69 GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



hardy evergreen shnib, cropped very square, and flat at the top, might, either 

 with or without the addition of a single flight of steps and with a few appropriate* 

 pedestals and vases, be sufficient to produce much of the desired effect. In 

 accordance with the more irregular and picturesque forms of cottage architec- 

 ture, the terrace might be guarded by balustrades of simple rustic work or 

 branches. Even a rustic cottage requires to be accompanied by a moderately 

 broad esplanade or terrace on its principal side, which, however, does not 

 absolutely require expensive architectural embellishment ; a neatly turfed 

 embankment, raised a few feet above the surrounding garden, suggests tho 

 idea, even in that simple form, that a sufficiently high situation has been 

 Belected, and gives a pleasing air of propriety to the site of the dwelling. 

 First, it suggests that a sufficiently high situation has been selected ; secondly, 

 that an amply sufficient space has been prepared for the erection of the build- 

 ing, and by its means is carried beyond the mere form of the house itself, in a 

 manner that causes its vertical and horizontal lines to blend by degrees with 

 the outline of the sm-rounding vegetation and the undulations of the ground." 

 With a trifling increase of expense, also, a rustic and somewhat more archi- 

 tectural approach might be given to this terrace, as shown in the sketch at 

 the end of this chapter. 



159. Let us i-etum, however, to our Carthusian's garden scheme, and, leaving 

 the " mass of gorgeous colouring and the two pretty fountains that play in 

 their basins of native rock on either hand, descend the flight of steps, simpler 

 than those of the upper terrace, and turn to the left hand, where a broad gravel 

 walk leads to the kitchen-garden through an avenue, splendid in autumn with 

 hollyhocks, dahlias, China-asters, nasturtiums, and Afi'ican marigolds. 



160. " We will stop short, however, of the walled garden to turn off among 

 the clipped edges of box and yew and hornbeam which surround the bowling- 

 green, and lead to a curiously-formed labyrinth, in the centre of which, perched 

 on a triangular movmd, is a fanciful old summer-house, with a gilded roof that 

 commands the view of the whole surrounding country. Quaint devices of all 

 kinds are found here, for the garden is an ancient one, to which modern im- 

 provements have been added. Here is a sundial of flowers arranged according 

 to the time of day at which they open and close. Here are peacocks and lions 

 in livery of Lincoln green. Here are berceaux and arbours, and covered 

 alleys and inclosures, containing the primest of the carnations and cloves in 

 set order, and miniature canals, that carry down a stream of pure water to 

 'ihe fishing -ponds below. Farther onwards, and up the south bank, winding 

 towards the house, are espaliers and standards of the choicest fruit-trees. 

 Here are strawberry-beds, raised so as to be easy for gathering ; while the 

 round gooseberry and cm-rant bushes, and the arched raspberries, continue the 

 formal style up to the walls of the inclosed garden, whose outer sides are 

 clothed alternately with fruits and flowers, so that the * stranger within tho 

 hoiise * may be satisfied without being tantalized by the rich reserves within 

 the gate of iron tracery, of which the gardener keeps the key. 



I C 1 . " Returning to the steps of the lower terrace : what a fine slope of green 



