CONSTRUCTION OF GARDEN WALLS. 



95 



bank cut out in terraces, the base of each 

 incline being formed into a border a a, 

 well drained, and prepared for the trees 

 to be planted in, with walks in front, as 

 at b b. The inclines are covered with 

 Welsh slates, which are powerful con- 

 ductors of heat, set clear of the ground 

 the thickness of a brick set on edge : 

 the slates being drilled with small per- 

 forations, in straight lines — the lines, 

 say a foot distant from each other, and 

 furnished with eyed nails, to which the 

 branches are to be tied. 



Terraced walls have many advan- 

 tages, particularly in cold and exposed 

 situations ; they can also be constructed 

 upon surfaces where ordinary walls can- 

 not. To render them dry, they should 

 be built hollow, as in the annexed 

 fig. 89, and backed with loose rubble 



Fig. 89. 



stone, coarse gravel, or flints, to separate 

 them from the ground behind, with 

 prepared borders and a walk in front. 

 With regard to height, this must be 

 regulated by the inclined plane of the 

 ground ; but they may be from 4 to 

 20 feet in height. Intermediate heights, 

 however, will be found the most suitable. 

 Both terraced and inclined walls may be 

 formed in situations in which scarcely 

 any other use could be made of the 

 ground ; and if the exposure is favour- 

 able towards the south, they will be 

 found amply to repay the cost of erec- 

 tion. 



Inclined walls were exemplified some 

 years ago by Mr Creel man of Portobello, 

 near Edinburgh : an account of his way 

 of constructing them, with an engraving, 

 was published in the fourth volume of 

 the " Caledonian Horticultural Society's 

 Memoirs," of which the following is the 



substance. Advantage was taken of a 

 rising piece of ground near the centre 

 of the garden, and two " sloping or almost 

 horizontal walls, of a circular or rather 

 a horse-shoe shape," were built. This 

 circle was " formed into two terraces, 

 one above the other, with a walk between, 

 somewhat more than 3 feet wide. The 

 walls (if they maybe so called) are formed 

 merely of bricks laid flat on the surface 

 of the ground, without any lime. The 

 ground slopes at an angle of about 10°, 

 and the wall is inclined to the surface, also 

 at an angle of about 10° — i. e., the bricks 

 are raised some inches at the upper or 

 back part. These almost flat walls are 



7 feet wide, the bricks being very hard 

 burned." From this it appears that most 

 of the advantages of inclined walls may 

 be obtained at a cheap rate : for example, 

 where the ground is naturally steep and 

 inclining to the sun, or rendered so by 

 throwing up banks, all that is required 

 in these cases is training the trees to 

 a wire trellis, set to the desired angle 

 of inclination, and covering the surface 

 under it, say at the distance of 2 inches, 

 with hard burned bricks, even such as are 

 unfit for building purposes; or where 

 dark-coloured granite is to be had, the 

 ground maybe paved with this. One dis- 

 advantage would arise from laying either 

 the bricks or granite close to the ground, 

 inasmuch as they would be kept too 

 damp and cold ; but this could be readily 

 rectified, as they might be elevated 6 or 



8 inches from the ground by laying them 

 on bricks set on edge, or by building 

 parallel walls of greater height under 

 them. By this arrangement a circulation 

 of air would be passing continually under 

 them, and thus they would be kept free 

 of damp from beneath. Whatever advan- 

 tages these walls may have, it is clear 

 that it is gained by sacrificing the surface 

 of the ground they occupy. 



We have seen in the vicinity of Folk- 

 stone, Kent, inclined walls, which have 

 been found extremely valuable ; but then 

 the nature of the situation should be 

 taken into account. This was a high, 

 steep bank, forming a natural half-moon- 

 like concavity, probably the remains of 

 ancient excavations : the centre of this 

 concavity pointed nearly due south, so 

 that the ends formed what may be called 

 an east and west aspect. A high bank 



