Any way todo

20 1 The place of ideas in garden design

20.1 The place of ideas in garden design
Contents list

Physically, gardens must have boundaries. Mentally, they can reach to the limits of the known universe. The ideas that bestow such vast extent upon gardens
derive from sun, earth, art, water, history, civilization, family, anything. This essay considers the inspiration that can come from sun, wind, materials,
sculpture and the conservation movement. They were chosen as examples because, in the arts, it is often necessary to look backwards before travelling forwards.

The art of shadows

Orbital movement of the Earth causes the gradual and predictable travel of a shadow across the face of a sundial. Each sundial must be designed for an exact
location, otherwise it will only reveal the diallers ignorance (Figure 20.1). Adaptation to a precise location is a good principle in all garden design.
The length of the shadow cast by a sundials gnomon depends on the time of year, the latitude of the dial, and the position of the earth on its daily rotation.
No two identical dials, in different gardens, will cast shadows in the same position at the same time. Sunlight itself is produced by the conversion of
hydrogen to helium and takes 8 minutes to travel the 149.6 million kilometres from sun to earth. It is little wonder that dials induce contemplation. They
were placed on church towers, because "time is a sacred thing. When mechanical clocks became available, the demand for dials increased: they were needed
to set the clocks. When other ways of setting clocks became available, many old dials were moved into vicarage gardens.

English sundials have been inscribed with mottoes since the beginning of the sixteenth century. Mrs Alfred Gatty, a parsonss wife, gave the reason:

What could be more natural to a scholarly and reflecting mind than to point the moral of passing time in a brief sentence which arouses thought. (Gatty,
1890)

She produced a book of sundial mottoes and wrote that

The great Creator, who made the sun to rule the day and the moon and the stars to govern the night, has adapted our nature to these intermitting changes,
and implanted in us an immediate desire to count how, drop by drop, or grain by grain, time and life are passing away.

The oldest mottoes are in Latin and have a religious theme, often imbued with northern gloom:

HORA FUGIT, MORS VENIT: Time passes, death advances.

FERT OMNIA AETAS: Time bears all away.

DOCET UMBRA: The shadow teaches.

MANEO NEMINI: I wait for no one.

MEMENTO FINIS: Remember the end.

SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDIS: So passes the glory of the world.

The best-known motto, TEMPUS FUGIT, has become trite, but Thomas a Kempis line from Imitatio Christi, the last example in the above list, has a majesty
that is undimmed by repetition. So does St Pauls advice to the Ephesians:

SOL NON OCCIDAT SUPER IRACUNDIAM VESTRAM: Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Other mottoes are humorous, though most wit dulls after a few centuries in a damp garden:

Time wastes us all, our bodies and our wits;
But we waste time, so time and we are quits.
What is the time? come, why do you ask?
Is it to start, or to end your task?

Love of riddles and puns has touched the sundial. WE SHALL ____ is proclaimed by a number of dials. Should the possessor of a lively mind pass by, the words
"dial or "die-all will come to her.

The idea of a dial engaging in conservation with the viewer is not uncommon. Dials generally have the best of it:

SOL ME VOS UMBRA REGIT: The sun guides me, the shadow you.

SENESCIS ASPICIENDO: Thou growest older whilst thou lookest.

REDIBO, TO NUNQUAM: I shall return, thou never.

I AM A SHADOW, SO ART THOU.

I MARK TIME, DOST THOU?

HORAS NON NUMERO NISI SERENAS: I count the bright hours only.

It has been noted that the last motto in the list is "either totally useless or utterly false.

Sundials can stimulate a childs interest in science and life. Mrs Gatty herself became interested in dials as a girl. Her father, the chaplain in whose
arms Nelson died at the battle of Trafalgar, was the vicar of Catterick. It was a dial over the church door that awakened his daughters interest in the
subject. One can imagine the awe that the Latin inspired in the childs heart:

FUGIT HORA, ORA: The hour flies, pray.

The sentiment reminds one of W.H. Audens lines, which could grace a sundial:

IN THE TWILIGHT OF HIS DAYS, TEACH THE FREEMAN HOW TO PRAISE.

