658 GARDENESQUE STYLE OF FLOWER-GARDENS. 



seven should here and there be planted 

 together. If of one species, they form 

 ultimately one object ; and, in large places, 

 such a proceeding becomes necessary, for 

 the purpose of proportionate effect. A 

 group, for example, of Rhododendrons, 

 Azaleas, &c, if confined to one variety, 

 appears, when fully established, as one 

 large and imposing subject. Fastigiate 

 or spire-like growing trees should not, 

 however, be thus grouped, as their many 

 points shooting through the general out- 

 line of the group would betray and expose 

 the deception. Pruning well in this style 

 becomes necessary, but this should only 

 extend so far as the removal of any over- 

 grown or misplaced branches. Fore-short- 

 ening, in many cases, should be attended 

 to, that the outline of the shrubs may 

 appear close and compact ; but all clip- 

 ping, and the use of the shears, should be 

 avoided. The trees and shrubs should 

 Fig. 904. all, unless in 



the case of 

 such as are 

 grown as 

 standards, 

 be allowed 

 to feather 

 down to the 

 ground. 



In such 

 gardens,bas- 

 ketwork of 

 wire or wic- 

 kerwork for 

 edgings of 

 the beds, as 

 well as flower 

 baskets, (figs. 904, 905,) may be freely 



Fig. 905. 



indulged in, not- 

 withstanding the 

 denunciations of 

 Seekyl, and other 

 modern landscape- 

 gardeners, against 

 these, as having an 

 appearance of want 

 of durability. 



Flowering plants 

 in beds, bounded 

 with trellis-work, 

 on grass plots, will 

 have the appear- 

 ance of flower- 

 pots, or baskets of 

 nosegays, rising out of the .ground, in 



Fig. 906. 



their most happy form. This mode also 

 gives the semblance of order and sym- 

 metry, and prevents the appearance of 

 those irregular lines, and the destruction 

 of the turf, which always ensues where 

 plants are allowed to ramble beyond their 

 proper limits. It is well also to stick in 

 neat branches, of a foot or so in height, 

 where the plants are a few inches high, to 

 act as conductors or supports to them, 

 and to prevent their lower parts rotting 

 from want of air. According to the form 

 desired for the bed, so should the arrange- 

 ment of these supports be. If conical, they 

 should, as well as the kind of plant, be 

 highest in the centre. If flat-headed, they 

 may be all of the same height. The 

 plants will soon cover these supports, and 

 their duration in beauty will amply repay 

 the trouble. 



Elevated stands for rock -plants of the 

 rarest kinds, and most minute species, 



(fig. 906,) al- 

 though re- 

 commended 

 now, for the 

 first time, 

 may be added 

 with utility 

 and effect. 

 The use of 

 such a stand 

 is twofold — 

 namely, preserving them from being 

 run over by stronger young kinds, and 

 placing them in a more convenient po- 

 sition to be seen. Such a stand, how- 

 ever, should contain only such as Hous- 

 tonia cserulea, Anagallis tenella, Bellium 

 minutum, and the like. 



Fig. 907 exhibits another specimen 

 in this style, but without terraces in 

 front of the house, and having elliptical 

 clumps of shrubs, with a bowling-green in 

 the centre of the lawn, sunk eighteen 

 inches below the general level of the 

 ground. The shrubs in the elliptical 

 clumps are to be planted and kept, so 

 that each may appear perfect in itself, and 

 not crowded in dense masses, as is too 

 frequently done. 



A garden, of which this is a pretty cor- 

 rect representation, existed in Perthshire, 

 until swept away, in consequence of the 

 erection of a new mansion upon another 

 site, about thirty years ago. Of the artist 

 who designed it we know nothing, as it 



