6 THE GABDENEK'S COMPANION 



house are often most useful in screening ugly 

 corners, or concealing fences, making a green and 

 cheerful sight, even in mid-winter when other 

 things look bare and naked. Box and Yew mingle 

 well together, and grow quickly. Groups of Holly 

 can be left to grow in their natural forms, or 

 trimmed into a thick and lasting hedge. Portugal 

 Laurels make splendid clumps in a few years, 

 reaching a great height, while the Laurestinus is 

 beautiful for hedges, but will only thrive where 

 there is chalk in the soil. 



Flower-beds. The flower-beds should be formed 

 to fall in with the general idea of your garden, and 

 may be of any shape, either simple or fantastic, 

 that happens to fit in with their surroundings, or 

 with the direction of your paths ; a narrow ribbon 

 bed twisting in and out among the specimen trees 

 on the lawn is very pretty, and an excellent shape 

 for perennials, most of which enjoy having plenty 

 of air; and you will want large beds of various 

 shapes such as "bean shape" or "palm shape," 

 etc., for the more massive plants and flowering 

 shrubs. 



I do not recommend putting any flowering plants 

 in the same beds as the evergreens, or at all events 



