The ordering of the Garden of Pleafure. 



fpread into many places within the knot, which if continually they be not plucked vp, 

 they will fpoile the whole knot it felfe ; and therefore once in three or foure yeares at the 

 moft, it muft be taken vp and new fet, or elfe it will grow too roynifh and cumberfome. 

 Hyflbpe hath alfo been vfed to be fet about a knot, and being fweete, will ferue for ftrew- 

 ings, as Germander : But this, although the rootes doe not runne or creep like it, yet the 

 ftalkes doe quickly grow great aboue ground, and dye often after the firft yeares fetting, 

 whereby the grace of the knot will be much loft. Marierome, Sauorie, and Thyme, in 

 the like manner being fweete herbes, are vfed to border vp beds and knots, and will be 

 kept for a little while, with cutting, into fome conformity ; but all and euery of them 

 ferue moft commonly but for one yeares vfe, and will foone decay and perifh : and 

 therefore none of thefe, no more than any of the former, doe I commend for a good 

 bordering herbe for this purpofe. Lauander Cotton alfo being finely flipped and fet, is 

 of many, and thofe of the higheft refpect of late daies, accepted, both for the beauty and 

 forme of the herbe, being of a whitifh greene mealy colour, for his fent fmelling fome- 

 what ftrong, and being euerliuing and abiding greene all the Winter, will, by cutting, be 

 kept in as euen proportion as any other herbe may be. This will likewife foone grow 

 great and ftubbed, notwithstanding the cutting, and betides will now and then perifh in 

 fome places, efpecially if you doe not ftrike or put off the fnow, before the Sunne lying 

 vpon it diflblue it : The rarity & nouelty of this herbe, being for the moft part but in the 

 Gardens of great perfons, doth caufe it to be of the greater regard, it muft therfore be re- 

 newed wholly euery fecond or third yeare at the most, becaufe of the great growing 

 therof. Slips of luniper or Yew are alfo receiued of fome & planted, becaufe they are al- 

 wayes green, and that the luniper efpecially hath not that ill fent that Boxe hath, which 

 I will prefently commend vnto you, yet both luniper and Yew will foon grow too great 

 and ftubbed, and force you to take vp your knot fooner, than if it were planted with 

 Boxe. Which laftly, I chiefly and aboue all other herbes commend vnto you, and being 

 a fmall, lowe, or dwarfe kinde, is called French or Dutch Boxe, and ferueth very well 

 to fet out any knot, or border out any beds : for befides that it is euer greene, it being 

 reafonable thicke fet, will eafily be cut and formed into any fafhion one will, according 

 to the nature thereof, which is to grow very flowly, and will not in a long time rife to be 

 of any height, but mooting forth many fmall branches from the roote, will grow very 

 thicke, and yet not require fo great tending, nor fo much perifh as any of the former, and 

 is onely receiued into the Gardens of thofe that are curious. This (as I before faid) I 

 commend and hold to bee the beft and fureft herbe to abide faire and greene in all the 

 bitter ftormes of the fharpeft Winter, and all the great heates and droughts of Summer, 

 and doth recompence the want of a good fweet fent with his frefh verdure, euen pro- 

 portion, and long lafting continuance. Yet thefe inconueniences it hath, that befides 

 the vnpleafing fent which many miflike, and yet is but fmall, the rootes of this Boxe do 

 fo much fpread themfelues into the ground of the knot, and doe draw from thence fo 

 much nourifhment, that it robbeth all the herbes that grow neare it of their fap and fub- 

 ftance, thereby making all the earth about it barren, or at leaft leffe fertile. Wherefore 

 to mew you the remedy of this inconuenience of fpreading, without either taking vp the 

 Boxe of the border, or the herbes and flowers in the knot, is I thinke a fecret knowne 

 but vnto a few, which is this : You fhall take a broad pointed Iron like vnto a Slife or 

 Cheffill, which thruft downe right into the ground a good depth all along the infide of 

 the border of Boxe fomewhat clofe thereunto, you may thereby cut away the fpreading 

 rootes thereof, which draw fo much moifture from the other herbes on the infide, and 

 by this meanes both preferue your herbes and flowers in the knot, and your Boxe alfo, 

 for that the Boxe will be nourifhed fufficiently from the reft of the rootes it fhooteth on 

 all the other fides. And thus much for the liuing herbes, that ferue to fet or border vp 

 any knot. Now for the dead materials, they are alfo, as I faid before diuers : as firft, 

 Leade, which fome that are curious doe border their knots withall, caufing it to be cut 

 of the breadth of foure fingers, bowing the lower edge a little outward, that it may lye 

 vnder the vpper cruft of the ground, and that it may ftand the fafter, and making the vp- 

 per edge either plain, or cut out like vnto the battlements of a Church : this fafhion hath 

 delighted fome, who haue accounted it ftately (at the leaft coftly) and fit for their de- 

 gree, and the rather, becaufe it will be bowed and bended into any round fquare, angu- 

 lar, or other proportion as one lifteth, and is not much to be mifliked, in that the Leade 



doth 



