46 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



■When it comes to laying out the interior some regard must naturally be paid to 

 the tastes and preferences of the owner. If miniature ponds, fountains, and several 

 vases are thought desirable, by all means have them, but they are doubtful adjuncts, 

 and more often than not disfigure rather than adorn a small garden. What may well be 

 arranged for is a good-sized plant-house, or a greenhouse and vinery combined. That 

 shown in the design is three-quarter span-roofed, 3o feet long and 14 feet wide. The 

 front staging is 30 inches wide, the walk 3 feet wide, and the back staging occupies a 

 ■width of 8^ feet, stepped, that is to say, in three tiers. In front of this house 

 there is a raised border G feet wide, and enclosed by either a brick or stone wall or 

 a grassy slope. The border supports the vines which are planted in it, and taken 

 through holes in the front wall, and trained up the roof. There is a doorway or folding 

 glass door leading into the house, and another facing the walk pissing the end of this 

 house. In some cases a more ornamental conservatory is constructed in a prominent 

 position, but such erections are rather expensive luxuries, as they necessitate the 

 provision of more houses, in the kitchen garden probably, for the purpose of grow- 

 ing plants for the conservatory with a vicAv to keeping it in an attractive state. Of 

 this aiid the treatment of conservatory plants generally much more will be said in other 

 chapters. 



AVhen the house stands, as it ought to do, well above the level of the surrounding 

 ground, a terrace or raised walk following its outline, with a grassy slope to the rest of 

 the lawn, is an attractive feature, and affords good opportunities for showing everything 

 to the best advantage. Let this raised walk and terrace be made very solid, with a 

 variety of material, such as stones, broken bricks, gravelly or clayey soil; but avoid 

 using tree roots, or anything of a perishable nature, or the time will come when there 

 will be inequalities and sinkages to contend with. A continuous border at the foot of 

 the walls of the house will answer the double purpose of supporting a variety of climbers 

 planted in it, and also for the reception of many beautiful flowerrng plants — bulbous- 

 rooted and otherwise. This bor.lcr may be 2 feet ot rather niQro in width, and there 

 ought to be a dejith of fully 18 inches of good loamy soil. Next to this should run 

 a good gravelled walk not less than -i feet wide, and if archways, clothed with roses, 

 clematises, honeysuckles, jasmines, and, in shady places, ivy, are formed, they will 

 add greatly to the effect. On the same level another width of not less than 7 feet 

 should be allowed for, this to be grassed over, a slope leading down into the rest of 

 the lawn. A few standard roses would not be out of place on this grassed part of the 



