

CHAPTER IX. 

 LAYING OUT A GARDEN 



How to lay out a garden is often a more vexing problem than 

 how to manage when accomplished. But it is well to remember 

 that however much the success of a garden depends upon its 

 original design and apportionment, the work of laying out may be 

 said to be a progressive one, and can hardly ever be considered to 

 have attained a finished state. It is in this fact that much of the 

 charm of gardening lies, the ever-varying opportunities of effect- 

 ing changes and carrying out new ideas. In giving the following 

 suggestions, it must be remembered that no hard and fast rules can 

 be recommended for application in all cases, as so much depends 

 upon local circumstances, the climate, lay of the land, supply of 

 water, labour available, etc. 



Position. A favourable position may be said to be the most 

 valuable asset that a garden can possess. Yet much can be accom- 

 plished, with properly directed effort and a due expenditure of 

 money, in overcoming serious obstacles and physical advantages; thus 

 a wilderness may sometimes be converted into a delightful garden or 

 a most pleasurable resort. One of the first considerations should 

 naturally be, how to transform and beautify present conditions 

 with the least possible expenditure of time and labour. It should 

 be remembered that it is often easier to beautify an ugly object 

 than to remove it, and that immovable obstacles may sometimes be 

 turned into ornaments. In commencing a garden, the mistake is 

 sometimes made of cutting out all the existing vegetation, for- 

 getting that this, although it may be "jungle," may not only have 

 certain ornamental features, but will also furnish useful shade or 

 shelter until at least other trees will have had time to grow up. 

 Moreover, where virgin vegetation exists, a j^ood effect may be 

 quickly obtained by isolating it in clumps, or separating shapely 

 trees to form solitary specimens, levelling and turfing the ground 

 between. Details can be attended to later, and a choicer variety 

 of plants may gradually take the place of the less desirable ones. 



