Landscape gardening; how to lay out a garden

Preface To The First Edition

It is a salutary axiom, especially in this book-making age, that no volume should be sent before the public without something beyond a private reason for its appearance. It requires to be shown that other people have an interest to be served by it, and that the author's own pleasure or advantage is not alone consulted.

But even this plea, however well made out, will not be a sufficient or satisfactory excuse for publication, unless the work be very erudite or far in advance of the times and calculated to benefit future generations. For an ordinary volume, on a common subject, the additional justification of being adapted and required for the use of large numbers of the people is demanded.

How far, then, these requirements can be substantiated in reference to the present unassuming little essay the reader will easily be able to judge when its origin and purport are explained.

Having spent a good deal of time in passing through the suburbs of large towns, the author, in common with many others whom he has had the opportunity of conversing with, has been very much impressed with the incongruity and dullness observable in the majority of small gardens, and been led strongly to wish that the general appearance of such districts were more gratifying to the passers-by, and the arrangement of individual gardens more productive of pleasure to the several occupants. There is such a humanizing and elevating influence about everything that is really beautiviii Preface

ful, whether in Art or in Nature, that it is almost impossible for the observant wayfarer to stumble upon such objects without being cheered and benefited, while their effect on those who have them daily beneath their eye is of a still deeper kind.

From the author's every-day intercourse with gentlemen who are either laying out new grounds or are seeking to amend errors in design formerly committed, he is also enabled to perceive that sound and useful information is greatly wanted on the subject of landscape gardening, and that to this defect are mainly attributable the deformities so lamentably frequent. He feels certain, moreover, that other landscape gardeners will bear him out in the assertion, that their services are more employed to remedy irregularities which have been fallen into for want of due consideration and enlightenment, than to furnish entirely new designs. And the difficulty and expense of rectifying such errors can scarcely be overestimated. It is wisely ordained that while a truly beautiful object will yield permanent and increasing delight, everything of a contrary nature is nearly sure, at some period or other, to pall and disgust the mind.

As far as the writer's own observation has extended, — and he has reason to believe that is a fair criterion of the real facts of the case, — there is no want of appreciation, among the classes for whom this work is intended, of what is tasteful and elegant in gardening. Most persons are able to admire a chaste and beautiful garden when they see it. What is rather required is something or some one to develop and guide their tastes and direct them to fitting objects.

On all these accounts, then, and as a humble but earnest effort to supply these demands, the book now submitted has been written. It is clearly required by the multitude, for how few there are among the middle classes who do not possess a

Preface ix

small garden! And the very extreme of smallness will not exclude a place from the beneficent influence of art, which is, perhaps, all the more necessary and powerful in proportion as the limits become more contracted. Still, a garden varying in extent from a quarter of an acre to four or five acres, and either wholly without an accompanying field, or having one that comprises from one to twenty-five acres, is what has been chiefly kept in view.

Nor will places of greater size and more pretension than have been actually contemplated in the outline of the work be altogether beyond its range. Unambitious as it is in its title and leading object, it may not be without interest or use to the proprietor of a large domain. In its radical principles art is essentially the same, whether it apply to a great or a little object; and, relieved of whatever is peculiar in its reference to small places (this being distinctly pointed out, where it is requisite to do so) the points of which the book prominently treats are such as embrace both extensive and limited estates indiscriminately. The author's hope is, consequently, while writing for a large and particular section of the community, not entirely to shut out a smaller but higher or more wealthy class.

