BscEMBEB 13,1913. the GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 
t PERGOLAS IN ENGLISH GARDENS, i 
I 
The pergola is an exotic, and, that 
being so, ite free nse is to some extent 
restricted in English gardens. Its pre¬ 
valent use as a means for supporting and 
giving effect to climbing plants, of which 
rambling roses, wistarias, polygonums, 
clematis, and vines are familiar instances, 
is so fully recognised that it is unnecessary 
to enlarge upon this aspect of the question 
at present. There is, however, a ten¬ 
dency, when the pergola is introduced in¬ 
discriminately, to destroy a certain amount 
of the repose that one instinctively feels 
should be a characteristic of a private gar- 
would be cunsiderable when we re<'<)lhvt 
that in the majority of instuneiv it would 
be on a lower level. 
It is not always possible to apply a rule 
literally, and this hohls gcaxl with |M*r- 
gohis in our country. There an* 
sions when a simple structure of lar<h 
poles will give an element of lH*auty that 
we cannot fail to admire; Uu» eff«H3t will 
be greatly heightened if we can bring the 
mast-like steiius of eonifer.s into the gar¬ 
den picture, in .sympathetic harmcmy with 
the scheme; such an arrangement would 
give the most pleasing rissults in 1 . - formal 
931 ) 
UjMHi a low wall; tl*. I.. . )M*tw<^m tlw 
- I! ■ : .i ! '.inld liie :*!antiul 
oi vtnMigth and % V : 
t iin*N that ared*«ira* *. .vb. r. ,i hnuki effc> T 
- lUH. 
.\v in till- di'l i’!> of plantiiiiz. the Him- 
bits carried up the robntiii* and over- 
Iwad are draM •> fr-'5 ^ ra pr«'- 
vioudy motuioiitHi. m noor* n to which 
tlio <^>mmon atii|M!. p.'.'s in largely nia^le 
U.M of. both on t of lU luxuriant 
b-nf.i^o ill KUniiiM I .ill 1 the brilliant tinta 
at ill* fall od ilio lent in atitiitiiti. In the 
naiiow bordei.s (hat run parallel with tin* 
on either ‘<le. an oxtenaive 
M hi til. IS carriixl out !.> ib. aid of Lilium 
longitionim; the illii>LiaL- n give's M ir.c 
i<Iea of the effw t fd wh.-it is pia« t;< ri!!y an 
unbroken chain of white, although it ron- 
\i\N no klea of lb ' huV*;!v- ar.rn i that 
den, and this must inevitably follow when 
a pergola is built merely for the spec¬ 
tacular effect it will produce. When its 
relation to other features, more in sym¬ 
pathy with a typical English landscape, is 
ignored, it must frequently happen that, 
instead of proving a necessary part of a 
connected scheme, an ill-considered per¬ 
gola is a source of offence. 
Italy is usually regarded as the home 
of the pergola, and there its practical use 
is to afford a screen from the sun; we may 
rightly regard it as a lateral development 
of that art which has bequeathed us those 
faultless terraced gardens of the form^ 
■school, and as such its stone columns and 
paved covered-way would readily harm(> 
nise with the garden scheme. Its wealth 
of overhead growth would form admirable 
■shade from the violence of the sun’s rays, 
Ihe stone pathway would impart a cool- 
riess not. to be despised, while the beauty 
of the pergola, as seen from the mansion. 
rts of the garden. Some country houses 
g buUt on the half-timbered iirin- 
lie and were a pergola thought desir- 
le'in proximity to such a ho\m\ then 
arrangement of squared-oak vortical 
ams, with a lighter superstructure of 
e same material, would, in aU prolmbdity. 
re good results. 
A nergola arrangement of considerable 
autV Lrewith illustrated, forim an in- 
xral part of an extensive scheme ot 
rmal ^rdening, arrange<l on terraces 
mediately below the level of the man- 
,n The pergolas, of which there are 
o' are arrLged as the flanking mem- 
rs of what is, roughly, a square, ^ey 
cur on the intermediate level, 
the highest terrace the spe^tor 
ews the overhead portion; it is, 
jicrvades this part of the garden dur¬ 
ing the |K»riod wh<*n the lilies are in 
flower. 
The entrance to the |>ergola consist* of 
hroarl steps of stone, leading upwards by 
easy “ risers ”; the ends of tlu* steps are 
built into hollow brickwork, which is ar- 
range<l on both sides in the form of ramps; 
each ramp makes a rc^ceptaclo that is 
fillwl with soil, and in which plants of 
the common Lavender Cotton (Snntolina) 
have lieen planted, and their light, fleecy, 
grey .shoots form a most pleasing feature, 
while the plant emits a delicate fragrance 
whenever it is bruised or rubbed against. 
Although most special studies have chiefly 
a local application, it is generally possible 
to derive some suggestion, principle, or 
little detail from them, capable of elabora¬ 
tion under different conditions, an<l in 
various parts of the country. 
Thos. Smith. 
Coombe Court Gardens, Kingston. 
