3IO 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



as we can always have gravel for any roads that have to be traversed 

 by carriages or carts ; the space for concrete, asphalt, or stone walks 

 is not considerable, and the natural material should be used wherever 

 it be possible. 



Flower Garden Edgings, Live and Dead. 



Even small things may mar the effect of a flower garden, however 

 rich in its plants, and among the things that do so are cast edgings of 

 tiles or iron, often very ugly, and as costly as ugly, some of the earthen- 

 ware edgings perishing rapidly in frost. But if they never perished, and 

 were as cheap as pebbles by the shore, they would be none the less 



Stone edging. From a photograph by Mr. A. Emblin, Worksop, Notts. 



offensive from the point of view of effect, with their hard patterned 

 shapes, often bad colour, and the necessity of setting them with pre- 

 cision in cement or mortar ; whereas the enduring and beautiful 

 edging wants none of these costly attentions. The seeming advan- 

 tage of these patterned and beaded tile edgings is that they appear 

 permanent, and get rid of the labour of clipping and keeping box 

 edgings in good order ; but these ends are met quite as well by per- 

 fectly inoffensive edgings. Edgings may, for convenience sake, be 

 divided into dead and permanent ones and living ones formed of 

 plants or dwarf bushes, which involve a certain amount of care to 

 keep in order, and which will some day wear out and require a change 

 or replanting 



