HINTS ON FLOWER GARDENS. 



443 



will attract the eye, and make a much more 

 forcible and delightful impression, than can 

 ever be produced by a confused mixture of 

 shades and colors, no where distinct enough 

 to give any decided effect to the whole. 

 The effect of thus collecting masses of col- 

 ors in a flower garden in this way, is to give 

 it what the painters call breadth of effect ^ 

 which in the other mode is entirely frittered 

 away and destroyed. 



This arranging plants in patches or mass- 

 es, each composed of the same species, also 

 contributes to do away in a great degree 

 with the second fault which we have alluded 

 to as a grievous one in most of our flower 

 gardens — that of the exhibition of bare sur- 

 face of soil — parts of beds not covered by 

 foliage and flowers. 



In a hot climate, like that of our sum- 

 mers, nothing is more unpleasing to the eyes 

 or more destructive to that expression of 

 softness, verdure, and gaiety, that should ex- 

 ist in the flower garden, than to behold the 

 surface of the soil in any of the beds or par- 

 terres unclothed with plants. The dryness 

 and parched appearance of such portions 

 goes far to impair whatever air of freshness 

 and beauty may be imparted by the flowers 

 themselves. Now whenever beds are plant- 

 ed with a heterogeneous mixture of plants, 

 tall and short, spreading and straggling, 

 it is nearly impossible that considerable 

 parts of the surface of the soil should not be 

 visible. On the contrary, where species and 

 varieties of plants, chosen for their excel- 

 lent habits of growth and flowering, are 

 planted in masses, almost every part of the 

 surface of the beds may be hidden from the 

 eye, which we consider almost a sine qua 

 non in all good flower gardens. 



Followingout this principle — on the whole 

 perhaps the most important in all flower gar- 

 dens in this country — that there should, if 



possible, be no bare surface soil visible, our 

 own taste leads us to prefer the modern Eng- 

 lish style of laying out flower gardens upon a 

 ground vxyrk of grass or turf, kept scrupu- 

 lously short. Its advantage over a flower 

 garden composed only of beds with a nar- 

 row edging and gravel walks, consists in 

 the greater softness, freshness and verdure 

 of the green turf, which serves as a setti7ig 

 to the flower beds, and heightens the bril- 

 liancy of the flowers themselves. Still, both 

 these modes have their merits, and each is 

 best adapted to certain situations, and har- 

 monizes best with its appropriate scenery. 



There are two other defects in many of 

 our flower gardens, easily remedied, and 

 about which we must say a word or two in 

 passing. 



One of these is the common practice, 

 brought over here by gardeners from Eng 

 land, of forming raised convex beds for flow- 

 ering plants. This is a very unmeaning 

 and injurious practice in this country, as a 

 moment's reference to the philosophy of the 

 thing will convince anyone. In a dampc\\- 

 mate, like that of England, a bed with a high 



Fig. 103. Sectioti showing the surface of the beds. 



convex surface, (a, fig. 103)by throwing off the 

 superfluous water, keeps the plants from suf- 

 fering byexcessof wet,and the form is an ex- 

 cellent one. In this country ,Avhere most fre- 

 quently our flower gardens fail from drouth, 

 what sound reason can be given for forming 

 the beds with a raised and rounded surface 

 of six inches in every three feet, so as to 

 throw off four-fifths of every shower? The 

 true mode, as a little reflection and expe- 

 rience will convince any one, is to form 

 the surface of the bed nearly level, (h) so 



