Gardens too 

 flat for a 

 terrace. 



Terraced 

 effect by 

 formation 

 of sunk 

 gardens. 



TERRACES AND TERRACE GARDENS. 



a convenient point of vantage from which to view the players is obtained while the 

 tea-houses, covered and shady seats, stores for nets, racquets or bowls, and other 

 necessary architectural adjuncts of such quiet games, can be made a part of the scheme 

 for the terraces. 



Most of the gardens illustrated have tennis lawns placed close to the house, and 

 in positions overlooked by the principal appartments. Nearness to the house is the 

 more necessary where the lawn is to be used exclusively for croquet, the game of pure 

 skill, in which neither robust natural force nor physical endurance secure an advantage, 

 and which is therefore peculiarly adapted to elderly people, who would be induced to 

 play often if the lawn were very accessible. For this reason, it should be protected 

 from East winds and in other ways be made as snug as possible by the provision of 

 sheltered seats and arbours, and where necessary, should also be enclosed by stout yew 

 or holly hedges. 



Many persons express disappointment because their gardens are all on one level, 

 and they therefore conclude that it is useless to attempt any distinctive arrangement, 

 and in particular, that any substitute for a terrace scheme is impossible. I am induced 

 therefore, (though perhaps somewhat out of place) to give a plan of the gardens laid 

 out for G. M. Freeman Esq., K. C, at Wraysbury near Staines (111. No 127), omitting for 

 want of space a formal lily pond at the end of the tennis lawn. 



The point which it is particularly desired to emphasize in this scheme, is that, 

 although it is impossible, from the level nature of the site, to obtain even a slightly 

 raised plateau, still the whole spirit of a terrace as well as its practical advantages 

 has been caught in the paved panel garden in front of the house which is more plainly 

 shown in the photograph (111. No. 129). It will be seen thus that no one need despair of 

 obtaining a terraced effect even on a flat site and this effect can be considerably helped 

 by the formation of sunk gardens, thus obtaining greater contrast in the levels. A 

 Typical example is shown in the illustration of the gardens at Little Onn Hall (111. No. 405). 



A successful experiment in this direction on a somewhat extensive scale is shown 

 in illustrations Nos. 128 and 130, which represent gardens laid out at Lees Court near 

 Faversham, the ancestral home of Earl Sondes, for Mrs. Halsey. The main garden is 

 on the South front of a fine example of Inigo Jones' work, now unfortunately almost 

 entirely destroyed by fire. Here a good low terraced effect was obtained by sinking 

 the rose garden and forming the broad central grass walk at a level of two feet below 

 the main flagged terrace as shown in the photograph and indicated on the section at the 

 foot of the plan. This method of obtaining a terraced effect by the formation of sunk 

 lawns can often be adopted with great effect, especially on light, well drained soils. 

 In wind-swept gardens such as are often met with along the coast, they not only give 

 elevation to the house and variety to the garden, but also ensure sheltered spaces for 

 flowering plants. 



It may also be pointed out that a flat piece of ground usually possesses the 

 quality of breadth so difficult to obtain on a hillside and, in treating such a site, the 

 fullest advantage should be taken of the least rise or fall, so that, as previously stated, 

 slight differences of level may be emphasized. The mistake made by many garden 

 designers in the past has been in endeavouring to produce unnatural undulations and 

 mounds, instead of aiming at retaining the predominating quiet peacefulness which the site 

 already possessed, making everything harmonize with it. 



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