CHAP. VIII.] LAYING OUT. 211 



selves, and may be adopted : the essential points 

 in all being to have the ground first dug, and 

 made perfectly smooth and level ; and then to 

 have the figure clearly and accurately traced 

 out and tested by measurement, before any of 

 the beds are formed, or the turf or gravel laid 

 down. 



Planting the beds and forming the walks 

 require nearly as much care as tracing out the 

 figure. Many persons, however, are not aware 

 of this : they think, if the figure be good and 

 accurately traced on the ground, that nothing 

 more will be required; or, if anything more 

 be necessary, it is only to indicate the proper 

 colours of the flowers to be planted in the beds 

 to the gardener. 



This, however, is not enough. Low plants, 

 producing abundance of flowers, must be chosen, 

 and these must be carefully trained, or pegged 

 down, so as to cover the beds entirely, or the 

 effect will be destroyed. If, for example, a bed 

 of scarlet be wanted, a lady would probably 

 think that her gardener would have no. trouble 

 in finding abundance of scarlet flowers; and, 

 having told him the colour, she would give her- 

 self no further trouble. Now the kind of scar- 

 let flower to be used depends entirely on the 

 position of the bed, and the kinds of flowers 

 used in the other beds. If these flowers have 

 been dwarfs, and trained so as entirely to cover 

 the ground, the scarlet flower used should be 

 the Verbena Melindres (or chamaedrifolia, as it 

 is now called), or some of its varieties, and each 

 stem should be pegged down close to the ground. 

 Thus treated, and supplied with abundance of 



p 2 



