46 VILLA GARDENING PART i 



form a jDleasant green spot for the eye to rest upon. If the garden 

 adjoins the public road, it may be wholly or partially hid by a belt 

 or group of shrubs or low-growing trees, though I think the feeling 

 which prompts Englishmen to isolate themselves is not one to be 

 encom-aged, for, as a nde, it adds to our pleasm-es if we permit 

 others to share them ; and if we allow the passers-by to get a 

 glimpse of the scenes of beauty we have created, it may perhaps 

 benefit them without injuring ourselves. Therefore, in 



Planting the blinds, leave a thin place here and there to open 

 a vista through, and let in a stream of light. If the sm-face of 

 the ground was originally level, moimds may be thrown up in 

 suitable places to form sloping banks for choice alpines or Ferns. 

 The shrubs admitted inside the blinds should be of a choice 

 character, of slow rather than rai)id growth, as these are usually 

 the most valuable. Places ^vill probably be found for a rosy- 

 cheeked Apple or a good free-bearing Pear ; a Quince or a Mul- 

 berry will not be out of place in certain positions, to give character 

 to particular spots. Weeping trees, svich as the Ash or silver- 

 barked Birch, may appropriately be placed at the junction of two 

 paths, to take off the bareness, and may perhaps shelter a rustic 

 seat. Hollies of various kinds may occupy prominent positions, as 

 they are always beautiful, and never more so than when loaded 

 with berries in winter. The large family of Ivies will supply 

 many species both of the climbing as well as of the erect or 

 arboreal forms. 



Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Kalmias, if the soil is suit- 

 able, may mingle on the verge or outline, or perhaps be gathered 

 in a group, out of which may spring in the summer time some of 

 the beautiful Californian and Japanese Lilies. 



It is one of the great advantages of this kind of gardening that 

 we may have so much variety. Arches for creepers will form 

 special features at the entrance to any of the nooks or corners 

 where any special favourites may be located. The hardy Heaths 

 may grow in wide-spreading masses, either amid the gentle un- 

 dulations or on the elevated points. The common species will 

 grow everywhere in light, sandy soil. Lavender and Rosemary 

 in large bushes, and the Rose in many forms, may.be present, not 

 forgetting the Sweet Briers, Honeysuckles, Jasmines, and Clematis 

 in great clusters, tied to poles or trained to rustic arches, or 

 clothing the naked stems of trees and shrubs ; the flowering 

 Almond, the Forsythia, the Barberries, and Daphnes, including 

 the early fragrant Mezereum, which has so gay an appearance in 

 spring, followed later on by the brightest of scarlet berries. 

 The Lilacs, the Guelder Rose, and the Syringa or Mock Orange 



