Sept. 15, 1855.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



613 











^SS^icturSque old stumps ; finally, no garden of the 

 k nd is considered complete without its fountain, rock- 

 work, and lake. 

 These various items are crowded together in so small 



apace, that from the windows of the house they are 

 all under the eye at the same time ; and care has gene- 

 rally t> een ta ^ en » f° r ! * ie sa ^ e °* contras<; > that the parts 

 least in harmony with each other should be placed most 

 closely in juxtaposition. 



It is onlv confusion and disorder we would be under- 

 stood as objecting to, not variety. The exhibition of 

 skill in arranging a garden consists not only in the 

 careful adaptation of the parts to their proper effects 

 and purposes, but also in arranging their order with 

 reference to each other/ so that they shall combinedly 

 form a harmonious whole ; and these points duly kept 

 in view, as much variety should be introduced as the 

 gpace admits of without crowding. 



As examples are more illustrative than a long dry 

 discourse, we have selected a case in point from amongst 

 those which have come under our consideration, and 

 give engravings by which we can render more intelli- 

 gibly an idea of what the garden was and of what it 

 is now. 



suburban villages, having its entrance towards the 

 public road, and looking from the garden side over a 

 flat agricultural scene, with which the house stands too 

 much on a level. In front of the house a respectable 

 piece of garden extends itself, flanked by a shrubbery 

 on both sides, and bounded by a pond between and the 

 extended meadows beyond. On the right is the green- 

 house, at the end of one of the offices, inconsiderately 

 placed so close to the garden as to make it an impossi- 

 bility to conceal it by planting without materially 

 encroaching upon the ground. Further to the right 

 stand coach-house, stables, and other offices, and beyond 

 these a large kitchen garden. 



The house itself is of plain red brick, unpretending 

 in its architecture, and of a description which would 

 require considerable outlay to give it a degree of orna- 

 mentation. The drawing-room, ending with a large 

 bow on the left hand side of the group, being the only 

 important room on that side of the house, it rendered 

 the arrangement of the garden difficult ; this, however, 

 had been managed without the slightest reference to any 

 windows of the house or in any other way with regard 

 to it. The ground was Bimply cut longitudinally by a 

 walk somewhere about the middle, and across again 



The house is pleasantly situated in one of our about half way in the other direction, and, strangely 



ORIGINAL PLAN. 



enough, without any regard to right angles ; and where 

 these two lines intersected a fountain was introduced — 

 other walks were made on each side of the garden, on 

 one side a stiaight one, and on the other an example of 

 the serpentine, and were joined at each end by other 

 irregular ones ; two arbours were added with as little 

 regard to symmetry as possible, and an arrangement 

 of clumps containing large shrubs crossed the end of 

 the garden, completely shutting out the view of the 

 meadow, and diminishing the prospect of the distant 

 country. Near the centre of each compartment of turf 

 was a peculiarly unplantable bed, with four long points, 

 having a shrub in the centre, and intended to contain 

 half-hardy plants, &c. The outer borders were all 

 bounded with Box-edgings, and contained mixtures of 

 common flowers and shrubs. Bits of rockwork, shell- 

 work, and old blocks and stumps were scattered about, 

 and generally these specimens of the grotesque w r ere 

 surmounted with a vase or statuette. 



The great faults in this case were the shutting out of 

 the extended prospect, the cutting up of the garden into 

 small patches, and the complete exposure of all the 

 walks as though they were the most important features 

 of the garden. The first of these was rectified by 

 clearing away the clumps near the pond, the second by 



IMPROVED PLAN. 



A 



10 



i.mi r » kt k\ 





40 



W 



SCALE OF FEET 



destroying the centre walk, and the third by fringing 

 the broad turf plot so obtained with clumps for flowering 

 and other shrubs of moderate growth, which would 

 rectify the obtrusiveness of the side walks, and be sub- 

 servient to the larger shrubs beyond them. 