The work of the late indefatigable Mr. Loudon, on Suburban Gardening, being somewhat of the nature of the present more restricted production, may be mentioned with the greatest respect, as a voluminous and ample treatise on everything relating to the subject. The book now submitted covers but a fragment of the same field, without, it is believed, at all trenching on the province of its predecessor, it having been the aim to avoid, as far as possible, traveling over beaten and frequented ground. The price and portableness of this volume will further place it at an immense distance from whatever has preceded it.

x Preface

Such being, in brief, the nature, object, and occasion of the essay winch follows, a few words only remain to be said on its materials and execution. There is nothing of egotism (certainly nothing intentional) in the remark that these pages have sprung out of the author's own reflection and observation, and have often been jotted down of an evening, or during a journey, as the result of daily experience. It is very likely that a more finished and comprehensive and readable book might have been produced by the use of frequent quotation and copious illustration from other and less easily attainable works. This, however, was no part of the original plan; though it should be added, that since its completion the best books on the art have been glanced over, and a few valuable hints, which have been mostly acknowledged, gleaned from Sir Uvedale Price, Mr. Repton, and Mr. Loudon. The work of Sir U. Price on "The Picturesque " is probably the most valuable thing of the kind in our language. To have collected more from these, or Mr. Gilpin, or any other authority, would have entirely altered the limits and intention of the essay.

At the outset of his task, it was the author's purpose to have illustrated the volume with a number of woodcuts, showing how the various suggestions might be actually carried out, and supplying designs for a few gardens of different sizes in the two principal styles. Well-selected lists of the several tribes of plants suitable for gardens of limited dimensions were likewise to have been inserted. But it was soon found that the first of these would have materially increased the price without adding greatly to the efficiency of the book, while the catalogues in question would also have seriously enlarged its bulk. Mere lists of plants, too, are of such common occurrence in other publications, that they do not seem to be wanted; and general designs for places, or sketches of

Preface xi

particular objects, are seldom capable of being applied, without much modification, to individual gardens.

With regard to the style and manner of the work, the author confesses some little fear lest it should be deemed too elaborate or dogmatical. The first of these faults, if it have any palpable existence, has originated in the wish to render the matter as expressive, as dense, and as serviceable as possible. It is mainly due to the aim at obtaining brevity and force, without omitting anything. And on so comprehensive a theme it is hardly surprising that the matter should have accumulated to an extent by no means originally con-. templated, so that the object indicated by the title may even seem to be unduly departed from. This will, however, be more than justified by the fact that there are yet a great many things, not without interest or importance, unavoidably omitted.

For the second defect, which appears more manifest and serious, a similar excuse may in part be alleged, with the additional plea that practical information can hardly be made altogether suggestive, and must, to some extent, become dogmatical, unless it be conveyed in a very circuitous form. At any rate, it is hoped that this will be considered simply as a fault of manner, and not as indicating a positive or presumptuous disposition, which is utterly foreign to the author's purpose.

With these frank admissions he now submits his little volume to the test of public opinion, assured that, whatever may be its fate, it will be judged by the substance of what it contains, and not by the mere accidents of manner and composition.

EDWARD KEMP.

Birkenhead Park, Liverpool.

Preface To The American Edition

When it was first proposed that I undertake the American revision of this work I accepted the opportunity with high anticipations. Kemp's Landscape Gardening was one of the first books on the subject I had ever read, and one of the most delightful. I had used it for years as a reference book in my classes. I expected that the work of revision would be easy and entertaining.

So far as the simplicity of the task was concerned I was soon better informed. Though I have not ceased to enjoy the work, I have found it a much greater task than I had supposed. On hundreds of pages it has been almost impossible to separate the gist of good advice from the detail of old English practice in which it was imbedded. Oftener than I had expected I found myself in disagreement with the recommendations of the author. In such cases it became very difficult to decide whether the author's methods had been outgrown in the general improvement of landscape gardening since his day, whether his methods were simply unfashionable at this moment in America, or whether it was merely a difference of opinion between author and reviser. In cases of the first kind I have not hesitated to eliminate outgrown methods and to substitute the rules of more modern practice. In those of the second kind, where merely a changing fashion is involved, I have usually retained the author's views, adding some note of present American ideas. In cases of the third kind, where there appeared to be only a difference of opinion, it is hardly necessary to say that I have allowed

Preface xiii

the author's text to stand intact, reserving the expression of my own views for some more appropriate opportunity.

