Gardening for Amateurs 



the purpose in view, and constantly and 

 irritatingly force themselves upon one's 

 notice. Another chapter describes how 

 walks are made, so details need not be 

 given now, but we may emphasise the 

 necessity of making them properly. Walks 

 badly formed are a perpetual nuisance. 

 In a small garden, winding walks are, I 

 think, to be preferred to straight ones, 

 which are always most satisfying when 

 of fair length. Every turn of a winding 

 walk offers an opportunity of placing a 

 group of flowering or evergreen shrubs, a 

 wide arch or short pergola of roses, that act 

 as a screen to the scenes beyond, and so 

 keep alive the joy of anticipation, and the 

 delight born of expectations still unfulfilled. 

 Unless space is very .restricted the chief 

 paths should be at least 4 feet wide, so that 

 two persons may walk side by side ; other 

 and smaller walks may show the way to 

 the rose garden, rock garden, and other 

 special features. 



How often would big shrubberies and 

 mixed flower borders be improved if little 

 walks passed through them, enabling the 



visitor to make close acquaintance with the 

 plants and flowers, instead of, perforce, 

 admiring them from a distance. It is easy 

 to spoil a garden by cutting it up with 

 paltry walks : they produce a sense of irri- 

 tation which one should endeavour to avoid ; 

 for unless a garden soothes and solaces, and 

 inspires one with the feeling that here is 

 rest and peace, it fails to fulfil its purpose. 

 Let the chief walks be few, and lead un- 

 mistakably to their destination ; then the 

 little paths may meander just where there is 

 something of interest, in and out and round 

 about the flowers, by which they will be 

 largely hidden. 



Spacious Effect. Even in a small garden 

 one may preserve spacious effect by planning 

 on bold lines ; let the lawn remain a lawn ; 

 if it is planted at all keep the trees or shrubs 

 near the margin or at one end ; to scatter 

 them all over the grass is at once to ruin the 

 prospect. If the lawn comes fairly close to 

 the house, conifers or other graceful shrubs 

 may be thinly grouped towards the far end 

 of the grass so as to mask in some degree that 

 which lies beyond. Do not plant them in one 



How the end of a garden path may be improved by the use of wall shrubs 

 and a seat. 