In the new arrangement a centre was obtained upon 

 * line from the fountain, at right angles with the 

 building ; and to give a balance to the basis of opera- 

 tions, a large projecting mass of close-clipped evergreen 

 *'as introduced, to correspond with shape of drawing- 

 r ^ )Ia how, which also served to aid in concealing the 

 offices and yard on the right hand side of the house, and 

 ^ yard itself was considerably contracted, that it 



m, ght be effectually planted out on both sides from the 

 garden. J r 



tii a 'k.' w **k **" s centre line, and equidistant from it, 

 w two side walks were laid down, and the use of Box 

 paging confined to the right hand side, where double 

 - ines are shown, and where it was most in keeping from 

 Z 8 £° n tiguity to the greenhouse ; on the left hand side 

 . was used up to the shrubs, which were pegged down 

 meet it and conceal the margin. The two side walks 

 ere curved round so as to meet each other near the 



d-*S wnic hwas made less artificial in outline, and ren- 

 dered a ruhm ^ n A — ..t.i- _l?__* * 



be seen. 



ta otl* more endura hle object from wherever it could 



From these walks a branch was made to lead 

 summer-house and meadow wicket on one side, 



The 



to the 

 and 



bran° ik Ule i 0ther side towards the kitchen garden, 

 ^cn walk leading to the back of the sreenhou* 



so curved as to render it less obvious, and in a circle of 

 gravel, as shown, was placed, upon a suitable pedestal, 

 one of the best of the statues — one we found stuck up 

 in the fork of an old Mulberry tree ; and on the 

 opposite side of the garden a corresponding niche was 

 made for its companion. The other architectural em- 

 bellishments, in the shape of vases, were furnished with 

 proper pedestals, and appointed to suitable positions as 

 near the mansion as possible. 



We deemed that the house itself and the laundry 

 could be most economically improved in appearance by 

 covering them entirely with creepers, and especially 

 with evergreen Roses, Pyracanthas, variegated and other 

 ornamental Ivies, and the like, with a due admixture of 

 Clematis, Honeysuckle, Wistaria, &c. 



As the greenhouse and frame accommodation was 

 limited, we were not justified in proposing a very ex- 

 tensive parterre, even if the extent of the ground 

 warranted it ; its natural flatness, however, suggested 

 the propriety of a certain quantity of such arrangement, 

 and it was obviously important that such feature should 

 be as near the house as possible. 



The apparent breadth of the garden, and indeed its 

 general extent, being so much increased by these 

 arrangements, the four beds e e e e were introduced on 

 one side, in line with centre of drawing-room window, 

 and in a corresponding position upon the other. It is 

 admissible that these should be filled either with dwarf 

 greenhouse was j flowering shrubs or with half-hardy plants, annuals, 



according to convenience, &c. A Swedish Juniper has 

 a satisfactory effect in the centre of each. 



So much more having been made of the ground in 

 front, it became a reasonable matter to have nothing 

 but shrubs and turf on that side of the house, and 

 arrange that carriages might come quite up to the front 

 door, instead of unloading at the wicket gate against the 

 road in all weathers. Other matters are, we consider, 

 so fully explained by a comparison of the two plans, 

 and the reference thereto, that it will be needless to 

 lengthen the article with further description. 



a Pond. 



b Mass of Water Lily. 



c Large Chinese Arbor-vitse. 



d Clump on turf for herba- 

 ceous plants and small flower- 

 ing shrubs, and bordered by 



clipped evergreen hedges of 

 Cotoneaster, &c. 



t Beds on turf, with Juniper 

 in centre, flowering plants 

 round , 



f Irish Yews. 



g Parterre on turf. 



1. Blue with white margin. 



2. Scarlet. 



3. Light pink, 



4. Brownish orange. 



5. Deep violet or purple. 



Reference to Engravings, 



7i Statues on pedestals. 

 i Fountain. 



j Seat on centre line. 



fc Vases on pedestals. 



I House. 



m Porch. 



7i Coach ring. 



o p Alcoves. 



q Back ground for reserve, 

 &c. 



r Border for creepers against 

 house. 



s Greenhouse. 



t Laundry. 



William Davidson, Landscape Gardener, 36, Great 

 Russell Street, Bedford Square, London. 



