WALKS AND EDGINGS. 



309 



FLOWER GARDEN EDGINGS, LIVE AND DEAD. 

 Even small things may mar the effect of a flower garden, however 

 rich in its plants, and among the things that do so are cast edgings of 

 tiles or iron, often very ugly, and as costly as ugly, some of the earthen- 

 ware edgings perishing rapidly in frost. But if they never perished, and 

 were as cheap as pebbles by the shore, they would be none the less 

 offensive from the point of view of effect, with their hard patterned 

 shapes, often bad colour, and the necessity of setting them with pre- 

 cision in cement or mortar ; whereas the enduring and beautiful 

 edging wants none of these costly attentions. The seeming advan- 

 tage of these patterned and beaded tile edgings is that they appear 



Stone edging. From a photograph by Mr. A. Emblin, Worksop, Notts. 



permanent, and get rid of the labour of clipping and keeping box 

 edgings in good order ; but these ends are met quite as well by per- 

 fectly inoffensive edgings. Edgings may, for convenience sake, be 

 divided into dead and permanent ones and living ones formed of 

 plants or dwarf bushes, which involve a certain amount of care to 

 keep in order, and which will some day wear out and require a change 

 or replanting. 



The true way in all gardens of any good and simple design is to 

 get edgings which, while quite unobtrusive in form or colour, may 

 remain for many years without attention. In all good gardens there 

 is so much to be done and thought of every day in the year, that 



