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                 HANDBOOKS OF PRACTICAL GARDENING—XVIII
                        EDITED BY HARRY ROBERTS

                          THE BOOK OF TOPIARY


[Illustration:

  VIEW IN LEVENS GARDENS

  SHOWING GARDENER’S HOUSE
]




                          THE BOOK OF TOPIARY


                                   BY

                      CHARLES H. CURTIS, F.R.H.S.

  ASSISTANT EDITOR OF THE “GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE”; PREVIOUSLY ASSISTANT
 SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S GARDENS, CHISWICK;
                 AND FORMERLY AT THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW

                                  AND

                               W. GIBSON

               HEAD GARDENER AT LEVENS HALL, WESTMORELAND

                “The man who sneers at me for admiring,
                as I do, a well cut peacock, may take my
                assurance in advance that I will neither
                kick him nor abuse him; but pity him I
                must.”

                                        SHIRLEY HIBBERD.

                       JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD
                       LONDON AND NEW YORK. MCMIV




                _Turnbull & Spears, Printers, Edinburgh_

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                                CONTENTS


                                                       PAGE

            INTRODUCTION                                  1

            TOPIARY                                       4

            EARLY HISTORY                                 6

            GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY                        12

            CRUSADE AGAINST TOPIARY                      21

            ADDISON AND POPE                             24

            REVIVAL OF THE ART                           32

            THE FORMATION OF A TOPIARY GARDEN            37

            PLANTING AND MANURING                        44

            MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES                      50

            THE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING OF YOUNG TREES   58

            THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A TOPIARY GARDEN   70

            INDEX                                        79




                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


 VIEW IN LEVENS GARDENS: SHOWING GARDENER’S HOUSE         _Frontispiece_

 BOX TREE COTTAGE, RUSTINGTON                          _To face page_  2
              (_From a drawing by Mr W. Graham Robertson_)

 A PIG IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES                           〃 〃        4
                        (_Photo. by Mr F. Goode_)

 A FARM-YARD FOWL AT COMPTON WYNYATES                       〃 〃        6
                        (_Photo. by Mr F. Goode_)

 A LEATHERN BOTTEL IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES               〃 〃        6
                        (_Photo. by Mr F. Goode_)

 LEVENS GARDENS: THE BROAD WALK                             〃 〃        8

 BOATS, PYRAMIDS, AND PEACOCKS                              〃 〃       10
                     (_By courtesy of Messrs Cheal_)

 THE HARLINGTON YEW                                         〃 〃       12
              (_By courtesy of “The Gardener’s Magazine”_)

 PEACOCKS, TABLES, SPIRALS, AND BOATS IN YEW AND BOX        〃 〃       14
                     (_By courtesy of Messrs Cheal_)

 BEECH HEDGE AND BOWLING-GREEN AT LEVENS                    〃 〃       16

 EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY VIEW OF LORD HAMILTON’S
   GROUNDS NEAR THE THAMES                                  〃 〃       18
             (_By courtesy of “The Agricultural Economist”_)

 MUNTHAM COURT, SUSSEX                                      〃 〃       22
             (_By courtesy of “The Agricultural Economist”_)

 YEW TREE WITH BIRD                                         〃 〃       24
                    (_By courtesy of Messrs Cutbush_)

 CROWN GARDEN, MUNTHAM COURT, SUSSEX                        〃 〃       28
             (_By courtesy of “The Agricultural Economist”_)

 QUEEN ELIZABETH’S CROWN AND JUG, ELVASTON CASTLE           〃 〃       30
              (_By courtesy of “The Gardener’s Magazine”_)

 HENS, DUCKS, AND PEACOCKS IN BOX AND YEW                   〃 〃       32
                     (_By courtesy of Messrs Cheal_)

 YEW TREE WITH BIRD—ANOTHER FORM                            〃 〃       34
                    (_By courtesy of Messrs Cutbush_)

 CLIPPED YEWS AT A COTTAGE ENTRANCE                         〃 〃       36
   (_From Jekyll’s “Old West Survey.” By courtesy of Messrs Longmans,
                              Green & Co._)

 CROSSES AND JUGS IN YEW                                    〃 〃       38
                     (_By courtesy of Messrs Cheal_)

 VARIOUSLY SHAPED YEW TREES                                 〃 〃       40
                    (_By courtesy of Messrs Cutbush_)

 A PEACOCK CUT IN YEW AT COMPTON WYNYATES                   〃 〃       41
                        (_Photo. by Mr F. Goode_)

 OLD-FASHIONED BOX GARDEN, CHASTLETON HOUSE                 〃 〃       42
                 (_By courtesy of Miss Whitmore Jones_)

 COTTAGE AT DITCHEAT, SOMERSET                              〃 〃       44
                        (_Photo. by Mr Hulbert_)

 CROSS IN YEW IN ST BONIFACE CHURCHYARD, BONCHURCH,
   ISLE OF WIGHT                                            〃 〃       48

 YEWS AT MONTACUTE, SOMERSET                                〃 〃       50
                        (_Photo, by Mr F. Goode_)

 THE POST OFFICE, DITCHEAT                                  〃 〃       52
                        (_Photo, by Mr Hulbert_)

 OLD EXAMPLE OF TOPIARY IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES          〃 〃       54
                        (_Photo, by Mr F. Goode_)

 LEVENS GARDENS: GENERAL VIEW                               〃 〃       56

 A VERDANT PEACOCK                                          〃 〃       60
                    (_Photo, by Mr Charles Thonger_)

 SEAT AT THE PRIORY, GLASTONBURY                            〃 〃       62
                        (_Photo, by Mr Hulbert_)

 LEVENS GARDENS: UMBRELLA, INDIAN WIGWAM, AND EAST
   WALK                                                     〃 〃       66

 ARM-CHAIR IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES                       〃 〃       68
                        (_Photo. by Mr F. Goode_)

 THE COTTAGER’S PRIDE                                       〃 〃       70
                        (_Photo. by Mr F. Goode_)

 A SWAN IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES                          〃 〃       72
                        (_Photo. by Mr F. Goode_)

 COTTAGE TOPIARY AT NORTH WEALD, ESSEX                      〃 〃       72

 LEVENS GARDENS: SHOWING LETTER B AND LION                  〃 〃       76

 NOTE.—_The Publisher will be glad if readers will send him, at Vigo
   Street, W., photographs or notes of any remarkable specimens of
   Topiary, for inclusion in a new edition._




                              INTRODUCTION


It is extremely fortunate that the Editor made no limitations, beyond
that of space, when giving me the invitation to contribute a historical
account of the Art of Topiary, as a sort of preface to the practical
advice given in later chapters by Mr Gibson, who has charge of the
wonderful collection of clipped trees at Levens Hall. This is fortunate,
because it would have been difficult either to wholly praise or wholly
blame an art that for at least a century and a half provided English
gardens with their outstanding feature. It were easy for us to dismiss
the whole subject of Topiary by affecting a great superiority and
referring to it only as a monument of perverted taste, but that would
neither provide interest nor give instruction, and it is hoped that both
these ends may be served so far as the space at disposal will permit.

As it is an undoubted fact that for about one hundred and fifty years
Topiary was both fashionable and popular, it follows that, whatever our
taste may be, a consideration of the subject cannot be lacking in
interest. Never did a horticultural fashion retain its hold upon a
gardening public so long as Topiary, but as fashions rarely come
spontaneously but are rather arrived at by a kind of evolutionary
process, so the art of Verdant Sculpture must have had its Early
History, followed by a development of design limited only by the
ingenuity of the gardener. Then came what one may call the Golden Age of
Topiary, when every garden having any pretensions whatever to importance
was more or less notable according to the degree of formality found in
its design and furnishing. The inevitable reaction followed next, and
had its beginning in a Crusade which found able supporters in those two
brilliant essayists and satirists, Addison and Pope. The old order
changed, and considering its age, it changed with a rapidity for which
there seems to be no parallel in horticulture. No doubt many trees were
permitted to grow naturally after years of close cropping and carving,
but doubtless also many thousands were uprooted and destroyed by the
landscape gardeners who were practising—notably Bridgeman and Kent—when
the decline of Topiary set in. And not only were clipped trees
destroyed, but many a splendid close trimmed hedge of box and yew was
swept away, leaving the garden unsheltered and unsecluded. Extremes met,
as was but natural, when once the tide of fashion turned, and it has
been left for the present times to properly adjust the balance between
extreme formality on the one hand and too close a copy of nature on the
other.

We can appreciate the shelter and beauty of a well trimmed hedge in the
garden, and, in its proper place, we find no fault with a straight
terrace walk. Still further, we are collecting old sundials or
fashioning new ones on old models, and in some of the best gardens of
the day the garden seats have a comfortable old-time appearance.

The principle of associating like with like is gaining ground, and in
numerous fine establishments the interest of the place is wonderfully
increased and extended by gardens devoted to certain subjects. We have
Rose Gardens, Rhododendron Gardens, Bamboo Gardens, Michaelmas Daisy
Gardens, etc., and lastly, we have Topiary Gardens. These latter do not
now as heretofore overpower everything else; they are simply part of a
whole scheme for providing a continuation of pleasure, beauty and
interest; they serve as a reminder of a quaint stage in the progress of
horticulture, and show what a wonderful vitality is possessed by yew,
box, and some few other evergreen shrubs.

[Illustration:

  BOX TREE COTTAGE RUSTINGTON
]

This little book, then, is not placed before the public with any fervent
hope that it will incite garden lovers to at once sally forth with
shears and scissors to attack the nearest yew tree; nor is it issued
with a desire that garden makers may be induced to plant clipped trees
extensively. Further, the “Book of Topiary” can hardly be said to
“supply a long felt want” in the general sense in which that very
hackneyed phrase is used. Why comes it, then? What are its claims to
popular consideration? It comes to provide an hour’s reading upon one of
the most distinct and interesting branches of horticulture that the art
has ever produced. Its claims to consideration are, chiefly, that in it
are gathered together the main incidents that go to make up the history
of Topiary, and it presents to readers the cultural experience of one
whose opportunities for gaining such experience are unequalled.

Topiarian history is somewhat difficult to piece together, and, so far
as the writer is aware, no attempt has hitherto been made to place such
a history before the gardening public. It is, therefore, modestly
suggested that this work is somewhat unique among books dealing with
horticultural subjects, and it is hoped it may be found to deserve a
position in every garden library.

                                                           C. H. CURTIS.




                                TOPIARY

  “If I do not defend the taste through thick and thin, I am prepared
  to admit that much may be said in its favour, and it is far from my
  intention to denounce it as either extravagant or foolish. It may be
  true, as I believe it is, that the natural form of a tree is the
  most beautiful possible for that particular tree, but it may happen
  that we do not always want the most beautiful form, but one of our
  own designing, and expressive of our ingenuity.”—_Shirley Hibberd._


Modern horticultural works, and especially those that are of the
Dictionary type, do not as a rule take any notice whatever of Topiary,
and those in which it is noticed deal with the subject with a brevity
that is provoking, inasmuch as the student is little or none the wiser
for the information given. “Johnson’s Gardeners’ Dictionary” is silent
on the subject, and “Cassell’s Popular Gardening” may be searched in
vain for any reference to it.

Mr G. Nicholson, F.L.S., V.M.H., in his celebrated “Dictionary of
Gardening,” writes, under Topiary, “Although the absurd fashion of
cutting and torturing trees into all sorts of fantastic shapes has,
happily, almost passed away, yet, as the art of the Topiarist was for a
considerable period regarded as the perfection of gardening, some
mention of it is desirable here. When the fashion first became general
in Britain, it is probably impossible to ascertain; but it reached its
highest point in the sixteenth century, and held its ground until driven
out of the field in the last (eighteenth) century by the natural or
picturesque style. From an archæological point of view, it is not to be
regretted that examples of Topiary work on a large scale still exist in
several British gardens.” Turning to the very recent “Cassell’s
Dictionary of Gardening” an all too concise account is found, but Mr W.
P. Wright admits therein that Topiary “finds favour in many quarters
to-day, although it only differs in degree and not in principle from the
best examples of the Topiary art of the sixteenth century.”

[Illustration:

  A PIG CUT IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

Encyclopædias tell us very little of Topiary, and even that monumental
work the “Encyclopædia Britannica” contains within its portly tomes no
reference to so historically interesting a subject, unless it be
curiously hidden away. And even that very useful work “Chambers’s
Encyclopædia” passes over Topiary as though such an art never existed.

To students of Etymology the word Topiary itself is of considerable
interest. For the present work it must suffice to say that it is derived
from the Latin _topiarius_, pertaining to ornamental gardening. One
dictionary definition or meaning of the word is “shaped by cutting or
clipping” and horticulturists will agree that this definition is both
clever and descriptive, for Topiary work consists in giving all kinds of
more or less fanciful forms to trees, hedges, and arbours.

An interesting reference is made in the “History of Oxfordshire” to the
use of the phrase “Topiary Work.” It is stated therein that “at Hampton
Court, which was laid out about the middle of the reign of Henry VIII.
by Cardinal Wolsey, there was a labyrinth, which still exists, covering
only the quarter of an Acre of ground, yet its walks extending by their
volutions over nearly half a mile. The walls also were covered with
Rosemary. It was also long celebrated for its trees cut into grotesque
forms, which Dr Plot admired and dignified with the name of Topiary
Works.”




                             EARLY HISTORY

  “Little low hedges, round like welts, with some pyramids, I like
  well; and in some places fair columns, upon frames of carpenters’
  work.”—_Bacon._


Just how far back in the history of gardens and gardening the art of
Topiary was first practised there is no means of telling, but we know
that gardening was first practised as a source of food supply, and that
pleasure gardening did not occupy a very prominent position among the
arts and sciences until civilisation had made considerable advances.
Architecture had progressed in a wonderful manner and reached a high
state of perfection long before horticulture assumed any great
importance. To use Lord Bacon’s elegant words, “when ages grow to
civility and elegancy, men come to build stately, sooner than to garden
finely, as if gardening were the greater perfection.” This being so, it
does not seem so very unreasonable to presume that the ancient builders
of stately edifices would not in designing the surrounding gardens,
plant trees and shrubs likely to mask, soften, or detract in any way
from the architectural features created at so great an expenditure of
time and money. They would the rather be likely to plant the more formal
trees near the mansion, keeping the more graceful at a distance. The
love of the formal among the Greeks may be evidenced from the writings
of Theocritus, the pastoral poet of Greece, who compares the beauty of
Helen to that of a Cypress. Following up this idea, a reason for keeping
evergreen and other trees closely clipped is apparent. From the mere
clipping of these subjects so as to keep them in harmony with the
architecture, to the cutting of evergreens into fantastic shapes, is not
a very wide transition, but whether the latter style was first adopted
by the Grecian or the Roman gardeners does not appear.

[Illustration:

  A FARM-YARD FOWL AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

[Illustration:

  A “LEATHERN BOTTEL” CUT IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

We do know, however, that the Romans practised Topiary freely and that
they were also fine architects and builders. Even in the formation of
sheltering groves of forest trees to provide welcome shade from the
bright sunshine, the Romans adopted the formal quincunx method of
disposing the trees. How much more, then, would they have been ready in
that age of undeveloped taste in the design and planting of gardens to
welcome a method of training and culture that enabled them not only to
bring the garden up to the mansion without any resultant loss of
architectural effect, but also permitted them to carry architecture into
the garden and apply it in a more or less fantastic manner to the trees
themselves.

