GARDEN CRAFT. 



99 



There is the Garden of Friendship — of plants given to us by 

 our friends ; the Garden of Memories — of places visited, and of 

 interesting events ; and when there are plantations adjoining 

 there should be what is called " The Wild Garden," by which I 

 mean the planting in open spaGes here and there of such flowers 

 as are most likely to flourish. Again I must refer to a book on 

 this subject by my friend, and dedicated to me, William Robin- 

 son. An infinite number of lovely plants may be thus intro- 

 duced, to the continual surprise and delight of the rambler : 

 Roses, Honeysuckles, Clematis, Spiraeas, Lilacs, Laburnums, 

 Cherries, Crabs, Thorns, and at intervals bright patches of 

 flowers, bulbous and perennial. Every garden must have its 

 fernery, large or small. 



Let me utter, in conclusion, a few words of warning to the 

 younger disciples. Don't be too anxious to improve Nature, or 

 you may impoverish instead of enriching creation. Beware of 

 incongruities, beware of brickdust, powdered gypsum, clinkers, 

 and bottle-ends. I am fond of sailors and of ships, but the 

 figurehead of Nelson in a cocked hat, or of Britannia in a helmet, 

 or of a mermaid, with immense blue eyes and flowing hair, set up 

 in a garden, seem to me about as appropriate as a lighthouse 

 in a millpool ! I once saw in a tea-garden near London the 

 imitation of an Araucaria imbricata in cast iron, and painted a 

 gaudy green. I felt indisposed ; and I am sure that, if I were 

 inadvertently to swallow poison, the glimpse of that Araucaria 

 would be the most powerful emetic I could find. Such mon- 

 strosities are as hideous as the heraldic animals, on poles painted 

 with the Tudor colours, which King Nebuchadnezzar — I beg 

 pardon, King Henry the Eighth — set up in his garden at Hampton 

 Court. The ships of the Wise King went to Tarshish, and, once in 

 three years, they came back and brought, with other treasures, 

 apes and peacocks ; but Solomon, I am convinced, was too good a 

 gardener, for he spake of trees from the Cedar Tree which is in 

 Lebanon unto the Hyssop which springeth out of the wall, to 

 copy them in clipped Yew. 



Statues should be used abstemiously. When their Roman 

 noses begin to crumble, and their togas are covered with moss, 

 and irreverent boys adorn them with billycocks, they do not 

 embellish the scene. 



Be cautious with regard to artificial water ; beware of mud 

 banks and stagnant waters. 



