96 GARDENS OF ENGLAND 



as the expert, and to give such advice is to start 

 off the novices, whose minds, so far as gardening 

 lore is concerned, are virgin soil, on the wrong 

 road, and one which will necessarily have to be 

 retraced when they realise — as it is to be hoped 

 they will, sooner or later — that in following such 

 counsel they are getting farther away from 

 Nature arid nearer to the artificial. The larger a 

 herbaceous border is, the greater are its possibilities 

 for effect. In all but small gardens one about 

 140 feet in length and 15 feet in breadth might 

 be provided for, and this would give sufficient 

 space for the display of bold grouping. Even with 

 such ample proportions it is not advisable to make 

 use of a large selection of plants. The kinds 

 should be strictly limited, but each should be 

 present in natural masses. Contrasts are often very 

 beautiful in the garden and arrest and fascinate the 

 eye, but it is well in the herbaceous border not 

 to strive after contrast so much as to endeavour 

 to furnish a colour scheme in which the strong 

 tints shall merge imperceptibly into softer and 

 fainter shades, thus creating a restful effect that is 

 welcome to the eye. Where the border is re- 

 quired to be ornamental from early spring to the 

 late autumn it can never be so gay at any particular 



