PERGOLAS 49 



climbers could be so trained that they impeded the view 

 but little. The summer or garden house, if such exist, 

 being much used in hot weather, and frequent passage 

 between it and the house being necessary, a shaded path- 

 way communicating from one to the other would be in 

 the best possible taste. Pergolas are very frequently 

 built so that they run parallel with a wall, which forms 

 one of the sides. These are seldom satisfactory, being, 

 except at a certain portion of the day, dull and cheerless, 

 and naturally one misses the extra display of foliage, and 

 the effect of light and shade. The worst position is the 

 centre of a path, which neither serves as a boundary 

 between two garden divisions, nor as a direct communica- 

 tion to some new feature. Though it is desirable that 

 the pergola should not be placed so that it is the most 

 conspicuous object in a flat stretch of scene, care should 

 be taken that it is not surrounded by trees with hungry 

 roots. These would speedily be attracted towards the 

 good soil in which the climbers were growing, and the 

 latter would certainly be deprived of much nourishment 

 by their rapacious neighbours. 



A charming approach may be made to the rose garden 

 by means of a short pergola, covered by the beautiful 

 climbing varieties of the queen of flowers ; in suitable 

 positions, two sections of the arched walk might be joined 

 by an arbour provided with comfortable seats and a table. 

 However, I do not care for too many pergolas : in some 

 cases I have seen as many as four radiating from a domed 

 arbour or similar erection. It is a mistake to repeat the 

 same idea so that it becomes monotonous ; variety should 

 be aimed at in all good gardens, and there are few large 

 enough to include all the many beautiful effects which 

 are capable of affording so much pleasure. Even in the 

 kitchen garden, a good pergola would prove a valuable 

 acquisition : in this case, utility being demanded, the 

 structure could be covered with fruit trees. Seeing how 



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