BEDS. 



45 



BEDS. 



and have this advantage over fanciful 

 figuies, that they may easily be designated 

 by their particular names. Nothing is more 

 brilliant than a Maltese-cross bed, filled in 

 each separate compartment with different 

 shades of verbenas, or in the opposite com- 

 partments with the small dark blue lobelia 

 and Gazania splendens. The St. Andrew's 

 cross also forms a nice bed, and so do the 

 different forms of upright crosses, when 

 the stem and the transverse are filled 

 with flowers of such shades and colour as 

 contrast well with each other. 



Beds, Leaf -shaped. Some of the prettiest 

 beds for lawns may be made by cutting 

 them out into the natural form of the 

 leaves of trees, shrubs, and plants. The 

 form of the common ivy-leaf makes a very 

 pretty bed, so does the heart-shaped ivy ; 

 also the oak, the maple-leaf, the horseshoe 

 geranium, and an endless variety of others. 

 Beds so formed have this advantage, that 

 they can be called by the name of the 

 different trees, shrubs, and plants, from 

 which they have been taken. 



Beds, Oak and Holly. Acorns sown 

 very thick round a bed in a drill about 2 

 or 3 inches wide, in the course of a year 

 or two form a very pretty edging ; and, 

 owing to the thickness with which they 

 stand, with an occasional clipping, the 

 small oaks may be kept 4 or 5 inches high, 

 arid in this manner have a very good effect. 

 Hollies also may be used the same way ; 

 but in this case it is better to raise the 

 plants on a seed-bed, and transplant them 

 to the bed for which they are required as 

 an edging, when about 2 or 3 inches high. 

 They may be kept dwarf by cutting, and 

 will not become too large for their position 

 for some years. 



Beds, Tile, for Grass-plots. These form 

 very pretty and very ornamental objects 

 made on grass borders, or on lawns of 

 kitchen or mixed gardens. The tiles, 

 or pipes, as they are called in some parts 



of the country, should be of bright red 

 clay, twelve inches long and about three 

 inches in diameter, and all carefully formed 

 in the same mould. These should be 

 placed upright in a circle, or any other 

 figure, buried, according to taste, about 

 four to six inches in the ground ; the 

 earth and the beds being raised to the 

 level of the outstanding part of the tiles. 

 A very effective centre bed can be made 

 with these tiles in three tiers, the edges of 

 each tier being built in scallops, and a 

 border left about one and a half or two feet 

 in diameter. These three borders have a 

 beautiful effect when filled with different 

 plants. Take, for instance, Calceolaria 

 aurea floribunda for the top department ; 

 Blue Lobelia for the middle border and 

 Scarlet Geranium for the lowest. -These 

 beds have an agreeable appearance even 

 in winter when cleared, on account of the 

 contrast between the bright red tiles and 

 the grass ; and in spring they may be 

 made very gay with hyacinths, crocuses, 

 and other bulbs. 



Beds, Tent. These are formed by the 

 aid of chains, flexible wires, or ropes. 

 Drive a tall stake of the desired height, say 

 10 feet high, in the centre ; describe a 

 circle with a radius of, say, 8 feet. Insert 

 six or eight stakes at equal distances on 

 this line, say 6 feet high ; join the centre 

 stake to each side one with a chain or 

 wire, and the frame of a tent bed is 

 formed. 



Beds, Curvilinear, Formation 

 of. 



I. Egg-shaped or Ovate Bed.1\\e. 

 method of forming an egg-shaped bed 

 exhibited in Fig. i will be found useful. 

 First set out the straight line AB, equal to 

 the greatest width of the bed required. 

 Divide it into two equal parts in the point 

 C, and through C dra\v the straight line 

 DE, of indefinite length, at right angles to 



