FLOWER-GARDENS. 



117 



FLOWER-GARDENS. 



some ^v'ay or other so connected with 

 the centre as not to be separable from 

 it, without injuring the general effect 

 of the garden. All the beds and 

 borders ought to have one general 

 character of form and outline ; that 

 is, either curved, straight, or composite 

 lines ought to prevail. The size of 

 the beds ought also never to differ to 

 such an extent as to give the idea of 

 large beds and small ones beingmixed 

 together ; and the surface of the 

 garden ought to be of the same 

 character throughout ; that is, it 

 ought not to be curvilinear on one 

 side of the centre, and flat or angular 

 on the other. In planting flower- 

 gardens the same attention to unity 

 ought to be kept in view. One side 

 ought not to be planted vdth tall- 

 grovt-ing plants, and the other with 

 plants of low growth ; nor one part 

 with evergreens, whether ligneous or 

 herbaceous, and the other part with 

 annuals or bulbs. Flower-gardens 

 which are intended to be ornamental 

 all the year, ought to have a large 

 proportion of evergreen herbaceous 

 plants distributed regularly all over 

 them ; such as Pinks, Sweet-williams, 

 Thrift, Saxifrages, intermixed "wdth 

 some very low evergreen shrubs, such 

 as Heaths, AYhortleberries, Thyme, 

 Gaultheriaprociiml>ens,anda,\3iTietj 

 of similar plants. Flower-gardens 

 which are intended to be chiefly 

 ornamental in spring, ought to be 

 rich in bulbs and early-flowering 

 shrubs ; such as the ]\Iezereon, 

 Cydonia, or Pyrus japonica, Rho- 

 dodendron dauricuni airov'irens, 

 Erica herhcicea, &c. Those that are 

 intended to be chiefly ornamental in 

 summer, should be rich in annuals ; 

 and those that are to be in perfection 

 in autumn, in Dahlias. Flower- 

 gardens on a large scale never look so 

 well as when the spaces between the 

 beds are of tuif ; but those on a small 

 scale may have the spaces 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 contrast : and as 

 the box is always green, and seldom 

 flowers, it forms a striking contrast 

 to beds of flowers in which the leaves 

 are nearly hidden by the blossoms. 

 Grravel 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 

 following : — 



The French garden, ov parterre, is 

 formed of arabesques, or scroll-work, 

 or, as the French call it, embroidery 

 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 intro- 

 duced. 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 ara- 

 besques being kept clear and distinct, 

 and in the pleasing effect produced on 

 the eye by masses of tui-f, in a country 

 where verdure is rare in the summer 

 season. These embroidered or ara- 

 besque gardens originated 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 Jloiuer-garden 

 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 



