VERANDAHS, WALLS AND ARBOURS 35 



without affectation's artful aid, made so by plant, leaf, 

 and flower, all after nature's best, healthy and pleasant 

 to look at. 



CHAPTER VI 



CLIMBERS FOR VERANDAHS, HOUSE WALLS, 

 AND ARBOURS 



THE pergola is a sort of verandah-archway, and the 

 objections that have been raised to it may be urged to 

 some extent against other contrivances of the kind. Arch- 

 ways are not always suitably placed ; they are sometimes 

 ridiculous both in form and position, spanning a straight 

 path midway between entrance gate and house for ex- 

 ample, a common enough spot for one, yet as absurd as a 

 door would be if placed there. An arch should suggest an 

 entrance to somewhere ; a change of scene ; therefore the 

 most happily placed arch in the garden is that spanning a 

 gateway, or at the opening in a boundary fence separating 

 say the pleasure from the kitchen garden. A well-built 

 arch in such a position, clothed with a suitable climber, is 

 good to look at. A bold stone archway as an entrance to 

 a garden, with a climbing rose, clematis, or vine clinging 

 to it, is better than any post or stone pillar. Climbers on 

 arches must be allowed to grow with a certain amount of 

 freedom, close cropping or training only spoils their effect. 

 The ivy-clad entrance, although somewhat sad looking, is 

 better than bare stone or wood. There is nothing to beat 

 a good rose, one that makes long, strong shoots and flowers 

 profusely. 



