54 THE WILD GARDEN. 



and this could be done best by the greater use of dwarf ever- 

 greens. Happily, there is quite enough of these to be had 

 suitable for every soil. Light, moist, peaty, or sandy soils, 

 where such things as the sweet-scented I)a})hne Cneorum 

 would spread forth its dwarf cushions, would l)e somewhat 

 more desirable than, say, a stiff clay ; but for every position 

 suitable plants might be found. Look, for example, at what 

 we could do witli the dwarf- green Iberises, Helianthemums, 

 Aubrietias, Arabises, Alyssums, dwarf shrubs, and little 

 conifers like the creeping Cedar (Juniperus squamata), and 

 the Tamarix-leaved Juniper, in spreading groups and colonies. 

 All these are green, and would spread out into dense wide 

 cushions, covering the margin, rising but little above the 

 grass, and helping to cut off the formal line which usually 

 divides margin and 1 )order. Behind them we might use other 

 shrubs, deciduous or evergreen, in endless variety; and of 

 course the margin should be varied also as regards height. 



In one spot we might have a wide-spreading tuft of the 

 prostrate Savin pushing its graceful evergreen branchlets out 

 over the grass ; in another the dwarf little Cotoneasters might 

 be allowed to form the front rank, relieved in their turn Ijy 

 pegged -down Eoses ; and so on without end. Herbaceous 

 plants, that die down in winter and leave the ground bare 

 afterwards, should not be assigned any important position 

 near the front. Evergreen Alpine plants and shrubs, as 

 before remarked, are perfectly suitable here ; but the true 

 herbaceous type, and the larger bulbs, like Lilies, should be 

 in groups between spreading shrubs. By so placing them, 

 we sliould not only secure a far more satisfactory general 

 effect, but highly inii)rove the aspect of the heihaceous plants 



