84 GARDEN PLANNING AND PLANTING 



elaborate bedding-out design, is suggested by Fig. 3. This pattern is 

 admirable also for a border of Violas, Carnations, and a back row of 

 bush Roses a few feet from a Rose-covered wall. Seen from a slight 

 distance the square outstanding masses of different self Violas have 

 a unique and lovely appearance. Here again individual taste and 

 the space available must determine the depth to which the edge is cut. 

 A succession of points gives an elegant effect and offers many nooks 

 in which miniature plants can be charmingly grouped. Fig. 4 

 is one that should not be carried out in turf, however, unless a lot of 

 time can be extended upon cutting the edges, the extent of edge 

 being naturally about double that of a straight border, and the lawn- 

 mower is of little use in this case. The dotted lines offer suggestions 

 as to the various simple-pattern methods of planting or bedding out 

 a border of this description. If the length of border is very great the 

 points should be wider, and consequently less numerous. When a 

 very pronounced effect is desired the points can be carried back 

 almost to the wall ; the spaces between will then be much larger. 

 This last method makes the pointed border suitable for cutting in 

 turf, as the lawn-mower will not be hampered in its action. 



If in a small garden the borders are of the plainest description 

 the smallness of the plot will be much more noticeable than if they 

 had softened edges ; a very little piece of ground is scarcely more 

 attractive than an allotment unless the best possible use is made of 

 it all. It' a number of plants of one sort are grown, Dahlias, Holly- 

 hocks or Phlox perhaps, as the borders are straight, the plants must 

 stand in a straight row just as we see them in nursery gardens. 

 If, on the contrary, some initial work arid skill have gone to the 

 making of shaped borders, the Dahlias or other plants can be placed 

 in a row without having so stiff an effect, because some curves or 

 points of the border jut out, offering spaces carpeted by different 

 flower colours. 



Borders of Roses look much more graceful if not made with 

 straight edges, and there are dwarf Polyanthas and pegged-down 

 Teas that are suitable for outstanding portions in the foreground. 

 What with bushes of delicate and robust Teas, offering such different 

 heights, bushes of strong Hybrid Perpetuals, half standards, stan- 

 dards, and pillar-climbers, the Rose is pre-eminently the flower that 

 can be built up into fine banks, blossoms rising tier upon tier until 

 a mound of florescence is the result. 



Edgings for elaborate borders should, as a rule, be as unobtrusive 

 as possible, as they interfere with the sharpness of outline. 



