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have to a great extent taken the place of the former, and the change has, we 
are bound to say, proved beneficial. We are not alluding, however, to the 
old-fashioned long and straight borders that formerly prevailed, but to the more 
modern and pleasing style—those that fringe the shrubbery or groups of 
shrubs on the lawn, and thus provided with a noble background of foliage to 
serve as a foil to the many showy and beautiful hardy flowers grown therein. 
A group of hardy perennials, however beautiful in itself, loses half its 
charm in the absence of a background of trees and shrubs ; and the latter, 
too, except in the case of single specimens grown by themselves, are not nearly 
so interesting as when their usually sombre hues are contrasted with bold 
masses of hardy flowers in bloom. To our mind, the ideal flower garden 
is one with a lawn free from beds as much as possible, and with judiciously 
disposed groups of trees and shrubs margined with borders of irregular 
width planted with masses of our brightest and best perennials, roses, 
bulbs, and annuals ; with shady dells for ferns, and rocky banks for upland 
plants. 
Such a garden is always interesting and attractive, because whichever way 
you turn you always find something to engage your attention. In the sunny 
spots hardy flowers or roses are to be seen, and in the shady ones ferns and 
so on. It is clear, therefore, that to have a really pretty garden we must 
avoid the too free use of beds, and instead endeavour to have borders on the 
fringe of the various groups of shrubs. These borders must be of varying 
width according to the size of the shrubs and the local circumstances. In 
any case avoid straight lines; choose easy curves for the outlines, so that 
nothing formal shall offend the eye. Remember this, too, that where the 
shrubs are comparatively dwarf the borders should be narrow, where tall 
gradually swell out into a wide space, so that tall growing plants may be put 
in to make a bold display. It must not be inferred that we advocate forming 
a border all round a group of shrubs on a lawn. Such a plan would at once 
stamp the whole business as quite contrary to the principles we are advocating. 
Judgment and discretion must be used in this as in other matters. In some 
positions a border might be as much as ten feet in width, and the space 
planted with roses. The great aim should be to study every coign of 
vantage in the garden, and in all prominent positions to make provision 
or a group of plants. In places where the trees and shrubs are not 
particularly trim and neat in appearance, but more of a natural character, the 
boundaries of the border need not be defined. Groups of ferns, hellebores 
