THE TERRACE. 27 



plinth. In selecting such vases, in which flowers are to be planted, 

 choose those forms that admit of the flowers being placed close to 

 the edge. The margin of the vase should rather tend inwards than 

 outwards. It should not form an overhanging lip. In ordinary 

 circumstances the plinth should be designed to harmonise with the 

 architectural style of the house. When the flight is not -connected 

 with a terrace wall, or it stands apart from the slope, there should 

 not be any balustrade, and ornamentation should be very sparse, 

 or absent. 



When walls are used in connection with terrace gardens, with 

 or without balustrading, whether they take the place of the slope 

 or are formed in conjunction with it, they should agree in archi- 

 tectural character with the house ; and not only that, but be formed 

 of the like material, so that they may seem closely a part of the 

 general design. Such walls should never be less than 3 ft.- in height 

 or more than ioft., exclusive of the balustrade, which usually is 

 made 3 ft. high. But there is an exception to this ruling. On flat 

 ground, for the simple purpose of giving a base-line, or a prominent 

 demarcation of the formal gardening from the natural, a simple 

 plinth, 12 to 1 8 in. high, and of equal width, may be used with a 

 certain effect, as, for example, at Gosforth House. But walls con- 

 sidered and used simply as retaining walls, not seen from below, 

 and on which the turf rests, need not follow the architectural cha- 

 racter of the house. The position of any terrace wall or balustrading 

 must be very carefully considered, for it is inadmissible that it 

 should interfere with the view of falling ground beyond it. It 

 may be advisable to adopt a slope whose lower edge touches a 

 flat parallel space coinciding with and supported by the top of a 

 retaining wall. There should always be a level space at foot of 

 every slope or wall. 



