106 PRACTICAL GARDENING. 



centre, there may be six beds of one form, six of another, six 

 of a third, and six of a fourth ; or as the circle enlarges, tlie 

 outer beds may be divided into twelve. AVhat we mean by 

 the uniform number is, that if there were six of a like shape 

 round the centre, three of them should be planted alike, and 

 then the alternate three, or that all six should be planted 

 ahke, because uniformity must be kept up, or the whole charm 

 of a geometrical garden is destroyed. A single day would 

 STifiS.ce, with proper help, to dress out this garden with ever- 

 greens, grown dwarf in pots for the purpose, and planted at 

 convenient distances, not crowded, for they would not look so 

 well. We need hardly lay do^vn any other rule than to choose 

 such as have different coloured foliage, so as to contrast the 

 beds as well as possible. The flower garden judiciously planted 

 in this way, as soon as the frost destroys the flowers, looks as 

 highly finished and as neat as when it is covered with bloom, 

 although certainly not quite so gay. 



All the beds on a lawn should be served much in the same 

 way. All the conspicuous parts of the parterre, which would 

 look very ill when empty, may be thus made to contribute in 

 winter to the warmth and comfort of a place in appearance, as 

 the flowers do in summer ; for it cannot be denied that there 

 is a coldness and di-eariness in empty beds and clumps which 

 nothing can compensate for. These dwarf shrubs should be 

 plunged in pots for the convenience of quickly changing 

 them again for sometliing else. All the bare places near the 

 house and in the dressed ground should undergo the metamor- 

 phosis of winter-dressing, and the laurustinus must always 

 form a conspicuous figure, because it is in flower all the 

 autumn and winter. In arranging the height of the various 

 shrubs, those farthest from the centre should be the highest, 

 if there be a difference, but they cannot be too low. If bushy 

 little plants, of one foot at the most, could be had, wherever 

 there is a figure to preserve, it should be restricted to that if 

 possible ; anytliing taller conceals the figure, and takes from 

 the geometrical plan more than half its beauty. The variation 

 of foliage has the most pleasing effect. The box, both the 

 green and the variegated, can be kept for years from getting 

 too large, because it bears pruning to anything, and grows 

 closer and better for it, and pot culture will stint the hoUy, 

 and almost every description of evergreen. 



Gentlemen who take a pride in the winter-dressing of the 



