LAWNS, GLADES AND GARDEN WALKS. 



Walks. 



Breadths oj 

 walks. 



disturb the roots of the infant grasses, but it is difficult to adjust it so as not to cut 

 too closely. Even with a scythe care must be taken, for the writer has many times seen 

 a newly formed lawn studded all over with crescent-shaped patches of yellow grass where 

 it has been cut too near the roots. 



The comfort and success of a garden depend greatly upon the arrangement and 

 quality of its walks. Flowers are delightful, trees and shrubs are interesting, but if, in 

 order to reach them, it is necessary to traverse a walk unnecessarily circuitous or one 

 badly constructed or with steep and uneven gradients, the pleasure in the flowers and 

 trees is largely discounted. Walks, too, may do much to make or mar the compo- 

 sition of the various garden scenes, and may either be so placed as to help the perspective 

 and scale, or may cut across the view with a hard line out of harmony with everything. 



In certain gardens which the Author has been called upon to re-model, the walks 

 have presented one of two ideas. Apparently they were either survivals of an old- 

 fashioned maze, or were made with the intention of tiring people in the shortest possible 

 space of time, ideas quite foreign to the true intent and purpose of a garden, the pre- 

 vailing spirit of which should express restfulness and ease. 



The main principles which should guide in the formation of the walks of a garden 

 are illustrated in all the plans in this work. The first of these is that a garden should 

 not consist of a multiplicity of walks, but that each path should, by its planning and 

 design, clearly express the purpose it is to serve. A certain number of walks and a 

 proportionate amount of gravelled space are necessary to the design, but generally, 

 lawns, flowers, trees and shrubs make the garden, and walks contribute to its enjoyment 

 by affording dry paths on which to stroll at all times and to reach the various parts 

 of the grounds without inconvenience. 



Walks and paths being an absolute necessity for the proper working of the garden, 

 and for recreative purposes, they should offer every inducement to frequent use by 

 having well conceived and harmonious lines, easy gradients and perfect metalling or 

 paving, supplemented by seats and shelters conveniently placed. They look best when 

 their purpose of convenience or ornament is clearly expressed in their design, and should 

 be arranged in such a way that the beauties of the place are exhibited, not by a series 

 of wriggles, each of which is supposed to bring the spectator into direct line with 

 some startling device or example of misdirected labour, but in a simple, straight- 

 forward manner to show the extent of the gardens, and picturesque views of the house 

 and domain, the wealth of flowers, and any other feature of special interest. In the freer 

 or landscape portion of the garden, the practice of indiscriminately cutting up lawns merely 

 for the sake of making paths cannot be too strongly condemned, but in the formal 

 portion nearer to the residence, division of the gardens by walks is often the most 

 expressive way of securing character in the design. 



Walks which form part of the terrace scheme have already been mentioned in dealing 

 with terraces and terrace gardens, and many of the remarks then made apply equally 

 well to all those in the formal garden. Generally speaking the walks in the more 

 formal portions of the grounds should err rather on the side of being slightly too broad 

 than too narrow. If not given sufficient breadth they will generally look very mean 

 and poor. The most suitable widths vary from six to twelve or fourteen feet broad, 

 the latter being for the main terrace promenade walks. In most gardens, the best 

 uniform width for the whole system of walks, apart from the main terrace scheme, will 

 be seven or eight feet. In the panel garden on the other hand, it is better to err on 

 the side of narrowness, unless the beds are very large, and usually from two to three 

 feet wide, according to the requirements of the design, will be plenty if the walk 

 surrounding the whole is of sufficient width. 



Paving has also been incidentally mentioned in connection with the terrace scheme and 



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