HOUSES AND GARDENS 



door apartments will be connected with straight paths, and one of these may 

 form a pergola. In making the divisions of such a garden, it is important 

 that sufficient space should be devoted to backgrounds for the flowers and 

 garden ornaments. Of these background materials, the yew hedge is still 

 the best, because of the depth and intensity of its tone. White lilies may 

 look well against a brick wall or a shrubbery, but they will look their best 

 against the sombre yew. And so will roses and other bright flowers. It is 

 this use of the yew background which makes the old flower gardens so 

 unequalled in their effect, and those who advocate its supersession by modern 

 flowering shrubs, which may be more intrinsically charming, forget that the 

 primary value of the permanent material in a garden is as a background to its 

 passing show of blossoms a stage on which the flowers present their yearly 

 show. Having so arranged the plan that its transient brightness shall be 

 seen in a proper setting, and not lost in the competing confusion of the 

 shrubbery ; the next important point to consider will be the connection of 

 its apartments by paths where the vista effects are carefully studied. The 

 beauty of the garden will depend to a great extent on its vista effects, and 

 for this purpose its paths must be straight. The ends of these vistas 

 require special attention, and may be treated in various ways either by 

 a semicircular recess, with a seat, or a summer-house. 



The garden should not, moreover, be too open and exposed to the sun, 

 but should be full of mystery, surprises, and light and shade. One of its 

 most attractive features will thus be the pergola, with its paved walk 

 checkered by the shadows of the climbing plants which form its walls and 

 roof. It matters little what the structure of the pergola is. It may be 

 rough poles with the bark on, roofed with branches, or it may be piers of 

 stone or brick, with an open timber roofing. It should at any rate be rude 

 and simple, and look as if it is meant for an outdoor life in rough weather. 

 Other effects of shade may be gained by walks bordered with, perhaps, hazel 

 or willow, and through these shadowed vistas we may look beyond to an 

 open sunlit space bright with flowers. Actual size has little to do with the 

 effect of such a garden, and a variety of effects may be achieved in a 

 comparatively small area by careful planning. 



The garden may include various features and centres of interest on the 

 lines of the main vistas. The square rose garden may be focused in its 

 central sun-dial, and round this wreathed climbing roses may form a circle 

 supported by chains and arches. The angles of the square may be marked 

 by single yews, and standard roses may be placed in regular symmetrical 

 positions to realise a calculated effect, while the roses generally will be 

 arranged in some definitely conceived colour scheme. Or in the perennial 

 flower garden clumps of delphinium, phlox, hollyhocks, day lilies, &c., will 

 be the subject of a similar scheme. The flowers, instead of being repeated 

 at regular intervals, like the geranium and calceolaria formula of the villa 

 garden, will be massed in single clumps, and the whole garden will be 

 planted so that at each season of the year something is in bloom there, and 

 in blooming forms a well-studied arrangement of colour. Here a central 



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