various features remain attractive throughout the year and afford opportunities for continuous development. 162 D. H. KILL LIBRARY