The Framing of a House
Modern Gardens : British and Foreign. With a Commentary by P. S. Cane. Edited by C. Geoffrey Moline and Shirley B. Wainwright. (The Studio. 7s. 6d.) A Simple Guide to Rock Gardening. By Sir James L. Cotter. (Sheldon Press. 2s. 6d.) IT is strange that so few people are aware of the possibilities of design in their gardens. There is no plot of land, no matter
how large or small, that cannot be made a fit setting to the house which it surrounds. But a considerable amount of technical knowledge, forethought, imagination and creative energy must be expended ; scarlet geraniums and blue lobelias in a square bed in the centre of a square patch of yellow grass do not make a garden.
Both the introduction -to Modern Gardens and the coloured plates and reproductions of photographs of gardens are an
inspiration to those people who have the will but not sufficient initiative or courage to embark on any original design. Mr. Cane suggests certain principles upon which garden design
should be based ; that the architectural character of the house should govern any architectural treatment in the garden ; that the greatest use should be made of any natural advantages of the site ; that colour schemes and planting plans should be
so thought out that the garden may be " a series of changing pictures, each having its own beauty, each relating to its surroundings, and each contributing towards the ultimate beauty of the whole " ; and that vistas should be laid down. He continues to describe briefly the outstanding national characteristics of American, French, German and Austrian, Italian, Swedish, Danish and Japanese gardens.
Sir James Cotter in A Simple Guide to Rock Gardening
gives the amateur advice gleaned from his experience on " how to grow rock plants . . . ; how to look after a rock garden; and, above all, the best time and means by which
Alpine plants may be propagated." It is a useful little book to be studied in conjunction with Modern Gardens, the special winter number of The Studio. It will give the necessary tech. nical advice, as far as rock gardens are concerned, whereas Modern Gardens will inspire the artist to create. Both these books should be bought quickly so that any ideas which they suggest may be put into action before the frosts put a brake on gardening activities.
C. S.
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