140 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN 



iaside, are rather wide beds, bordered by paths made of 

 rows of large, square red tiles, laid flat and not quite join- 

 ing, so that tiny alpines and mosses may grow in between 

 them at their own sweet wiU. If preferred, this narrow 

 path can be made of bricks or broken paving-stones. The 

 object of this path, besides the convenience of standing 

 dry to pick the flowers or weed the beds, is that the front 

 of the bed can be planted in groups, not in rows, 

 with all sorts of low-growing things : — Alyssums, 

 Aubrietias, Eorget-me-nots, Pinks of all kinds. Saxi- 

 frages, and mosses. On the side shaded by the wall 

 and facing north small ferns. Campanulas, and shade- 

 loving plants are the only ones that will do well. Prim- 

 roses, Auriculas, and the spring-flowering bulbs and Irises 

 do best on the side facing east ; and the summer and 

 autumn plants like to face west and north, as they weary 

 of the hot sun all the summer through. All the year 

 round this little garden can be kept a pleasure and a joy 

 by a little management, and by planting and replanting 

 from the greenhouse, the seed-beds, or the reserve garden. 

 The wall looks best if entirely planted with Tea-roses. 

 As they grow, they send up long waving branches, which 

 beautifully break the hard hne of the wall. The middle 

 of the walled garden is grass, and the mowing machine 

 can never cut or injure the plants, feather forward as they 

 will on to the tiled path between the beds and the grass. 

 In the centre there can be a sundial on a square base ; 

 or, if you have water laid on, a small square or oblong 

 cement tank let into the ground, quite level with the 

 grass, as a fountain and to be handy for watering. All 

 day long the water in the tank is warmed by the sunshine. 

 This kind of fountain is an enormous improvement, I 

 think, to small suburban gardens, and it is prettier oblong 

 than square. The fountain must be made of cement and 

 six or eight feet deep. If the garden slopes at all, the 



