CHAP. V VILLA GAEDENING 35 



covered with blue Passion flowers ; and with good shelter from the 

 winds seaside gardening becomes comparatively easy. But it 

 living shelters must be raised, that work should be done, if pos- 

 sible, several years in advance of the general planting ; and I would 

 strongly urge the necessity of a thorough preparation of the site to 

 create depth of soil, and a free use of the knife for a few years 

 after planting, to thicken the growth and keep out the wind. 



Decorating the Lawn. — It is only of late years that the 

 phrase " gardening on the grass " has come into use, but the 

 principle advocated is not unknown ; in fact, it has been practised 

 with the happiest results in many places in retired parts of the 

 country. Probably centiuries ago people with artistic ideas and 

 feelings conceived the idea of allowing the lawn and shrub- 

 bery to meet and blend without any harsh dividing lines. The 

 grass was permitted to grow up to the stems of the shrubs, and 

 hide all the bare earth between them with a bright green carpet. 

 Then came the want of a little colour to impart life to the 

 masses of green, and so great clusters of Daffodils were planted on 

 the grass in front on the salient points and angles. Other things, 

 such as Pseonies, Fuchsias, Roses, etc., naturally followed ; so the 

 idea grew, and it was a most excellent one. We might easily 

 conceive that with the spread of Schools of Art this kind of 

 decoration should be still further developed ; but it is not new — 

 indeed few things are. 



A short time ago I was looking round an old garden of the by- 

 gone times, where gardening on the grass had been practised at 

 least more than fifty years ago. The place has been unoccupied 

 for many years, so the modern bedding-out gardener has been kept 

 out ; and though the grounds are in a rough unkempt condition, yet 

 in the spring time the Snowdrops and Daffodils forming great 

 clusters, and the old China Roses standing about in irregular 

 patches, are a glorious sight, and are in fact the only redeeming 

 features of the place, because they are the only things which seem 

 to have benefited by neglect. To dispose these groups tastefully 

 requires much thought, as when patches of colour are strewn too 

 liberally the effect sought may not be obtained through being over- 

 done. Picturesque grouping accords best with this kind of decora- 

 tion, rather than formality or a striving after symmetry ; and the 

 background of shrubs, their height and breadth, with the extent of 

 the lawn, must all be taken into consideration in the arrangement 

 of these groups of flowers on the grass, so that all may blend and 

 harmonise together. Snowdrops may be dibbled in the turf; and 

 the Golden Primrose and the Wood Anemone may occupy positions 

 amid the shrubs. And what a chance is here offered for making 



