MANAGEMENT OF TOPIARY GARDEN 73 
the borders, the result will be disastrous to the more 
important part of the garden, viz., the Topiary work. 
But as bare patches are always unsightly in the border, 
they should be avoided as far as possible by planting the 
very dwarf growing herbaceous plants in close proximity 
to the trees. Itis a plan that can very well be followed 
in perennial planting, but it is more difficult to manage 
in the more important work of bedding out for the 
summer months, especially if large and tall growing 
plants are extensively used. 
If it should happen, as I remarked before in this 
chapter, that the glass accommodation is limited, it is of 
particular importance that the utmost use be made of 
what there is at hand for the storing and propagating of 
bedding plants, more especially if the requirements of 
the place are such as to make an autumn display of bloom 
one of the most important features in the garden. If 
such is the case, it will be necessary when the bedding 
season arrives, to be careful that only such plants are 
used as will be at their best in the autumn, more 
especially in the most important beds. No attempt 
whatever should be made at carpet bedding; it is a 
_ style of bedding that has very little to recommend it at any 
time and certainly none in the Topiary garden; for one 
reason it is much too stiff for a garden where there are 
a great many clipped yews. Of course in a new garden 
that has been recently laid out and where both the trees 
and the box edging are in a small state, the system of 
carpet bedding may be practised by those who wish to 
entirely discard Nature from their gardens. But if the 
garden is an old one, full of old specimen yews, the 
larger and taller growing the bedding plants are that 
are used for bedding out purposes, the better. I will 
name a few of the bedding plants that are extensively 
used in the gardens here at Levens; but of course, as 
is well known, the gardens here are among the oldest 
