Visits to Suburban Gardens. 427 



periodicals. The grounds are flat with little distant prospect ; but they are 

 rendered intensely interesting by the manner in which flowers and flowering 

 shrubs are distributed on the lawn near the house, and along different walks. 

 The most remarkable feature on the lawn, both near the house, and on one 

 side of a terrace-walk, is the number of large single specimens of herbaceous 

 plants rising from dug spots in the turf, not more than from 9 in. to 18 in. in 

 diameter. Another striking feature is the prevalence of beds covered with 

 what may be called floricultural rockwork. This kind of rockwork is not to 

 be considered as an imitation of natural rockwork, but rather what a kitchen- 

 gardener would call mulching the ground with rough stones, flints, or masses 

 of partially vitrified bricks, with a view to retaining moisture, sheltering the 

 plants from drying winds, and keeping each plant distinct ; while at the same 

 time a greater number can be displayed to advantage in a given space than 

 on a flat surface. This assertion may not, at first sight, appear obvious, but a 

 little consideration will satisfy any one of its truth. When plants grow on a 

 flat surface, their stems spread themselves on every side horizontally along 

 that surface,- but when a plant is surrounded by stones so as to form a sort 

 of basin round it, instead of extending itself horizontally, it is forced to rise 

 on the sides of the stones, and presents a surface to the eye of the spectator 

 as much greater than it could have done on the flat surface, on which the 

 stones rest, as the hypotenuse line of a right-angled triangle is longer than 

 the base line. 



By covering all the surface of a dug mass or bed with angular blocks 

 of stone, or conglomerations of vitrified clay, except the mere space re- 

 quired for the stems of the plants to rise through the ground, evaporation 

 from the soil is almost completely prevented, and much less watering is conse- 

 quently required ; while, by the rough protruding parts of the stones or bricks 

 sheltering the plants from high winds, and, in the case of very small plants, 

 even shading them, they grow much faster in hot, dry, and windy weather. 

 Where the stones are of a dark colour, like vitrified bricks, they powerfully 

 absorb the heat of the sun during the day, and give it out at night ; thus pro- 

 ducing a much warmer climate than could otherwise be obtained, and one 

 consequently better adapted for delicate green-house and hot-house plants 

 turned out during summer. Stones of a black or brown colour, besides 

 absorbing the heat, form a much better background to flowers than common 

 garden soil, which generally becomes white, or bleached and dusty, in conse- 

 quence of alternate watering and sunshine. 



The distribution of vitrified bricks over the surface of a bed may be said 

 to divide the surface of the bed into cells, each of which may be compared to 

 a teacup, in the narrow bottom of which the plant is placed, and its shoots 

 grow up, and spread over its sides ; thus not only presenting, as already 

 observed, a greater surface to the eye, than it could have done on a flat 

 surface equal in extent to what would be covered by the cup, but presenting 

 it, at least on one side of the cup, at a better angle to be seen, and even 

 raising the shoots of the plant, and bringing them nearer the eye. It thus 

 appears, that this kind of rockwork, or, more properly, stone-work, is as useful 

 and economical with reference to culture, and the display of showy or rare 

 plants, as it is effective as a picturesque ornament, contrasting, as such beds do 

 strongly, with the softness and smoothness of the lawn on which they are 

 placed. 



To make the most of this principle in planting rare alpines, it is only 

 necessary to have a number of pentagonal or square (the only two forms by 

 which no space will be lost) flat pots or saucers of earthenware made, with 

 spreading rims, say 1 ft. in diameter and without bottoms, or rather with very 

 large holes in the bottoms. These being set down close to one another over 

 a bed of prepared soil, a plant might be placed so as to come up in the centre 

 of the bottom of each, which would spread up the sides of the pot, and thus 

 produce a maximum of effect in a minimum of space. 



There are some beds on the lawn at Norbiton Hall, and along the margins 



