ZDGINGS. 
Ecui‘res.—A pocyndécee.—Beau- 
tiful stove-climbers, which grow 
freely in a mixture of sandy loam 
and peat; and which should be 
trained up the pillars, and under the 
rafters. They are propagated by 
cuttings, which strike readily. 
E’cutum.—-Boraginadcee.—-Viper’s 
Bugloss. Perennial, biennial, and 
annual plants, generally with rich 
dark-blue flowers ; though some of 
the kinds that are natives of the 
Cape of Good Hope, and the Cana- 
ries, have red, white, or violet flow- 
ers. They all require a light soil, 
and will grow well in either sandy 
or peaty loam ; and they are easily 
propagated by seeds or division of 
the root. 
Epernes are lines of plants, gener- 
ally evergreens, to separate walks 
from beds or borders. ‘The plant in 
most universal use for this purpose 
in British gardens is the dwarf Box; 
a low evergreen shrub, which retains 
its leaves for two or three, and even 
four years, and bears clipping, so as 
to be kept not more than three or 
four inches high, two inches or three 
inches broad at the base, and one 
inch at top. For the mode of forming 
box-edgings, see Bu’xus. [After 
Box, the Thrift, Arm2ria vulgaris, 
is the best plant in common use for 
edgings. It is so easily propagated 
by division, that a line of slips, (each 
three or four inches in length,) 
planted in April, will make a beau- 
tiful edging by midsummer, and will 
continue in good condition for half 
a dozen years, when it may be taken 
up, divided, and replanted.— Ep. ] 
Edgings to beds and borders are 
also formed of other materials, such 
as lines of bricks, tiles, or slates, or 
of narrow strips of stone, or even of 
wood. In general, however, edgings 
of this kind have a meager appear- 
ance, especially in small gardens, 
though they have this advantage, 
that they do not harbour snails, slugs, 
or other vermin. In architectural 
17* 
197 
never to sink. These stone-edgings 
hould never be more than two or 
EDGINGS, 
| flower-gardens, near a house, where 
_ the garden must necessarily partake 
' of the character of the architecture 
| of the building, stone or brick edgings 
[are essential, and they should be 
formed of strips of curb-stone, bed- 
ded on stone or brickwork, so as 
three inches wide, and they should 
not rise above the surface of the 
walk more than two inches; other- 
wise, when they rise higher, unless 
the waik be of more than usual 
breadth, they give it a sunken ap- 
pearance, which is very unpleasant 
to the eye. In forming edgings of 
brick, the bricks should generally be 
placed in the ground endwise ; and 
the best effect is produced by using 
bricks that have been moulded with 
round ends en purpose. Edgings of 
tiles, to be kept securely in their 
places, should be set in concealed 
brickwork ; otherwise they are apt 
to get out of place, and to havea 
ragged and temporary appearance. 
The same may be said of edgings of 
slate ; and, in general, brick and 
slate edgings are much improved by 
a line of dwarf evergreens, planted 
close to them on the bed, or border 
side. Edgings of boards should be 
of oak, for the sake of durability ; 
and they should be kept securely in 
their places by concealed posts, 
driven into the ground, to which the 
boards should be nailed, beneath the 
surface of the walk. 
Much of the beauty of all gardens, 
whether useful or ornamental, de- 
pends on the neatness and high 
keeping of the edgings ; for what- 
ever may be the state of the boun- 
dary fence, of the gravel, or pave- 
ment of the walks, and of the soil 
or plants of the borders, if the edg- 
ings have an uneven, ragged appear- 
ance, or if the plants be either too 
large or too small, the garden will 
be at once felt to be in bad keeping. 
Hitherto nothing has been said 
