DRY WALLING 97 



up its abode there, settles itself in without saying 

 even so much as "by your leave," and astonishes 

 all beholders by its stalwart proportions and bold 

 self-assertion of being the right thing in exactly 

 the right place. 



All the same, wall planting should be set about 

 with utmost care, with due regard to aspect as 

 well as to pictorial combinations. For a rough 

 terrace wall with stairways leading from a lower 

 to a higher level, which is one of the happiest 

 features of my own garden, the main details of 

 the planting were mapped out on a plan before 

 ever a stone was laid. It is plain that no hap- 

 hazard placing of shrubs or plants as they may 

 chance to come to hand, can produce the good 

 effect of ordered groups arranged in reference to 

 colour, habit of growth, and general fitness for 

 the position they are intended to occupy. This is, 

 of course, an axiom in all gardening ; but never 

 more so than in the case of the wall garden. In 

 the particular instance referred to, liberal use has 

 been made of hydrangeas ; and when these are in 

 bloom, the eye is carried from the fine heads of 

 soft blue flowers in the angles of the lower steps 

 to a border on the top of a seven-foot wall where 

 more of these invaluable autumn flowering shrubs 

 are massed. One or two groups of yuccas planted 

 amongst them, and coming forward to the edge 

 of the wall, are increasing in strength and beauty 

 year by year ; and the whole forms a charming 

 picture of lasting beauty throughout the autumn 

 months. Permanent planting of this character is 

 thoroughly satisfactory, and serves to atone for 