On the authority of Martial we learn that the art of Topiary was first
introduced to the Romans by Cneus Matius. Matius was the friend of
Julius Cæsar and a particular favourite of Augustus, but whether he
originated or borrowed the idea we know not. As a court favourite,
however, he must have had ample opportunity for propagating this
particular method of gardening, and doubtless then, as now, a fashion
set at court was quickly followed by all who wished to be up-to-date.
Good or bad, the taste spread, and even such a man of taste and letters
as Pliny the Roman Consul considered it quite the proper thing to use
Topiary work extensively in his famous Tuscan Villa. In a letter written
by Pliny the Younger to his friend Apollinaris (Ep. v. 6) is a fine
description of this garden. Melmoth’s translation pictures the front of
the Portico as opening on to a sort of Terrace “embellished with various
figures, and bounded with a Box Hedge, from which you descend by an easy
slope, adorned with the representation of divers animals in Box,
answering alternately to each other: this is surrounded by a walk
enclosed with tonsile evergreens, shaped into a variety of forms. Behind
it is the Gestatio, laid out in the form of a Circus, ornamented in the
middle with Box, cut into numberless different figures, together with a
plantation of shrubs prevented by the shears from running too high: the
whole is fenced in by a Wall, covered with Box, rising in different
ranges to the top.” After dealing with trees, roses, etc., he continues:
“Having passed through these winding alleys, you enter a straight walk,
which breaks out into a variety of others divided off by Box hedges. In
one place you have a little meadow; in another the Box is cut into a
thousand different forms; sometimes into letters expressing the name of
the master; sometimes that of the artificer; whilst here and there
little Obelisks rise intermixed alternately with fruit trees, when on a
sudden you are surprised with an imitation of the negligent beauties of
rural Nature, in the centre of which lies a spot surrounded with a knot
of dwarf Plane Trees.”

It must not, however, be assumed that the Romans were entirely without
appreciation of natural beauty and scenery. Far from it. But they loved
lavish displays of art, and this also led them to use the gardens
immediately surrounding their dwellings as a gallery in which to arrange
their collections of sculptured trees. Roman poets and philosophers
alike have left in their writings ample evidence that the beauties of
nature were greatly admired by their countrymen, but at that period,
when Rome was the mistress of the world, Italy was well supplied with
natural sylvan scenery, and consequently, where it was not at all
necessary to cultivate this particular form of gardening, the desire for
contrast and display led to a very widespread adoption of the art of
Topiary.

[Illustration:

  LEVENS GARDENS

  THE BROAD WALK
]

From the gardens of the wealthy Romans the taste for clipped trees and
general formality of design was carried throughout the Empire. Doubtless
the monks who carried the arts of gardening throughout the European
continent took with them and put into practice a taste for Topiary. In
their wall-encircled monastic gardens dense hedges would rise both for
the provision of shelter and to afford additional seclusion, and in a
modest way these would in all probability be embellished by verdant
sculptures.

But it was much later than this that Topiary commenced to be one of the
chief features of garden design, for with the corruption of the ruling
powers came the decline of the Roman Empire, and then followed the Dark
Ages wherein the clash of arms, coupled with deep superstition, put
gardening, as a pleasure, out of the question, so that except in some
few cases it was only conducted at all because of the necessity of
providing a meagre food supply. For long, long years war-like
occupations were, either from choice or necessity, in the ascendant. But
there presently came a time when peace again reigned and arts and
commerce flourished; gardening revived, and in Italy where still
remained many examples of the grandeur of Ancient Rome, it soon
flourished in the establishments of the wealthy princes.

Although Charlemagne revived the art of gardening in France in the
eighth century, he was not the kind of man to care much for garden
display; he rather introduced useful fruits and encouraged the
cultivation of herbs and fruits wholly from an economic point of view.
So we are compelled by the lack of historical information to pass on to
much later times ere we can again take up the tale of Topiary.

Loudon points out that the Roman style of gardening was lost in England
when the Romans abandoned this country at the beginning of the fifth
century, but he surmises that, following the revival of gardening in
France by Charlemagne, William the Conqueror would probably re-introduce
it at the end of the eleventh century. Some little progress was made in
the reigns of Henry I. and Henry II., and it was the former who formed
the Park at Woodstock (1123), probably the first of which there is any
record. In accord with the prevailing taste, it contained a labyrinth,
which appears to have chiefly constituted the Bower so intimately
associated with the fate of Rosamund.

But during the twelfth century there was very little of either design or
taste in the arrangement of gardens. These latter were of limited extent
and, because of the feudal broils that enlivened the monotony of
existence, they were for the most part attached only to the larger
establishments, and in them were confined within the Glacis, or first
line of defence, which was a necessity of the times. Beyond the
inevitable moat, orchards arose, wherein the horticulturally inclined
among the baron’s retainers could indulge their taste for ornamental
gardening; a taste which consisted then, according to Johnson, and
continued to a much later age, “in having plants cut into monstrous
figures, labyrinths, etc.”

[Illustration:

  BOATS, PYRAMIDS AND PEACOCK
]

So common a part of garden design did labyrinths and mazes become at
this period and during the thirteenth century, that we find scarcely a
plan among the many given by De Cerceau in his “Architecture,” issued
about 1250, in which either a round or a square one does not appear.
This brings us into the thirteenth century, an age wherein the taste for
architecture and gardening spread northwards and especially took a firm
hold in Holland, where then, and later, the wealthy merchant princes
liberally encouraged almost all branches of horticulture. Thus
encouraged the florists entered heartily into the business of supplying
their patrons, and, aided by a suitable climate and the various
inventions born of necessity, they made Holland famous throughout the
world for its commercial horticulture. So careful, however, were the
Dutch of every inch of land, much of it reclaimed, that they laid out
their gardens with mathematical precision and consequent primness,
carrying this principle into the very trees and plants themselves.

It was in the early part of the fourteenth century that Pierre de
Crescent, of Bologna, wrote his work on Agriculture, wherein he
describes the kinds of pleasure gardens suitable for various classes of
the community, and a suggestion of formality of design and the use of
Topiary is made in his observation that a royal garden should contain a
menagerie, and also an aviary placed among thickets, arbors and vines.




                         GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY

  “I confess that I should never care to adorn my garden with
  topiary or with carpet bedding; but I hope always to be cautious
  in making declarations in respect of such matters, that I may not
  appear to despise another man’s pleasures, or vainly desire to set
  up a standard of my own in opposition to the delightful variety
  that is ensured by the free exercise of individual taste and
  fancy.”—_Shirley Hibberd._

  “While perhaps not admiring these birds and beasts, we must, I
  think, in a measure agree with Loudon, that many old-fashioned
  gardens have suffered in losing the quaint forms of cropped yews,
  which added a certain charm to them.”—_John Lowe, M.D._, in “Yew
  Trees of Great Britain and Ireland.”


The dawn of the sixteenth century saw the commencement of what may be
called the Golden Age of Topiary. It was also the beginning of an age of
romance, of stirring deeds, of great discoveries; an age when men of
genius were numerous, when history was being rapidly made, and when the
art of gardening began to flourish freely. Though the times were
stirring ones and there was not always “peace within our borders,”
commerce grew and wealth increased, so that gardening became more and
more popular and steadily grew more and more elaborate in design. To the
existing style were added the extravagances of the French and the
formalities of the Dutch schools, but these things did not all come to
pass at once.

[Illustration:

  THE HARLINGTON YEW

  (_As clipped 1729–1790_)
]

It is most probable that the Old and Formal English Gardens as we know
or imagine them, were the development of at least two hundred years, and
probably the type had not been reached until the reign of Charles II.,
notwithstanding such gardens are frequently alluded to as Elizabethan.
This idea seems the more reasonable after a perusal of Withington’s
“Elizabethan England,” for though the Editor gives us Harrison’s
description of Gardens and Orchards, Woods and Marshes, Parks and
Warrens, there is never a word that can be construed into a reference to
Topiary, not even in his account of “the palaces belonging to the
prince.”

Nevertheless, quaint gardens were formed before the time of Elizabeth,
Shakespeare, Drake, Raleigh, and Gerard. A curious conceit in these
old-time gardens was the formation of a mound in the pleasure grounds,
where none previously existed, and this seems to have been quite the
correct thing in the way of garden design even as late as Evelyn’s day,
for we learn that he arranged for a “mountaine” in the family gardens at
Wotton, in Surry. Leland, in his “Itinerary” (1540), refers to this
feature in garden design in connection with the garden at Wrexhill
Castle, near Howden, in Yorkshire. He says: “The Gardens within the
mote, and the Orchards without were exceeding fair. And yn the Orchardes
were mounts, opere topiorii, writhen about with degrees like the
turnings in cokil shelles, to come to the top without payn.”

That Topiary had already a considerable hold upon the garden-loving
public at this early date cannot be doubted. Very few of these ancient
gardens remain unaltered at the present time, but in that most
interesting book, “A history of Gardening in England,” the Hon. Alicia
Amherst gives the plans of Sir Henry Dryden’s gardens at Canons Ashby,
Northamptonshire, which show that clipped yews are prominent features,
as two rows of four trees each line one of the approaches, and these
trees have a diameter of about ten feet. The author states that this
garden, originally made in 1550, was altered in 1708, “and has defied
the changes of fashion for nearly two centuries.”

Gerard (1545–1607), the famous old Herbalist who was gardener to Lord
Burghley in the reign of Elizabeth, does not enlighten us as to the use
of clipped trees, but Parkinson, another and equally famous Herbalist,
who was born in 1567 and died about 1640, does give us a little
information on the subject. Parkinson was Apothecary to James I., and
Charles II. made him Botanicus Regius Primarius; he therefore had the
advantage of exceptional opportunities for studying the plants of his
time and their uses. Indeed some of the quaintest things ever printed
are the accounts of the “Virtues” of the several parts of the plants
described by Parkinson and by Gerard. Pointing out that the yew was
largely used both for “shadow and an ornament,” Parkinson seems to
regret that the privet had not received proper attention at the hands of
Topiarists simply because of its widespread use as a hedge plant, and he
advocates its further employment by remarking that “to make hedges or
arbours in gardens ... it is so apt that no other can be like unto it,
to be cut, lead, and drawn into what forme one will, either of beasts,
birds, or men armed or otherwise.”

Because of its comparatively slow rate of growth the yew has been the
subject usually employed by topiarists, while box is a good second in
point of popularity. Both these trees or shrubs have the additional
merit of longevity. Wordsworth points out both the slow growth and
longevity of the yew in his lines:—

          “There is a yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale,
          Which to this day stands single, in the midst
          Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore,
          Not loth to furnish weapons for the bands
          Of Umfraville or Percy ere they marched
          To Scotland’s heaths; or those that crossed the sea
          And drew their sounding bows at Azincour,
          Perhaps at earlier Crecy, or Poictiers.
          Of vast circumference and gloom profound
          This solitary tree!—a living thing
          Produced too slowly ever to decay;
          Of form and aspect too magnificent
          To be destroyed.”

[Illustration:

  PEACOCKS, TABLES, SPIRALS AND BOATS IN YEW AND BOX AT J. CHEAL AND
    SONS, CRAWLEY
]

Heslington, near York, still boasts an ancient Topiary garden, where all
the clipped trees are of yew. This, as well as the clipped hedges of
Rockingham, and the hedges and clipped trees at Erbistock, date,
according to the Hon. Alicia Amherst, from about 1560. Other trees and
shrubs were also used by the tonsile artists, and even Rosemary was not
omitted. Barnaby Googe (about 1578) observed that the women folk planted
it and trimmed it into shapes “as in the fashion of a cart, a peacock,
or such things as they fancy.”

William Harrison, Rector of Radwinter, and Canon of Windsor, who wrote
“A Description of England” contained in “Holinshed’s Chronicles,” has
already been referred to. He was a most observant man and one who in his
own picturesque language “had an especiall eye unto the truth of
things”; from 1586 to 1593 he was Canon of Windsor, and therefore
anything he has to say about gardens is of unusual interest. His keen
patriotism shines brightly through all his writings, and his high
opinion of his own land is not in any way reduced when he comes to
discourse upon gardens, for he writes: “I am persuaded that, albeit the
gardens of the Hesperides were in times past so greatly accounted of,
because of their delicacy, yet, if it were possible to have such an
equal judge as by certain knowledge of both were able to pronounce upon
them, I doubt not but he would give the prize unto the gardens of our
days, and generally over all Europe, in comparison of those times
wherein the old exceeded.”

Early in the succeeding century, however, we come upon some more
positive evidence of the use of Topiary work. Lawson, in 1618, shows
more clearly that Topiary had become an important branch of the art of
gardening, and that the designs carried out by some of the artists were,
to say the least of it, remarkable. As indicative of the progress
already made, he states: “Your gardener can frame your lesser wood to
the shape of men armed in the field, ready to give battell: or
swift-running Grey Hounds to chase the Deere, or hunt the Hare. This
kind of hunting shall not waste your corne, nor much your coyne.”

In the reign of Charles II. (1669–1685), garden design and garden
ornamentation reached a degree of extravagance not previously attempted
and not subsequently repeated. This was the time when Le Notre rose to
be the most famous gardener in Europe, a time when Louis XI. was King of
France (1643–1715). During this period there was a great striving after
effect on the part of all possessed of ample means, while both
aristocrat and plebeian desired and loved to be dazzled by brilliance or
enchanted by the novel and singular. From Johnson we learn that during a
residence at the court of France, Charles II. became enamoured of the
French style of ornamental gardening introduced by Le Notre. This style
differed chiefly from that already in vogue in its magnificence;
everything was carried out more elaborately and regardless of expense.
“The alleys were lengthened, but still there were alleys, jets d’eau,
mazes, parterres and statues, clipt trees and mathematically formed
borders as of yore.” It is said that the extravagance in garden
ornamentation at Versailles was designed and carried into effect by Le
Notre at a cost of two hundred million francs, or over £8,250,000. The
great features were huge marble-edged water-basins, elaborate fountains,
an abundance of masonry for the terraces, and clipped yew and box,
making a sum total described at a much later date by Mr Wm. Robinson, in
his “Parks and Gardens of Paris” as “the deadly formalism of
Versailles.”

[Illustration:

  BEECH HEDGE AND BOWLING-GREEN AT LEVENS
]

Charles II. encouraged elaborate garden design, and, with it, Topiary;
it was under his orders that Le Notre himself laid out the semi-circular
garden at Hampton Court. Gibson, who made a tour of London gardens in
the reign of the “Merry Monarch,” shows by his writings that the chief
features of these establishments were the terrace walks, evergreen
hedges, “shorn shrubs in boxes,” and orange and myrtle trees.

In the earlier part of the seventeenth century the gardens of Bilton and
Chilham were designed, with an accompaniment of clipped trees, while
later in the century Sir William Temple, who negotiated the triple
alliance between England, Sweden, and the Netherlands, laid out a Dutch
garden at Moor Park. He had a large affection for the Dutch style of
gardening, but was nevertheless quick to see that big formal gardens and
their elaborate designs and masonry cost more to maintain in prim order
than many who possessed them could well afford. It was also about this
time that the now famous Topiary garden at Levens Hall, in Westmoreland,
was laid out by Beaumont, one of Le Notre’s disciples. According to the
inscription under his portrait at Levens Hall, Beaumont was “Gardener to
James II. and Colonel James Grahme. He laid out the gardens at Hampton
Court and at Levens.” It was probably in some alteration of the Hampton
Court gardens that Beaumont took part.