Clocks measure Mean Time, which is averaged to produce hours and days of equal length. Sundials measure solar time, which is equal to clock time only four
times a year, on 16 April, 14 June, 2 September and 25 December, with slight adjustments for leap years. In between these dates, solar time will be up
to 16 minutes before clock time or 14 minutes after. This is because the Earth follows an elliptical orbit and moves faster as it nears the sun. When the
earth moves faster, solar time is ahead of clock time. To me, this is a fact worth knowing. Garden dials should be calibrated to reveal astronomical information.
When slowing down, towards the end of a days gardening, I would like to know whether the Earth is accelerating or decelerating. An adjustment table on
the dial face would facilitate conversions from solar time to clock time.

Because clocks are also adjusted for Standard Time Zones and perhaps for Daylight Saving Time, they do not often tell the true noon. I like to know when
the sun has reached its zenith and the garden is at its brightest on a particular day. A noon mark is the simplest way of telling the suns zenith. It
can be a straight line on a level surface, along which the shadow of a vertical pole falls at noon. Such marks were once drawn on window sills, to catch
the shadow of a glazing bar. They were also placed on level lawns, utilizing the shadow of a flag pole. A noon line could be an awesome starting point
for a garden layout. It can be marked by recording the shadow of a plumb-line at the instant of local noon, or by using a compass and making an adjustment
to find true north. If a horizontal pole with a small plate at the end is fixed to a vertical wall, it can mark the local noon and be read from a distance.

20.2Weather, climate and gardens
Contents list

Links between an enclosed garden and the wide world can be observed in other ways: the effect of a hard frost; a midwinter spring; a drought; the rich downpour
after an electric storm. Some plants need a position where their leaves dry quickly and roots can grow into peaty soil, as happens on an alpine ledge.
The weather can lead one into a design.

Winds come from afar, light from an immense distance. Careful observation yields information that is both useful and interesting. In the south of England,
I like to know that a particular wind comes from the steppes of Central Asia, from the western Channel approaches or from Southern Europe. Windvanes, like
sundials, give a perspective on the planet. The smallest garden becomes a vantage point from which to contemplate the world. The vast dimensions of weather
are surely one explanation of why "When two Englishmen meet, they first talk about the weather, as Dr Johnson observed. Gardeners need to be weatherwise.
Seeds can be sown when warm damp weather is forecast. Plants that have been moved like a heavy shower after planting. The hoe works best when hot dry weather
is coming. Tender plants need protection from icy winds. Gardeners have, therefore, been avid collectors of weather lore.

Pliny advised us not to "sow in a north wind, or graft when the wind is in the south. Francis Bacon believed "wet weather with an east wind continues longer
than with a west. Most of the advice is anonymous:
When the wind is in the south, the rain is in its mouth.
In April, if there be a north wind, expect rain.
If the wind blow from north-east in winter, expect frost.
If the north wind remains steady for two or three days, it is a sign of fine weather.

Theophrastus had the caution of modern forecasters:

If there be within four, five, or six days two or three changes of wind from the north, through east without much rain and wind, and thence again through
the west to the north with rain or wind, expect continued showery weather.

20.3 Weathervanes and gardens
Contents list

The "vane in weathervane derives from the Greek penos, meaning cloth. Sailors fastened cloths to masts to show the wind direction. Soldiers, not wanting
to charge into wind and dust, fixed coloured cloths to tall spears. Before the days of military uniform, the cloth also served as a regimental sign, sometimes
emblazoned with the commanders coat of arms. Crusader tents were topped with pennants. Knights were honoured with the right to place heraldic vanes on
their castles. French commoners were not granted the right to put up weathervanes until 1659.

The three classic vane designs are the arrow, the pennant and the cockerel. It is said that a ninth century papal bull required a weathercock to be fixed
to every church and monastery. The cock was the emblem of St Peter and a symbolic reminder of the need for vigilance. St Mark (xiv 30) relates that:

And Jesus saith unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, That this day, even
in this night, before the cock crow
twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.

As well as being places of worship, the churches of the Middle Ages were concert halls, art galleries, museums, meeting houses, and weather stations too.
Every church had a sundial and a weathervane. For farmers and gardeners, weathervanes were meteorological instruments. This is why they are often called
"weather rather than "wind vanes. Since The Times began publishing them in 1860, weather forecasts have been freely available. Information is now passed
from satellite to televisions in every home, and the vane is regarded as an obsolete decoration. But they still have a role. Even when the forecasters
are correct that "a south‑westerly airflow will bring rain to most areas, it is useful for the gardener to see when the wind veers into the west. A vane
makes the satellite picture of planetary airflows specific to your garden.

