GENERAL PLAN OF THE GARDEN. 



39 



gate near Wallington Bridge, we pass parallel to the vinery by a 

 straight walk, which leads to the backwater, where the features of my 

 garden begin. On the right is a rustic view towards Wallington 

 Bridge, on the left is the fern glade, with its stream, banks of fern 

 and beautiful sward, whilst a bridge enables us to pass over the back- 

 water (plates 1 8 and 20) and gain the border of the lake. 



At the top of the fern glade, we suddenly come upon the Fern 

 Glen, a spot full of artificial contrivances, formed in a useless corner, 

 where the gardeners delighted to put rubbish, and where stinging- 

 nettles grew luxuriantly six feet high. It is so hidden that many walk 

 round the garden without finding it. 



The fern glen (fig. 40) is traversed by a larger brook, into which 

 flow one little brook which runs through the fernery, and another 

 which enters it from an opposite direction; it is crossed by stepping- 



FIG. 40. Fern glen. 



stones; and a path in ever-varying curves, and at an ever-varying 

 level, passes through the glen, emerging over the little brook by other 

 stepping-stones, in a rosary by the side of the lake. 



Under a large willow is arranged a bower for shade from the 

 mid-day sun, where nightingales, sedge-warblers, and wrens delight to 

 dwell, and the babbling brook runs every hour of the day, and all 

 the year round, making music of its own to soothe the nervous system 



