130 JOTTINGS OF A GENTLEMAN GARDENER 



path the outside stones are laid first and the centre ones 

 afterwards. An eye for angles comes in useful here, for 

 the stones should be well fitted together, so that each 

 corner of one comes between two corners of another, and 

 so on. It does not matter how angular or irregular the 

 stones are, they will look natural enough when laid in the 

 form of a path, especially after they have weathered a 

 bit. The stones should be tapped after being laid, to 

 make them firm. When the path is finished, some garden 

 soil can be brushed along it to fill up the crevices and 

 tiny alpines, such as Saxifrages, Sedums, and Anten- 

 naries can be grown in them if desired. Flagged paths 

 last for years. To me, however, they appear only suitable 

 for the rock-garden. 



When the rock-garden is made on a bank the side paths 

 joining the main path cannot be made without steps. 

 A sloping flagged path looks very odd, but steps look 

 quite natural. The steps should be roughly hewn rect- 

 angular stones not more than 9 ins. deep, and preferably 

 only 6 ins. They may be set in one long " flight " or in 

 groups of three or four, or each step may be separated 

 from the other by a piece of level or very gently sloping 

 flagged path. When possible, the steps should be made 

 of the same stone as the flagged path, but this is not 

 absolutely necessary so long as they are not of ugly 

 material. 



Garden Edgings : To separate paths neatly from flower 

 borders, edgings are essential, except in the case of grass 

 and flagged paths. What is popularly known as a " live 

 edging " (plants such as box, thrift, arabis, etc.) is some- 

 times entirely satisfactory, but more often it is disap- 

 pointing. Thus we have to find a material which will 

 last, will look neat, and will not detract from the beauty 

 of the garden. 



There are not a few such materials to choose from 

 flaggy " micaceous " sandstones, thin limestones, artificial 

 edging tiles, wood edging boards and bricks, all of which 

 may be used. 