The oldest written description of a weathervane is that of the Tower of Winds in Athens. Vitruvius describes it as follows:

On the several sides of the octagon he [Andronicus of Cyrrhus] executed reliefs representing the several winds, each facing the point from which it blows;
and on top of the tower he set a conical shaped piece of marble and on this a bronze Triton with a rod outstretched in its right hand. It was so contrived
as to go round with the wind, always stopping to face the breeze and holding its rod as a pointer directly over the representation of the wind that was
blowing. (Vitruvius, 1914 edn)

In the Middle Ages, weathervanes were influenced by religious and military associations. But as the world became less governed by Church and Sword, the
symbolic potential of weathervanes came to be used for other purposes. Gresham had a grasshopper vane erected on Londons Royal Exchange, to commemorate
the grasshopper that drew an old ladys attention to his ancestor, a foundling babe. The Accountants Hall used a model of the Golden Hind in the design
of a weathervane. Billingsgate Fish Market put up a fish vane. Paston School put a model of the Victory on their weathervane to commemorate their most
famous pupil, Admiral Lord Nelson. Another ship was placed on the observatory in Greenwich, to mark the importance of Greenwich Meridian for world shipping.
A railway company, in York, used a steam engine on the vane on its headquarters. Following these secular precedents, weathervanes took on something of
the role of inn signs and trade signs during the nineteenth century. They also became domesticated. The owners of a sheep farm, a racing stable or the
Dog and Fox Inn had little difficulty in thinking of emblems for their weathervanes. Countrymen used vanes to advertise their trade (Figure 3). Such emblems
enriched the environment. Buildings are more interesting when you have an idea of what takes place inside them, or of the purpose for which they were originally
built. Long may the tradition continue, to help us read the environment.

20.4 The materials of garden design
Contents list

The worst concrete slabs are hexagonal

Snow turns to slush

Old English bricks in lime mortar

Technical considerations are important when choosing garden materials, but so are ideas and associations. Consider the concrete slab. It has wreaked havoc
in modern gardens. Concrete is a faithless material: it has the crispness of fresh snow when first laid, but deteriorates thereafter. Snow symbolizes virginal
purity. Stained concrete symbolizes the ersatz horror of the "concrete jungle. Out of sight is the only proper place for concrete in gardens. Stone, by
contrast, symbolizes strength, unity and eternity. During the animistic era, stones were worshipped, with meteorites held in the highest regard. The Black
Stone of Kaaba, kissed by pilgrims who visit the Great Mosque in Mecca, is believed to have fallen from heaven as a white stone and turned black on encountering
the sins of man.

Old garden walls were built with lime mortar, which is softer and kinder to plants than cold grey Portland cement. Hydraulic lime is made by heating chalk
or limestone to drive off the carbon dioxide. When it is re-mixed with water and exposed to the air, it recombines with carbon dioxide and reverts to its
original chemical state. Carbon dioxide reaches the outside of the mortar first, and it may be a century before full bond strength is achieved. This has
made lime mortar unpopular with builders, but it can still be used by gardeners. Twenty years after completing a wall, one can be thinking that "its gaining
strength now, as one does with a tree of the same age.

"You are a perfect brick is now an old-fashioned compliment. It told of a personality that was strong, warm and kind. These remain the qualities of good
bricks. Mud bricks, of the type used for the walls of Babylon, were made by shaping wet mud into blocks. They were dried in the sun and placed in position,
sometimes with pitch in the joints. About 3000 BC it was discovered that when mud bricks are fired they become hard, as when clay is made into pots. The
Romans became expert at brick-making and brought the skill to Northern Europe. When they left, brick manufacture virtually ceased. Hard Roman bricks were
salvaged throughout the Middle Ages to build chimney stacks and church spires. It is not easy to achieve high temperatures in a primitive kiln. Brick manufacture
recommenced in England after AD 1200, but good-quality bricks were imported from the Low Countries for many centuries. Small hard Dutch bricks can still
be found in the south of England (Figure 4). It is only in recent times that brick sizes have been standardized, and it has not been a benefit for garden
construction.