Topiary gardening reached its height during the reign of William and
Mary (1689–1702). William III., Prince of Orange, brought with him a
taste for clipped yews, and also for elaborately designed iron gates and
railings. He accentuated the prevailing taste. Turning again to Johnson,
we find garden design “was now rendered still more opposed to nature by
the heavy additions of crowded hedges of Box, Yew, etc., which, however,
by rendering the style still more ridiculous, perhaps hastened the
introduction of a more natural taste which burst forth later.” Some
further idea of the prevalence of clipped trees is obtained from Celia
Fiennes, who, in her chronicles of a journey “Through England on a Side
Saddle in the time of William and Mary,” makes frequent reference to
alleys of clipped trees and to yew and cypress cut into “severall
forms.” William III. commenced the Kensington Gardens, and to alter a
disfiguring gravel pit he employed the services of those famous Brompton
nurserymen, London and Wise. In our time such a spot would in all
probability be converted into a dell, with water and rock gardens, but
London and Wise erected a mimic fortification, making the bastions and
counterscarps of clipped yew and variegated holly. That this production
was “long an object of wonder” can be easily understood, though whether
it was one for “admiration” is open to question, notwithstanding that it
had many admirers and was known as the “Siege of Troy.”

Vegetable sculpture seems now to have reached its limit of popularity
and design. Hazlitt, in his “Gleanings in old Garden Literature,” hits
off the situation admirably when he writes: “But it was to the
Hollanders that London and his partner were indebted for that
preposterous plan of deforming Nature by making her statuesque, and
reducing her irregular and luxuriant lines to a dead and prosaic level
through the medium of the shears. Gods, animals, and other objects were
no longer carved out of stone; but the trees, shrubs and hedges were
made to do double service as a body of verdure and a sculpture gallery.”

[Illustration:

  EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY VIEW OF LORD HAMILTON’S GROUNDS NEAR THE
    THAMES
]

Evelyn, the celebrated diarist, who lived throughout the greater part of
the seventeenth century, and just over five years of the eighteenth,
strongly censured the prevalent method of clipping fruit trees into
regular form, as well he might, but he claimed to be the first to bring
the yew into fashion for hedges, declaring it to be “as well for a
defence as for a succedaneum to cypress, whether in hedges or pyramids,
conic spires, bowls or what other shapes.” And further he adds, “I do
again name the yew, for hedges, preferably for beauty and a stiff
defence, to any plant I have ever seen.” Evelyn’s residence from 1652 to
1694 was Sayes Court, Deptford, a home made famous to students of
history because of its occupation by Peter the Great, of Russia, in
1698, to whom it was sub-let by Admiral Benbow. Peter the Great did not
take the same care of the garden as Evelyn had taken, and his
destruction, in part at least, of a famous holly hedge, caused the owner
to regard the Russian Czar as a “right nasty tenant.” An old writer
informs us, with reference to Sayes Court, that Evelyn had “a pleasant
villa at Deptford, a fine garden for walks and hedges, and a pretty
little greenhouse with an indifferent stock in it. He has four large
round philareas, smooth clipped, raised on a single stalk from the
ground, a fashion now much used. Part of his garden is very woody and
shady for walking; but not being walled, he has little of the best
fruits.”

The beginning of the end was not now far to seek. One of our greatest
modern landscape gardeners, Mr H. E. Milner, has written: “Precise
designs of clipped box and yew are not out of place, if the building has
a character that is consonant with such an accompaniment.” Not satisfied
with a few clipped trees in suitable positions, or with a part of the
garden devoted to examples of Topiary, owners and gardeners alike, in
the times I have briefly reviewed, seemed to have laboured to fill their
gardens with illustrations of geometric figures, in box or yew; with the
quaintest patterns and weirdest shapes, caricaturing birds and beasts,
and imitating architecture and things of common use. Distorted
vegetation met the eye everywhere, and there was little of the natural
and beautiful to relieve the general monotony. It was the excessive use
of Topiary that led to its own downfall and caused Batty Langley to ask,
“Is there anything more shocking than a stiff, regular garden?”




                        CRUSADE AGAINST TOPIARY

  “The Dutch Garden in front of Hampton Court Palace is
  unobjectionable, because it is in character with that part of the
  building and as a royal garden it ought to remain as it is, were it
  only to serve as an illustration of the style of gardening in the
  time of William and Mary.”—_Charles M‘Intosh._


Whenever a fashion runs to extremes its end is not far to seek. On the
one hand, a fashion becomes too general for those who have a taste for
novelty, and especially for those who can afford at almost any cost to
have something not available to the general public.

On the other hand, a fashion carried to excess becomes inconvenient and
ridiculous, therefore it at once becomes offensive to those who are
regarded as having good taste. And so it came about that when Topiary
work had spread itself over all the gardens of the time and could hardly
go further either in extent or design, there came the inevitable
reaction. The same sort of thing has happened even in quite modern
times.

One need not be very old to have seen the famous trained specimen plants
that used to grace the highly successful exhibitions at the Royal
Botanic Society’s gardens, at the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere. Yet
these giants have passed away, and in their places we have larger stocks
of smaller and more easily grown subjects—in other words, the fashion
has changed. “Bedding-out” reached such a height of fashionable
popularity that it threatened to exclude the beautiful hardy perennial
flowers from many a garden; it taxed the patience and ingenuity of the
gardener and the purse of the employer almost to breaking point—it
passed from reasonableness to absurdity. Then came a new order of
things; perennials have been brought back and improved; hardy flowers
are the fashion.

When Topiary threatened to exclude all else from the garden there arose
several apostles of freedom, and these conducted a crusade against the
art. Among those whose writings are more or less regarded in these days
mention may be made of three—Bacon, Addison, and Pope.

The former early raised a protest, for in the times of Shakespeare and
Queen Elizabeth, when Topiary was the prevailing taste if not the
general fashion, he wrote, “I for my part do not like images cut in
juniper or other garden stuff; they be for children.” It was Bacon also
who said: “As for the making of knots or figures that they may lie under
the windows of the house on that side which the garden stands, they be
but toys; you may see as good sights many times in tarts.” But, alas,
Bacon was curiously inconsistent. He would away with Topiary, but he
puts forward as the best type of a garden one that is square, enclosed
in an arched hedge, “with a turret over every arch, and a cage of birds
in each turret, and over every space between the arches some other
little figure with broad plates of round coloured glass, gilt, for the
sun to play on.” Those who so aptly quote Bacon when they pour out the
vials of their wrath upon Topiary through the medium of the public
press, may also be further reminded that Bacon would have in his ideal
garden a fountain “embellished with coloured glass and such things of
lustre.”

[Illustration:

  MUNTHAM COURT, SUSSEX
]

But however much we may chuckle over the inconsistencies of Bacon it
must be remembered that the age in which he lived (1561–1626) was
remarkable rather for ostentatious display than for good taste,—as we
count good taste,—and consequently his horticultural purview was limited
and obscured. As the poet Mason puts it:—

           “The age of tourney triumphs, and quaint masques,
           Glar’d with fantastic pageantry, which dimm’d
           The sober eye of truth, and dazzled ev’n
           The sage himself; witness the high arch’d hedge,
           In pillar’d state by carpentry upborne,
           With coloured mirrors deck’d, and prison’d birds.”

Bacon was in many things far in advance of the Tudor times in which he
lived, so far indeed, in respect of our present subject, that no
outstanding protest against Topiary appears to have been made by those
who endeavoured to promote sound public taste, until nearly another
century had elapsed. Then the literary genius of Addison was directed
against the evils and extravagances of his age.




                            ADDISON AND POPE

                                        “Addison,
          Thou polished sage, or shall I call thee bard,
          I see thee come: around thy temples play
          The lambent flames of humour, bright’ning mild
          Thy judgment into smiles; gracious thou com’st
          With Satire at thy side, who checks her frown,
          But not her secret sting.”—_Mason._

                        “With bolder rage
          Pope next advances; his indignant arm
          Waves the poetic brand o’er Timon’s shades,
          And lights them to destruction; the fierce blaze
          Sweeps through each kindred vista, groves to groves
          Nod their fraternal farewell and expire.”—_Mason._


Although Addison and Pope were contemporaries it was the former who led
the crusade against formal gardening in general and the art of Topiary
in particular. Less satirical than his one-time friend, Addison
nevertheless pointed out with remarkable clearness that the gardens of
the early part of the eighteenth century were not nearly so beautiful as
they might have been, owing to the excessive use of clipped trees and
the extreme care which the gardeners of that time took to secure the
utmost regularity in their planting and uniformity in design.

[Illustration:

  YEW TREE WITH BIRD
]

Addison was counted one of the most brilliant of the Essayists of his
time, and among the numerous contributions made by him to the
_Spectator_ is a lengthy one “On the Pleasures of the Imagination.” This
took the form of eleven Papers, or epistles, published in regular order
from June 21, to July 3, 1712. It is in the fourth paper that he deals
more particularly with gardens and therein he shows that the works of
nature are more pleasant to the imagination than are those of art, and
that the works of art are most pleasing the more closely they resemble
those of nature. He does not openly denounce Topiary and other formal
gardening, but with subtle skill contrasts it with a picture of a more
natural style, and does so in a manner that enforces the beauty of the
latter and indicates the origin of that taste in landscape gardening
which many a gardener of the nineteenth century thought was peculiarly
his own.

“We have observed,” says Addison, “that there is generally in nature
something more grand and august than what we meet with in the
curiosities of art. When, therefore, we see this imitated in any
measure, it gives us a nobler and more exalted kind of pleasure than
what we receive from the nicer and more accurate productions of art. On
this account our English gardens are not so entertaining to the fancy as
those in France and Italy, where we see a large extent of ground covered
over with an agreeable mixture of garden and forest, which represent
everywhere an artificial rudeness, much more charming than that neatness
and elegancy which we meet with in those of our own country. It might
indeed be of ill consequence to the public, as well as unprofitable to
private persons, to alienate so much ground from pasturage and the
plough, in many parts of a country that is so well peopled, and
cultivated to a far greater advantage. But why may not a whole estate be
thrown into a kind of garden by frequent plantations, that may turn as
much to the profit as the pleasure of the owner? A marsh overgrown with
willows, or a mountain shaded with oaks, are not only more beautiful,
but more beneficial, than when they lie bare and unadorned. Fields of
corn make a pleasant prospect; and if the walks were a little taken care
of that lie between them, if the natural embroidery of the meadows were
helped and improved by some small additions of art and the several rows
of edges set off by trees and flowers that the soil was capable of
receiving, a man might make a pretty landscape of his own possessions.”

Continuing, the Essayist adds: “Writers who have given us an account of
China tell us the inhabitants of that country laugh at the plantations
of our Europeans, which are laid out by the rule and line; because they
say, anyone may place trees in equal rows and uniform figures. They
choose rather to show a genius in works of this nature, and therefore
always conceal the art by which they direct themselves. They have a
word, it seems, in their language, by which they express the particular
beauty of a plantation that thus strikes the imagination at first sight,
without discovering what it is that has so agreeable an effect. Our
British gardeners, on the contrary, instead of humouring nature, love to
deviate from it as much as possible. Our trees rise in cones, globes,
and pyramids. We see the marks of the scissors upon every plant and
bush. I do not know whether I am singular in my opinion, but for my own
part, I would rather look upon a tree in all its luxuriancy and
diffusion of boughs and branches, than when it is thus cut and trimmed
into a mathematical figure; and cannot but fancy that an orchard in
flower looks infinitely more delightful than all the little labyrinths
of the most finished parterre. But, as our great modellers of gardens
have their magazines of plants to dispose of, it is very natural for
them to tear up all the beautiful plantations of fruit trees, and
contrive a plan that may most turn to their own profit, in taking off
their evergreens, and the like movable plants, with which their shops
are plentifully stocked.”

It will be perfectly obvious that when Addison found it necessary to
draw comparisons between a free and natural style of gardening, and the
artificial methods carried out with mathematical precision in his time,
to the distinct advantage of the former system, that geometric
gardening, coupled with the excessive use of Topiary work, had made
English gardens dreadfully monotonous. Essays were fashionable in the
early years of the eighteenth century, and, remembering that their
publication was extended over a considerable period, it must be presumed
that they were freely read and discussed, and thus exerted a very
considerable influence upon public opinion, just as a well thought out
and carefully written leading article does in our own time. We may take
it, then, that the gardeners of his time were considerably impressed by
Addison’s quiet denunciation of the existing style, and no doubt a
revolution had already commenced in the minds, if not in the gardens, of
the wealthy, when, a little more than a year later, Pope published in
the _Guardian_ (Tuesday, September 29, 1713), his famous essay on
“Verdant Sculpture.”

Not so subtle in his irony nor so engaging in his literary style as
Addison, Pope was however the more forcibly satirical, maliciously
spiteful, and elfishly humorous. His keen wit seized upon the proper
psychological moment for following up Addison’s comparatively mild
exposure with an attack that did as much as, or more than, anything else
to bring about that rapid decline of Topiarian art that quickly
followed. Pope had evidently the genius of a great soldier, who delivers
his fiercest attack when the enemy is wavering.

As Pope’s essay is not by any means well known, neither is it especially
easy of access, I need not apologise for quoting freely from it. Pope,
however, believed with Dryden that satire was—

                   “The boldest way, if not the best,
           To tell men freely of their foulest faults,
           To laugh at their vain deeds and vainer thoughts,”

and in the course of his essay he allowed his sarcastic mockery to find
expression here and there in a manner common enough in his time but
which would be likely to offend the ears of modern polite folk,
consequently I have in a few instances forestalled the editorial
blue-pencil.

“I lately,” writes Pope, “took a particular friend of mine to my house
in the country, not without some apprehension that it could afford
little entertainment to a man of his polite taste, particularly in
architecture and gardening, who had so long been conversant with all
that is beautiful and great in either. But it was a pleasant surprise to
me, to hear him often declare, he had found in my little retirement that
beauty which he always thought wanting in most of the celebrated seats,
or, if you will, villas, of the nation. This he described to me in those
verses, with which Martial begins one of his epigrams:

            “‘Our friend Faustinus’ country seat I’ve seen:
            No myrtles, placed in rows, and idly green,
            No widow’d plantain, nor clipp’d box-tree, there
            The useless soil unprofitably share;
            But simple nature’s hand, with nobler grace,
            Diffuses artless beauties o’er the place.’

“There is certainly something in the amiable simplicity of unadorned
nature, that spreads over the mind a more noble sort of tranquillity,
and a loftier sensation of pleasure, than can be raised from the nicer
scenes of art.”

After a reference to Homer’s account of the Garden of Alcinous, and Sir
William Temple’s remarks upon it, Pope proceeds: “How contrary to this
simplicity is the modern practice of gardening! We seem to make it our
study to recede from Nature, not only in the various tonsure of greens
into the most regular and formal shapes, but even in monstrous attempts
beyond the reach of the art itself. We run into sculpture, and are yet
better pleased to have our trees in the most awkward figures of men and
animals, than in the most regular of their own.

[Illustration:

  CROWN GARDEN, MUNTHAM COURT, SUSSEX
]

              “‘Here interwoven branches form a wall,
            And from the living fence green turrets rise;
            There ships of myrtle sail in seas of box;
            A green encampment yonder meets the eye,
            And loaded citrons bearing shields and spears.’

“I believe it is no wrong observation, that persons of genius, and those
who are most capable of Art, are always most fond of Nature: as such are
chiefly sensible, that all art consists in the imitation and study of
nature. On the contrary, people of the common level of understanding are
principally delighted with the little niceties and fantastical
operations of Art, and constantly think that finest which is the least
natural. A citizen is no sooner proprietor of a couple of yews, but he
entertains thoughts of erecting them into giants, like those of the
Guildhall. I know an eminent cook, who beautified his country seat with
a coronation dinner in greens; where you see the champion flourishing on
horseback at one end of the table, and the queen in perpetual youth at
the other.”

