6 The Flower Garden [Chapter 



thrown away to plant flowers which will presently be 

 hidden by tall grass and weeds. A neglected lawn 

 involves an amount of labour in the semi-annual clean- 

 ing of spring and fall out of all proportion to the re- 

 sults, while a lawn well cut and raked is more easily 

 cared for with each recurring year, the grass growing 

 clean and straight, and the rake and mower passing 

 freely and easily through it. 



The scheme for a permanent garden must be de- 

 cided by the size and shape of the plot of ground at 

 command, an irregular plot sometimes lending itself 

 to more graceful arrangement than a symmetrical one. 

 The operation of laying out the beds will be the same, 

 whatever the shape. Having decided the boundaries 

 of the garden it will be best to mark the outlines by 

 a cord attached to pegs driven into the ground. The 

 sod should then be removed from the entire area by 

 cutting just below the crown of the grass. Desirable 

 arrangements of beds are shown in accompanying 

 illustrations. Two and one-half or three feet should 

 first be allowed for walks. The beds may be placed 

 to advantage by finding the centre of the plot and 

 driving there a stake to which a cord is loosely at- 

 tached. Mark off on this cord half the diameter of 

 the bed desired, for centre of plot, four, five or six feet 

 fasten to the cord at this point a sharp stick and 

 describe the circle on the ground. In this way the 

 garden walks may be outlined and the inner and outer 

 circles of the round beds. The oval beds must be 



