268 
THE NATIONAL NUBSERYMAN 
Formal Gardens 
T he lonnal garden is usually “my lady’s” special 
desire when the ground's of a new home are to 
be laid out, and very often in the renovation and 
im])rovement of old ones. 
We meet with lots of likes and dislikes in styles of 
gardening, but the little i)lot set apart from the general 
scheme of planting, in the shape of a formal place for 
informal plants is pretty generally liked. 
Some, of course, are veiy elaborate, with fountains, 
statuary and masonry, and call for the best there is in 
the professional landscape architect, but more often it is 
hedge, vine-covered fence, or whatever means are used 
to accomplish it. 
The garden enclosed by a fence, covered with Roses or 
other vines, gives a very pretty effect, and is always 
worth consideration when j)lanning the formal garden. 
Hedges of all kinds, of course, may be used, but it is 
always better to give preference to the evergreen type 
rather than those that lose the leaves, for the sake of 
w inter effect. 
At this point the nurseryman’s advice is often valuable, 
as he know s which })lant is best adapted for the locality 
,1 formal garden showing the use of Box-Barherry for edging the beds. A very hardy substitute for the 
old-fashioned Box 
the pet hohby of the ow ner to have a garden that will ex¬ 
press her owm individuality, as she puts it, and it is up 
to the nurseryman to be prepared to help her to do it, for 
he -ill be held responsible for all failures that fall short 
of •.cl-ieving the vision she had in mind. 
“I want my garden to be a dream in lavender and 
white f-'Oi:: the first of April until the frost comes” wdll 
likely br t ‘ specifications. However, before this dream 
can be even attempted, the foundation of the garden has 
to be mad'‘, namely the enclosure, whether it be by wall, 
under consideration. 
Sometimes flow^ering shrubs are suggested, but these 
are rarely suitable from the fact that it is only during a 
very brief season, w hen they are in flower, that they are 
attractive. The rest of the year they are ragged and do 
not serve the purpose intended. 
Where a formal line is to be made it is w^ell to recog¬ 
nize the necessity of a clipped or at least a very formal 
growing i)lant. For tho edging or outlining of beds and 
W'alks, Box has been the genei'al favoi'ite. This how ever, 
