414 Mixing Herbaceous Flo'wering Plants 



it were, th<3 theory of art, afford a test by which to try both 

 nature and art. Flowers are never seen in detail in the fore- 

 grounds of the landscapes of great masters, either of Italy or of 

 this country ; nor, indeed, are there details of figures, of ground, 

 or of any kind, in the foreground, which are calculated to inter- 

 fere with the genei'al effect of the picture. All this is founded 

 on the principle *, that the mind can only attend to one thing, 

 and one kind of thing, at one time. 



On this principle, when the flowers are the chief objects, 

 the trees and shrubs should be kept subordinate ; and, when the 

 trees are the chief objects, the flowers ought to be kept sub- 

 ordinate. Neither in a garden nor in a picture is there any 

 way of doing this but by keeping them apart, so that the 

 one may form the foreground, or principal object nearest the 

 eye, and the other the distance, or object the farthest from the 

 eye, or at least as far as the effect desired may require. 



In conclusion, we would observe to gardeners, that the effect 

 even of dug ground about large or old trees derogates from 

 their dignity of expression ; and that shrubs, or, at all events, 

 evergreen shrubs, and all such deciduous ones as exceed the 

 height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., have more or less the expression of trees ; 

 and, though such shrubs are less discordant, especially when in 

 flower, when mixed with herbaceous plants than trees are, yet 

 that they are discordant to a degree that ought to effect their 

 total exclusion from flower beds. This, let it not be forgotten, 

 is altogether independent of the argument for the exclusion of 

 flowers from shrubberies derived from the nature of culture ; that 

 is, from flowers not thriving so well among shrubs as they do 

 by themselves. The two arguments taken together ought, in our 

 opinion, to effect the complete exclusion of herbaceous plants 

 from beds or borders of trees or shrubs, or of both, in all gar- 

 dens of any extent. In small spots, where it is desirable to 

 include something of every thing, they must necessarily be ad- 

 mitted and made the most of; on the same principle that a 

 family, who cannot afford to have two or three rooms, must put 

 up with one : but this principle affords no excuse for the prac- 

 tice where there is no scarcity of room. 



If this hint is taken as we expect, it will save gardeners and 

 their employers some labour and expense, and it will make their 

 places look far better at every season of the year. Let shrub- 

 beries of flowering shrubs, such as rhododendrons, azaleas, and 

 all peat earth shrubs, which seldom grow above 4 ft. in height, 

 be simply dug, and each plant kept distinct, so as to be covered 

 with flowers on every side ; and for the larger, hardier, com- 

 mon earth shrubs, after they have attained the height of 4 ft. or 



* This principle we have explained more in detail in the Architectural 

 Magazine, vol. i. p. 249. 