The reader will readily understand, therefore, that where the personal pronoun, first person, occurs in the text it always means Edward Kemp.

The work of Kemp will be better understood and more enjoyed if it is studied in connection with the work of his contemporaries, particularly Repton, Milner, Loudon and Downing; for America, the comparison with Downing is most natural and most instructive. There is, of course, no space in this book for a critical comparison of these various workers, but a slight introduction to such a study will be found in the biographical note on Kemp included herewith. There is every reason to believe that, with the remarkable popularization and no less remarkable liberalization of landscape art now going on in America, there will be more interest than ever before in the work of those great men who established the English (and therefore the American) style of landscape gardening.

F. A. WAUGH.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Edward Kemp was born at Streatham, Surrey, England, September 25, 181 7, and died at Birkenhead, Liverpool, England, March 2, 1891, in his seventy-fourth year. Even at this early date, less than twenty years since his death, there are very few details of his life and work to be learned.

His technical training was gained in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chiswick, under Dr. Lindley, and subsequently in private work under Sir Joseph Paxton. In September, 1843, at the age of twenty- five, he was made superintendent of Birkenhead Park, Liverpool, and the remainder of his life was closely connected with that particular enterprise. He designed a number of private places, several of which are illustrated and described in the various editions of his books.

His debut as a writer came in 1850, when he put out a small volume under the title "How to Lay out a Small Garden," which was really the germ of the present book. A second edition, illustrated and much enlarged, was issued in 1858. A third and yet larger edition appeared in 1864. The chronological list of his principal writings is as follows:

1850. "How to Lay out a Small Garden"; intended as a guide to amateurs in choosing, forming or improving a place, with reference to both design and execution. London, Bradbury & Evans. 212 pp., 8vo.

1850. Editor, "The Handbook of Gardening," tenth edition.

xvi Biographical Note

1851. "Parks, Gardens, etc., of London and its Suburbs." London. i2mo.

1858. "How to Lay out a Small Garden," 2d ed., enlarged and illustrated. London. i2ino., about 400 pp.

1858. Same. First American edition, Wiley & Halstead. New York. 403 pp., nmo.

1864. Same. Third Edition (English) again revised and enlarged. London, Bradbury & Evans. 428 pp., 8vo.

.1880. Same, Second American Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York. 403 pp. nmo.

At his death Mr. Kemp was buried in Flaybrick Hill Cemetery, Birkenhead, of which he had been the designer. At a meeting of the Burial Board for the Parish of Liverpool held at their offices, Anfield Park Cemetery, on Thursday the 2d of April, 1 89 1, it was unanimously

"Resolved, That the Board has heard with much regret of the recent death of Edward Kemp, Esq., the eminent Landscape Gardener and Garden Architect to whose genius Liverpool and its Burial Board are indebted for the Anfield Park Cemetery. Mr. Kemp furnished the Design, also zealously and faithfully attended to the laying out and embellishment of the Grounds.

" Through his strict integrity and dignified conduct the Burial Board soon after its origin escaped many evils, and, prompted by his solicitude for the future good management and reputation of the Cemetery (at the request of the Board and in its interest) he induced his Draughtsman, Assistant and Friend, Mr. Wm. Wortley to undertake the Superintendence of the Estate, which he has so ably managed for the period of twenty-eight years.

" Further, that this Resolution be recorded upon the Minutes as a tribute of high respect to the memory of the departed, and that this expression of the Board's sincere

Biographical Note xvii

regret and condolence be conveyed to the Relatives of the Late Mr. Kemp."

Extracted from the Proceedings,

ELEAZOR ROBERTS,

Clerk to the Burial Board.

A memorial card circulated at the time of his death had, according to the then prevailing fashion, a tribute in verse, which read:

" He made the Landscape meet the eye With Beauty: and turned the barren wastes To noble Parks and Gardens of the Lord. Thus Nature's rugged face By Art he wreathed with winsome smiles That woo'd the Children of the City, and the Sons Of grimy toil and gave delight to all."