Hand-made bricks have a varied surface texture, which cannot be reproduced by machines. They can also be made in any size. Lutyens liked 50 mm (2 in) thick
bricks, instead of the standard 75 mm (3 in). Hand-made bricks may seem a luxury, but few gardens require a large quantity, and the cost of the raw materials
is not a large proportion of the brickwork cost. One soon forgets the cost, and the pleasure endures. If one is doing the work oneself, the cost of first‑rate
materials is easily justified. And it is very therapeutic to do ones own brickwork, as Winston Churchill found in the 1930s.

Terracotta is an ancient material, which remains of great value in gardens. It is just clay that has been shaped and fired, usually to a lower temperature
than bricks, to achieve that gorgeous red colour. It is used to make tiles and pots. The word "terracotta means "fired earth. Given its high quality,
it is astonishing that some manufacturers offer terracotta substitutes in concrete and plastic. In the Mediterranean countries, the manufacture of terracotta
pots has continued since ancient times. They are illustrated on wall paintings of Egyptian and Roman gardens, and some of the shapes are still available.
These pots are a link with the classical gardens of antiquity, with Plato and Aristotle, Bacchus and the Maenads, Pliny, Virgil and the Medici gardens
of Tuscany. The festoon and swag patterns on classical pots derive from the garlands of vine leaves that were used to decorate gardens at festival times.
Tuscany remains a great centre of terracotta manufacture. Spanish, Greek and Portuguese pots are also beautiful. The pots of Northern Europe have a different
kind of refinement.

Marble is mysterious

20.5 Sculpture as a theme
Contents list

Venus at Hadrians VillaBaron Waldstein visited the grove at Nonsuch Palace in 1600 and admired the polychrome statues of three naked goddesses spraying
Actaeon with water (Strong, 1979). The Baron remarked that "nature was "imitated with the greatest skill. He thought the grove "natural because it was
the kind of scene that the ancients would have appreciated. So too have the moderns. Themes from classical mythology have reminded gardeners of what Sir
Kenneth Clark described as the myth of "a golden age when men lived on the fruits of the earth in peace and simplicity ( Clark, 1976). Gardens, antique
shops, and garden centres are filled with casts of Diana, Venus and other classical figures. The Gods of Antiquity dominate the history of western garden
sculpture.

Since Varro, the Roman poet, hailed Venus as the presiding deity of gardens, she has been blessed with a long and prosperous reign. Other gods have jostled
for power but Venus still rules in a multitude of verdant kingdoms. Diana also has an honoured place. Having seen her mother suffer in childbirth, Diana
obtained permission from her father to live in celibacy, and became a symbol of purity and virtue. Some males, like Mercury and the heroic gladiator, have
challenged her ascendancy. None will triumph.

The gardens of Renaissance Italy were outdoor "museums, in the original sense of "homes for the muses. Classical learning was rediscovered from ancient
books and manuscripts. Music was played. Poetry was read. Classical sculptures, excavated from the ruins of Greece and Rome, were displayed in gardens.
The Belvedere Garden in the Vatican was adorned with the most famous statues from ancient times. Princely families, like the Medici, the Estes and the
Ludovisi, obtained what statues they could from the ruins. When Lorenzo de Medici discussed the philosophy of Plato, in his garden, classical statuary
was an aid to contemplation.

A taste for placing classical statuary in gardens spread with the Renaissance to northern Europe. The first great set of casts was made for the garden that
Francois I began at Fontainebleau in 1528. Garden design became a royal art, and collecting sculpture became a competitive hobby. Francois rival, Henry
VIII of England, placed sculpture in his garden at Nonsuch, started in 1538. Louis XIV assembled a vast collection at Versailles, and his admirer, Charles
II, had casts of antique statues made for his London gardens.

When Inigo Jones and Lord Arundel returned from Italy in 1614, they had acquired a love of classical sculpture. A magnificent collection was assembled in
the garden of Arundel House. It was the first museum garden in England. Unfortunately, the marble statues could not withstand the English climate. They
now reside in Oxfords Ashmolean museum.

Garden sculpture fell into disrepute during the English Civil War. A biblical injunction not to worship graven images was remembered. Pagan gods were despised.
Symbols of monarchy were destroyed. The Cheapside Cross in London was melted down "with ringing of Bells, and a great acclamation as part of a campaign
to rid London of "leaden Popes. Lead garden statuary was made into musket shot. Thus were graven images made to serve the puritan cause. A few musket
balls have found their way back into garden ornaments, one may speculate.

