322 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTIAGE GAEDEXEE. 



[ 3IaT 1, 1871. 



their eonstrnction. If carried out in the spirit they are at 

 present conceived, there will be few places to compare with 

 them. 



It is somewhat difficult to give an exact idea of the trne 

 character of the place. I took my poeition on the top terrace 

 in front of the mansion, which is over 600 feet in length, and 

 about 60 feet wide, supported in front by a rustic ashlar granite 

 wall of ornamental cocstruction, with niches here and there 

 for statues, and surmounted with numerous marble vases and 

 urns, alternating with a great number of large light-grey 

 granite balls on handsome pedestals of the same stone. These, 

 I was told, were all cut and dressed on the spot by native 

 Paddies, and they do them credit. From this terrace, then, 

 the ground slopes rapidly for a distance of about 900 feet to a 

 Email lake about 100 feet below, and it is on this ground, there- 

 fore, where, as at present proposed, will be formed five great 

 terraces, with a walk in the centre, 44 feet wide, leading from 

 the mansion to the lake, over the sncceseive terraces, by noble 

 flights of dressed and moulded granite stairs, ornamented with 

 vases, statues, &e., 

 numbers of which 

 are already waiting 

 to be unpacked. The 

 upper terrace is the 

 only one finished ; 

 it is chiefly gravel, 

 and the principal 

 flower garden will 

 be on the third 

 or middle terrace, 

 having an area of 

 about 4 acres, and 

 nearly 50 feet below 

 the level of the 

 drawing-room win- 

 dows, from which a 

 complete view of the 

 whole can be ob- 

 tained. The extent 

 of the terraces will 

 be about 12 acres ; 

 the top one, as 

 stated, supported by 

 a granite wall, the 

 others by grassy 

 elopes curving out- 

 wards at the ends, 

 and gradually dying 

 away into the sur- 

 rounding pleasure 

 grounds. "When 



completed it will 

 unquestionably be 

 very grand — one of 

 the grandest ter- 

 raced gardens in 

 Ireland ; but, with 

 all deference to ilr. 

 Dunn, or whoever 

 the designer may be, 

 I am of opinion that 

 fewer terraces of a 

 greater width, say 

 three, would have a far more commanding effect. The lake, 

 too, sadly wants extending and improving to make it in cha- 

 racter with its surroundings. 



The view in front is one of the grandest that can be seen, 

 wood, water, hill, and dale lending their aid to fill in as pretty 

 a natural picture as one could wish to look upon. From the 

 terraces the view sweeps down over the lake, the rich green 

 meadows, and bosky dells, to the vale of the Dargle, then open- 

 ing wide and stretching up the hill sides beyond, over more 

 charming woods and meadows, rising higher still into scanty 

 pastures, and furze, and heather, nntU the view culminates in 

 the bare rocky and precipitous peak of the large Sugar-loaf 

 Mountain, standing out grandly and prominently in the clear 

 bine sky, and supported on ei'her hand by lower peaks, but 

 quite as rugged and picturesque — such a sight as can only be 

 seen in Ireland. 



Near to the east end of the upper terrace is the old church- 

 yard of Powersconrt, the reeling place of the Powerfconrt 

 family. The old church, in ruins, is finely covered with a 



r^-^. 



^ 5^ - - 



The Dargle, and the Glenislorane Stream. 



collection of Ivies. Leaving the terrace, we turn down a wind- 

 ing walk through a beautifully undulating glade, which is very 

 judiciously planted with the choicest hardy trees and shrubs, 

 especially Conifers, in which Puwerscourt is particularly rich, 

 nearly every variety having at one time or other been planted, 

 and in great part they have succeeded well. Amongst the 

 more striking we note Cedrns atlantica, growing very vigor- 

 ously, Pinus insignis, so delightfully green, P. excelsa and 

 Cembra, Abies Donglasii, 'Wellingtonias, Araucarias, Picca Pin- 

 sapo, cephalonics, Nordmanniana ; Thnjopsis boraalis, 12 feet 

 high ; Cupressns of sorts : many fine plants of Magnolia grandi- 

 flora, conspicca, glanca, macrophylla ; Skimmia japonica, Skim- 

 mia oblata, Eaphiolepis ovata. Ilex Fcrtunei, Quercus glabra, 

 and many more too numerous to mention, but all extremely 

 interesting. Here we come to a great clump of Berberis Dar- 

 winii, covering the slope cf a prominent knoll, and it must 

 look charming when in flower. Then at the bottom is a mag- 

 nificent clump of Pampas Grass just coming into bloom. How 

 very effective is this [lant when grouped in such situations J 



yet it has one seri- 

 ous drawback by 

 coming into flowe? 

 so late. In this re- 

 spect the Arundo 

 conspicua is a 

 decided advantage, 

 as it flowers much 

 earlier, although it 

 is not quite so hand- 

 some. At Powers- 

 court the Arundo is 

 the more estf' m d, 

 and it seemo to 

 thrive well. 



Strolling on down 

 the glade we pass 

 some recently-plant- 

 ed groups of Eho- 

 dodendrons, where 

 they will no doubt 

 do well, and winding 

 along the bottom of 

 the pleasure grounds 

 we come suddenly 

 upon a lovely dell 

 some 30 feet below 

 us, and stretching 

 away are woods and 

 grassy slopes down 

 to the Dargle. The 

 upper part of this,- 

 nntil three years 

 ago, was a swampy 

 thicket and peat bog, 

 but was then cleared, 

 drained, and formed 

 into a very excellent 

 American garden, 

 for which it is par- 

 ticularly well suited. 

 This is a charming 

 spot, for which Mr. 

 Dunn deserves espe- 

 A gracefully curving walk runs round it, ami 



cial thanks. 



crossing a small brock by a rustic oa k bridge ascends again to 

 the level of the lake at the foot of the terraces. All sorts of 

 EhododendroDS, Azaleas, Heaths, and Aucubas are there 

 planted, with every attainable variety cf Holly, interspersed 

 with neat-growing Coniferns in great variety, and many other 

 plants of ornamental character. 



At the upper part of this American garden is an interesting 

 and curious rookery and fernery, the rockwork being entirely 

 of tufa, rising up in a rugged, natural manner in pillars, 

 arches, and buttresses to about 20 feet high, and pierced agaic 

 by caves and narrow winding passages. Supplied from the 

 lake above there is at one end a small waterfall, which, splash- 

 ing over the rocks in its descent, gives a cool and refreshing 

 appearance. As a rockery it is pretty, but to being a fernery 

 it cannot lay much claim. It is bare, although there were 

 many pretty rare species upon it. 



Ascending again from the rockery by a long, winding, mstic 

 stone stair to the pleasure grounds, on our right hand is th« 



