OF a GARDEN

Summary

The gravel paths have been mentioned as contributing to the appearance of a garden; they are unusual elsewhere; they constantly present the idea of a walk; and the correspondence between their sides, the exactness of the edges, the nicety of the materials and of the preservation, appropriate them to spots in the highest state of improvement: applied to any other subject than a park, their effect is the same; a field surrounded by a gravel walk is to a degree bordered by a garden; and many ornaments may be introduced as appendages to the latter, which would otherwise appear to be inconsistent with the former; when these accompaniments occupy a considerable space, and are separated from the field, the idea of a garden is complete as far as they extend; but if the gravel be omitted, and the walk be only of turf, a greater breadth to the border, and more richness in the decorations, are necessary, to preserve that idea.

Many gardens are nothing more than such a walk round a field; that field is often raised to the character of a lawn; and sometime the enclosure is, in fact, a paddock; whatever it be, the walk is certainly garden; it is a spot set apart for pleasure; it admits on the sides a profusion of ornament; it is fit for the reception of every elegance; and requires the nicest preservation; it is attended also with many advantages; may be made and kept without much expence; leads to a variety of points; and avails itself in its progress of the several circumstances which belong to the enclosure it surrounds, whether they be the rural appurtenances of a farm, or those more refined which distinguish a paddock.

But it has at the same time its inconveniencies and defects: its approach to the several points is always circuitous, and they are thereby often thrown to a distance from the house, and from each other; there is no access to them across the open exposure; the way must constantly be the same; the view all along is into one opening, which must be peculiarly circumstanced, to furnish within itself a sufficient variety; and the embellishments of the walk are seldom important; their number is limited, and the little space allotted for their reception admits only of those which can be accommodated to the scale, and will conform to the character.