The use of sculpture in English gardens revived after the restoration of Charles II in 1660. From this point until the end of the eighteenth century, "English
garden sculpture is largely the story of north European migrants making copies of Greek statues, Roman statues, and Italian Renaissance statues. Classical
goddesses were given key positions on terraces, where paths meet and where avenues terminate. Statues of nymphs, cherubs and animals had less formal positions.
Lions stood guard on steps. Dolphins leapt in ponds.

Roman gladiators played a part in the development of English gardens. Pope mocked them in his 1731 Epistle to Lord Burlington:

Trees cut to statues, statues thick as Trees,
With here a Fountain, never to be playd ...
When Gladiators fight, or die, in flowrs;
Un-waterd see the drooping Sea-horse mourn.

The victim of Popes satire may have been the Borghese Gladiator, though he was in the best of health, or the Dying Gladiator, who was to be seen dying
amid the flower gardens of the 1720s. Popes attack had deadly consequences for the Enclosed Style of garden design, but no immediate effect on Englands
population of gladiators. There is a stone copy of the Dying Gladiator at Rousham (Figure 5). It was made by Peter Sheemakers, who was born in Flanders
and, after some years in Rome, spent the remainder of his life in England. Rousham also has a collection of work by Henry Cheere, of French descent, and
by the Dutchman John van Nost. There are copies of the Dancing Faun, Venus, Apollo, Ceres, Pan, and Mercury. It may seem surprising that there is so much
classical statuary in this ancestor of all the worlds landscape gardens, but in its Augustan phase the English landscape garden was a concerted attempt
to re-create the landscape of antiquity.

The pantomime diversity of late-eighteenth century garden statuary is revealed by Cheeres advertisement. He offered "the Gods of Athens, and of Rome with
"Punch, Harlequin, Columbine and other pantomimical characters; mowers whetting their scythes, haymakers resting on their rakes, gamekeepers in the act
of shooting and Roman soldiers with firelocks. They were painted in bright colours, more reminiscent of The Rakes Progress than the austere eighteenth
century gardens we see today. Nor did Cheere neglect the slave trade. A popular model, which is still being made, has a Nubian on bended knee supporting
a bird table or sundial. War with Napoleon led to the closure of Londons lead-casting yards, as another war had done in Cromwells time. It was reported
that, once again, "whole regiments of leaden Venuses, Moors, Jupiters, angels, saints, nymphs, and fauns were converted into bullets.

It is regrettable that so little original sculpture was produced for gardens, but there is no reason whatsoever to despise the use of copies. Statues look
marvellous out of doors, and it would often be vandalism to expose an original work to the elements. One tends to be further away from garden statues than
from museum statues, and it is the garden rather than the statue that is the original work of art. A copy will give a better impression of a statues three-dimensional
quality than a book illustration, which might be the only other way of knowing a famous work.

A refreshing trend, in the second half of the nineteenth century, is that new sculpture began to be commissioned for special locations. Waterhouse Hawkins,
an artist and anatomist, made a lead bull for the Chinese section of the garden at Biddulph Grange, and a series of prehistoric monsters for the Crystal
Palace at Sydenham. John Thomas carved 26 statues representing different countries for the upper terrace at Sydenham. Thomas also made neoclassical works
for the splendid water feature in Kensington Gardens. Their character is "Italian rather than "classical. All these projects arose from the Victorians
thirst for knowledge about foreign lands, past times and exotic cultures.

The Victorians also had a passion for ideal works, representing subjects from mythology and literature. Ideal works were usually placed in the home but,
as in the case of John Thomas Night and Day at Somerlyton Hall, were sometimes placed in gardens. Excellent examples of ideal works survive in the Palm
House at Sefton Park, including Highland Mary and Angels Whisper by Benjamin Edward Spence, modelled on characters from Robert Burns and Thomas Moore.
Highland Mary, inspired by Burns song, is an lovely example of an ideal work:

How sweetly bloomd the gay green birk!
How rich the hawthorns blossom!
As underneath their fragrant shade,
I claspd her to my bosom!
The golden hours, on angel wings,
Flew oer me and my dearie;
For dear to me as light and life,
Was my sweet Highland Mary.

