150 A GARDEN DIARY 



MARCH 26, 1900 



A VIEW, a brand-new view, and in a garden 

 supposed to be viewless ! That our best 

 point as regards scenery lies in the direction of 

 the Dorking downs, is I think beyond question. 

 The worst of it is that lying as they do nearly 

 due north of us, the more of them we show the 

 more the wind catches at our plants. Openings 

 upon this side have, consequently, to be thought 

 out with care, and executed only after long de- 

 liberation. 



This time I think we are safe. A space of 

 copse, ending in a fence, over which in summer 

 tree-lupins and everlasting peas tumble together 

 in friendly confusion, has been cleared. What 

 was lately solid copse, fifteen to twenty feet high, 

 has sunk to a mere russet-coloured growth, just 

 bracken height, no more ; three feet to four 

 feet, that is to say, rising occasionally to five. 

 This makes a broadish space, in which bracken 

 and bramble, stunted elder, seedling birch, two or 

 three low thorns, and some wild guelder-roses 



