268 Landscape Gardening 



which prevailed during the reign of Queen Anne, have a very 

 neat and Hvely effect. They should ordinarily be straight 

 and will seldom look well unless they are so. They will of 

 course require to have borders of flowers or shrubs on each 

 side, and these might be filled with rows of one kind of plant, 

 to form a sort of avenue, or they may be planted promiscu- 

 ously. When required as a common thoroughfare at all 

 times, grass walks will be inappropriate, because they would 

 soon wear bare and would be wet and probably dirty during 

 a large portion of the year. 



On good firm soil and in a climate where grass thrives, 

 turf may be grown strong enough even to bear the weight of 

 light wagon traffic, and thus grass drives are possible in such 

 situations. Grass drives, regularly mowed with the lawn 

 mower, are clean and beautiful, cheap and practical, and it 

 is a wonder that they are not more frequently used. 



4. Grading. — The period at which grading is performed 

 in laying out a garden is not the least among the practical 

 matters that have to be considered. There is an unhappy 

 propensity to defer this till the very moment in which plant- 

 ing and turfing have to be done, and thus due preparation 

 cannot be made for the one, while the other settles most 

 irregularly and requires subsequent altering and leveling. 



Summer and autumn are essentially the best seasons for all 

 kinds of new ground work. The earth is then driest, and 

 can be most easily moved about, and will not be injured by 

 trampling or wheeling. Ground put into shape during the 

 summer gets time to settle and mellow before it is wanted 

 for either planting or sodding, and anything that is after- 

 wards done in the way of finishing will stand better and 

 demand less alteration. What is not altogether unimportant, 

 likewise, labor can then be carried on more easily and can 

 be had more abundantly. I should therefore earnestly press 



