CHAPTER XVI 

 Garden Furniture and Accessories 



THE garden which is too small to permit the building of a 

 bower within its boundaries may yet have a garden seat, 

 or several resting places. No garden is too tiny for this. 

 Let us therefore examine the possibilities of garden benches first 

 of all. 



They must be comfortable to sit on, primarily, and com- 

 fortably placed. This does not mean always in shade however, 

 for there are many days when to sit in the sun is greater delight. 

 But they should be located where the most charming bits are 

 most easily seen and enjoyed by their occupants. Make a 

 point too, of having something fragrant growing close by — 

 mint under foot or some sweet herb, or a sweetbriar rose near 

 at hand^something that smells sweet perpetually. Fragrance 

 is one of the garden's essentials, everywhere. 



The classic exedra is of all forms the best for a garden seat. 

 This is curving its entire length, usually indeed a semicircle, 

 thus bringing its occupants together equally or nearly so. 

 Executed in stone or marble it had an important place in the 

 gardens of antiquity, and executed in stone, marble, terra-cotta 

 or wood it is worthy an equally important place in gardens 

 to-day. Its size may vary according to existing circumstances. 

 Usually it has a back, sometimes high but not always. Thus it 



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