252 Landscape Gardening 



One of these is the common practice, brought over here 

 by gardeners from England, of forming raised convex beds 

 for flowering plants. This is a very unmeaning and injurious 

 practice in this country, as a moment's reference to the 

 philosophy of the thing will convince any one. In a damp 

 climate, like that of England, a bed with a high convex 

 surface, by throwing off the superfluous water, keeps the 

 plants from suffering by excess of wet, and the form is an 

 excellent one. In this country, where most frequently our 

 flower gardens fail from drouth, what sound reason can be 

 given for forming the beds with a raised and rounded sur- 

 face of six inches in every three feet, so as to throw off four- 

 fifths of every shower? The true mode, as a little reflec- 

 tion and experience will convince any one, is to form the 

 surface of the bed nearly level, so that it may retain its 

 due proportion of the rains that fall. 



Next to this is the defect of not keeping the walks in 

 flower gardens full of gravel. In many instances that we 

 could name, the level of the gravel in the walk is six inches 

 below that of the adjoining bed or border of turf. This 

 gives a harsh and ditch-like character to the walks, quite at 

 variance with the smoothness and perfection of details 

 \vhich ought especially to characterize so elegant a portion 

 of the grounds as this in question. "Keep the walks brimful 

 of gravel," was one of the maxims most strongly insisted 

 on by the late Mr. London, and one to which we fully 

 subscribe.* 



* Originally this essay closed with a description, somewhat detailed, 

 of a flower garden belonging to Baron von Hiigel near Vienna, drawn 

 from a German magazine, which description has been dropped from the 

 present edition as having no practical interest at this time. F. A. W. 



