The Dutch garden is distinguished by its dense atmosphere and efficient use of space. In Holland the example of the French Renaissance garden was irresistible, although local conditions and national temperament led to regional variation. Because Dutch canals were busy highways, they generally flanked gardens rather than constituted the main axis. No luxury in Holland, water was less extravagantly used than in drier, hotter climates. Social conditions made the extension of a geometric garden easy, for a man-made landscape already existed in the intensively cultivated Netherlands. In England, the Dutch Garden was the description given to a particular type of rectangular garden space, often enclosed within hedges or walls, even if part of a larger garden or parkland. This space would be laid out in a highly cultivated and geometrical, often symmetrical, fashion, shaped by dense plantings of highly coloured flowers, and edged with box or other dense and clipped shrubs, or low walls (sometimes in geometrical patterns), and sometimes, also, with areas of artificial water, with fountains and water butts, which were also laid out in symmetrical arrangements. The flower beds and areas of water would be intersected by geometrical path patterns, to make it possible to walk around the garden without damaging any of its features. The placement of flowers and shrubs in the Dutch garden in Holland, however, may be non-linear and informal, though still efficiently making use of space and light. Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley, Cheshire, England. It consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens. To the west of the lawn is the sunken Dutch Garden, which was created by William Legh in the 19th century. It consists of formal flower beds with a central fountain. I took the photo last September. Thank you for your kind comments.