EMBELLISHMENTS. 359 



The irregular flower-garden is surrounded by an irregu- 

 lar belt of trees and ornamental shrubs of the choicest spe- 

 cies, and the beds, are varied in outline, as well as irregularly 

 disposed, sometimes grouping together, sometimes standing 

 singly, but exhibiting no uniformity of arrangement. An 

 idea of its general appearance may be gathered from the 

 accompanying sketch, ^o*. 53, which may be varied at plea- 

 sure. In it the irregular boundary of shrubs is shown at a, 

 the flower-beds h, and the walks e. 



This kind of flower-garden would be a suitable accom- 

 paniment to the house and grounds of an enthusiastic 

 lover of the picturesque, whose residence is' in the Rural 

 Gothic style, and whose grounds are also eminently varied 

 and picturesque. Or it might form a pretty termination to a 

 distant walk in the pleasure-grounds, where it would be more 

 necessary that the flower-garden should be in keeping with 

 the surrounding plantations and scenery, than with the house. 



Where the flower-garden is a spot set apart, of any regular 

 outline, not of large size, and especially where it is attached di- 

 rectly to the house, we think the effect is most satisfactory 

 when the beds or walks are laid out in symmetrical forms. Our 

 reasons for this are these ; the flower-garden, unlike distant 

 portions of the pleasure-ground scenery, is an appendage to 

 the house, seen in the same view or moment with it, and 

 therefore should exhibit something of the regularity which 

 characterizes, in a greater or less degree, all architectural 

 compositions ; and when a given scene is so small as to be 

 embraced in a single glance of the eye, regular forms are 

 found to be more satisfactory than irregular ones, which, on 

 so small a scale, are apt to appear unmeaning. 



The French flower-garden is the most fanciful of the reg- 

 ular modes of laying out the area devoted to this purpose. 



