March 27, 1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
261 
add a little life and movement to the picturesqueness may be kept, 
and some of the rarer kinds of aquatic plants grown ; besides this the 
moisture arising from such a sheet of water would be very beneficial to 
many rock plants. Among the shrubs suitable for a rockery may be 
mentioned most shrubs with trailing habit, such as Ivy, Cotoneaster 
microphylla. Periwinkles, some kinds of Berberis ; climbers also, such 
as Clematis, Virginian Creeper, and the better sorts of Brambles, if they 
are carefully pruned so as not to stifle the smaller plants and Ferns, 
are pleasing adjuncts to the bolder parts, while varieties of the green¬ 
leaved Holly, Arbutus, and Junipers, will be ornamental evergreens to 
■give colouring to the scene. 
Parks and Lodges. 
The last special department on which I should like to write a few 
•words is that of parks and lodges. Much greater care and attention is 
required to effectively form and plant a park well than to design a 
•garden, inasmuch as the trees and materials with which one works are 
on a bolder and grander scale. If, then, the clumps or plantations are 
injudiciously placed or are too numerous they look blotchy and become 
■offensive to the eye. If there are too many specimens scattered about 
■the whole looks “ spotty ” and contrary to Nature. On the other hand, if 
the clumps are too narrow and thin and the specimens too few there is 
* bareness and baldness, which is as faulty and out of character as over¬ 
planting. The glades of a park should be broad and undulating, the 
plantations at their margin bold and rich in clothing. Specimen trees 
-should chiefly be attached to those clumps which stand alone in a glade, 
in order that it may have an appearance of continuity, and not seem to 
end too abruptly and artificially. A park should not be considered as 
an isolated factor in a design, but must be in unison with the other 
parts, and represent an intermediate link between the dressed portions 
of a garden and the wilder, freer, and bolder characteristics of Nature. 
In close proximity to the garden the ground should have a certain 
•degree of smoothness and ease, the clumps richer than the outside 
boundaries, thus assisting a gradual and almost imperceptible transition 
-between the wilder features of Nature and the more polished scenery of 
^the garden. 
A few words as to the trees most serviceable for park planting. For 
■specimen trees nothing will surpass some of the Abies, especially the 
Abies Douglasi. Quercus Ilex, Cedar of Lebanon, Bed-flowering Horse 
•Chestnut, Cedrus Deodara, Taxodium distichum. Purple Beech, Elms, 
lEnglish Oak, Scarlet Oak, and Sycamore are also useful in this respect. 
Very showy shrubs or trees are, however, inadmissible in a park, as they 
interrupt the gradual transition from Art to Nature. The commoner 
kinds of Thorn, Holly, Yew, Box ; in chalky districts the common 
-Juniper, Furze, Broom, and Privet, Berberis aquifolium, are among the 
most useful for planting in the clumps. To these may be added the 
•common Oak, Elm, Beech, Hazel, Mountain Ash, common Whitebeam, 
•Spruces, Scotch Fir, Austrian Pine, and many others. 
Lodges should never be seen from the house, and therefore are 
seldom needed in a demesne of limited extent, as the drive to the 
mansion should be long enough to hide the lodge from view. The lodge 
should be placed on the side which has the best view of the road and 
■drive, and for that reason the inner side of the curve wmuld be most 
suitable supposing that the drive curves at all. A few flowers and 
shrubs would be an appropriate accompaniment to a lodge, as they 
■give the dwelling a pleasant, bright appearance. A bank of shrubs and 
trees around to screen it, with a few specimens at the margin, also 
gives the dwelling a park-like appearance, and prevents the building 
being staring and out of character with its surroundings. 
Practical Treatment. 
It is with a few suggestions on the practical treatment of a garden 
that I purpose bringing to an end this paper on the art of landscape 
gardening. First of all, with reference to the outline of work in laying 
out grounds, it is essential if Jand of any extent is to be laid out, 
whether it be a public park, cemetery, or garden, that a definite plan 
of arrangement on a sufficiently large scale be first decided upon, as it 
is much easier to judge the proportions of the various parts of a design 
on a plane surface, such as paper, than on the natural surface of the 
ground. Sections where the ground is very uneven should then be 
drawn out from levels previously taken, the vertical scale being double 
the horizontal scale for the sake of distinctness. Tracings of all should 
then be given to the foreman to guide him in his work. When this has 
been done, the next thing is to set out the walks, plantations, and beds 
by actual measurement from the plan, in order that you may obtain 
the same easiness of lines and curves, and the accurate distribution of 
the various parts. 
