THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
13 
ram or snow. The best cheap tile I have yet seen is one made 
for me by Mr. Looker, of Kingston-on-Thames, for supporting 
a border, which stands above the walk in an out-of-the-way 
part of the garden. It is in form an unequal triangle, nine 
inches high, and six inches broad, carefully made, and well 
baked. If set on a true, firm bed, it is practically immov¬ 
able, and proof against all weathers. The border it supports 
is planted along the front line with a number of half-trailing 
plants, which hang over the sloping front, and form a varied 
fringe of beautiful vegetation, quite hiding the low red wall 
of tiles, which gives the border its definite boundary. When 
costly edging kerbs are put down, it is advantageous to bed 
them on brick footings, the top line of which should be an 
inch or so below the level of the gravel. This adds to their 
strength and immobility. 
In planting choice shrubs amongst trees, it is advisable to 
take precautions against that 
warfare of competing roots 
by which frequently the 
undergrowth of a plantation 
is killed out. In the use of 
shrubs worth special defence, 
the plan shown in the figure 
is admirable. Dig a hole of 
a suitable size, say to mea¬ 
sure a yard and a half deep, 
and a yard wide right and 
left; case the hole with 
brickwork, and at a third of 
the depth from the bottom 
let in a platform of stone or 
elm planks. On the plat¬ 
form lay down a bed of 
broken pots, then fill up with suitable soil, and plant the shrub. 
The vacant space beneath the platform will prevent the 
roots of the big trees working up into the good soil provided 
for the shrub. This is a costly mode of procedure, but in a 
spot required to be richly furnished, it is to be recommended, 
because it insures, amidst large trees, a free undergrowth of 
the most beautiful evergreen shrubs, provided only there is 
light enough to keep them healthy. 
It is usually required of a writer on gardening to point out 