“For the benefit of all my loving countrymen of this curious taste, I
shall here publish a catalogue of greens to be disposed of by an eminent
town gardener, who has lately applied to me upon this head. He
represents, that for the advancement of a polite sort of ornament in the
villas and gardens adjacent to this great city, and in order to
distinguish those places from the mere barbarous countries of gross
Nature, the world stands much in need of a virtuoso gardener who has a
turn to sculpture, and is thereby capable of improving upon the ancients
of his profession in the imagery of evergreens. My correspondent is
arrived to such perfection, that he cuts family-pieces of men, women, or
children. Any ladies that please may have their own effigies in myrtle,
or their husband’s in horn-beam. He is a puritan wag, and never fails
when he shows his garden, to repeat that passage in the Psalms, “Thy
wife shall be as a fruitful vine, and thy children as olive-branches
round thy table.” I shall proceed to his catalogue, as he sent it for my
recommendation.

“Adam and Eve in yew; Adam a little shattered by the fall of the tree of
knowledge in the great storm: Eve and the serpent very flourishing.”

“The tower of Babel, not yet finished.”

“St George in box; his arm scarce long enough, but will be in condition
to stick the dragon by next April.”

“A green dragon of the same, with a tail of ground-ivy for the present.
_N.B._ These two not to be sold separately.”

“Edward the Black Prince in cypress.”

“A laurestine bear in blossom, with a juniper hunter in berries.”

“A pair of giants, stunted, to be sold cheap.”

“A Queen Elizabeth in phylyrea, a little inclining to the green
sickness, but of full growth.”

“A topping Ben Jonson in laurel.”

“Divers eminent modern poets in bays, somewhat blighted, to be disposed
of, a pennyworth.”

“A quickset hog, shot up into a porcupine, by its being forgot a week in
rainy weather.”

“A lavender pig, with sage growing in his belly.”

“Noah’s ark in holly, standing on the mount; the ribs a little damaged
for want of water.”

[Illustration:

  QUEEN ELIZABETH’S CROWN AND JUG, ELVASTON CASTLE
]

Such was the crusade against Topiary; in its train came swift
destruction. Bridgeman and Kent were the landscape gardeners who,
influenced by the writings of their time and desirous of instituting a
new order of things, brought about the great change in garden design.
They not only cleared away the sculptured trees but destroyed splendid,
close hedges as well, throwing open to all eyes, and to all the winds,
gardens that had hitherto been delightfully enclosed and secluded. Of
Bridgeman there is very little information forthcoming, but Loudon tells
us “He banished verdant sculpture and introduced morsels of a forest
appearance in the gardens at Richmond.” Kent was a versatile
Yorkshireman, who was successively painter, architect and landscape
gardener; Claremont, Esher, laid out about 1725–1735, was one of his
designs. He was the friend of Lord Burlington and, even more than
Bridgeman, he carried into effect the ideas of Pope. The great successor
to Kent was Brown, who was head gardener at Stowe till 1750, and
subsequently, after being employed by the Duke of Grafton, he was head
gardener at Hampton Court and Windsor. At this time he became very much
in request as a landscape gardener, and so continued well on towards the
end of the eighteenth century. His sympathy with Topiary may be gathered
from the remark made by Sir Wm. Chambers in 1772, that “unless the mania
were not checked, in a few years longer there would not be found three
trees in a line from Land’s End to the Tweed.” In the course of about
fifty years, from 1740 to 1790, the gardens of England, with a few
exceptions, were completely altered, and the style that had been in
vogue for full one hundred and fifty years was almost wholly
obliterated. Later designers added many improvements, and a more
graceful style succeeded that of Kent and Brown, but Topiary as a part
of garden design was practically non-existent for about a hundred years.
Then commenced the modern revival of the Art.




                           REVIVAL OF THE ART

  “There is a tendency to restore some of the screens which formed so
  characteristic a feature of the Dutch style, with a view to obtain a
  greater degree of privacy, and more shelter for both visitors and
  plants. With this restoration of sheltering hedges and verdant belts
  has evidently come a desire for examples of Topiary art, and already
  there are several modern gardens where they are to be found firmly
  established.”—_George Gordon, V.M.H._

  “Topiary Work fell into disrepute in the nineteenth century, owing
  to the persistence with which the more natural styles of gardening
  came to the front, but even now this phase of ‘gardening’ exercises
  a considerable fascination upon a large section of the public;
  witness the interest excited of late years by the exhibits of
  trimmed trees which have appeared at the London shows.”—_Walter P.
  Wright._


Notwithstanding the wonderful alteration and improvement that have taken
place in British gardens since Kent began to make a clearance of Topiary
work, several notable collections survived the general slaughter and
these are to-day among the most interesting of the varied forms of
gardening seen in the country. The gardens at Levens Hall and at
Elvaston Castle may be especially particularised in this connection, but
for the moment we will deal with the revival rather than the survival of
the art.

During the past twenty years the practice of including at least a few
specimens of clipped trees in any new garden of pretensions has been
steadily growing, and within the last ten years several Topiary gardens
of considerable extent have been laid out and planted. These are chiefly
in the large establishments of the wealthy patrons of horticulture, and
they are so situated that they are in harmony with formal surroundings,
or disposed where they form a distinct item of horticultural interest
and do not in any way mar the more natural beauties of adjacent
subjects.

[Illustration:

  HENS, DUCKS, PEACOCKS, ETC., IN BOX AND YEW AT J. CHEAL AND SONS,
    CRAWLEY
]

Precisely why there has been a revival of this old art I am not prepared
to say. It must suffice that there is such a revival, and a very
distinct one, as any one who visits gardens and exhibitions and
nurseries frequently will readily discover. At the leading London and
provincial exhibitions two old established firms of nurserymen have
frequently and extensively exhibited examples of Topiary; these are
Messrs Wm. Cutbush & Son, Highgate, N., and Messrs J. Cheal & Sons,
Crawley, Sussex; and it may be safely asserted that if there were no
taste or demand for clipped trees the respective proprietors would not
incur the necessarily heavy expense of displaying this particular line
of goods.

In the revival of Topiary in England no single person has taken a deeper
interest than Mr Herbert J. Cutbush, and though his interest is
confessedly a business one it is none the less worthy of mention. For
many years Mr H. J. Cutbush has frequently visited Holland and he has
travelled through and through the little country until he knows it,
horticulturally, far better than even many eminent Dutch nurserymen do.
He discovered that some of the best trained and best furnished specimens
of sculptured yew and box were to be found in the farmhouse gardens, in
small, almost unknown villages, far from the usual routes of tourists
and business-men, and this led to still further explorations. During the
first years of the revival Mr H. J. Cutbush crossed over to Holland
nearly every week end making himself acquainted with the farmers, and
with the few growers who regularly supplied the Dutch nursery trade. He
got to know where examples were being steadily developed, securing
options on these and purchasing all that were well advanced. As already
hinted, the Dutch “Boomkmeckers,” or nurserymen who cultivate clipped
trees as a special business, are by no means a numerous class, they
chiefly reside in the Boskoop district.

Churches of box and peacocks of yew are not imported without the
expenditure of a good deal of time and money, and obviously there is
some risk in removing large examples. One big tree that for sixty years
had been the chief ornament of a Dutch blacksmith’s garden was only
purchased after a whole day spent in persuasion and the consumption of
much Schiedam, and after the purchase was made another week was spent in
lifting and packing and removing the tree to the London steamer.

There is a great variety of form in the Dutch clipped trees, but spires
surmounted with birds seem to be among the most common and are as easy
to produce as most. For these, and for the peacocks and the spiral or
serpentine columns, yew is almost invariably used. Tables, with tops
either circular, oval or square, may be had in box or yew, and the leg
of the table may be plain or ornamented according to taste. The
arm-chairs in box have quite a comfortable and inviting appearance.
Sitting hens, geese, and ducks are common designs, and to protect the
verdant poultry one may obtain equally verdant dogs, with or without
kennels, but though the mastiff may be of quite ferocious mien he can be
warranted not to bite; moreover he will require very little in the way
of food and the noise he makes will disturb no one.

[Illustration:

  YEW TREE WITH BIRD—ANOTHER FORM
]

Churches are quite common designs among topiarists, but it is
interesting to notice that seldom is there a doorway provided, and
obviously if there is no congregation there will be no collection taken.
The churchyard is also provided for, inasmuch as verdant tombstones and
Latin crosses are grown in considerable numbers, and some of these would
be vast improvements upon many of the ugly head-stones and other
memorials of a more solid character that crowd our graveyards. Pyramids,
mop-heads, and blunt cones are among the commonest designs; they do not
call for the exercise of much ingenuity, but when these pyramidal trees
are cut into several regular and well graded tiers their cost increases
considerably. Another form of tree that naturally suggests itself to the
Dutch grower, who all his life is used to water and boats, is that of a
sailing ship, or barge; but these are not so easy to evolve from either
box or yew, and they call for a good deal of training in addition to the
cutting and clipping necessary to keep them shapely. Thin wires and a
few light bamboo rods usually complete the training outfit necessary,
but taking the whole range of topiarian design, training, in the sense
of tying out, is not much practised.

Compared with the designs enumerated in the catalogue that Pope’s fancy
created, the modern list of verdant sculptures is a very modest one.
True we may have Jugs and Beakers, Wreaths as well as Crosses, and Swans
as well as Peacocks, varying in price from three guineas to ten guineas
each, but the moderns do not attempt to pourtray Adam and Eve, nor do
they caricature the poets and statesmen of the age, in living box and
yew.

Prices are governed chiefly by the size and age (height and density),
and the design of the specimen. The yew tree being of slower growth than
the box is, size for size, the most expensive of the two, and well
furnished examples that have not exceeded marketable size vary in age
from twenty to sixty years. Even when designed in box the birds are
about ten or twelve years old, dogs twelve to fourteen years, and taller
designs from fifteen to eighteen years. Some of the finer examples found
in the country districts of Holland need to have their root system cut
around one year, so that they may be safely lifted, transported to this
country and transplanted in the following season.

It may very reasonably be asked, Where are to be seen the signs of this
modern revival of Topiary, apart from horticultural exhibitions? To that
I make answer by pointing to some establishments famous throughout the
land for their gardens. At Ascott, Mr Leopold de Rothschild has a
thoroughly well furnished and quite modern Topiary Garden, and those who
are disposed to severely criticize the modern revival of an old garden
art must bear in mind that Mr Rothschild’s gardens at Gunnersbury and
Ascott have been and are still being referred to as fine examples of the
most advanced and tasteful style of natural and adapted gardening.
Another example is to be found at Friar Park, Henley-on-Thames, the
residence of Mr Frank Crisp. This is a comparatively new garden but it
contains much that is beautiful and a very great deal that is
interesting, and its collection of clipped trees is not the least
interesting feature of an establishment that also contains one of the
best collections of alpine plants in the Southern Counties.

If these are not sufficient answer to the question, I hasten to add
Witley Court, Stourport, the residence of Lady Dudley; and Danesfield,
Marlow, the home of Mr R. W. Hudson. Besides these there are numerous
other gardens throughout the land where Topiary, as a modern
development, occupies no mean position, the extent of the collections of
clipped trees being determined chiefly by the space at disposal.

[Illustration:

  CLIPPED YEWS AT A COTTAGE ENTRANCE
]




                   THE FORMATION OF A TOPIARY GARDEN


The Topiary, Dutch, or Formal Garden, as it is sometimes called, belongs
to a period long since gone by. It is uncertain who was the first person
to introduce the formal garden into England, and it is doubtful whether
this style of gardening had its origin in Holland or in France.

The present Gardens of Levens Hall were laid out between the years 1701
and 1704; but it is pretty certain that the art of Topiary gardening was
practised in England before the gardens at Levens were remodelled in
that style.

Before the year 1704, Monsieur Beaumont, who had been already employed
by King James II. to lay out the gardens of Hampton Court Palace, was
engaged by Colonel James Graham, at that time Treasurer to James II., to
introduce the art of Topiary work into his gardens at Levens, and it is
probable that these two places were the first in this country in which
the genuine art was practised. Beaumont, it may be mentioned, was a
pupil of the famous Le Notre.

The laying out of any garden in which clipped trees are intended to be
the principal feature, is open to a serious objection—the only
objection, as I think, that can reasonably be entertained against
Topiary work. I allude to the very great length of time it takes to
bring the Topiary Garden to perfection. It is certain that the
individual who takes both trouble and pains to lay out his garden can
never expect to see his work perfected; for, even in its natural state,
the yew is an extremely slow-growing tree, and when it is subjected to
continual clipping and pruning year after year, its growth is
considerably impeded.

But, even after allowing for this objection, I think it is a style of
gardening that should be more encouraged, and, if possible, made more
popular than it is at the present time. I am fully aware that there are
many authorities in the gardening world who condemn the Formal Garden as
unnatural; but I am certain that there is a charm and a beauty of its
own in Topiary work not to be met with in the modern garden. No doubt it
would be a pity were every person’s tastes to be alike, and fortunately
opinions differ in gardening as in other matters.

We will suppose, however, that, notwithstanding the objections I have
named, some reader of mine has decided to make for himself a Dutch, or
Topiary Garden—for both styles are practically the same.

The choosing of a situation, if a choice can be had, is of primary
importance. A place should be selected where the trees to be planted can
obtain the fullest possible amount of sunlight. At the same time, it
should be completely sheltered from every wind that blows.

It must be remembered that although the yew is a tree which will grow
and flourish in almost any out-of-the-way corner when left alone in its
natural state, it is quite a different matter when each individual tree
in the garden is intended to be as fine and as perfect a specimen of
Topiary work as it is possible to make it; and, like everything else in
a Topiary garden, a tree should be trained as well as possible, or else
let alone altogether.

[Illustration:

  CROSSES AND JUGS IN YEW
]

It is very easy to perceive the great difference between trees which
have been planted partly or wholly in the shade and those that have
always enjoyed a full measure of sunlight. There is a strong and
vigorous growth about the latter which is not to be found in those
planted in a shady spot. It may not always be practicable to plant each
tree in a garden where it will receive the full benefit of the sun; but
it is an object which should ever be kept in mind, and carried out as
far as possible.

The yew is a tree which repays good treatment, especially when year
after year it is subject to clipping and never suffered to grow in its
natural state.

The situation chosen for a Topiary Garden should be a hollow, or piece
of ground slightly sunk below the general level of the surrounding land.
If this should be impracticable, it would be advisable to make a terrace
on at least one side of the ground marked out for the garden, preferably
the north side, as a terrace on the north side cannot interfere with the
full benefit of the sun, or obscure it from the trees in any way. There
is no place whence Topiary work is seen to greater advantage than from a
terrace, or, indeed, from any elevated spot from which one can look down
on the garden. A terrace, in my opinion, has a double recommendation,
inasmuch as besides adding beauty to the garden it also affords good
shelter; and shelter is a necessary consideration. In fact it is of
almost as much importance to provide efficient shelter as it is to get
the greatest possible amount of sunlight, which I have always considered
to be absolutely indispensable to the welfare of the various species of
trees planted in a Topiary garden. Nothing is more injurious to the yew
tree than strong winds from whichever direction they may happen to blow,
and more especially are they hurtful if the garden be situated near the
sea. If such be the case, and the garden be not well sheltered, the salt
spray every now and then blown up even several miles inland, has a very
deleterious effect on the trees. I have seen old and splendid specimens
of the yew disfigured for several years from this cause alone; and the
older the tree the more damaging is the effect. Whatever the kind of
shelter provided, it should be planted, or erected, in such a way as not
to obscure the general view of the garden.

Espaliers, with fruit trees trained on them, were formerly used to a
great extent in Topiary gardens; but they are a kind of shelter little
to be recommended, as, though certainly not unsightly, and having the
advantage of being useful, they are somewhat out of place and scarcely
in keeping with other features of the garden.

