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JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



that grass borders, and slopes especially, require plenty of labour in 

 summer if their true value is to be maintained. Therefore, above all else, 

 first ascertain how much labour will be expended, and plan your garden 

 accordingly. I have here a plan of the small garden already referred to 

 in the village of Turville, Bucks (fig. 19). It could scarcely be smaller 

 or simpler in design, but its character can, I think, easily be seen even from 

 the drawing. The little straight path with its quaint alternate rows of 

 cobble and brick, kept scrupulously clean, approached through a screen, 

 which, slight though it is, just gives the desired touch of aloofness from 

 the village world without. On either side, the weather-beaten brick wall 

 and the old-fashioned flowers, all in scale and keeping with the cottage 

 and its inmates. Conceive this same garden with a spiral path and a 

 Rhododendron or Laurel clump ! No matter what care it had, its homely 

 character, and above all its scale, would be entirely lost, and it would 

 sink into insignificance. 



So also with our small forecourt ; if the arrangement is bad, and the 

 relative scale between house, garden, and flowers be not kept, half its 

 restful charm is gone. Therefore I would avoid at all costs big-scaled 

 shrubs such as Laurels or Rhododendrons, well enough perhaps in a mile- 

 long drive, but quite overpowering the little plot which stands between 

 the house and road ; though, if space allowed, I would certainly suggest 

 the inclusion of some pretty flowering tree, May, Laburnum, Lilac, 

 Almond, or the like. If one could imagine a whole street with a perspec- 

 tive of trim-kept hedges broken with masses of flowers and with suc- 

 ceeding glimpses of bright gravel or simple brick-paved path, surely 

 there would be an enhanced pleasure for all the inhabitants and for every 

 passer-by. 



On coming to the back garden, one is perhaps confronted by more 

 difficulties. Seclusion is still wanted, but it must not be at the expense 

 of sun and air to the plants, and the skilful gardener will make his 

 arrangements according to aspect, and dispose his plants so that sun is 

 secured to those that most need it, and shade to those that thrive in it. 

 Doubtless there are scores of different ways of treating each plot, but the 

 essentials to be aimed at seem to me to be a certain amount of seclusion, 

 a distinct formality of treatment, infinite care in the garden- craft, and 

 careful preservation of scale between flowers, garden, and house. In 

 small gardens such as those under consideration we are not hampered by 

 more than the desire to make the best use of limited ground-space, 

 to provide efficient shelter, and to make the garden as secluded as 

 possible, not forgetting also the modern importance of the garden as 

 the playground, and what should be almost the chief educational 

 influence of young minds. 



If the front garden is planned more with the idea of being seen from 

 the road, the lay-out at the back should undoubtedly be schemed from the 

 point of view from the house. I would therefore suggest that our first 

 object should be to design our garden, as it were, in compartments, to 

 lend an air of uncertainty and mystery to its otherwise unmistakable 

 openness. It is well, too, to remember that the portion most secluded 

 from our neighbours is that nearest the house, and therefore this should, 

 I think, be treated with especial care and thought, so as to contrive a 



