1 64 ROYAL GARDENS 



tive study. The precipitous and very peculiar form of the 

 ground on which it is made, caused terraces to be essential 

 there, for no other treatment could have made the garden 

 accessible. But the manner in w^hich the work has been 

 carried out is so admirable, both in design and construction, 

 that it irresistibly calls to mind the exquisite old villa gardens 

 of mediseval Italy — the best models in the world. 



The foregoing remarks have been made in reference to 

 terraces with brick or stone retaining walls, and apply more 

 especially to a stately or severe style of mansion. When 

 architectural features and colour of materials are not so pro- 

 nounced, and when the house is well clad with creepers, a 

 more gentle method of terracing may well be adopted. 

 Instead of a more or less perpendicular wall, grass slopes at 

 an angle of about 45 degrees are sometimes used. With 

 stone steps at intervals, this type gives a handsome and pleasing 

 effect without severity. The objections are, mainly, two : 

 difficulty and expense of keeping steep turf slopes in good 

 order ; and, a bank is unsuitable for having flower-beds placed 

 immediately at its foot ; whereas nothing looks better than 

 flowers at the base of a creeper-clothed wall. The long 

 terrace on the west front at Sandringham is a very fine 

 example of the turfed-bank method of treatment. And it 

 has been employed, also, in other royal gardens. 



Lawns. — In nearly all gardens, lawns are a feature of 

 especial charm and interest. They have been aptly described 

 as the heart of an English garden, and are the scene of much 

 of the social pleasure of those few months in the year during 

 which people living in this country can enjoy life out of 

 doors. And besides their usefulness, in appearance, also, they 

 are most valuable. Nothing has so restful an effect as a 

 stretch of well-kept turf. And nothing gives to a house, 

 be it great or small, such an air of quiet comfort as a well- 

 proportioned lawn. Whether garden is viewed from house, 

 or house is seen from garden, a sense of repose and agreeable 

 suitability is imparted by the intervening greensward. Flowers 



