292 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



but it soon turned to dust and ashes. It was, indeed, to a great 

 extent formed of broken brickdust, in a vain attempt to get rid of 

 the gardener and his flowers. The colours were supplied from the 

 building sheds, where boys were seen pounding up bricks and slates, 

 and beds were made of silver sand, so that no gardener could dis- 

 figure them. The Box edgings of beds a foot wide or smaller soon 

 got out of order, and after a few years the whole thing was painful to 

 see, while good gardeners were wasting precious time trying to plant 

 paltry beds in almost every frivolous device known to the art of con- 

 ventional design. 



Even where such extravagances were never attempted we see the 

 evil of the same order of ideas, and in many gardens the idea of 

 adapting the beds to the ground never occurs to the designer, but a 

 design has been taken out of some old book. If the ground does not 

 suit the plan, so much the worse for the ground and all who have to 

 work on it. The results of this style of forming beds the cottage 

 gardens escaped from, the space being small and the cottage gardener 

 content with the paths about his door. To some people this objection 

 on my part to intricate design is mistaken for an objection to formality 

 altogether. Now there are bold spirits who do not mind setting 

 their houses among rocks and heather, but we must cultivate a flower 

 garden, and simplicity as to form of the beds should be the rule in it. 

 There are many ways of growing flowers and all sorts of situations fit 

 for them, but the flower garden itself near the house must be laid 

 out with formal beds, or else we cannot cultivate the flowers or get 

 about the ground with ease. It is a question of right and wrong 

 formality. The beds in my own work are, as will be seen by the 

 plans here given, as formal as any, but simpler, and are made on 

 the ground and to the ground. Our object should be to see the 

 flowers and not the beds, so that while we have all the advantage 

 of mass and depth of soil, and all the good a bed can give for con- 

 venience of working or excellence of growth, we should take little 

 pride in its form, and plant it so that we may see the picturesque 

 effects of the plants and flowers, and forget the form of the bed in 

 the picture. 



The relation of the beds to each other is often much too complex 

 and there is little freedom. Designs that were well enough for 

 furniture or walls or panels when applied to the garden gave us a 

 new set of difficulties. Carried out in wood or in the carpet they 

 answer their purpose, if we like them ; but a flower bed is a thing 

 for much work in cultivating, arranging and keeping it, and it is 

 best to see that we are not hindered by needless complexities in deal- 

 ing with the beds. In good plans there is no difficulty of access, 

 no small points to be cut in Grass or other material, no vexatious 



