134 GARDENS: THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



the vicinity of a house, and what looks best is to have a 

 three-feet-wide border on the top, so that rather large 

 clumps of dwarf shrubs can be grown there, whilst smaller 

 alpines grow upon the face of the walls. At intervals 

 along it a projecting pier of larger stones is good, and 

 breaks the monotony of an even surface. Rock cistus 

 and rosemary, growing together as they do upon the cliffs 

 sloping down to the Mediterranean, are suitable for the top 

 of the piers, or a small Cotoneaster horizontals gives the 

 dark foliage which is so restful when bright flowers are 

 round it. The Mediterranean heath, too, is good where it 

 becomes established. 



At Siena, where so many banks slope down below the 

 ramparts, and where large heaps of stones have slipped 

 and but little soil covers them, bold groups of irises thrive. 

 They, with wallflowers and stocks, often cover waste 

 corners where it would seem hardly possible for plants to 

 find a foothold, and with them are tall spikes of acanthus. 

 The last-named plant of the beautiful leaf we do not see 

 enough used in England. Great groups should be grown, 

 not only in herbaceous borders, but also in spare places 

 or on dry banks. 



EARTH BANKS 



It is possible to make a most interesting garden upon a 

 bank of soil alone, with an occasional big stone so placed 

 that its weight helps to hold soil from slipping. In sunny, 

 exposed gardens, where moderate shadow is valued for 

 dwarf plants, it is easy and effective to build up such a 

 bank upon either side of the walk. It should be shaped 

 irregularly, and made higher in some places than in others ; 

 and if there is a curve in the path it will be all the better 

 for the bank to follow its course. Old bricks, rubble, or 

 even chalk stones can be used for the foundations, so as 

 not to waste too much good soil ; and if a foot of loam 



