FLOWER-GARDENS. 
210 
FLOWER-GARDENS. 
between the beds of gravel, and the | 
beds edged with box. It may be 
thought by some, that a flowering 
plant would look better than box 
for the edgings to the beds ; but no | 
effect is ever produced without con- 
trast: and as the box is always 
green, and never flowers, it forms a 
striking contrast to beds of flowers 
in which the leaves are nearly hid- 
den by the blossoms. Gravel walks 
with stone edgings do not form a 
good contrast, as the colours of the 
gravel and the stone are too near | 
that of the dry soil of the beds. 
All the different kinds of flower- | 
gardens may be reduced to the fol- | 
lowing : 
The French garden, or parterre, | 
is formed of arabesques, or scroll- | 
work, or, as the French call it, em- | 
broidery of Box, with plain spaces 
of turf or gravel, the turf prevailing. 
The Box is kept low, and there are 
but very few parts of the arabesque 
figures in which flowers or shrubs 
can be introduced. Those plants | 
that are used, are kept in regular 
shape by cutting or clipping, and 
little regard is had to flowers ; the 
beauty of these gardens consisting 
in the figures of the arabesques 
being kept clear and distinct, and 
in the pleasing effect produced on 
the eye by masses of turf, in a 
country where verdure is rare in 
the summer season. These em- 
broidered or arabesque gardens ori- 
ginated in Italy and France, and 
they are better adapted for warm 
climates than for England: they 
are, indeed, chiefly calculated for 
being seen from the windows of the | 
house, and not for being walked in, | 
like English flower-gardens. 
The ancient English flower-gar- 
den is formed of beds, connected 
together so as to form a regular or 
symmetrical figure ; the beds being 
edged with Box, or sometimes with 
flowering plants, and planted with | 
herbaceous flowers, Roses, and one | 
shrubs. 
or two other kinds of low flowering 
The flowers in the beds 
are generally mixed in such a man- 
ner, that some may show blossoms 
every month during summer, and 
that some may retain their leaves 
during winter. This kind of gar- 
den should be surrounded by a bor- 
der of evergreen and deciduous 
shrubs, backed by low trees; and 
in the centre there should be a sun- 
dial, a vase, a statue, or a basin 
and fountain. 
The modern English flower-gar- 
den has the groundwork of turf, on 
which a system of beds are formed, 
in such a manner as to constitute a 
symmetrical figure; or, if on a very 
large scale, groups of figures. The 
French flower-garden and the an- 
cient English garden were chiefly 
calculated for bemg seen from an 
elevated situation, so as to show the 
whole at once; but the modern 
English flower-garden is calculated 
to be walked through, and seen by 
degrees. The beds are generally 
of roundish or curvilinear figures, 
and they should never be of figures 
with numerous narrow angles, or 
projecting poimts; because such 
parts can never be properly cover- 
ed with plants, and therefore have 
always a bad effect. These beds 
are sometimes planted with a mix- 
ture of flowers alone, and sometimes 
with flowers and shrubs; but they 
are more generally planted, each 
bed with one kind of flower or one 
kind of shrub, so as to produce 
masses of colour, or of shades of 
colour, which will harmonize with 
the masses in the other beds. The _ 
spaces between the beds should not 
be less than two feet, for the conve- 
nience of walking and mowing ; 
and the surface of the beds should 
never be much higher than that of 
the turf, because, if they are, they 
will look like blotches on a lasr 
Besides, the plants in the hiz- eet 
part of the bed (which should: # 
