TERRACE AND GARDEN WALLS 49 



perhaps some Rosemary and China Rose or some 

 other old garden Rose of tender pink colouring. But 

 the bold forms of the flower and the important leafage 

 of the Paeonies are good here also ; the only thing 

 that is unworthy of the scheme being the small row 

 of Pansies next the grass. It would have been better 

 to let the Paeonies bush over the edge of the grass ; 

 the row of small flowers is a petty intrusive incident 

 in a scene where nothing should sound any note that 

 jars upon the harmony of noble ancient building and 

 simple dignity of garden practice. 



The gardener may represent that, when masses of 

 foliage of large herbaceous plant or shrub hang over 

 the grass, it is difficult to mow to the edge — and 

 to a certain degree he is right. It is undoubtedly 

 easier to run the machine along a clearly defined and 

 unobstructed edge. But if the gardener is the good 

 fellow that he generally is he will at once understand 

 that this is just one of the points that makes the differ- 

 ence between the best and most careful and thought- 

 ful gardening, and gardening that is ease-loving and 

 commonplace. In the case of such edges, instead of 

 a man and a boy with a mowing-machine the man has 

 a scythe and the boy has a bean-pole. Boy and man 

 face each other a few paces apart, the boy moves back- 

 ward, lifting the foliage with his pole, while the man 

 advances mowing under the held-up leaves. There is 

 nothing in it that the plainest labourer cannot under- 

 stand, while the added refinement that is secured is 

 a distinct gain to the garden. It is only where the 



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