44.^ THK QARDKN garden vvill be arranged and planted accord- plan to suggest. Have straight steps, and ing to the final decision of this point. If make them of disused railway-s&DeM the flower-beds get plenty of sun, tea-roses These can usSlli;' bTobtlli^ ^from^the would look lovely in the heart of heart, station-master by ordering some little '?T h^nl';i.'^.'h^ ^ 't ^?* ""^ contrasting time in advance, and, although they do not violas beneath them. Tall^rowing flowers, sound romantic or artistic, you will Ld that such as sweet-peas, sunflowers, dahlias, when pretty little stonecroDs Dansics Michaelmas daisies, would be in the larger aubrietia and other dXrf^nts grow tI u i^;i- XV r . , *" between the steps and spread slightly If bedding-out be preferred, there are over the wood, they look well. Of course. lovely pale pink geraniums, of the ivy-leaf the lasting qualities of tarred wood are kind. Miss Willmott pink verbena for the indisputable. small beds, and tall-growing heliotrope or It is advisable to offer various plans for plumbago would look well in the large beds, selection, in the hope that amongst them Should It be decided to heighten the wall h, there may be ideas that will suit different and i± a great deal of shadow is thus cast requirements. With this end in view I upon the centre of the ground, it will be wise submit a plan for a circular-shaped sunk to have large stretches of turf and fewer garden. flower - beds. Small paved walks could The one I have specially in mind partly divide the turf, and only shade-loving plants real, partly imaginary, was near the sea. would be put either m the chinks between the • There were protecting walls round it to save paving-stones or in any very small border the flowers from boisterous winds, but these or beds that it was considered possible to were hidden by a feathery green hedge of ^^^u- ^^ ^ n. tamarisk. This makes a pleasing-looking This would then be an ideal place for a sheltering hedge — the foliage is graceful, water-lily tank or small aquatic garden, the colour of the green is restful The with London pride, lily of the kind I mean is tamarix valley, and violets encircling -> ^-^-n^T^-^^ gallica, which has pale pink the fountain. Any study •0'^^"0 flowers, borne in summer made of Kensington Palace / /'^-f r^OX "P^" cylindrical spikes. Gardens will give many and /&/ X^^t»^OV t ^he house stands upon a varied ideas for this scheme. / / /E^^.^.-^^-./"^?^ level (h) and looks down I may here mention that / / / / /'v£y upon path d, but as the the Plan a shows a brick wall / A. -^^XN A V ^ paths and many of the beds supporting the house terrace, U^ iJ [c] f ) (^] -are outlined by tall posts with and at l there are circular r^ py W V_y V /^ fl chains suspended from them, stone steps leading from it to y ^-J^/ / and on these are wound the sunk garden. >v^-^-^--^y2;/ / / creepers, thus hanging in Anything to do with stone- XfX^ r^y /G/ ^^stoons, the circular shape work always means heavy ^^-Zl C^^^O^y ^^ ^^^ garden is not quite so expense, and as I am endea- x^^^-^..^^^^ F ^^^y/ apparent from the house vouring to give ideas to those ^-^s...^^]^^^ d^-'^^H terrace as it would appear who do not wish to garden to be on paper. extravagantly, who wish to P'*^" ^,r^"'i?^^°f Y"*^^' ^' P'^L^'c It is onlv on descending ^_„„j 1 11 1 C, Half'moon flower beds ; D, Gravel path; t, . , , - . ^. ^ ^l^ spend only a small surplus Herbaceous border ; F, Grass walk; G, Bank or the StOUC Steps at I that the upon the outside of the house, wall ; H, Level of house ; !, Stone steps plan of the garden strikes us. I may here mention a cheap way of arriving As we walked along the grass walk f, at nearly the same effect. we had upon the right side a lovely bank of Instead of having a stone facing to the house terrace, with a little extra earth — which probably will be to spare from what is originally extracted to make the sunk garden — a sloping bank may be made. In the centre of this it Would look bad to have stone steps, but turf circular ones would look remarkably well. All you will have to do to shape the sides of these steps is to cut out in even strips pieces of an empty oil-barrel. Measure and peg out accurately the outUne required, and then place these strips upright in the ground. The wood can be painted the colour of grass, and will not be noticeable, and you thus will gain a firm support at the sides of the steps, where turf so often gets worn away from constant tread. Having filled up and levelled with soil, you can either lay turf up to the level of these uprights, or sow grass seed. But should you think grass steps a trouble to keep mown, I have another economical varied colours, and on the left side were tall herbaceous plants in border E. Then came the path d — in this instance a gravel one, but possibly more in keeping had it been paved — and from it we could see the lovely pink water-lilies in the centre tank (a). Surrounding the tank was a grass plot (b), with half-moon flower-beds (c) cut in it. These were filled with bright bedding plants, and gave a culmination of strong colour to the centre of the garden. The advantage of this plan is, that in a some- what limited area are a great many plants, and each has a fitting and suitable home, for the Alpines and shelter-loving things are on a bank, the hardy herbaceous plants are in a wide border, where they can l)e easily seen and cut from, the water-lilies find a happy home in the tank, and if a few bedding-out plants arc needed, the beds (c) are easily filled with them.
