MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS 79 



most often formed in turf. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, they are given a background of 

 gravel, particularly when a formal effect is 

 desired. 



Whatever the background, the form of bed, 

 as regards its outline, is important, and it 

 is essential that we should not outrage good 

 taste by indulging in anything of eccentric 

 character. I have already pointed out the 

 disadvantages from a practical standpoint 

 of such shapes as crescents, stars, and other 

 figures having acute angles. Did not these 

 practical objections count, I should still 

 decry these shapes because of their obvious 

 artificiality. The outlines by which we bound 

 our flower beds should not be of a character 

 to fix the eye and divert our attention from 

 the flowers. Another objection to these bi- 

 zarre shapes is the great aggregate length of 

 their boundaries in comparison with the space 

 they enclose. This disproportion means that 

 the actual length of edging to be kept trimmed 

 and cared for is much greater than is necessary, 

 and where beds of this kind exist in numbers 

 the extra labour is not negligible. 



To take a concrete case, the boundary length 