The New Sculpture of the late nineteenth century was concerned with the representation of ideas, and was well suited to outdoor display. Disappointingly
little was placed in private gardens, but there are some successful examples in public parks, including George Framptons Peter Pan (Figure 6) and G.F.
Watts Physical Energy in Kensington Gardens, and William Hamo Thornycrofts Sower in Kew Gardens. Reginald Blomfield and F. Inigo Thomas, both closely
associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, published a book on The Formal Garden in England. The terraces and courtyards that they advocated led to
many opportunities for the display of garden sculpture. One of the most interesting projects was Barrow Court. Inigo Thomas designed the gardens and introduced
Alfred Drury. Drury was a brilliant sculptor and made twelve busts, one for each pier of the railings round the semicircular entrance court. They represented
the twelve months of the year by showing the life cycle of a girl from infancy to old age. Arts and Crafts sculptors were attracted to animal sculpture,
and many examples found their way into gardens.

A new generation of sculptors and garden designers came to the fore in the 1930s. They were influenced by the Modern Movement in art and design, and hoped
to create a startlingly new abstract art. English sculptors, led by Henry Moore and Ben Nicholson, became leaders in this new art. But English garden designers
had scant success in attracting the public to the abstract style of garden design, though it was widely adopted in continental Europe and the Americas.
In England it remained a style for architects and their more avant‑garde clients. At Bentley Wood in Sussex, the purest example of a Modern Movement garden
in England, the house was designed by Serge Chermayef, an architect, for himself, and the garden by Christopher Tunnard, who wrote an influential book
on the future of garden design. The plan of the garden was influenced by a Henry Moore sculpture, his Recumbent Figure, which stood in the garden.

Modern sculpture can be difficult to place in gardens, because it is less well understood than classical sculpture. The shock of the new persists. But much
can be learned from the ideas of leading sculptors. The Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi hardly distinguished between the two arts. His courtyard
for the library at Yale University can be regarded either as sculpture or as a sculpture garden. Nogucci wrote that "I like to think of gardens as [the]
sculpturing of space. So should we.

Henry Moore, at the start of his career, felt uneasy about placing sculpture in gardens. He felt that a sculpture lost its independence by becoming part
of a garden design, and he remembered the old days when sculptors had worked to the dictat of architects. But he loved to place sculpture in the landscape
and, towards the end of his life, placed a considerable number of works in his own garden (Figure 7). Anthony Caro remarked that "sculpture... more often
than not spoils the landscape. This may be because his own constructions represent abstract space, which can conflict with an existing space. In gardens,
it is likely to be the space itself, rather than a sculpture, which is the primary work of art.

Modern sculpture makes use of a great range of materials, which behave in different ways out of doors. Coloured fibreglass tends to fade, and the fibreglass
itself is gradually decayed by ultraviolet light. Wood is a natural material for outdoor use. It must be expected to change and decay, but this can be
regarded as part of the sculptures nature. Mild steel, as used by Anthony Caro and others, is prone to rust unless painted or galvanized. Stainless steel,
if it is of the best quality, will retain its high polish indefinitely. Ceramic sculpture is extremely durable. Fresh materials can certainly be placed
in gardens. A new marriage between sculpture and garden design would inject vitality into both arts.

Belvedere Court at the Vatican

20.6 Conservation gardens
Contents list

Few will deny the charm of a perfect rosebed. Even if the owner does have to apply regular dressings of fertilizer, insecticide, fungicide and herbicide,
the effect on the global environment will not be excessive. But there is another way of gardening, which could improve the global environment were it widely
adopted. Some may think it a style for sandal-wearing vegetarians, but the gardens it produces have a sweet charm that escapes the high-tech gardener.
Conservation is an inspiring theme. Like the sundial, it gives a sense of perspective. Unlike the sundial, it provides an opportunity to influence the
future of the world.

Fig 20.8 Expert lawn and poetic lawn

"When are you going to cut the grass, darling? is the question that disturbs the peace of too many summer afternoons. So do the whines and grumbles of
motor mowers. Next time the question is asked may be a good time to sit back and consider how much of your grass really has to be "cut, how often, and
by what means. To judge from the books, being a "lawn expert is a matter of cutting, rolling, fertilizing, spiking, scarifying, watering, and applying
selective weedkillers. The story is told of an American who asked the old gardener in an English stately home about the secret of his success. "Well Guv,
came the reply, "yer mows it once a day, and yer rolls it once a week. And after yrve done that for a undred years - yer does it regular. No doubt he
used a sharp, well-oiled, hand-mower. It is still possible to purchase a high-quality hand machine and enjoy something of Old Adams delight in a perfect
lawn. The exercise is good, and must be regular. The sound of a hand-mower is a counterpoint to the owners breathing. It conserves fossil fuels and saves
one from the indignity of an exercise bicycle.