Hardy flowering shrubs may always be planted. They make a very good
shelter, and are at the same time ornamental, while they have the
additional advantage of being useful for cutting purposes.

But in close proximity to the garden, there is nothing which affords
more effectual shelter or is more in harmony with its general character
than hedges of yew or horn-beam of about ten to twelve feet in height.
This, as a rule, is quite high enough to answer the purpose of shelter;
if allowed to grow higher, the strength and substance of a hedge is
almost certain to be sacrificed. This, of course, applies in a greater
degree to yew than to horn-beam.

Large timber trees, such as oak, lime, beech or sycamore, cannot very
well be planted within the garden, though they may easily be so in the
grounds, or even outside them. They should not be planted singly, but
either in large clumps or thick enough to form a wood which, in course
of time, may afford shelter to the whole garden.

The next thing requiring the attention of the Topiary gardener, and one
which must be considered in a special degree, is the general formation
of the garden. This is a matter of vital importance, and, in common with
all branches of garden architecture, needs great forethought and
technical skill. In commencing a Dutch or Topiary garden, everything
should be laid out in a formal way; always, of course, taking care to
avoid unnecessary stiffness in design.

[Illustration:

  VARIOUSLY SHAPED YEW TREES
]

[Illustration:

  A PEACOCK CUT IN YEW AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

In the carrying out of the Topiary work, Man is striving to a very great
extent against Nature, and Nature is never an easy adversary to fight.
Natural beauty, therefore, must not be considered too deeply in the
formal laying out of a Topiary garden. I am far from wishing to imply
that Nature should be entirely neglected; but in the general formation
and practical management of a Topiary garden, a quaint and unique
appearance is the thing that must be aimed at, and sometimes even a
grotesque effect. Hence Nature must occasionally be relegated to a
secondary position. Natural beauties, however, appeal to everybody, and
if it can be found possible to combine the two, so much the better.

If it is intended to lay out a garden in which plenty of space can be
allowed for planting, let us say, a hundred or more trees, a large piece
of ground will be found to be necessary. It is always advisable to
devote plenty of ground to the work, as it is a great mistake to plant
the trees too close together. Although the trees when in a small state
may not appear to be crowded, if sufficient space has not been allowed
for their growth and development, the garden will afterwards present a
cramped and heavy appearance which will greatly mar its general effect
as time goes on.

The system of planting entirely in grass is not, I think, to be greatly
recommended, although a few single trees planted here and there on the
lawns may look well. For various reasons which shall be explained
hereafter, I believe it to be better to combine the Topiary proper and
the flower garden.

When it has been decided how many trees it is intended to plant, and how
much space is available for the work, the ground should be mapped out in
six or eight large squares or quarters. These squares need not be all of
one uniform size, or of exactly the same shape. As a general rule, the
person who is laying out the garden will have to be guided by
circumstances as regards the shape and size of these divisions.

There are so many different designs of garden architecture that it is of
very little use trying to describe any particular form. I would
recommend, however, that the design chosen be as simple a one as
possible. The flower-beds should be made of rather a large size, and
afterwards may be planted with roses, and herbaceous and bedding plants;
they will also serve the additional purpose of containing the clipped
trees. I do not, of course, mean that all the beds should be of uniform
size or shape; but the beds in which trees are to be planted should be
from twenty-five to forty feet in length, and from five to seven feet
wide. A bed of these dimensions will be found to answer all purposes
fairly well, whatever be the design adopted, and whatever shape may be
given to the beds themselves.

All the paths, with the exception of the main walks between the quarters
or divisions, should be grass; and those main walks should have a
substratum of some hard material and be covered on the surface with
loose gravel. Some objection may be raised to grass walks as being of an
unserviceable nature for general garden work; but, if the main walks are
made as suggested, the amount of work and trampling on the grass paths
will be reduced to very small proportions, and even when necessary to do
any heavy work over the latter, such as wheeling manure or other traffic
of a similar nature, dry or frosty weather can usually be chosen as the
most convenient moment.

[Illustration:

  OLD-FASHIONED BOX GARDEN, CHASTLETON HOUSE
]

In making the flower-beds, box should always be used for edging; never
stones or ornamental tiles, as anything of this description is
altogether out of keeping with the general features of a Topiary garden.
There may be a slight objection to box edging on account of the
difficulty of getting it to grow well in certain soils. Generally
speaking, I have never had the slightest difficulty in getting it to
flourish and remain in a healthy condition, provided it gets proper
treatment. I have some boxwood at Levens which has not been relaid for
nearly, if not quite, a hundred years; and yet it is in a strong,
healthy state.

When the portion of the garden intended to be devoted to Topiary
gardening has been laid out, attention should be given to the other
portion of the grounds; and, as none of the old formal gardens were
considered to be complete without a bowling-green and hedges of yew,
horn-beam, or holly, a bowling-green should be made and then enclosed by
one or another of these species of hedge.

Any additional space not required for lawns or terraces should be made
into fruit and vegetable quarters. If it can be found convenient to have
the vegetable garden separate from the other, so much the better; as any
space not absolutely required may then be utilised for fruit trees only.
Old apple trees, with their gnarled stems and branches, with here and
there a branch of mistletoe hanging among them, are picturesque objects
enough among any surroundings.

In the grounds, as well as in the garden, grass walks should predominate
between the hedges, and in the quarters devoted to fruit trees and
vegetables. Indeed, wherever a path or walk is necessary, it should be
grassed, if possible.




                         PLANTING AND MANURING


Before planting operations are taken in hand, the beds should first be
thoroughly prepared, and made ready for the reception of the trees. As
with everything else connected with the management of a garden, a good
beginning, followed by careful attention and proper treatment, generally
means a successful result. Although the yew is a gross feeding tree, it
will thrive fairly well in almost any poor soil; but it is advisable
only to plant in a soil of a nature that will, as far as possible, suit
the requirements of the various trees it is intended to carry.
Everything that can be done at this period to ensure the future success
of the garden should be carefully attended to.

It must be borne in mind that a Topiary garden when completed will in
all probability endure for an indefinite length of time—perhaps for
hundreds of years. Any extra labour or expense devoted to the work of
initiation will, therefore, be fully repaid in the future.

If the land that has been selected for the garden is composed of loam of
a rich, mellow nature, all that is necessary will be to trench the
ground two or three “spits” deep. If the soil is of a limestone
composition it will be to the advantage of the yew trees, as these seem
to grow well and vigorously in a soil of this kind. But if, on the other
hand, the soil be of a poor, hungry nature, it will be advisable to
remove it altogether, to the depth of two or three feet, replacing it
with good loam of a more suitable character.

[Illustration:

  COTTAGE AT DITCHEAT, SOMERSET
]

Nothing will answer this purpose better than the top “spit” off old
pasture or meadow land. The top “spit” only should be used, and this
should not be removed to a greater depth than five or six inches. Turf
taken off at this depth will generally contain all that is best in the
soil of either pasture or meadow land.

Although not absolutely necessary, it will be found advantageous if the
loam be obtained six or eight months previous to the time when it will
be required for use. It should be removed from the fields, and carefully
stacked, in order to kill the grass and partially decay the turf.
Partially decayed loam is in all respects better than that which has
just been procured from the fields. The trees make better roots in it,
and it is also easier to chop with the spade—a thing which will be found
necessary to do before it can be put on the beds. The grass has also to
be considered; and unless this is covered by a good depth of ordinary
garden soil, it will prove exceedingly troublesome during at least the
first year after planting. Of course, if the garden be a large one, and
operations can be carried out on a large scale, the removal of the old
soil and replacement by other and more suitable loam will entail a
considerable amount both of labour and expense. But, as I have before
observed, nothing should be left undone at this period of the work that
will help to ensure its future success.

There is, however, another and more simple method of replacing the soil,
and one which may answer the purpose equally well. After the beds have
been made, the places may be marked out where it is intended to plant
the trees. The soil may then be removed and a hole made of from four to
five feet in diameter and from two to three feet in depth, according to
the size of the tree it is proposed to plant. By following this method
the labour and cost of removing the entire soil from the beds and
replacing it with new loam will be to a great extent reduced, and
results obtained which should be almost, if not quite as satisfactory.
The remaining soil left in the beds, no matter how poor it may be, can
soon be made rich enough for either herbaceous or bedding plants by a
liberal use of manure.

When the beds have been prepared for the reception of the trees,
planting should be at once proceeded with, provided, of course, that the
planting season be at hand. Like all other forms of tree-planting, it
should be done as soon as possible after the proper time arrives; or, to
be more explicit, from the middle of October to the middle of November.

Although the work of lifting and transplanting yew trees and box can be
carried on with perfect safety up to the end of the year or even up to
the end of January, the earlier season is undoubtedly the better. The
soil has then more chance to get settled about the roots before the
advent of hard weather. I have seen yew trees lifted and transplanted
even in June, but do not consider it to be by any means a suitable time
for the work, and it is not a practice to be recommended. If left so
late in the year as June, constant attention must be paid to watering,
else the result will be disastrous.

If the trees have been growing for a few years in a reserve
nursery-garden close at hand, they can be lifted and replanted without
undue exposure to the open air or drying winds; but if they have to be
brought from afar, and have had to undergo a long railway journey, they
are almost certain to be found on arrival to be dry at the roots. In
this case, they should be at once unpacked and submerged in a tank of
water for a few hours, and then heeled into the ground as near as
possible to the place where planting is to be carried on, and afterwards
lifted and replanted as required.

No rank manure of any kind should be used either mixed with the soil, or
applied to the roots of the trees, or the result will be injurious. If
manure of any kind be employed, nothing is better for the purpose than
coarse bones used in moderate quantities—about one barrow load of bones
to twenty or twenty-five barrows of loam.

It will be necessary to exercise great skill and forethought in
arranging and planting the various trees with which it is intended to
adorn the garden. Everything should be done to make the garden as
unique, and at the same time as bright and attractive as possible. Now
that such excellent varieties of golden yew are obtainable, a fairly
large number of these should be planted. They should not, however, be
allowed to predominate over the common green yew; but if a few be
planted, it will help to relieve the sombre appearance of the ordinary
English yew.

Box is another kind of tree that lends itself admirably to Topiary work,
and one that should not be forgotten during the planting period, as a
few of the different varieties of box will greatly add to the general
effect. There are also the different varieties of holly and golden
privet; but, as regards the former, unless it is purely for the sake of
contrast, which is admired in all gardens, I should recommend its
omission from the list of trees to be planted, as it does not lend
itself to clipping. Its chief fault, however, is its untidy nature,
which causes it to be a nuisance in a garden. It is perpetually shedding
its leaves throughout the summer, when every garden should be looking
its neatest.

No trees are more suitable for Topiary work than the different varieties
of yew and the boxwood, as these are the most easily clipped and
trained. Although the yew is an exceedingly slow-growing tree, it will,
even with continual clipping, grow into a tree of large dimensions; and,
if the whole garden has been planted at one time, instead of adding
trees at intervals of a few years, there will be too much uniformity
about it. This should be avoided as far as possible, and if a few box
trees have been planted here and there, they will help to break the
evenness of the garden, since box can be kept down to almost any size
desired by the aid of constant clipping.

When the work of marking out the places and planting the trees is being
done, avoid anything that will afterwards have a tendency to
over-crowding. Allow plenty of space for each tree to develop into
whatever size or shape may be desired, and then have plenty of space for
each tree to be plainly and distinctly seen. Trees that are too thickly
planted never have the same appearance as those that have been allowed
sufficient space; neither is over-crowding beneficial. It has a great
tendency to draw the trees up too quickly, at the expense of strong and
robust growth.

When the planting operations are finished, each tree should be given a
good mulching of farmyard manure. Nothing is more beneficial to the
health and vigour of the trees than half decayed manure from the
farmyard, applied as a mulching either to old or newly-planted trees. It
is the best stimulant that can be applied, as it answers the two-fold
purpose of imparting health and vigour to the trees and protecting the
roots from frost during winter, although there is perhaps very little
danger of frost doing any damage to the roots of the yew on account of
its extreme hardiness. It is always safer to protect trees that have
been recently planted, and the manure will certainly not be wasted.

[Illustration:

  CROSS IN YEW OVER THE GRAVE OF L.T.-GENERAL ARBUTHNOT, K.C.B., K.T.S.,
    IN ST. BONIFACE CHURCHYARD, BONCHURCH, ISLE OF WIGHT
]

If the garden is an old established one and full of old trees, these
will be greatly benefited by the aid of occasional top dressings of some
sort of manure, or the trees will begin to show signs of deteriorating
in course of time. More especially will top dressing be necessary if the
ground or beds where the trees are planted is not liberally manured
every year. But if manure is liberally applied, the necessity for top
dressing the roots will not be so great; for the yew extends its roots
for a long distance and therefore absorbs a great deal of whatever kind
of manure is applied to the ground. Although chemical manures may be
used for the sake of convenience, or lack of farmyard manure, they are
not strongly recommended. Of course if farmyard manure cannot be
obtained, then chemical manure of some sort will have to be resorted to,
but this will not have the same desired effect in imparting vigour to
the trees. The principal objection to farmyard manure arises on account
of its unsightliness in the garden; but that can be remedied to a great
extent by removing a few inches of soil from the roots and applying a
layer of the manure, and afterwards replacing the soil. Liquid manure of
any kind will be of the greatest benefit to old trees, and there is no
doubt that chemical manure if applied to the roots at all, should be
given in liquid form during spring or summer, when the weather is dry.
It will greatly assist the trees in making good growth.

The clipped yew is of such a close nature that it takes very heavy rains
to penetrate the roots.




                        MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES


It is perhaps when the work of clipping and training the trees begins,
that the most difficult part of the practical management of a Topiary
garden is experienced; but as in this chapter I intend to deal only with
old trees, I will leave the training and shaping of young trees to be
described in another chapter.

It is a matter that requires both skill and experience, both on the part
of the man who is handling the shears, and of the gardener who is
superintending, and who is also responsible for the work. There is
nothing which looks worse in a garden than trees not properly clipped,
and no clipped work can be called properly done if all or even any shear
marks are visible to the eye. Clipping and training of trees in a
Topiary garden is work that should either be done properly or else not
at all. If the greatest possible amount of care is not bestowed on the
trees, they will very soon grow out of shape, and, of course, become
unsightly; and nothing is wanted in a garden that is not pleasing to the
eye.

If the garden is a very extensive one and contains a large number of old
specimen trees, the work of clipping them and cleaning up afterwards is
an undertaking that requires a great deal of time and labour, as the
work is not of a nature that will allow men to hurry over it, and it is
moreover a labour of skill and patience.

