and managing Flo'wer-Gardens, 563 



tall phloxes, asters, georginas, lioll^^hocks, &c., not as prin- 

 cipals, but thinly to tower, at intervals, over the shrubs. The 

 masses may have an undergrowth of Portugal laurel, yew, 

 rhododendron, and other sombre-tinted evergreens, to heighten 

 the contrast, and render the parterre somewhat striking, as 

 well as gay. These masses should not, I think, be formed in a 

 continuous line, but be broken at intervals, on the park side 

 to give glimpses occasionally of picturesque views, and on 

 the parterre side to exhibit a tempting peep or two from dif- 

 ferent positions ; which breaks may serve as points of ingress 

 and egress, and, as it were, steal in among the trees. The 

 margin of grass between the parterre and the main walk might 

 be so managed by planting, that the two points of junction 

 between the main walk and the parterre walk should not be 

 seen at the same time from any situation. 



As to the interior arrangements, the margin of grass be- 

 tween the parterre and the side masses should, in my opinion, 

 have considerable breadth; say, average from 10 ft. to 15 ft.; 

 and the terminating beds should project rather irregularly on 

 this breadth. The points of the surrounding masses, also, 

 should be made to jut inwards occasionally, to establish a 

 kind of connection with the parterre; allowing sufficient dis- 

 tinctness to the parterre as a whole, and yet doing away, as 

 much as possible, with form for form's sake, and with detached 

 meagreness. It appears to me that, in the style here recom- 

 mended, much of the gracefulness of a parterre depends on 

 a certain irregular breadth of grass being preserved in dis- 

 posing the beds. The idea of breadth in a parterre may 

 seem ridiculous ; but when the ground appropriated to thig 

 purpose is frittered away in projecting angles, with tree roses 

 and other plants on the grass filling up every situation where 

 an opportunity offers, though forms may be accurate, and the 

 ground may be well furnished, there will be little gracefulness. 



For beds on gravel, I must confess, I have but very little 

 inclination ; and as to those on grass, I may here remark that 

 the general effect does not so much depend on the precise 

 figure of each individual bed, as on the outline and character 

 given to the grass in the disposition of those beds. A great deal 

 of the insipidity which is so often the subject of complaint in 

 flower-gardens arises, I have no doubt, from that lumpishness 

 and want of figure which the surface of the plants presents. 

 And here I may observe, that I concur in the remarks to 

 that effect made some time ago by Mr. Spence (Vol. VI. 

 p. 408.), and am convinced that considerable attention must 

 be paid to figure as well as colour. I may also add that the 

 observations here made have reference chiefly to changeable 



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