128 GARDEN DESIGN 



be provided, and 4 to 6 in. of finer surfacing, 

 generally gravel. Drainage is needed in the same 

 way, but instead of gullies to carry off surface 

 water, cuts can be made through the verge to 

 spill the water out on to the grass, where the 

 drive passes through park or meadow-land. This 

 is too rough a method for the cultivated parts of a 

 garden. 



EDGINGS 



EDGINGS can be of various sorts, and should be 

 chosen with regard to the style of the house and 

 design of the garden. Live edgings are particu- 

 larly charming, but they occupy a good deal of 

 space which cannot always be spared from a small 

 garden. Grass is the most common, and would 

 be more so if it were not for the trouble of keeping 

 it, and the space it occupies. A grass verge should 

 never be laid less than 2 ft. in width, and 3 ft. 

 is a better limit because constant use of the edg- 

 ing iron tends to diminish it. A verge less than 

 2 ft. wide is in danger of being scorched in the 

 summer. 



In forming verges old sods are valuable. They 

 are inverted and laid along the edge of the pro- 

 posed path, projecting a few inches. On these 

 the turf is laid and then the whole is cut back into 

 the correct line. Such an edging is not readily 

 bruised or displaced. If a path is on a different 



