THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 7 
In laying out a garden, it is impossible to foresee wliat 
changes it may undergo as new wants arise, or as fancy, seek¬ 
ing a homely field of exercise, may dictate as “ improvements.” 
It is therefore well (except in particular cases that need not 
be provided for) to adopt in the first instance a simple plan 
that will afford a fair basis for after elaboration, as circum¬ 
stances arise to necessitate it. Such a plan, in skeleton, is here 
figured. It was drawn for a friend who had taken apiece of 
roiigh, low-lying meadow-land, on which to build a house 
and make a garden. It is drawn on a scale of fifty feet to the 
inch. D R is the drawing-room, the windows of which look 
upon a small neat lawn, dotted with coniferous trees and 
clumps of rhododendrons. T is the terrace; F T, plantation of 
fruit-trees; K G, kitchen-garden plots. The dotted lines show 
the course of the drain-pipes, the land falling away from the 
house somewhat rapidly. The conservatory, c, and the 
boundary borders, s, need not be remarked upon, but the 
other features demand a few words. In the first instance, the 
ground presented a steeper slope than was desirable, and 
being a clay soil heavily charged with moisture, the highest 
part was selected for the house, and that was raised con¬ 
siderably by means of the earth taken out for the foundation. 
Thus was formed the terrace, an excellent feature, for it com¬ 
mands an extensive view over a beautiful piece of country, 
which was scarcely visible from the same spot, until a higher 
level was obtained for the advantage of the house. The out¬ 
lying e H is an engine-house, which is quite excluded from the 
terrace view by means of a few trees planted for the purpose. 
The lawn is, of course, on a dead level, but beyond that point 
the ground falls gently to the boundary in the rear, where 
there is ample outlet for the drainage. Let us suppose now 
that the proprietor takes in another piece of land for fruit and 
vegetable culture, or gives up those things for the sake of 
flowers. The plots below are available for any scheme con¬ 
sistent -with the capabilities of the place. On the pieces 
marked F t may be formed a geometric garden, enclosed by 
clipped hedges of yew, arbor vitae, or by a fence covered with 
climbing roses. On the K G pieces may be formed a mixed 
flower garden for hardy herbaceous plants, roses, and flowering 
shrubs. And the extreme rear plot marked B B, for bush 
fruits, may be planted with a mixture of the most elegant 
low-growing, deciduous trees, to make a fringe of wood to 
