802 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



556 



-U^:^ 



from a tree, will form very appropriate ornaments. Sometimes inoffensive birds, as the sea- 

 gull, may be introduced to run at large ; gold-fish are very appropriate in the aquarium ; and 

 an animal which affords great amusement by its cry and song in the flower-gardens of the 

 south of Germany, the tree-frog (Rana arborea), would be an acquisition in this country. 

 In some families there is a taste for minerals or antiquities ; and here, besides larger spe- 

 cimens distributed in the garden, a building 

 ( fig. 556. ) may be introduced, combining a 

 mineral cabinet (a), an aviary {b), and the 

 botanic hot-houses (c). 



6128. Where the old French style {figs. 545. 550.) is 

 imitated, a profusion of marble and vegetable sculp- 

 tures, verdant arcades, colonnades, arbors, &c. are in 

 character ; but in the more simple and modern forms 

 {figs. 540, 541. 543..) a few stools, sofa-chairs, a pavilion- 

 seat {fig. 338.), a sun-dial, fountain, some urns, and a 

 few good statues, will, in most cases, be sufficient. In 

 the distribution of even these few decorations much 

 judgment is "requisite to avoid exciting ridicule by fall- ' 

 ing into the vapid, the flippant, or some other species of 

 deformity. (See Schimmelpenninck on Beauty, &c.) 



6129. Time of planting herbaceous plants. 

 This is, in general, autumn and spring ; but 

 any perennial plant may be safely removed after it has done flowering or produced seed. 

 With respect to biennials and annuals, they may be planted at almost any season before 

 they have begun to throw up flower-stems. Biennials, however, are generally sown early 

 in autumn in the flower-garden nursery, and transplanted either late in the same season 

 or early in the following spring, to where they are to flower. Annuals are commonly 

 sown in spring, where they are finally to remain. The culture of herbaceous flowers of 

 the more valued sorts is exceedingly varied, and will be found under each species or class 

 in the Flower-garden Catalogue. For the preparation of the soil and the manner of per- 

 forming the operation, see these articles in (Chap. IV.) Planting the Shrubbery. 



Chap. III. 



Of Forming the Shrubbery. 



6 ISO. By a shrubbery, or shrub-garden, we understand a scene for the display of shrubs 

 valued for their beauty or fragrance, combining such trees as are considered chiefly orna- 

 mental, and some herbaceous flowers. The form or plan of the modern shrubbery is ge- 

 nerally a winding border, or strip of irregular width, accompanied by a walk, near to 

 which it commences with the herbaceous plants and lowest shrubs, and as it falls back, 

 the shrubs rise in gradation and terminate in the ornamental trees, also similarly gradu- 

 ated. Sometimes a border of shrubbery accompanies the walk on both sides ; at other 

 times only on one side, while the other side is, in some cases, a border for culinary vege- 

 tables surrounding the kitchen-garden, but most generally it is an accompanying breadth 

 of turf, varied by occasional groups of trees and plants, or decorations, and with the bor- 

 der, forms what is called pleasure-ground. 



6131. The sort of shrubbery formed under the geometric style of gardening {fig. 557.) was more compact ; 

 it was called a bosque, thicket or wood, and contained various compartments of turf or gravel branching 

 from the walks, and very generally a labyrinth. The species of shrubs in those times being very limited, 

 the object was more walks for recreation, shelter, shade, and verdure, than a display of flowering shrubs. 

 What was wanting in natural beauty and variety, however, was made up by the art of the gardener in 

 cutting such trees and shrubs as he had, into curious shapes. Shrubberies are often made for the sake of 

 obtaining an agreeable walk to some particular place or scene, as the kitchen-garden, farm, wood, &c. ; 

 and sometimes in order to lead the spectator to different points, where views or distant prospects may be 

 obtained. The most desirable shrubbery is one where both these objects are combined ; and the least so, 

 where the walk leads to no particular object, is shut up on both sides, and has no beauties to depend on but 

 those of the shrubs. Hence Sir W. Chambers complains of walks en cul de sac, and Knight of " the shrub- 

 bery's insipid scenes," &c. {Tr. on Country Res. i. 352.) The shrubbery, however, judiciously laid out and 

 planted, will always be a scene of considerable beauty and use about a country-seat. It is one of the princi- 

 pal resources for a home-walk for exercise ; and as Repton has observed, a tolerable walk, even round one's 

 own field, is more interesting than a better one where we have no interest. " We are greatly indebted to 

 shrubs," Nicol observes, " for much of the pleasure and delight we enjoy in our gardens. Though they 

 produce no eatable fruits, nor afford us any sort of nourishment, yet they are particularly conducive to our 

 comfort. In winter, they shelter us in our walks j in summer, they shade us from the sun. They afford 

 a great variety of flowers, a varied foliage, and are standard ornaments that give us no great trouble. They 

 are particularly useful in the character of screens, whether against the weather, or to hide disagreeable ob- 

 jects, in which case they may be planted nearer to the house than forest-trees. When planted in masses 

 at a distance, they become agreeable objects, and often improve the scenery of a place. The shrubbery is 

 often a matter of utility as well as of ornament, in which case it gives the highest satisfaction. When 

 formed for the purposes of shutting out the offices or the kitchen-garden from the view of the house ; for 

 sheltering the latter or the garden, or for connecting the house with the garden and the orchard, the 

 shrubbery becomes useful and interesting." 



6132. In respect to situation, it is essential that the shrubbery should commence either 



