VII PALISADES, GROVES 163 



for the column itself formed of the boughs and 

 foliage. James's translation gives twice the 

 breadth as the right proportion for the height 

 of the arches, and adds that a hedge breast- 

 high should be made between the columns, and 

 niches and recesses for statues and seats formed 

 in the palisade. The palisade was to be double — 

 that is, planted in two rows with a grass walk 

 in between, and between each column there was 

 to be a border set with double gillyflowers, 

 roses, or Indian pinks ; on the outer side there 

 was to be a dwarf hedge of hornbeam 18 inches 

 high. London and Wise describe other varieties 

 of pleached work which sound suspicious. For 

 instance, along the sides of walks or the borders 

 of parterres elms might be planted and trimmed 

 into round-headed standards, the stem quite 

 bare for 6 feet or so from the ground, and the 

 branches clipped into balls of foliage ; or horn- 

 beam might be planted round the elm, and cut 

 low to form the base, or balls of rose-trees 

 formed between the standards. These could 

 only look well if used with delicate tact and the 

 greatest reticence ; unfortunately these were just 

 the qualities in which the gardeners of the early 

 eighteenth century were wanting. But a lilac 

 walk formed with standards 12 feet apart, with 

 stems 10 feet high, and a palisade of hornbeam 

 in between, sounds better ; and London and 

 Wise mention a hedge of pyracantha to go 

 round a narrow place enclosed with walls, which 



