38 



THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



all of huge size, very wild, very dingy, 

 and nearly dead. The other side, (/, 

 is filled up with a mixture of lilac, 

 elderberry, lime, and evergreens, all 

 mixed together, as if the}' had been 

 originally thrown there, and had taken 

 root as they fell, all in a lump. From 

 a to f is a continuation of the border, 

 with not a leaf to cover it, backed by 

 the high wall of the stable next door. 

 Then, going on to g, the garden sud- 

 denly becomes pretty, even in its ruin, 

 for at this point there are two or three 

 picturesque apple trees, some tree- 

 box, and mixed shrub. The fence, 

 from this point, as far as /;, is covered 

 with ivy, of many years' growth, and 

 on the east side of the path, there are 

 three old orchard trees, i, i, t, the first 

 next the house being a New-town 

 Pippin, the next a SwanVegg Pear, 

 and the next a Golden Knob. Then 

 at k, h, k, k, are four more apple trees, of 

 fine growth. In plan, No. 1, the turf 

 extends as far as the first pair of these 

 trees, A, A, and behind them, next the 

 fence, on each side, are a couple of 

 magnificent aucubas. Now, as there 

 is a good sprinkling of shrub along the 

 borders, and a considerable space of 

 turf, the view from the drawing-room 

 windows, looking north along the ex- 

 tent of the garden, is of a ver}' rustic 

 character. It has fullness, for every- 

 thing is old, and the apple trees are 

 mostly twisted and bent a bit ; and as 

 there is no interruption to the view, and 

 the neighbouring gardens abound with 

 fine, deciduous trees, the scene is as 

 truly " countrified " as one can expect 

 anywhere within a sixpenny ride of 

 the Bank. 



The good and bad conditions are 

 pretty equally balanced. Good turf, 

 good fruit trees, deep rich loam, and 

 a very pure air, in which roses thrive. 

 On the other hand, a clay sub-soil, the 

 lower prrt, at n, completely water- 

 logged, and the gnarled, Hawthorn- 

 den apple tree, at ??i, going to ruin, 

 through having got its roots into the 

 water, and everything, from one end 

 to the other, showing evidences of 

 many years' neglect. 



Now, a garden ought to be beauti- 

 ful every day in the year, and in lay- 

 ing out or improving a piece of ground, 



its appearance, every future winter and 

 spring, must be thought of, and hence 

 you cannot get far without plenty of 

 evergreens and bulbs. Then, to make 

 a blaze from May to October, you 

 want room for bedding plants ; to keep 

 your borders gay, you want a reserve 

 plot, and a space for a few frames, and 

 a cold pit ; and to complete the com- 

 missariat, and ensure stock, a green- 

 house must be added. After this, you 

 can enlarge your plans as you please ; 

 a stove, an orchard-house, a forcing- 

 pit, a conservatory, and other such 

 things, are very delightful, if you have 

 room for them, and if your heart is in 

 your work, you will .manage to have 

 them, even if they are piled one on the 

 other, or economically blended into 

 one. But here we are dealing with a 

 little garden on the skirts of the town, 

 and for one of the dimensions here 

 figured, we want to stock the ground 

 with as much as it will hold ; Ave want 

 variety, and, as far as possible, we 

 must preserve consistency and harmony 

 of arrangement. 



Now, the object sought in re- 

 arranging this garden, was to make 

 the most of all its good points, and to 

 introduce a few pleasing features, at 

 the least possible sacrifice of the fruit 

 trees and other established character- 

 istics of the ground. Everything 

 about the ground is old and picturesque, 

 therefore, high style is here out of the 

 question, and the only place for any- 

 thing of an artistic character is the 

 little fore-court, measuring some five- 

 and- thirty feet square; and as the 

 house on this S. side is stuccoed, and 

 the steps down from the hall as im- 

 posing as it is possible for them to be 

 in a small villa, it was determined here 

 to make a pretty arrangement of 

 shrubs, masonry, and flowers. For the 

 present we will deal only with the gar- 

 den proper, and, referring to the plans, 

 let me say, that No. 1 shows its origi- 

 nal condition, No. 2 its altered state, 

 and No. 3 is a key to both. The first 

 thing done, was to trench up the piece 

 n, which had been used as kitchen gar- 

 den, and had never had a spade in it 

 more than eight inches deep. A trench 

 was then cut along it, next the path, 

 right way to the ditch, o, and a row 