J. C. P.

Although I have employed two expert English antiquarians for the search, and though I have myself visited the scene of his principal labors for the same purpose, it has not been possible to add any important facts to this meager biography of an able and useful man. His most enduring memorial will certainly be his book on "Landscape Gardening; or How to Lay out a Garden."

F. A. WAUGH.

LIST OF PLATES

Springtime in the Garden Frontispiece

Plate Op. Page

I. Stone Steps with Plantings 10

II. Shores of the Charles River 26

III. On the Biltmore Estate, North Carolina 42

IV. Lawn Vista from House Veranda 58

V. Lawn Vista and Groupings 74

VI. Old-fashioned Garden 90

VII. Rustic Bridge in Rock Creek Park 106

VIII. Wistarias and Subtropical Plants 122

IX. Entrance and Drive, Biltmore Estate ♦. 138

X. Plantings along a Driveway 154

XI. A Pleasant Winter Walk 170

XII. Excellent Water Surface with Background and

Sky Line 186

XIII. Vista across a Pond 202

XIV. Effective Grouping of Trees 218

XV. Wide Road with Border and Screen 234

XVI. Entrance to a Ten-acre Private Place 250

XVII. Effective Water Surface and Grouping 258

XVIII. Pleasant Naturalistic Lawn on a Georgia Estate . . . 266 XIX. Good Water Surface, Good Borders, Good Background, Good Sky Line 274

