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THE FLOKAL WOELD AKD GARDEIS GUIDE. 



one border or so, and extend the system as you become accustomed 

 to it, and equal to its demands, for it will swallow up many more 

 plants than you bave been accustomed to provide for the same space 

 when planting out was followed. 



If I had to advise in particular cases, I know I should frequently 

 purpose turfmg over many of the existing flower-beds, and reducing 

 the area for display to very circumscribed limits ; for in many 

 small gardens the multiplicity of flower-beds is puerile, and makes 

 one think of a doll's garden, or a farthing kaleidoscope. Of course 

 we get into difficulties at this point ; people are not prepared to give 

 up their flower-beds, and do not quite see the way clearly to do any- 

 thing with them but as they have been r.ccustomed to. Well, I can 

 ofl*er an arcanum in this case, that is of nearly universal fitness. If 

 there are groups of beds, and the desire is to improve the garden 

 and reduce the extent of bedding, and make a first start in plung- 

 ing, it will probably not be difficult to mark oft' certain of the beds 

 to be planted with evergreen and flowering shrubs, with some good 

 hardy herbaceous plants in front of them, and reserve the remainder 

 for experiments in plunging. Let us illustrate this suggestion by a 

 rough and ready example. Suppose a group of beds, as in the 

 annexed diagram. We have here ten beds, and we want to reduce 



their number without making them one-sided. We have but to 

 strike out, say, 2, 4, 7, 9, and we have six remaining, thus — 



]S'ow again, suppose that we cannot attempt to manage six beds 

 by plunging, why not plant o and 6 with groups of hollies, or, if 

 equally convenient (as it may be in a peat district), with hardy 

 llbododendrons and Azaleas, or with Pampas grasses and Tritomas, 

 and a few other such striking and graceful plants, reserving the four 

 outside beds for the flowers. I do not ofi'er this diagram as illus- 

 trating anybody's garden, but to explain how easily the way to 

 reform may be found by those who have reforming proclivities. 



