TASTE AND TACT IN ARRANGING ORNAMENTAL GROUNDS. 



589 



handsome in garden outlines, and so easy to keep defined 

 year after year, that we do well to employ them freely in 

 a flower-garden ? This, certainly, is a point that cannot 

 be sustained. 



Now, from an arrangement that is obviously defective 

 in character, let us turn ta another entirely applicable to 

 the grounds, which presents some strong contrasts 

 to the first. In fig. 2 this plan is set forth, its 

 chief points of difference, as compared with the 

 original plan, being noted below. 



Instead of a contracted, formal arrangement of 

 stiff, unpleasant walks and central beds too small 

 for the growths a garden of this extent should 

 contain, there are ample plant and shrub borders 

 laid out at the margin of the grounds and defined 

 by graceful, irregular curves, simple in design and 

 restful to the eye. There are also several beds 

 standing away from the marginal border, with a 

 strip of grass between. 



Let us dispense with the weedy gravel walks, 

 that in extent are laid out of all proportion to the 

 cultivated area adjacent, and walk upon the grass 

 — an arrangement easier for the feet, pleasanter 

 to the eye, and which, if a lawn-mower is used, 

 may be kept in perpect shape by any man who 

 can run the machine. 



Instead of the absurd raised beds, which dry out 

 so quickly during drouth, and, being difficult to 

 protect, unduly subject the roots of perennials to 

 freezing, let the ample new borders and beds sug- 

 gested be about four inches lower at their edges 

 than the general surface of the garden. The beds 

 may then be graded to a gently-rounding surface. 

 Borders thus sunken at their margins and edged 

 with the lawn at its common level are in the best 

 possible shape to keep clean of weeds and attrac- 

 tive to the eye. Follow along the edge of this turf 

 after each mowing of the lawn, and clip off any 

 grass that projects in a reclining direction over the 

 beds, with a pair of turf, hedge or even sheep- 

 shears. Besides this clipping of the edges, the 

 surface of the borders should be gone over with 

 a hoe at each first appearance of weeds, stirring 

 all parts of the surface, and finishing the job with 

 a few touches of the steel rake to even up the top 

 finely and to gather any weeds that may be pres- 

 ent. A similar course with hoe and rake after each heavy 

 summer shower will prevent rapid evaporation of moist- 

 ure from the soil in case drouth should ensue. 



Another point in favor of sunken beds is, that over their 

 surface is heaped in winter the fleecy snow cover that 

 nature provides as a protection for the roots of shrubs 

 and plants. The stems of the shrubs, etc., will help to 

 retain the snow, and the entire surface of the beds dur- 

 ing winter is protected by perhaps six inches of it. From 

 raised beds the snow is swept away by the lightest winds, 

 leaving them bare, to lose afterward by the fiercer winds 

 of winter much of the soil from about the roots of their 

 plants. In every way the sunken bed is better. 



But the greatest gain in the new plan over the old one 

 is in roominess, sufficient additional space being given to 

 gratify the owner's wish for a hundred plants where he 

 now has one. In this respect the contrast between the 

 two plans is striking. Where fig. i has a number of con- 

 tracted, formal beds, the largest of which is not roomy 



iHHROVtD tDiTION OH FlC 



enough to hold a respectable group of shrubs, fig. 2 shows 

 a marginal border measuring about 160 feet along the 

 edge, with a breadth and corresponding surface so rmple 

 that it will not be difficult to present a continuous suc- 

 cession of striking effects with plants, shrubs and even 

 evergreen trees throughout the length. This long mar- 

 ginal border, the woody effect gained by planting numer- 

 ous smaller shrub-groups in beds inside the margin and 

 at points near the house-walk and street, and the intro- 

 duction of a number of ornamental shade-trees about the 

 lawn, should have the effect of providing an extensive and 

 wonderfully varied collection of growths within the limits 

 of a moderate-sized city lot. By examining fig. 2 it will 