XX. In the Wild Garden 282

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

i. Improper Grade for a Lawn 16

2. Convex-Concave Grade for a Lawn 16

3. Plan of a House with Reference to the Grounds 19

4. Arrangement of an American House 22

5. Outline Plan of a Place 24

6. Tree Belt — Monotonous 36

7. Same as Fig. 6 — Improved 36

8. Monotonous Belt on Rolling Land 37

9. Improvement of Fig. 8 37

10. Method of Grading for Walks 57

11. Practical Perspective 60

12. Vista Showing Distant Views 62

13. Treatment of Flat Foreground 64

14. Treatment of Foreground with Water View 66

15. Treatment of Curved Walk 70

16. Grouping Shrubs along a Walk 71

17. Typical Group 71

18. Elevation of Group 73

19. Group on High Land 74

20. Plan of Proper Grouping 75

21. Method of Diversifying Views from Residence 76

22. Vistas with Cross- Views 79

23. Treatment of Boundary 81

24. Location of Group on a Knoll 82

25. Treatment of Grades 83

26. Branching of Straight Walk no

27. Various Treatments of Formal Walks 113

28. Various Forms of Flower Beds 116

29. Other Forms of Flower Beds 118

30. Terrace Treatment of Rising Ground 121

31. Grades about a House 122

32. A Type of the Picturesque 125

33. Oblique Turn-in from Public Road 133

34. Turn-in at Right Angles 134

35. Carriage Turn for Small Grounds 138

36. Carriage Turn with Embellishment 139

37. Branching of a Walk 141

38. Grading to a Walk I42

39. Grading to a Walk 143

40. Sunken Wall or Fence ^

xxi xxii Illustrations

Figure p AGK

41. Sloping Invisible Iron Fence 144

42. Common Wire Fence Sunken 145

43. Boundary Wall with Planting 146

44. Rustic Fence ^8

45. Simple Protector for Tree 148

46. Tree Protected by Undergrowth 149

47. Proper Form for Border Planting 151

48. Two Groups which look like One 153

49. A Mixed Group 154.

50. A Good Picturesque Grouping 154

51. How to Plant a Hill 155

52. Terrace Disguised by Plantings 169

53. Plan of an Architectural Garden 171

54. How to Manage a Hedge 189

55. Plan of a Home Park 201

56. Design of Residence Grounds 205

57. A Secluded Flower Garden 207

58. Design for a Rose Garden 215

59. The Arrangement of a Collection 218

60. Design for a Bowling Green 221

61. Plan of an Artificial Pond 227

62. Forming the Bank of a Lake 229

63. Lake Shore Planting 230

64. Rustic Bridge on Simple Lines 231

65. Design of a Summer House 236

66. Gate Lodge and Entrance 247

67. Simple Lodge and Entrance 249

68. Imposing Recessed Entrance 250

69. An Unusual Type of Entrance ,• • • ■ 2 5 I

70. Plan of a Seaside Garden 254

71. Section through Garden Shown in Fig. 70 255

72. Cross Section of Drain 260

73. Cross Section of Drain 260

74. Excavation for Walk 262

75. Different Forms of Walks 267

76 and 77. Setting a Tree to Stay 281

78. Staking a Tree 282

79. Staking a Large Tree 282

Chapter I

From that beautiful variety of taste which brings the commonest persons into association with the more cultivated, and secures for objects that many would regard as inferior a certain amount of approbation and patronage, scarcely any two individuals will be disposed to select, where there is a full latitude of choice and a thorough knowledge of every peculiarity, precisely the same spot for a residence. What would perfectly satisfy one might be displeasing to another. The conditions that some would even detest others might actually covet. And this it is, united to the fact that few can obtain exactly all they desire, and that the alternative must generally lie between situations which comprise a greater or less proportion of the required capabilities, that distributes the population of our towns pretty equally over the suburbs, and brings districts into use that would otherwise remain entirely waste or be devoted only to the farmer or the grazier.

Railways, however, with their annual contracts for conveyance, and the rapidity, ease, and certainty of transit, are now gradually bringing other parts of the country within the range of selection, and enabling the town merchant or man of business to locate himself from ten to twenty, or even forty or fifty miles from the town, and thus get the benefit of country air and rural pleasures. And from the greater abundance and cheapness of land in such districts a wider field of choice is afforded, and more scope for the exercise of judgment and taste.

Although, therefore, every person will necessarily have his own peculiar inclinations, and the opportunities of gratifying a refined feeling may be very limited, it is right that a book like the present, which professes merely to be suggestive, should point out those characteristics most generally desirable in a place, and which might not be thought of, or would possibly be but lightly regarded, if not thus specifically presented, leaving every one to the exercise of his individual wishes.

i. Accessibility. — The question which first arises in the mind of an inquirer after a site for a residence is determined is, how it will be accessible. There may be different opinions as to the kind of road preferable for getting at a dwellingplace, but an actual necessity exists that there should be some convenient mode of access. Many would desire to fix themselves near a well-frequented road, while some would rather be situated on the side of a more retired and private thoroughfare. It will be obvious however, that the road by which a place is approached should be a sound one, likely to be kept in good repair and capable of being used at all times. A bad road that has to be frequently traveled, is not merely an inconvenience and a nuisance, but gives a most unfavorable impression of a place to visitors; and a private road, that is closed at night, may occasion a good deal of trouble and discomfort.

To settle in a place to which there is no good road already formed, or where one cannot be built, will seldom be otherwise than productive of misery. A mere expectation that a road will be made should never be held sufficient, for a house may stand in a state of isolation several years, cut off, as it were, from all proper connection with the world, if the road to it or past it be not already in existence or certain to be opened.

It will be well to calculate, further, the length of road or drive which will have to be made and kept in order by the owner or occupant of a place. Road-making is an expensive process in most districts, and the due preservation of roads is always troublesome. While, therefore, the having to provide a considerable length of private drive in order to get at a place will be an advantage in the way of conferring more privacy and retirement, it must be looked upon as a source of increased outlay and additional subsequent labor.

Where there is any possibility of obtaining such a piece of land, it is most important that it should have a public road along one of its sides only, and that this road should be on the north, north-east, or north-west boundary. Access will thus be given to the house at the point which is of least consequence in regard to views, and the warmer and better sides can be kept open and private. Entrance from any other point would always more or less interfere with the lawn and the more ornamental parts of the garden, besides laying bare some of the best windows of the house or involving the necessity of giving these an inferior aspect. This is assuming, however, that the site be chosen with reference to a proper aspect and views for the house.