[Illustration:

  YEWS AT MONTACUTE, SOMERSET
]

In an old Formal Garden, where Topiary work is considered the principal
feature, it is advisable to allow only men who are thoroughly
experienced in the work to do the clipping. In fact, if the shape and
symmetrical appearance of the trees are to be kept as nearly as possible
perfect, experienced men are necessary. Of course, in any garden it will
sometimes happen that the gardener may have to put a novice to do some
part of the clipping, as fortunate indeed is the gardener in charge of a
Topiary garden who can rely year after year on three or four men who are
thoroughly trained and accustomed to the art of Topiary clipping. When
it is found necessary to employ a person to do any part of the clipping
who has not had any previous experience, he should only be allowed to
begin on trees of the least importance, and those most concealed from
view. The beginner will always find that a round or oval shaped tree is
a great deal less difficult to work upon than a square one, or a hedge.
Therefore, if possible, he should be allowed to get his hand in on round
trees. It is always a wise plan when a novice is learning the work, to
have a thoroughly experienced person working close at hand—but not on
the same tree—to assist him and see that as few mistakes as possible are
made. No hard and fast line can be drawn as to the exact date when the
clipping season should begin, but it should be as soon as possible after
the trees have completed their growth, as at that season the young
shoots are soft, and not so difficult to clip. In any case it should not
be later than the middle of September, especially if there is a large
amount of clipping to be done. If it can be found convenient to start a
fortnight or three weeks earlier, so much the better. More especially
does this apply to beech or horn-beam, as they finish their growth
sooner than the yew, and if they are not clipped immediately, the young
shoots get hard and, of course, are more difficult to manage. Where
there is enough clipping to keep three or four men at work for nine or
ten weeks, the sooner the work is commenced after September comes in the
better, as it enables the work to be got through before the severe
frosts of winter set in. When the trees are of a large size—a thing that
is generally the case in old gardens—scaffolding of some sort will be
necessary, and for this purpose there is nothing better than trestles
made to close up into as little space as possible, for the double
purpose of storing them away in winter or at any time they are not
required for use, and for the sake of convenience in carrying them about
the garden. The trestles should be made in at least three different
sizes, two of each size, or more if necessary. These, with the aid of a
single plank laid across two equal sized trestles, will generally
suffice for the work. Of course, the plank that is used must be strong
enough to carry a man, and wide enough to give him plenty of standing
room.

If the trees are old and practically perfected in shape, the work of
clipping is not such a difficult matter as when the trees are in course
of training. But it is usually the case that although many of the trees
are old there are young ones coming on that have to be shaped. In the
case of old trees, as a general rule, all that is required is to take
off the year’s growth; clipping back to the old growth of the previous
year.

Hard clipping of old trees is a practice that should to a certain extent
be carried out, unless it is desired to enlarge the size of the tree. If
this is the case, from one inch and a half to two inches of the year’s
growth should be left on, but not more.

Altering the shape of old trees is a thing that should be avoided as far
as possible, especially if the trees are well shaped and in a healthy
condition. It sometimes happens that one or more trees in the garden may
have been allowed through careless management or some other cause to
grow out of shape; or perhaps an old tree may be obscuring the view in
some way or other. In the case of such a thing happening, it will be
necessary to use the pruning knife or saw rather severely, both of which
can be used with perfect safety when they are in the hands of a person
who thoroughly understands the yew; provided, of course, he does not go
to extremes, the yew is a tree that will stand a fair amount of rough
treatment, and one that can be twisted and cut into almost any shape
desired.

[Illustration:

  THE POST OFFICE, DITCHEAT, SOMERSET
]

I have seen old specimen trees that had grown out of shape, or were,
perhaps, shutting out the view in some part of the garden, taken down
and re-trained, or cut down with the pruning saw, or knife, as the case
might be; and yet in a very few years they had quite recovered and grown
into nice, well shaped trees, full of vigour and well furnished with
young growth. Rather will the tree, if it is carefully managed, be
improved by the severe pruning it has been subjected to.

Of course, after an operation like the one I am describing, great care
will have to be taken that every use is made of the young growth, as the
main object to be kept in view is to get the tree well furnished again
in as little time as possible. There will be very little, if any need
for using the shears the first year after the cutting back has been
done; but if the young growth is at all rank, it should be carefully
thinned with an ordinary pruning knife, always taking care that only the
weaker shoots are removed, leaving the stronger ones to grow for use
another year, when they can be tied in and cover up, as far as possible,
the old and bare wood. When tying young shoots, tarred string will be
found most suitable. It answers the purpose very well and it is easier
to tie than wire, although it has a tendency to decay quickly through
being always exposed to the weather. In the case of young shoots the
pressure is not great and string will generally last as long as the tie
is required, as the shoots soon become matted and interwoven together;
but if a strong branch should happen to get displaced in any way, the
use of string as a tying material should be avoided and copper wire
should always be substituted in its place. In the case of an old branch
the pressure is greater, and whatever material has been used in the
work, it will as a rule be intended to last for years. For the purpose
of tree tying of any description copper wire is to be recommended; it
has not the same injurious effect on the trees as ordinary galvanised
wire; but whatever is used, cork should always be placed between the
wire and the wood as a preventive against cutting the tree.

When clipping an old tree that is a perfectly square one, it is a good
practice to use either a line or some kind of straight edge. If the man
who is doing the work uses one or the other he can generally give the
tree a better and more finished appearance than if he trusts to the eye
only.

Perhaps of all the different kind of shapes there are to clip in the
Topiary garden, hedges require the most skill and care, and only the
most experienced men should be allowed to undertake the work of clipping
them. Hedges in the garden are mostly planted in such a way that their
entire length is visible, and of course the most casual observer can see
at a glance whether they are properly clipped or if there are any shear
marks visible on them. If the hedge is composed mostly of curves, then
of course the clipping is not such a difficult matter. A long, straight
hedge and one that is almost entirely made up of curves, differ in the
same respect with regard to the ease with which they can be clipped,
exactly in the same way as a round or an oval tree. When clipping a
straight hedge a person should never trust entirely to the eye, and
lines should always be used; and for the purpose nothing is better than
ordinary garden lines.

[Illustration:

  OLD EXAMPLE OF TOPIARY IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

In the case of hedges that are cut into battlements at the top, these
should have a line stretched lengthways along the ground, another along
the base of the battlements, and another along the top of the
battlements; and whatever size and width the battlements are, say, for
instance, two feet high and two feet in width between them, a stick cut
exactly two feet in length or a two-foot rule should be used to measure
the exact height and distance between the battlements; and if those
precautions are taken, any person with a fair knowledge of the art of
clipping can hardly with ordinary care and attention get wrong; as,
after all, the work of clipping Topiary trees is not so difficult as
might be expected.

There are several points that should always be remembered. Symmetry and
shape are necessary to make a good tree; and this may be said to be the
first and most important factor in the work. Another point is to take
particular care that the shears do not cut off more than is necessary.
By that I mean, never to allow the shears to cut deep enough into the
tree to make a hole. Another very important point to aim at is to give
the tree as smooth and even an appearance as possible after the work is
finished. I am perfectly aware that, in a large collection of yews or
other clipped trees, there are always some that it is impossible to clip
properly, on account of weak growth, or some other cause. For instance,
trees that are growing in a part of the garden where they are fully
exposed to wind and storm are almost certain to get into an unhealthy
condition. The growth becomes weak and stunted, or perhaps the branches
get worked out of place, or even die out altogether. In the case of
trees of that description, no matter how much tying is done or how
carefully they are clipped, they can never be made to have the same
appearance as those that are full of young growth and are in a healthy
and vigorous state.

Where the garden has been planted with mixed trees—such as yew, holly,
boxwood and horn-beam, the clipping should all be done in the autumn so
as to give the garden a tidy and uniform appearance. Autumn is not
generally considered the right season of the year for holly clipping,
but if there are some, more or less, planted among the yews in the
Topiary garden, it is necessary that they should be clipped at the same
time as the other subjects, for the sake of appearance. But if hollies
are planted by themselves in some isolated part of the garden, whether
in hedges or bushes, the work of clipping them should be carried out
towards the latter end of May or beginning of June; then hard clipping
every other year will suffice for them. At Levens we clip the holly
hedges which are not actually in the Topiary garden hard back to the old
wood every alternate year, and other years we merely go over them with a
pair of shears and cut away the long shoots. I am rather of the opinion
that hard clipping of hollies every year is more injurious than
beneficial to the trees.

It is evident to anyone who has seen an old Dutch or Topiary garden,
that, in the formation and laying out of the grounds, boxwood has always
been considered one of the principal features, and in most of them it
remains so to this day.

Where box succeeds well and remains in perfect health, no care or
attention should be spared to keep it so, for there is no edging that
can be used in the garden to be compared with it for beauty. It has,
however, some drawbacks, the principal one of which is the excellent
accommodation it affords to snails and other garden pests; but its
advantages more than counterbalance its defects. Like the hollies, every
other year is sufficient for clipping it, and there is no more suitable
month for the work than June. There should be no clipping done to
boxwood until all danger of frost is gone, as it is extremely dangerous
to clip before that period has passed. There is nothing more injurious
to newly clipped boxwood than sharp frosts. I have seen boxwood that was
over a hundred years old clipped in April, with the result that a few
sharp frosty nights killed the whole of it.

[Illustration:

  LEVENS GARDENS

  GENERAL VIEW
]

Excepting during the clipping season, there is very little work to be
done to the trees in a Topiary garden, unless it is top-dressing them
with some sort of manure, or keeping a look-out for branches that have
become loose through wind or some other cause. If this occurs, the
branches should be immediately tied back into their places before any
injury takes place to the tree.

There is another danger that should be strictly guarded against in
winter, and that is, the danger the trees undergo in the event of heavy
falls of snow. When the trees are old and large and in every way adapted
for carrying a heavy weight of snow, no time should be lost in getting
it removed as quickly as possible; the sooner the men get to work the
better, even before the snow has ceased if it is at all likely to be a
heavy fall. The labour of having to go over the trees two or three times
must not be considered if they are to be saved from injury. It is much
better to keep constantly knocking the snow off with light switches,
than take the risk of having the trees crushed out of shape and broken.




               THE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING OF YOUNG TREES


In my last chapter I dealt almost exclusively with the management of old
trees. In this chapter I intend to devote the space principally to the
treatment that will have to be followed in the training and shaping of
young trees in the Topiary garden. I shall try to give as clear and
concise an idea as possible to those who are contemplating laying out a
garden, or who may already have done so, in which Topiary work is
intended to be the main feature, although the training and shaping of
young trees does not belong entirely to a garden in course of formation.
Generally in old gardens, trees will be found in the course of being
trained. If the garden has been laid out and the trees carefully planted
on the lines advised in a previous chapter, a record should be carefully
made as to the exact date when each tree was planted and also regarding
the shape that each tree in the garden is intended to represent when it
is finished. A record of that description, made at the period of the
work, will prove of great interest in after years, both to those who own
the garden and to others who are either interested in it or may happen
to visit it. A record of the date of planting and the shapes that the
trees were originally meant to represent, seems to have been a thing
quite neglected during the formation of the old Topiary gardens, which
seems to me to be a very great pity.

To a great extent the general management of young trees is altogether
different from the management required to be given to old trees;
inasmuch as the difficulties are more numerous, and the care and
attention necessary to be bestowed on them more manifold. Our
forefathers with the greatest skill and care laid out and formed the old
established Topiary gardens of the present day, and afterwards year by
year trained and shaped the fine old specimens of the Topiary art now to
be seen in some of the old gardens, so that when a person is walking
through one of these gardens, and examining the quaint and curious
shapes of the trees, he cannot fail to admire them and to reflect upon
the amount of skill and labour that has been bestowed on them. It would
be curious, indeed, if he failed to pause, and consider the amount of
patience the gardeners of earlier years were endowed with. In many
respects the gardener of the present time has the advantage in Topiary
work at least over his brother of one or two hundred years ago. Whether
the gardeners of the present day are more skilled in that special art,
is a question which I am not prepared to answer; but I am certain that
there is no mistaking the abilities of the old gardeners in the art of
training trees. The work they have left behind them proves this beyond a
doubt. The gardener of the present day has more variety of shapes to
choose from, and a larger and more varied selection of trees to work
upon.

If the trees were a good size and well grown when they were planted, the
work of clipping and training them may be commenced the following year,
according to the shape into which it is intended to form the tree. It is
not advisable that any clipping or training be done to the trees the
same autumn or winter that they are planted. It should be deferred until
the following autumn, in order to allow of fresh root action taking
place. Some of the trees can be clipped into certain shapes when they
are quite small; but for other shapes a much larger tree is necessary to
commence work upon. It is a very wise policy to go to a little extra
expense on the original outlay of the trees, rather than buy small trees
that will be of no use whatever for the work for which they are
ultimately intended.

If the suggestion that I made in a previous chapter has been acted upon,
viz., the buying in of the required number of trees some years before
the work of making the garden is taken in hand, and bringing them on in
the home nursery beds until they have become a suitable size, and until
the time arrives when they are required for planting in their permanent
places in the garden, the actual cost of the trees will be reduced to a
minimum, and better and more suitable trees secured than if they had
been purchased direct from some of the nurserymen.

Although no actual shaping need be done to them until they are planted
in their places in the garden where they are to remain, a little pruning
and regulating of the shoots may be carried out. If that is done, it
will be found to be a great advantage in adapting the trees to their
future work. The buying of young trees from the nurserymen and growing
them on in nursery beds in the reserve garden, until they are required
for planting in the garden, is a system regularly practised here, and
one that is well worth a trial.

[Illustration:

  A VERDANT PEACOCK
]

To the person desirous of having a Topiary garden there are two courses
open. The first is, he can either train and shape his own trees, or else
he can purchase from one or other of the nurserymen who make clipped
yews a speciality, a ready-made collection. Trees that are clipped into
all manner of shapes can now be purchased from some of the nurserymen
either at home or imported from the Continent. The system of buying
trees that are already shaped is an excellent way of getting a Topiary
garden made and furnished with trees in the quickest possible time. But
it is a plan that is not to be universally recommended or practised. In
the first place, trees of that description generally have the very great
drawback of being very expensive. Only those who have to deal with the
training of yews have any idea how much labour and care is spent on a
tree in shaping it into even the smallest bird; and it therefore stands
to reason that the time and labour nurserymen spend on clipping and
training Topiary trees, and preparing them for the market, must be paid
for by the purchaser. But there is another, and perhaps an even greater
objection in buying trees already trained. Surely the person who loves
his garden and takes a great personal interest in Topiary work, would
never think of planting it with trees that have already been cut into
shapes by other hands. Although there is no question about the
excellence of nursery trained trees, I would strongly recommend that the
person who spends the time and money in forming and laying out a Topiary
garden, should have the patience to undertake and carry through the
training of his own trees. A far greater source of pleasure will be
derived from watching your own trees grow, and from seeing them clipped
and trained each year into the particular shape that it is intended they
should represent.

It has been very often said, and said with a great deal of truth, that a
person can with care and management train the yew into almost any shape
desired. Even figures or letters are easy to form out of yew. In
handling the yew, you have a kind of tree to work upon that lends itself
in the most convenient way to the work of clipping and training into all
the quaint and curious shapes that are found in the Topiary gardens. The
adaptation of the tree for the work, and the ease with which it can be
twisted and bent into almost any conceivable shape, places it far before
any other for the particular work I am describing. Therefore no fear
need be entertained that there will be any lack of variety of shapes in
the garden; provided, of course, that due care is exercised at the
commencement of the work, and that each individual tree is clipped and
trained to represent an entirely different design or figure, as the case
may be. As a matter of fact, in any garden that contains, say, one
hundred trees or even more, out of all that number no two trees need be
exactly alike. Each can be made to represent an absolutely different
shape. Of course there is no reason, except as a matter of taste, why
each tree should be made to represent quite a distinct shape from its
neighbour. It might be considered a better plan to plant the trees in
pairs, side by side, or on the opposite sides of a walk, and then train
and shape them into pairs resembling each other in every way. Training
in pairs is an arrangement that might find favour with some, and to a
certain extent might be adopted with advantage in the garden, especially
at the ends of paths. If it is decided to clip some of the trees in
pairs resembling each other, they should be those that are planted near
the ends of the path, one on each side. If there are two trees planted
one on each side of the path, the effect is better if they are clipped
into identically the same shape than would be the case if they both
represented something different. But I think, on the whole, if there is
anything to choose between the two styles, the one tree one shape style
should have the preference, if only for the sake of variety.

