708 PICTURESQUE STYLE OF FLOWER-GARDENS. 



arbour, or resting-place ; the basement 

 to be of stone, the superstructure of un- 

 barked timber, and the roof thatched 

 with heath. The floor should be pitched 

 with pebbles in Gothic pattern, and the 

 seats be made of oak plank. 



The authority last quoted says, in 

 " Encyclopaedia of Architecture," p. 986 : 

 " In the grounds of less ambitious villas, 

 plain unarchitectural buildings may be 

 employed ; or wooden structures, simply 

 protecting the seat from the weather, 

 may be resorted to. In England, it has 

 always been customary, since the intro- 

 duction of the modern style of gardening, 

 to form what are called rustic covered 

 seats." And we may add, since flower- 

 gardens have been conducted upon any- 

 thing like correct principles, other rustic 

 ornaments have been freely introduced, 

 and, when properly placed and adapted 

 to the situation, have given great interest 

 to the scene. Out of the English or 

 natural garden, we, of course, would not 

 any more tolerate them than we would a 

 temple of Grecian or Gothic architecture, 

 or a Chinese Pagoda, in them. Rustic 

 work, however well designed and elabo- 

 rately executed, would be preposterous in 

 the grounds immediately surrounding 

 Blenheim, Chatsworth, or Eaton Hall. 

 Architectural mansions should have their 

 architectural gardens ; and architecture, 

 of whatever order, has abundant stores of 

 garden decoration without interfering 

 with the rustic. These principles are, 

 however, not strictly attended to ; and 

 hence we some years ago saw a rustic 

 thatched summer-house placed in a 

 flower-garden closely attached to the 

 princely palace of Blenheim, and could 

 adduce numerous other instances of the 

 same bad taste. At the same time, there 

 is nothing incongruous in rustic-work 

 existing at Blenheim, if sufficiently re- 

 moved from the house and all other 

 architectural objects. There may be a 

 natural garden at Blenheim as well as at 

 any other place, but it ought to be as far 

 removed from the mansion as possible. 

 Indeed, in such large places, it is perhaps 

 proper that such should exist, as it 

 relieves the mind, and remedies the 

 monotony of wandering through archi- 

 tectural alleys, vases, statues, fountains, 

 and mural decorations. 



Around cottage and villa residences, 



nothing is so appropriate as the natural 

 style of gardening, and no ornament so 

 proper as rustic work ; but that should 

 always be of a substantial and tasteful 

 description. An ingenious correspondent 

 in " The Gardeners' Magazine," vol. x. p. 

 48-5, on this subject remarks : "One advan- 

 tage of wooden rustic work is, that it can 

 be adapted to a great variety of purposes. 

 Thus very beautiful, and even very 

 architectural temples may be formed of 

 unbarked wood. Ornamental doors, every 

 description of garden seats, and flower- 

 baskets, and vases of very elegant forms, 

 may be composed of the same material. 

 Shady walks also, having the shady gloom 

 and enriched effect of a Gothic cloister, 

 may be made of wooden rustic work : 

 indeed, there is scarcely any kind of 

 garden ornament to which it may not be 

 applied. I allude," continues this corre- 

 spondent, " more particularly to what I 

 call wood mosaic, which is, I believe, 

 rather a modern invention. It is formed 

 of split sticks, of various lengths and 

 sizes, and having bark of different colours. 

 The pieces are nailed to any flat surface 

 of wood, and very beautiful and elaborate 

 patterns may be produced by arranging 

 the pieces according to their sizes and 

 the various colours of their barks. Ele- 

 gant garden seats, and vases of almost 

 any shape, may be covered with this kind 

 of mosaic work ; but as it is not durable 

 when constantly exposed to the weather, 

 it is the most suitable for the inside of 

 summer-houses and garden temples. In 

 such situations, the richest specimens 

 may be introduced, and, if varnished 

 over, they would last for a number of 

 years." 



In corroboration of this, we may state 

 that there are summer-houses in Dalkeith 

 Park of this description that have stood 

 uninjured for nearly forty years. 



The garden seat represented in fig. 

 986, is the invention of the correspondent 

 above alluded to, and, as he informs us in 

 " Gardeners' Magazine," vol. x. p. 487, is 

 placed against the stump of an old walnut 

 tree in his own garden. 



Figs. 987, 988, and 989 represent other 

 forms of rustic seats, which need no 

 description. 



Structures, such as arbours, moss- 

 houses, &c, should be always placed in 

 positions to command a perfect view of 



