590 



LAYING OUT FLOWER-GARDENS. 



The trees in the pinetum are shown 

 much thicker on the plan than they are 

 intended ultimately to be. From two to 

 three, and in many cases considerably 

 more, duplicates are planted to produce 

 immediate effect. These may be removed 

 as they grow up. There is room for one 

 of each of the larger growing ones, and 

 more of the smaller, to attain their full 

 size, and these duplicates are planted with 

 a view to such removals at a subsequent 

 time. It is not as yet finally determined 

 whether the clothing of the ground be- 

 tween the trees should be grass, kept close 

 with the scythe, or planted with native 

 heaths, ferns, and very low-growing shrubs, 

 in imitation of wild scenery. Either of 

 these will make a very good finish, parti- 

 cularly the latter ; and in the hands of a 

 person of such taste as Mr Spencer, we 

 have no doubt but that the whole will be 

 finished in a most creditable and effective 

 manner. 



§ 7.— EDGINGS. 



Much of the beauty of all gardens, 

 whether ornamental or useful, depends on 

 the neatness and high keeping of the edg- 

 ings ; for however well the groups may 

 be laid out, however neat the borders may 

 be formed or kept, and however gay and 

 well arranged the plants in them may be, 

 if the edgings are blanky, uneven, or have 

 a ragged appearance, the garden will at 

 once be felt to be in bad keeping. 



Edgings in flower-gardens may be deno- 

 minated marginal lines, their use being 

 to separate the walks from the flower- 

 borders, and also to define clearly the 

 forms of the beds or subdivisions. They 

 are formed of various materials, of which, 

 in highly-finished and well-kept gardens, 

 dwarf box, thin pavement, or Welsh slate 

 set on edge, hard-burnt fire-clay bricks 

 or tiles, cast-iron, plain or ornamental 

 wirework, and boarding, are of all others 

 the best. Dwarf box has long been in 

 use ; and when kept frequently transplant- 

 ed or neatly clipped, is the best of all living 

 edgings. Its advantages are — harmonis- 

 ing with the plants which it surrounds — 

 its capability of being arranged in lines, 

 however tortuous— and its bearing the 

 operation of clipping, if done judiciously, 

 with impunity. Its disadvantages are — 



the exhausting of the soil in the beds — the 

 labour and expense of clipping — and the 

 difficulty of relaying it, in intricate pat- 

 terns, when it becomes blanky or ex- 

 hausted by age. Thin pavement, 1 inch 

 in thickness, set on edge, polished on 

 both sides above the ground, and also on 

 the top, if of such a durable and non- 

 absorbing nature as Caithness pavement 

 or Welsh slate, is of all others the best ; 

 but neither are easily adapted to circu- 

 lar or acutely-curved lines. These, cut in 

 lengths of from 3 to 6 or 7 feet, and 12 

 inches broad, if laid so as to rest on 

 bricks placed at their joinings, and the 

 ground made good on both sides, will sel- 

 dom become displaced. If the walk be 

 narrow — say from 2 to 3 feet — they 

 should only rise 1 inch above the walk- 

 level ; if 6 feet broad, 2 inches, and not 

 more than 3 inches for walks of the 

 greatest breadth. Their thickness should 

 be regulated in the same proportion. 



Hard-burnt fire-clay bricks and tiles, of 

 various sizes and forms, are also used, 

 and are, on account of their being in 

 short lengths, better adapted for circular 

 and curved lines than the former. The 

 expense of both is much the same, but 

 the durability of the latter is inferior. 

 Very elegant and durable edgings of slate 

 have been manufactured by Mr Edward 

 Beck, of Isleworth, for his own garden. 

 Where curves occur, and circular or ellip- 

 tical figures are introduced, the slate is 

 cut into narrow pieces, having a dove- 

 tailed groove cut in their edges of con- 

 nection, into w^hich melted lead is poured, 

 which keeps the whole edging together, 

 and is so strong as scarcely to be pulled 

 asunder. The slate is about |-inch thick, 

 and from 6 to 8 inches in depth. 



Cast and malleable iron are of more 

 recent application. Their durability, if 

 kept regularly painted, and the facility 

 with which they can be formed to suit 

 all sorts of lines, together with their 

 light appearance, will no doubt bring 

 them into more general use. They need 

 not be above 3 inches broad, and may be 

 of considerable lengths, having palms 

 wrought upon their under-sides, which, 

 being let a foot or 18 inches into the 

 ground, will keep them firmly in their 

 proper places. In architectural gardens, 

 where the walks may be laid with pave- 

 ment, metallic edgings must be so formed 