Then the actual work begins, and the soil and turf should be stripped 
off and taken away from the spot which the house will cover, and at 
least from 25 to 30 feet all round, in order that space may be given to 
the builders and workmen, and room for depositing rubbish, from 
the foundations. The main drive to the house should then be at once 
commenced, the soil taken out to the depth of about 18 inches, the 
drain laid, and the drive filled up to within about 3 inches of the 
surface with flints, coarse gravel, rubble, or any angular material that 
will remain dry and porous ; lastly, the whole must be well beaten to 
make the various materials set well. 
The reasons for forming the main drive first are obvious—namely, 
to prevent workmen employed in building the house from making 
footpaths and roads over all parts of the ground, and to give a means 
of access to the house for carts. The boundary fence should then 
be the next consideration, as it affords privacy to the place and prevents 
people trampling over any portion of the ground. The walls of the 
kitchen garden must be built as soon as possible, in order to get the 
bricklayers out of the way before anything is done in the way of 
trenching or levelling. In the meantime any rough work can be done, 
such as draining, forming mounds, sheets of water, or rockeries, so as 
to gradually work the surface of the ground into the proper shape and 
outlines. 
By this time the house will no doubt be nearly finished as far as 
the building is concerned, so that the edgings of the walks can be 
formed, planting begun, as it is much better to plant before the turf is 
laid down, in order that the grass may not be soiled or trampled ; the 
ground may be levelled and the turf laid. 
When the grass has settled and the workmen have left the house, 
the verges can be accurately cut, the gravel on the walks and 
drives laid down, and the whole completed. If, however, any workmen, 
such as plasterers, painters, or carpenters doing outside work to the 
house have not finished, it is better to defer the planting, levelling, 
and turfing immediately around the house, as the turf and shrubs 
may get trampled on and even destroyed. I have now given a rough 
and cursory sketch of the routine of work in laying out a garden, I will 
give a few suggestions on the practical treatment of walks, drains, and 
planting. 
(To be continued.) 
TREDEGAE PARK. 
Situated between two of the busiest ports of South Wales, Cardiff, 
and Newport, and only two miles distant from the latter, bounded by a 
network of railways that are continually busy bearing their freights of 
coal and other minerals for sea transit, and the hosts of passengers that 
are always on the wing between South Wales and the outside world 
bent upon matters of commerce, &c. Here, within a somewhat exten¬ 
sive and well-furnished park, stands the above mansion, the beautiful 
home of generations of the Morgan family. The family, now repre¬ 
sented by the Eight Hon. Lord Tredegar, have been connected with the 
county history of both Brecon and Monmouth for upwards of 250 years, 
both counties being repeatedly represented in Parliament by them. 
The mansion was built early in the seventeenth century, and an idea of 
its importance will be gained from the fact that its architect was no other 
than the famous Inigo Jones, the style of which will be seen by the 
accompanying illustration. The present Lord Tredegar is known as one 
of the heroes of the “ Charge of the Light Brigade,” serving as Captain 
in the 17th Lancers, then the Hon. Geoffrey Morgan. He rode through 
Balaclava, Alma, and Inkerman, and escaped with his famous charger “ Sir 
Briggs ” to well-earned retirement at Tredegar. “ Sir Briggs ” has since 
had honourable burial in the grounds, with a monument bearing a suitable 
inscription to his memory marking the spot. May his noble rider long 
survive him. As patrons of agriculture and horticulture the family 
have been long and widely known. The annual fat stock show bearing 
his lordship’s name is _among the first of its kind ; but our interest is 
chiefly with the latter pursuit, and therefore must chronicle our 
impressions from the horticulturist’s standpoint. First of all our atten¬ 
tion is directed to a group of trees in the flower garden that appear 
somewhat out of place. There are some very fine Larches, Cedar of 
Lebanon, Catalpa, Cork Tree, and Red Wood, with specimens of Silver 
Elms at a short distance off, about 60 feet high. These specimens are 
respectively among the earliest introductions of their kinds to this 
country, after hearing which we feel far from begrudging them their 
places. There are also in the vicinity some fine specimens of Tulip Tree, 
and Sweet Bays are perfectly at home, several specimens over 30 feet 
high. Enumerating trees reminds us of another somewhat rare speci¬ 
men in a moist position adjoining the kitchen garden—namely, the 
Liquidamber, 35 feet high. Immediately fronting the mansion there 
are also some fine specimens of Variegated Hollies and Araucarias, as 
shown in fig. 34 ; and bordering an ornamental lake, which supplies 
water to the mansion, are magnificent deciduous trees in variety, bear¬ 
ing evidences of many storms in the long past, but well calculated to 
brave the fury of many more. A young pinetum in miniature near by 
contained some excellent Wellingtonias, running a very even race of 
