TERRA CES.—SL OPES. — TENNIS GROUND. 



53 



duced, from which a fuller view of certain charming prospects may be obtained, there 

 should be no hesitation in providing those elevations. Should a terrace be constructed, 

 this need not necessarily, or in many cases advisedly, consist principally of bricks and 

 mortar or stones, with a series of vases to match, imparting an air of stiffness and 

 artificiality that might well be avoided. In some instances, retaining walls are 

 necessary, but even these may be effectively covered with ivy, roses, and other 

 trailing plants and climbers. Not infrequently these expensive walls are dispensed 

 with altogether, steep grass slopes (page 59) with a series of wide stone steps leading 

 to level ground — an arrangement which proves cool and inviting during the hottest 

 times in the year. Costly vases, urns and high-class statuary, disposed in various 

 parts of pleasure-grounds, are features to be valued, but they should not have very 

 open positions, the statuary in particular being most effective when there is a back- 

 ground of foliage. This is even more imperative in the case of summer-houses. For 

 these a sheltered and shady position is highly desirable, those much varnished struc- 

 tures too often seen in prominent positions rarely serving the purpose for which they 

 were intended — namely, as cool resting-places or resorts during summer weather. 



A lawn tennis ground is frequently the best-patronised part of a pleasure-ground. 

 If there are members of the family who are fond of tennis, or are likely to be, the 

 requisite space, or not less than 76 feet by 36 feet, should be set apart (page 54) and 

 duly levelled at the outset, thereby avoiding a costly disarrangement of the garden later 

 on. How to form tennis grounds suitable for use in nearly all weathers will be duly set 

 forth under the heading of " Lawns and Grass Plots." Forest trees ought not to over- 

 hang a tennis ground, as they are apt to spoil the turf, but if a spreading tree is 

 growing conveniently uear, its shade is fully appreciated by the players and onlookers 

 when the sun is powerful. 



In the design (Fig. 28, next page) it will be seen that the popularity of the rose 

 is not lost sight of, a bed on the lawn, also a sheltered corner, being set apart for 

 its cultivation. Where the pleasure grounds are more extensive a rosery proper is 

 usually formed, and a series of beds filled with dwarfs and standards in variety. Much 

 as there may be to see and admire in a rosery during the summer, the bushes present 

 by no means an ornamental appearance after the flowering period is past, and for that 

 reason it ought not to be formed in a very conspicuous position, if it can bo avoided. 

 On this important part of our subject more has to be said in succeeding chapters. 



Hardy herbaceous plants have greatly increased in popularity during recent years. 