[Illustration:

  SEAT AT THE PRIORY, GLASTONBURY
]

In the matter of shapes, it is no use trying to lay down a hard and fast
rule, as every person who owns, or intends to own, a Topiary garden,
will almost to a certainty please himself as to the designs into which
he will have his trees shaped. However, I will try to give my readers
some little idea of the different shapes it is possible to make out of
the yew tree. In the first instance, almost any letter of the alphabet
can, with comparative ease, be represented; and nearly all of them can
be done with a single tree, although in the case of some letters, two or
even three trees may be required to form the letter as quickly as
possible. In the shaping of the letter A, for instance, two trees will
be necessary for the purpose. Suppose it is intended to make a capital
letter A. In the first place select two well furnished trees five or six
feet in height, and not more than nine inches in diameter at the base,
and plant them as already advised, four, five, or even six feet apart,
according to the size it is intended to make the letter. One at least of
the two trees should have two leading shoots growing from it; one to be
trained straight up to form the inside of the letter, and the other to
be trained across to form the middle of the letter. But, if both trees
are furnished with two leading shoots, one of each can be trained across
to form the cross part of the letter. If two trees can be got, with two
leading shoots, as I pointed out, they will equalise the balance of the
letter better, and give a more even appearance to the tree. In the case
of the letter B, one tree only will be required for the purpose, if the
letter is intended to be, say, eight or nine feet high. To be exact, we
will suppose it is intended to form the letter B, nine feet high. The
tree that is chosen for the purpose should have only one single stem for
half of the way up the tree. It should then branch into three leaders or
main shoots, as from this point three branches or stems will be required
to make up the different portions of the letter. The strongest or main
stem of the tree should be made use of to form the straight side of the
letter. Then utilise the two remaining stems in forming the two halves
of the B. The one that is growing in the most suitable position for the
purpose can be bent round to form the top half; while the other stem is
made to do the same in the case of the bottom part. In very much the
same way the letters C, D, E and F can be trained, or even any letter of
the alphabet. There is not a single letter from A to Z that it is not
possible to train into shape; some are perhaps more difficult than
others to do, but they can all be done, and well done, if they are
carefully handled. The principal thing to remember is the selecting of
trees that are most suitable for the purpose. Always aim at finding
trees with the requisite number of shoots that will be required to form
the different parts of the letter it is intended to make. If it is the
intention of the Topiarist to form one or more letters of the alphabet,
trees for the purpose should if possible be selected some years before
being wanted, and should be prepared for the work intended. Trees that
are so prepared beforehand will immediately they are planted in the
garden be in a fit condition to shape into letters at once. If the trees
are treated in this way, it will in a marked degree do away with the
necessity of keeping the letters for several years in the garden in the
ugly first stages of formation. There must, of course, be always a time
when any tree that is being trained looks unsightly to the person who is
new to the art of Topiary work. In the training of letters especially,
it will be found much safer, and certainly a great deal easier, if iron
frameworks are used. This certainly simplifies the work to a great
extent. By using a light framework, a more equally proportioned letter
can be made than will be the case if the more rough and ready method of
using wooden supports be practised. Of course it is quite possible to
train almost any letter, and succeed in making a fairly good job of it,
with the aid of a little assistance in the shape of a few wooden
supports, etc. But wood is never very satisfactory, for this reason—that
when it is used, it will have to be in most cases green, in order to
make it pliable and easy to bend. Green wood has a tendency to decay
very soon, and the first strong winds that come will very likely break
the supports, and blow the whole thing to pieces, or at least damage it
so as to make it require to be re-trained again. In the process of
training yew or any other tree into letters, the appearance of each
letter will be greatly improved if from one and a half to two feet of
stem be left between the ground and the commencement of the letter. This
stem should be afterwards planted round with small boxwood trees, and
clipped so as to form a pedestal, which may be of any shape desired.
There are two ways or shapes into which letters can be trained, either
the round or the square. The square way of training them is the one I
would strongly recommend to my readers, from an ornamental point of
view, but it is at the same time the most difficult method. As I
explained in my last chapter, anything with square edges is more
difficult to clip exactly right than a round object.

In the Topiary garden, the variety of shapes that it is possible to
train are so many and varied that I will only give a few of those that
can either be copied from the old gardens, or formed from the
Topiarist’s own ideas. In the first instance, there are the various
shapes of the figures required in the game of chess. Birds of any
description are easy to form into shape in either yew or boxwood. When
they are well trained and properly shaped, nothing has a better
appearance in the Topiary garden than the various shapes of birds. The
shaping of animals is more difficult to manage; but I have seen some
good specimens, notably a lion and crown, the Howard crest, that we have
got in the garden here at Levens. Then there are the various other
shapes that are to be found in the old Topiary gardens, such as
barristers’ wigs, Indian wigwams, summer-houses, helmets, busbys,
bottles of almost any description or size, umbrellas, hats or spirals of
various forms. These may be either trained as single trees, or formed
into arches. Among the newer shapes that I have seen, which have
recently been introduced into the Topiary art, are yachts, boats, jugs,
etc. The different sizes and shapes of jugs are so varied, that any
person who fancies the training of them in his garden need not lack
variety of form, and they are shapes that are, comparatively speaking,
very easy to train. There are also a great many very pretty shapes that
can be formed out of the yew or the boxwood tree without being intended
to represent anything in particular, further than that they are trained
and shaped simply as ornaments to help to add further to the
embellishment of the garden.

It is not my intention to try to explain the various ways of training
all the different shapes I have pointed out. That in itself would
require a chapter; as the different ways of training a yew or any other
tree are so numerous, to attain what is practically the same end, that
the person responsible for the work will have to be guided greatly by
circumstances and according to the particular tree he has got to work
upon. In every Topiary garden there should be at least four or five
different arches of various designs. There are very few things that are
more effective in any garden than a few well trained arches, and in the
Topiary garden, if they are not more effective than in the modern
garden, they are at any rate more in keeping with the general
surroundings of the place. If it has been decided to train several
arches in the garden, each one should be quite a different shape from
its neighbour. There is such a variety of different shapes to be seen in
almost any garden where arches are trained, that there is no occasion
for two arches in one garden to be similar in design.

[Illustration:

  LEVENS GARDENS

  UMBRELLA, INDIAN WIGWAM AND EAST WALK
]

When the shapes have been carefully thought out, let no time be lost in
making a start on the clipping and training of them, especially if the
trees are far enough advanced in growth to begin work on. It is simply
loss of time to allow the trees to keep growing, year after year, when
they might be having some training done to advantage towards the
clipping and shaping of them. It is a very great mistake to allow young
trees to grow for several years after they are large enough to be fit
for training. As soon as ever a tree is large enough to begin work on
according to the shape the tree is intended to be, a start should be
made, or else it will be found when the work is begun, that some
branches that have taken three or four years to grow will have to be cut
away altogether, after serving no other purpose than exhausting in an
unnecessary manner the strength of the tree; whereas if the tree had
been clipped sooner, these branches could have been utilised in forming
its various parts, or else removed from the tree.

In the making of a Topiary garden, nothing should be done to the trees
in a hurry; but on the other hand, no more time should be lost than can
possibly be avoided in hastening on the work of shaping, and in getting
the garden furnished in the quickest possible time. No young shoots or
branches should be cut away that can possibly be used in the
construction of the various shapes; but in the training of young trees
special care should be given to them, and particular notice taken that
they are not allowed to make too rapid growth. In a very few years trees
will be injured to a great extent through being allowed to grow too
quickly. More especially does this apply to hedges. No matter how much
it is desired to get a hedge quickly grown in a certain place, whether
for shelter or anything else, it is the greatest possible mistake to
sacrifice strength and substance to a desire to promote rapid growth, a
result that is certain to occur if a hedge is allowed to grow eight or
ten feet before it is stopped. Nothing should be done to a hedge in the
way of clipping the same autumn or winter it is planted, and perhaps not
even the following autumn; but each year afterwards it should be
stopped, and never allowed to make more than three or four inches of
growth each year. By following the system of stopping the growth every
year, the length of time required to grow a hedge eight or ten feet in
height is greatly extended. But the result will amply repay the extra
time that has been taken to grow it; you will get a hedge full of
strength and substance, and well furnished with young growths from top
to bottom. But if the other system is followed of allowing the hedge to
get to its full height before any clipping is done, you will have a
hedge that is lacking in strength and substance, easily blown out of
shape by every wind, and also one that it is very difficult to clip in
anything like a proper way, on account of its many strong branches
growing towards the outside, that should have been removed to make room
for a thicker growth. Each year when the work of clipping is being done,
a sharp look-out should be kept for all small branches or shoots that
are inclined to grow towards the outside of the tree or hedge, and these
must be removed whenever they are seen. In equal force does this apply
to both hedges and trees, and it is a part of the work in a Topiary
garden which if not carefully attended to, will very soon cause a great
deal of harm. Those shoots in the course of a few years will grow into
strong branches, and become a regular nuisance in the way of keeping
them constantly tied in; and eventually it is possible that they will
have to be removed altogether, as it is not always easy to keep branches
of that description tied back within the general level of the hedge.
Nothing, moreover, gives a worse appearance to a hedge or tree than one
of these bare branches projecting beyond the general level, perhaps
entirely devoid of young growth. In the case of one of these branches
that I have described having been allowed to grow for some years, and
then found necessary to be removed by being cut out altogether, the
disfigurement that will be caused to the hedge or tree will be very
apparent for some years afterwards; whereas, if such branches had been
removed each year as they made their appearance, no disfigurement would
have resulted through their removal; rather would the growth be improved
to a great extent, inasmuch as, where each shoot or branch is cut off a
number of young growths will break away, which will help to give the
hedge a firm and compact appearance, a thing that is greatly to be
desired in all clipped hedges or trees. For the general work of clipping
and training trees in the Topiary garden, I would strongly recommend
that the old-fashioned shears be used. There are several different makes
of clipping shears to be got now. Some of them have been given a trial
here; but for general purposes they were not found to be very well
suited to the work. There are exceptions, of course, where they might be
used with advantage, as, for instance, in the case of a privet hedge,
where the surface is smooth and even and the growth soft and easily cut.
But for all general purposes, the old style of shears is the best. It is
very often the case that in the work of clipping a well trained tree, it
is necessary to cut the growths off one by one, and it is in a similar
instance that the old-fashioned shears with their sharp points have the
advantage over the newer make of machine.

[Illustration:

  ARM-CHAIR IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]




               THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A TOPIARY GARDEN


In previous chapters I have dealt almost entirely with the general
formation of a Topiary garden; the soils and manures that are most
suitable for the cultivation and welfare of the yew; and I tried to give
my readers some idea of the general treatment required in the management
of both old and young trees. In this chapter it is my intention to
explain, as clearly as possible, the yearly management of a Topiary
garden.

The general routine of work in the Formal or Dutch garden is very much
the same as in any other garden, with, of course, the exception of the
clipping and training of the trees. That in itself adds a very great
amount of extra labour to the general work. But fortunately it is work
that requires to be done at the slackest time of the year for gardening,
viz., the autumn.

If the garden is an old established one, the arranging and planting of
the different beds will have been carried out many years previous, very
possibly at the time the trees were planted, at the foundation of the
garden, although there is no doubt they will have been subject to many
alterations during the years that have elapsed since the time when the
garden was first formed. But in this chapter it is with the planting and
arranging of the various flowering plants in the beds of a garden that
has been laid out on the principle recommended in an earlier chapter of
this work—on the formation of the Topiary garden—that I intend chiefly
to deal with.

[Illustration:

  THE COTTAGER’S PRIDE
]

The planting of the beds and their various contents is in the Topiary
garden a very important part of the work, and one that requires both a
great amount of skill and forethought, as to a great extent on the
arranging of the various kinds of flowering plants in the different beds
will depend the future beauty of the garden. Of course I do not mean to
imply that the arrangement of the various beds is of as much importance
as the planting of the trees, as they differ in this respect so far,
that once the trees in a Topiary garden are planted, they should under
no circumstances whatever be altered; but in the case of the beds, they
may be subject to many alterations, as circumstances may occur. The yew
by itself is not a very bright or attractive tree, but when you see it
planted in the Topiary garden and clipped into all kinds of unique
shapes and figures, and all the available space in the beds is utilised
for the purpose of massing either herbaceous or bedding plants, the
effect is extremely beautiful; it is then that one sees a garden with a
charm and beauty about it that is very seldom if ever met with in the
more modern garden.

It is quite evident that, in most of the old formal gardens, glass
accommodation has never to any great extent been considered necessary.
Yet there is nothing of more importance to the gardener in charge of a
large Topiary garden than plenty of glass accommodation for storing the
various bedding plants during winter and spring. In former years both
the persons who owned the Topiary gardens, and the gardeners as well,
seem to have depended to a great extent on the different varieties of
annuals for the embellishment of their gardens. But annuals in a garden
such as the one I am speaking of, never have the same effect among the
yews as the more bright and showy bedding plants. I quite agree with a
great many people in their contention that glass structures are
altogether out of place in the Topiary garden. But provision should be
made for them in some way or other, and as a rule some place can be
found for the erection of a few houses without clashing with the other
features of the garden.

If the garden has been laid out on a large scale, and contains a
quantity of large beds, as regards the work of arranging and deciding
what each bed is to be planted with, the person who is responsible will
have to be guided by circumstances to a certain extent according to the
accommodation that is already at hand, or is to be provided for the
raising of bedding plants.

In every garden, and especially in the Topiary garden, the beds should
be so arranged that they will yield as far as possible a continual show
of bloom for as many months of the year as flowers will bloom in the
garden. A continual supply of bloom for the longest possible time is the
principal object to be aimed at. Of course in the arrangement of the
beds it will be necessary to plant some of them with herbaceous plants;
others may be planted with roses; as both roses and herbaceous plants
look well in any garden. But in the using of perennial plants of any
kind, I would strongly recommend that they should be planted more in the
background and in large borders, instead of in the more important beds
in the garden. These last should be reserved for bedding plants, as no
matter whether roses, or any other kind of plants, be used, the same
brilliant and desirable effect can never be obtained as is to be had
from the more showy and more easily massed bedding plants. In the
planting of herbaceous or any variety of plants, exceptional care should
be taken to keep the plants far enough away from the trees, so as to
avoid all injurious effects from the summer’s growth coming in contact
with the yews. If the practice of planting close up to the trees is
followed, on purpose to avoid bare patches in the borders, the result
will be disastrous to the more important part of the garden, viz., the
Topiary work. But as bare patches are always unsightly in the border,
they should be avoided as far as possible by planting the very dwarf
growing herbaceous plants in close proximity to the trees. It is a plan
that can very well be followed in perennial planting, but it is more
difficult to manage in the more important work of bedding out for the
summer months, especially if large and tall growing plants are
extensively used.

