THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



is so much to be done and thought of every day in the year, that it 

 is important to get rid of all mere routine work with edgings of Box 

 and other things that want frequent trimming or re-making, in which 

 work much of the labour of gardeners has been wasted in the past. 



Natural stone is the best of all materials for permanent edgings for 



the flower garden, or any garden where an edging is required, and 



no effort should be spared to get it. In many 



Natural stone, districts it is quite easy to do so, as in some of the 



home counties the refuse of quarries (in Surrey 



Bargate stone, and in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire the flaky stone 



used for the roofs of old time) is excellent for edgings. Much difference 



will occur in stone in various 

 districts, and some will not be so 

 good in colour and shape as the 

 stone just mentioned, but the 

 advantage of natural stone in 

 various ways is so great that even 

 inferior forms of it should be 

 chosen before any other material. 

 In undressed, or very roughly 

 dressed natural stone, it does 

 not matter in the least if the 



Edging of Foam Flower. . i 



stones vary in size, as we have 



not to set them rigidly like the cast tiles. Sunk half-way firmly 

 in the earth, after a little time they soon assume a good colour ; 

 green mosses stain them in the winter, and if we wish to grace 

 them with rock flowers they are very friendly to them, and 

 Rockfoil, or Stonecrop, or Thyme may creep over them, and 

 make them prettier than any edging made wholly of plants, 

 like Box or Thrift, or Ivy. Unlike the tile, stones are none the 

 worse if they fall a little out of line, as they are easily reset, 

 and also easily removed by handy garden men without expensive 

 workmen, or any aid from mortar or trowel. In large and stately 

 gardens dressed stone may be used to frame a grass plot or 

 handsome straight border, but in most cases this expense would be 

 thrown away, as we get so good a result with the undressed stone. 

 But in a flower garden like that at Shrubland Park, the dressed stone 

 of good and simple form, and properly set as it should be in such a 

 position near the house, is quite rightly used. Near cities and 

 towns the removal of old or half-worn stone pavements, like the York 

 stone used in London, often gives us opportunities of securing it for 

 forming edging ; and being often got in large pieces it requires rough 

 dressing to allow of its being firmly and evenly set in the ground. I 

 have used this largely for edgings, which will last as long as they are 