The poetic alternative to the experts lawn (Figure 8) is the wildflower meadow (Figure 9). There, as Swinburn put it, "tides of grass break into foam of
flowers. The grand old man of wild gardening, William Robinson, once asked "Who would not rather see the waving grass with countless flowers than a close
shaven surface without a bloom?. As the possessor of a fine Victorian beard, he was fond of remarking that shaving your face is as foolish as shaving
your grass. Meadows are undoubtedly good for conservation. However small the area, it is pleasant to look out on a habitat for birds and bees, caterpillars
and butterflies, cow parsley, mallow and knapweed. One of the most beautiful effects in gardens is the contrast between mown and unmown grass.

It is a wonder that more people do not devote larger areas of their gardens to fruit. The crop is unlikely to look as perfect as supermarket fruit but the
flavour should be better, and one can be sure that no dangerous chemicals will have been applied. Fruiting plants are very good at making green leaves,
and ornamental plants often look best with a backdrop of green. There is something unsettling about a garden where a majority of the leaves are yellow,
purple, grey, light green, or dark green, instead of classic "leaf green. If one doesnt succeed in harvesting all the fruit, it will be more popular
with birds and insects than berries from the cotoneaster and berberis, as recommended in some books on wildlife gardening.

"Thou shalt make compost unceasingly was the first commandment of environmental gardening. The cry went up long before "pollution and "conservation became
vogue words, and the humble compost heap remains the best example of a recycling project. The world would be a better place if cities could find ways of
recycling a larger proportion of their organic wastes. Compost contains both organic matter, which provides good physical conditions for plant growth,
and a better range of nutrients than any chemical fertilizer.

The substitutes that garden centres offer for well-made compost too often cause environmental damage. Artificial fertilizers are washed out of the soil
and find their way into rivers, lakes and water supplies. Nitrates are particularly harmful. In rivers, they cause an excess growth of algae, fatal to
other wildlife. In water supplies, nitrates are accused of aggravating various diseases. Peat is an off-the-shelf solution to a lack of soil organic matter.
It does no particular harm to the place where it is applied, but considerable harm to the places from which it is removed. Gardeners who like to conserve
their bank balances might also reflect that peat is an expensive commodity, which lasts for a very short time in the soil.

Ethical considerations affect another material that is common in gardens: timber. In the eighteenth century, most good-quality garden furniture was made
of oak. It was the only durable hardwood, and it acquires a soft silvery sheen out of doors. Where it is rubbed, oak takes on a faint polish, redolent
of peace and tranquillity. Tropical hardwoods have now taken the place of oak in the manufacture of garden furniture. Many are of excellent quality, even
more durable than oak, but their use has provoked an avalanche of protest from the environmental lobby. It is objected that tropical timbers come from
rainforest clearance, which is unjust to the native Indian populations and will cause permanent harm to the global ecosystem. If this were the case, I
certainly would not want the booty in my garden.

The climax vegetation of most town gardens is deciduous forest. Other plants require special management to survive, using physical and chemical techniques.
It is the chemicals that are suspect from an environmental point of view. There are other ways. One alternative is to become knowledgeable about the natural
history of garden pests. It is an absorbing subject and adds another layer of interest to gardens. Without this knowledge, flower borders may become killing
fields for insects and small mammals. The infamous agent orange, which was once used to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam, was developed for agricultural
and horticultural purposes. Many gardeners practise chemical warfare on a proportionately larger scale in their back gardens. Snails and aphids are a case
in point. In the countryside, insecticides have make great inroads into the butterfly population. In gardens, insecticides kill the aphids chief predator,
ladybirds. Another way of controlling aphids is to encourage the ladybird population. If particular plants remain infested, possibly because ants are using
them as aphid farms, one can resort to an old-fashioned aphid brush or a modern high-pressure hose.

A new neighbour once asked, with shambling apologies, if I would mind if he asked a question about my wife. My consent was given: "Well, er, could you tell
me why she crawls around the garden in the dark with a torch?. "Thinking of the plants and collecting snails, I told him. While good gardeners keep their
knees on the earth, ideas can link them to the great universe.

Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardeners work is done upon his knees
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the Garden, that it may not pass away!
And the Glory of the Garden, it shall never pass away!

(Rudyard Kipling)