63 



GARDEN MANAGEME^^. 



velvet surface unintemipted by a single shrub, till towards the verge of the 

 shrubberies, into which it falls away in in-egular clumps of evergreens and low 

 shrabs, which break the boundary-line of greensward. Here are no borders for 

 flowers, but clusters of the larger and bolder kinds, as hollyhocks and peonies, 

 rise from the turf itself. Here, too, in spring, golden and purple crocuses, 

 daffodils, aconites, snowdrops, bluebells, cyclamen, wood-anemones, hepa- 

 ticas, — the pink and the blue, — chequer the lawn in bold broad strips, the 

 wilder sorts being more distant from the house, and losing themselves under 

 the dark \anderwood of the adjoining coppice. The gi-ound here becomes 

 more varied and broken, clumps of double-flowering gorse, 



* The vernal furze, 

 With golden baskets hung ; * 



the 



the evergreen barberry, the ilex, in all its varieties, hardy ferns borderin 

 green drive which leads to the wilder parts of the plantations." 



165. This is, of course, a pleasure-gai-den of considerable pretensions, em- 

 bracino" not less, perhaps, than three acres, and it may be much more. 

 Mr. Loudon, whose authority is gi-eat 

 on such questions, describes and 

 figures, in his " Farm and Villa Archi- 

 tecture," a garden laid out by an 

 architect for his own use ; which, con- 

 sidering the size of the villa, and the 

 extent of the accommodation afforded, 

 exceeded anything of the kind he had 

 met with. The land inclosed was two 

 acres and a half, extending longitudi- 

 nally from north to south, so that it 

 would be, judging from the plan, 

 200 yards from east to west, and 110 

 from north to south. " In this plan 

 a, on the north-west, is the main 

 entrance ; V, the entrance portico of 

 the house ; c, the kitchen and stable- 

 yard ; d, the stable and coach-house ; e, a door 

 in the hall, bounding the entrance-court, by 

 which the grounds are entered without passing 

 through the house ; /, a circular bed for gera- 

 niums and other showy greenhouse plants ; 

 g, a billiard -room ; h, a rosary in the horse- 

 shoe form, having a dial in the centre ; ?, a 

 marble basin with a bronze fountain as the 

 centre, the space of turf lawn between it and the gi-avel walk having 

 beds of choice herbaceous plants ; h is the tool and potting houses and 

 working sheds ; I, a grotto, having the appearance externally oi" a rock 





.M9m^5S^ 



'&i 



