The Englishman's Garden

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 82, 17 January 1941, Page 5

The Englishman's Garden

N Englishman’s house may he his castle, but his garden is a place of special. privacy. The loveli- _ est gardens and grounds in. England are hidden away behind high stone or brick walls. Many of. the famous country homes and manor houses, which are set back in great parks, have high, solid stone walls for miles and miles right around the vast estate. Even

the smaller ones have hedges. A wire fence is something you seldom see in England, except, perhaps,

in some of the’ newly developed areas. Brick and stone and workmen’s wages make these solid walls an expensive matter to-day, But when most of them were built, a century, perhaps many centuries ago, both material and labour were cheap. And I don’t suppose wire fences had even been thought of. This characteristic. love. of privacy among the English makes their

gardens a quiet, secluded haven, which they fully enjoy. It is so different from the American ideas of no fences at all. All the lawns and gardens are open to prying eyes. It certainly makes the residential street attractive to the passerby, but there is absolutely no privacy for the family. But then, again their mode of life is very different from ours, They don’t use their gardens-sit in them as we do. Every Englishman is at heart a countryman, and loves a garden. Particularly every Englishman I should say. And you will find this love of a garden in every class, rich and poor alike. They not only love their garden, but take a delight in working in their garden. And except for a brief period in mid-winter, they can work in it all the Sear round. The American climate, for the most part, is not so kind. The winters are too severe, and the summers are too hot. Gardens don’t flourish in the United States as they do in England. And in England, one of the great joys of summer is the garden; so much time is spent out of doors. Tea in the garden is so popular on a summer day; tea under the trees; but to enjoy this fully, they must have privacy, and to ensure this privacy they build high walls to shut -out the world and prying ‘eyes. I am sure that is ‘why you find the windows in the Mews always looking down on to the paved street where the coaches were washed, and the horses harnessed.("Shoes and Ships and Sealing-wax,’" by Nelle Scanlan, 2YA, December 31.) :