Comparative nearness to a railway station will, even where a vehicle is kept, be a decided acquisition; for there are certain to be times when either the owner or his friends will want to make use of these conveniences. In wet weather, especially, it will be unpleasant to have to walk far before reaching some kind of conveyance.

Proximity to some seat of business, where at least the necessaries of life can be readily procured, will also be an advantage. To have to send a great distance for articles of food when there may be an unexpected demand for them, will generally be a heavy tax upon patience and time. The situation ought likewise to be within reach, by an easy and pleasant walk, of some suitable place of worship.

It should be recollected that roads on which there is much traffic bring a large amount of dust at certain seasons, while they render a house and garden more exposed to observation from the foot-passengers or the travelers on public vehicles. A place on a small and less frequented road, at a little distance from a great highway, will therefore be more comfortable and more secluded than one which lies by the side of a turnpike road. And this view of the case will further serve to show the undesirableness of having a property entirely surrounded by roads. Arable lands, fields, open country, or other gardens and private estates, will be the best possible accompaniments on all the southerly sides of a place.

Anything in the way of a public path crossing a property, and severing it into two parts, or a public road passing across a plot in the same manner, would seriously prejudice its value. When such things are carried through an estate without being fenced off, they lay bare certain portions of it to the public eye, and, what is worse, subject it to continual trespass. And to fence off a path or road of this description would greatly mutilate a place, and give it a small and confined appearance. Nor is it at all easy to get established pathways diverted, unless a more direct route can be prepared for them. The nuisance of having a place thus open to the use of all, in populous districts, can hardly be exaggerated.

In this, as in a variety of similar cases, however, circumstances that would- be inconvenient and objectionable to most persons might be altogether unproductive of annoyance to others; for no rule of life is more true or of more universal application than that things are not so much discomforting or pleasurable in themselves, but are just what they are considered to be. So that what would be intolerable to many might become perfectly inoffensive to those who were determined to regard it favorably.

2. Neighborhood Environment. — Besides the advantage of having the property on the best boundaries of a place congenially treated, and appropriated to agricultural or garden purposes, or left to the rudeness and picturesqueness of nature, it is of consequence that the whole of the surrounding property be of a similar character, and that it be not covered with cottage tenements, or crowded with any kind of inferior houses, or the atmosphere darkened by the smoke and polluted by the gases from large manufactories. To live amidst fields and gardens and cultivated or unassisted nature, or to have only the vicinity of kindred or superior places, is a luxury well worth the sacrifice of some trifling conveniences and the traveling a mile or two further from a town. There is so much calculated to offend and to annoy in a closely peopled neighborhood, especially if it be crowded with small cottages, that the majority of persons will gladly shun it.

Not only, however, will it be well to look closely into the character of the surrounding district, and ascertain how it is actually built upon or appropriated, and by what class of persons it is populated, but the probable uses of the neighborhood should likewise be considered. A particular locality may at the time of choosing it appear highly rural, and have every desirable characteristic, whereas in a few years it may become densely covered with small houses or obnoxious manufactories, be cut up into narrow roads, and otherwise be completely spoiled as a place for residence. For all these things, then, due calculation must be made; and though no human foresight can reach anything like certainty in such a matter, especially considering the rapid transitions which property is now frequently undergoing, diligent investigation will commonly prove a tolerably safe guide.

Those localities unquestionably offer the greatest security in regard to the preservation of a respectable and partially rural character wherein large tracts are in the hands of one or two proprietors who bind lessees or purchasers to build only a certain number and class of houses on the land and themselves agree to lay it out strictly according to a definite plan. Here there is something approaching to absolute certainty, and a person may settle on a given spot with the full knowledge of what alone can be done by all his neighbors, and the actual pecuniary and social status of those neighbors.