[Illustration:

  A SWAN CUT IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES
]

[Illustration:

  COTTAGE TOPIARY AT NORTH WEALD, ESSEX
]

If it should happen, as I remarked before in this chapter, that the
glass accommodation is limited, it is of particular importance that the
utmost use be made of what there is at hand for the storing and
propagating of bedding plants, more especially if the requirements of
the place are such as to make an autumn display of bloom one of the most
important features in the garden. If such is the case, it will be
necessary when the bedding season arrives, to be careful that only such
plants are used as will be at their best in the autumn, more especially
in the most important beds. No attempt whatever should be made at carpet
bedding; it is a style of bedding that has very little to recommend it
at any time and certainly none in the Topiary garden; for one reason it
is much too stiff for a garden where there are a great many clipped
yews. Of course in a new garden that has been recently laid out and
where both the trees and the box edging are in a small state, the system
of carpet bedding may be practised by those who wish to entirely discard
Nature from their gardens. But if the garden is an old one, full of old
specimen yews, the larger and taller growing the bedding plants are that
are used for bedding out purposes, the better. I will name a few of the
bedding plants that are extensively used in the gardens here at Levens;
but of course, as is well known, the gardens here are among the oldest
examples of Topiary work in England. There are some varieties of bedding
plants that are far more effective than others when planted among yews,
and among the most suitable, there is nothing that has more effect than
the brilliant scarlet Lobelia cardinalis and its varieties. Some
objection may perhaps be taken to the plant by some people, but when
planted in large masses among the sombre yews in a Topiary garden, I
have not the slightest hesitation in saying it has no equal: when
growing in large masses with a background of green yew and the sun
shining on the dark foliage and brilliant scarlet flowers, the effect is
really beautiful. Perhaps the only drawback to the various varieties of
Lobelia cardinalis is the difficulty experienced by some in keeping it
over winter; but if instead of following the old system of partly drying
it off in winter, directly it is lifted out of the beds, one places it
in a frame or greenhouse with a gentle heat and gives it a fair amount
of water, thus encouraging it to start into growth at once, the
difficulty will to a very great extent be done away with. Another
favourite plant here, and one that is greatly used for bedding out
purposes in the Topiary garden, is the beautiful old-fashioned plant
Salvia patens. Like the scarlet lobelias, Salvia patens should be
largely grown in every garden where there are a lot of yews. The
brilliant blue of the flowers against the dark green of the yew trees
has a very striking effect indeed, either when planted in masses by
itself or mixed in the beds along with the scarlet lobelia or the tall
yellow Calceolarias amplexicaulis. But the foliage of the Salvia patens
has not the same showy appearance as that of the Lobelia cardinalis, but
this is a point that can be overlooked, as the brilliant blue of the
flowers fully compensates one for the lack of beauty in the plant, and
it rarely happens among the general stock of bedding plants that one can
find plants with foliage and flowers equally effective. But in my
opinion, if a fault is to be found with the Salvia patens as a bedding
plant, it is its inability to withstand wet weather. Through that cause
it is very often denuded of its flowers, but it very soon revives with a
few bright days. Among other plants that are extremely useful for
bedding purposes in the Topiary garden are the taller growing varieties
of fuschias that are hardy enough to stand planting out in the flower
garden, and more especially if the yews are old and large; fuschias
planted either in clumps or massed alone in large beds with a groundwork
of violas, or some other suitable plants, will give a very striking
effect among yews, and they have the additional advantage of giving a
good show of bloom during a mild autumn long after the majority of
bedding plants have finished flowering, which is a quality that ought to
recommend them in any garden as well as the Topiary one. In most
gardens, variety of plants is considered a necessity in the work of
bedding out, and space will not permit me to point out the special
qualities of each and every different variety of plant that may be used
in the embellishment of a Topiary garden, but I will give the names of a
few that I have found most suitable and effective for bedding out in a
garden where the yew tree is extensively grown. The different types of
antirrhinums, both dwarf and tall growing varieties, calceolarias,
cannas, begonias, heliotropes, yellow and white marguerites, gladioli,
and the various varieties of geraniums. Geraniums, and more especially
the ivy leaved varieties, should be given a place in the garden if beds
that are suitable for them blooming well can be found for them. Grown as
pyramids or trained over a wire framework three or four feet high, the
effect is very pretty.

In all the bedding arrangements of a Topiary garden, a natural
appearance is a thing that should be studied and as much as possible
sought. Always remember that in the practice of clipping and training
yews into all kinds of shapes, Nature is to a very great extent
discarded, therefore there is all the more reason why it should be as
much as possible encouraged among the plants in the flower garden; all
stiffness should be avoided and as little tying as possible done; though
of course a certain amount of tying will be necessary to keep the wind
and storm from breaking the plants, unless, indeed, the garden is a
sheltered one.

There is another point that should be aimed at in the old formal garden,
and that is, to always keep the garden well supplied with old-fashioned
flowers. I certainly do not mean it to be understood that none of the
new and beautiful varieties of the different species of garden plants
that are being introduced every year should not be given a place in the
garden, but what I want to be understood is this, that there should not
be a wholesale clearing out of the old favourites to make room for the
new ones.

As I pointed out before, the general routine of work in the Topiary
garden is, with the exception of the clipping and training part of the
work, practically the same as in any other garden. If there is a kitchen
garden, a necessity that almost every garden, whether Topiary or
otherwise, is almost certain to have attached to it, the work of looking
after and attending to the various kinds of vegetables will have to be
seen to, and a trim and tidy appearance kept in it, more especially if
it is combined with the Topiary garden.

[Illustration:

  LEVENS GARDENS, SHOWING LETTER B AND LION
]

If the garden has been laid out on the principle recommended in the
chapter dealing with the Formation of a Topiary Garden, and the paths in
the flower garden and grounds are composed principally of grass, a fair
amount of care and attention will have to be given to them to keep them
in proper order. Grass paths are, and always have been, one of the
principal features of the formal garden, and no amount of labour and
care should be considered wasted in keeping them in good condition.
Grass paths require far more labour and attention in keeping them in
proper order than those that are composed of some hard substratum,
especially if there is a considerable amount of traffic on them; if such
is the case, it will be necessary to go over them every spring and
re-turf places that have got worn out, afterwards well rolling them;
then during the summer and autumn months they will require constant
attention in the way of mowing and in keeping the edges well clipped so
as to maintain a clean and tidy appearance.

In the Topiary garden it should always be remembered that everything
should be kept in as trim and formal a condition as possible, with the
exception of the different varieties of plants or shrubs that have been
planted for the purpose of giving colour to the garden; amongst those,
Nature should as far as is consistent be encouraged; but the walks, beds
and borders, and everything else in the garden should be made to present
as formal an appearance as possible. If the garden is a formal one, let
as much as possible in it be made to have a formal appearance.

In writing on the Topiary garden, I have perhaps made it appear to some
of those who may read it as hideously unnatural, and I am aware there
are plenty who maintain that it is a style of gardening that has nothing
to recommend or encourage about it. But those who think that the formal
garden is without its charm make a very great mistake, as in every old
world garden there is a charm that belongs to it only. In the woods and
the parks let us by all means study and cultivate Nature as far as
possible; but in the gardens we should have the trees to present as neat
and formal an appearance as possible, a thing that can only be had by
the aid of constant clipping or pruning.

For a great many years past, in this country at least, the Topiary
garden has been to a very large extent a thing that belongs to other
ages; especially does this apply to the formation of new gardens; but
there is not wanting evidence at the present day that it is again coming
into favour, and deservedly so. The Topiary garden has its drawbacks,
principally on account of the great number of years it takes to bring it
to perfection and the amount of extra labour that requires to be spent
over the clipping at various periods of the year. There is one thing to
remember about the Topiary garden, it is all work.

Perhaps at the present time Topiary gardening is a subject of far
greater interest to rich men in America than it is over here, and as
gardening might practically be said to be in its infancy in that great
country, there is hardly any reason why the art of Topiary work may not
have a great future in store for it in America.




                                 INDEX


                                   A.

 Addison, 24, 25.

 Age of clipped trees, 35.

 Alphabet in Topiary work, 63, 64.

 Amherst’s, Hon. Alicia, “History of Gardening in England,” 13, 15.

 Ascott, Topiary garden at, 36.


                                   B.

 Bacon, Lord, 6, 22.

 Batty Langley, 20.

 Beaumont, 17, 37.

 Box edgings, 43.

 Box trees, 47, 56.

 Bridgeman, 30, 31.

 Brown, 31.


                                   C.

 Canons Ashby, 13.

 Catalogue of Topiary, Pope’s, 29, 30.

 Cheal & Sons, Messrs J., 33.

 Clipping, 50, 54.

 —— best time for, 51.

 —— worst time for, 56.

 Cutbush & Son, Messrs Wm., 33.

 Cutbush, Mr Herbert J., 33.


                                   D.

 Danesfield, Marlow, 36.

 De Cerceau, 10.

 Details of general management, 70.

 Dutch commercial Topiary work, 34.

 Dutch verdant sculpture, 18.


                                   E.

 Early history of Topiary, 6.

 Elizabethan gardens, 12, 22.

 Elvaston Castle, 32.

 Evelyn, John, 13, 18.


                                   F.

 Fantastic Topiary designs, 30.

 Flowers and Topiary, 41, 42, 70, 75.

 Formation of a Topiary garden, 37, 60, 61.

 Friar Park, Topiary garden at, 36.


                                   G.

 Gerard, 14.

 Golden age of Topiary, 12.

 Gordon, Mr G., on modern Topiary, 32.

 Grass paths, 76, 77.

 Grecian formal gardens, 6, 7.


                                   H.

 Hampton Court, 5, 17, 21.

 Harrison, Wm., 13, 15.

 Hedges, 54, 68.

 Heslington, 15.

 Hibberd, Shirley, on Topiary, 4, 12.

 Holinshed’s Chronicles, 13, 15.

 Holly, 47, 56.

 Hunting scene in Topiary work, 16.


                                   K.

 Kensington Gardens, 18.

 Kent, 31.


                                   L.

 Labyrinths and mazes, 10.

 Lawson, 15.

 Le Notre, 16.

 Levens Hall, Westmoreland, 17, 32, 37, 73.

 Limit of Topiary, 18.

 London & Wise, 18.

 Lowe, Mr John, on Topiary, 12.


                                   M.

 Manuring, 45.

 Mason on Addison and Pope, 24.

 Milner, Mr H. E., on Topiary, 19.

 M‘Intosh on Topiary, 21.

 Moor Park, Dutch garden at, 17.

 Mulching, 48.


                                   N.

 Nicholson, Mr G., on Topiary, 4.


                                   O.

 Old trees, 50.


                                   P.

 Parkinson, 14.

 Planting, 45.

 —— time for, 46.

 Pliny’s garden, 7.

 Pope, 24.

 Prices of Topiary designs, 35.

 Privet, 14, 46.


                                   R.

 Revival of Topiary, 32.

 Roman Topiary work, 7.

 Rosamund’s Bower, 10.

 Rosemary, 5.


                                   S.

 Salvia patens, 74.

 Satire on Topiary, 25, 27, 29.

 Sayes Court, Deptford, 19.

 Shears, 69.

 Siege of Troy, 18.

 Site for Topiary garden, 38.

 Soil —— ——, 44.


                                   T.

 Temple, Sir Wm., 17, 28, 31.

 Topiary and flower gardening, 41, 42, 70, 75.

 Topiary designs, modern, 34, 35, 63.

 Topiary, etymology of, 4.

 —— gardens, formation of, 37.

 —— —— modern, 36.

 —— in America, 78.

 —— overdone, 19.

 Training, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67.

 Tying, 53.


                                   V.

 Verdant sculpture, 27.

 Versailles, 16.


                                   W.

 William and Mary, Topiary in the reign of, 17.

 Witley Court, 36.

 Wright, Mr W. P., on Topiary, 32.


                                   Y.

 Yew tree, 15, 47.

 —— —— golden, 47.

 Young clipped trees, 58.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




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    Also an immense stock of Yews, up to 6 feet in height, specially
    prepared for hedge planting.

  STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS.—An extensive stock of Palms, Climbers,
    and Decorative Plants generally, and also a large quantity of
    well-grown Autumn and Winter-flowering Plants.

  FORCING PLANTS, &c.—The collection of Plants for Forcing is considered
    the finest in existence, and a great speciality is made of Azaleas,
    Deutzias, Lilacs, Wistarias, Guelder Rose, Staphylea, and many other
    varieties of Plants for Forcing purposes. Large quantities of Plants
    and Roots can be supplied in retarded form, such as Lily of the
    Valley, Liliums, Azalea mollis, &c., for flowering at any season of
    the year.

  ALPINE AND HERBACEOUS PLANTS.—An unique and up-to-date collection,
    including many _Grand Novelties offered for the first time_.
    Nymphæas and other Plants for the Aquatic, Bog, and Wild Garden
    being extensively grown.

  HARDY CLIMBERS.—An immense quantity of Ivies, Honeysuckles, Wistaria,
    Ampelopsis, Clematis, Jasmines, &c., &c., in all sizes up to 10 feet
    high.

  TREES.—A large and varied collection of Hardy Ornamental Trees; also
    grand stocks of Limes, Planes, Poplars, Elms, Sycamores, Birch, &c.,
    grown singly, specially for Park and Avenue Planting.

  LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND PLANTING.—Plans and Estimates may be had for
    the Laying-out and Planting of New, or the Renovation of Existing
    Gardens in any part of the Kingdom.

  SEED AND BULB DEPARTMENTS.—Special attention is given to the selection
    of the finest produce of the Dutch, French, American, and other
    growers, and being probably the largest importers in this country,
    we are in a position to offer the finest quality bulbs upon special
    terms. Every care is taken in the saving and selection of Seeds.

                 _Catalogues Post Free on Application._

                           WM. CUTBUSH & SON

    _Nurserymen by Special Warrant to His Majesty King Edward VII._

          HIGHGATE NURSERIES, LONDON, N., AND BARNET, HERTS.

 Telegraphic Address—               Telephone—
   “CUTBUSH, LONDON.”                 NO. 160 NORTH


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[Illustration]

                         “ONE & ALL GARDENING”


               _A most useful book for Amateur Gardeners.
                   200 pages profusely Illustrated._

                     PUBLISHED ANNUALLY, PRICE 2d.

                               EDITED BY

                         EDWARD OWEN GREENING.

                    PUBLISHED AT 92 LONG ACRE, W.C.

              FOR SALE AT ALL BOOKSTALLS, NEWSAGENTS, ETC.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                         THE COUNTRY HANDBOOKS.


 A Series of Illustrated Practical Handbooks dealing with Country Life.
  Suitable for the Pocket or Knapsack. Under the General Editorship of

                             HARRY ROBERTS.

                       Fcap. 8vo. (6½ by 4 in.).

                 Price, bound in Limp Cloth, 3/- net.
                 Price, bound in Limp Leather, 4/- net.

                             _New Volumes._

 Vol. VI.   THE WOMAN OUT OF DOORS. By MÉNIE MURIEL DOWIE.

 Vol. VII.  The Stable Handbook. By T. F. DALE. With Numerous
              Illustrations.

  ⁂ _A concise, practical handbook on the feeding, grooming, training,
  housing, and general management of horses, written by a well-known
  breeder. Especially useful to the owner of one or two horses._

  THE LITTLE FARM. By “HOME COUNTIES.” With Numerous Illustrations.

  ⁂ _The aim of this book is to give the townsman, who wishes to have a
  little place of his own in the country, true notions of the conditions
  under which even the smallest farm needs to be managed. Special
  attention is given to fruit-growing and to the management of small
  stock._

                      _Volumes already Published._

 Vol. I.    THE TRAMP’S HANDBOOK. By H. ROBERTS.

 Vol. II.   THE MOTOR BOOK. By R. J. MECREDY.

 Vol III.   THE TREE BOOK. By MARY R. JARVIS.

 Vol. IV.   THE STILL ROOM. By MRS ROUNDELL.

 Vol. V.    THE BIRD BOOK. By A. J. R. ROBERTS.

 Vol. VIII. THE FISHERMAN’S HANDBOOK. By EDGAR S. SHRUBSOLE.

 Vol. IX.   THE SAILING HANDBOOK. By CLOVE HITCH.

 Vol. X.    THE KENNEL HANDBOOK. By C. J. DAVIES.

 Vol. XI.   THE GUN ROOM. By ALEX. INNES SHAND.

       ⁂ _An Illustrated Prospectus, Post Free, on application._

            JOHN LANE, _Publisher:_ VIGO STREET, LONDON, W.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES


 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.
 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.