Arrangement of a Pleasure Garden 



there is grave danger that in endeavouring to form it, the 

 result will be a revolting lack of harmony and want of pro- 

 portion, to say nothing of the expense incurred. In small 

 gardens I should lay it down as a general rule to take the 

 surface as we find it, and make the best of it under the 

 conditions. 



In the case of a retentive soil especially, or even in that 

 of a light one, it will often be found necessary to take out 

 a certain depth of soil to have a good foundation for a 

 path. It is also a good plan, when means afford, to 

 take off the top spit from that part of the ground where 

 shrubs or flowers will be grown, and to make, up with fresh 

 soil. In such cases much soil will be on the hands, so to 

 speak, of the garden maker. This can, in most cases, be 

 readily disposed of for filling up sunk places where it is 

 feared the water might lie, in forming a mound in some 

 appropriate spot, or in the making of a terrace. It will 

 rarely be found that the surface is uniformly even, and in 

 such cases it is always better to make it so, unless the 

 mounds and dells are sufficiently marked to be really pic- 

 turesque. In distributing soil in the manner indicated, 

 take care to keep the best at the top, that of the worse 

 kind being put at the bottom. The reverse of this is very 

 often done, and it is found to be especially the case when 

 a building is going on. The builders take out the founda- 

 tions, putting the soil down anywhere just as it is taken out, 

 with the result that the gardener is put to great trouble in 

 reversing the position of the soil, or is called upon to bring 

 into cultivation soil lying previously two or three feet below 

 the surface. In the case of a garden sloping well from the 

 house, a terrace is often a pleasing feature, when well 

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