GARDENS FOR SMALL
COUNTRY HOUSES
HUDSON & KEARNS
LIMITED, PRINTERS,
. LONDON, S.E.
GARDENS FOR SMALL
COUNTRY HOUSES
BY
GERTRUDE JEKYLL & LAWRENCE WEAVER
THIRD EDITION.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICES OF COUNTRY LIFE
20, TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, AND BY
GEORGE NEWNES, LTD., 8-n, SOUTHAMPTON STREET
STRAND, W.C. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
MCMXIV.
Main Lib;
Agric. Dept.
LIFE
First Edition, October, 1912.
Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged, January, 1913.
Third Edition, Revised, May, 1914.
PREFACE
TO THE
THIRD EDITION.
WITHIN eighteen months of its first issue, the need has arisen to print a third edition
of " Gardens for Small Country Houses." This seems proof enough that the volume,
concerned chiefly as it is with problems of garden design, has filled a place, hitherto
empty, on the bookshelves of the garden-loving public.
The opportunity afforded by the second edition was taken to expand the
introductory chapter by including in it some further examples of gardens, notable
either for the apt use which has been made of a hillside site, as at Markyate Cell
and Owlpen Manor, or for the possibilities of a walled enclosure, as at Edzell, or
of topiary work in a limited space, as at Bridge End, Saffron Walden. The
measured drawings of these gardens which are now reproduced wrere not completed
in time for the first edition, but their inclusion (especially in the case of the
hillside examples) has added much to the practical value of the book.
For this edition fewer alterations have been made, but some further notes
on plants for rock gardens have been added to Chapter XXI.
G. J.
L. W.
340592
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
Relation of garden to house. Importance of
preserving or creating character. Hillside
Gardens. Owlpen {Manor and ^Markyate
Cell. Misuse of conifers. 'Beauty of native
evergreens. Various sites. Tew and other
hedges. Topiary work in small gardens.
Walls. Treillage. Quiet entrances.
Tlanting at house-foot . . XVII
CHAPTER I. — MILLMEAD, BRAMLEY, SURREY.
Site of ancient buildings. Shapeless ground.
Terraced in successive levels. Steps and dry-
walling. Summer-houses . . i
CHAPTER II. — Two GARDENS IN FOREST
CLEARINGS.
Woodgate^ Four Oaks. Virgin woodland,
gmerson and Reginald Blomfield on design.
High Cox /ease, Lyndhurst. Rock and water
10
CHAPTER III. — A GARDEN IN BERKSHIRE.
Roses grown as "Fountains." 'Brick dry-
walling. Stone-edged water garden. Refined
detail and ornaments . . • :7
CHAPTER. IV. — WESTBROOK, GODALMING.
Situation. Special compartments. Careful
planting scheme. Winter garden. Covered
seats. Flower border facing north . 27
CHAPTER V. — A GARDEN IN WEST SURREY.
Poor soil. 3{o definite plan. TaVed court
with tank and steps. Colour in flower
borders. Woodland paths. Thunder-
house ..... 3^
CHAPTER VI. — HIGHMOUNT, GUILDFORD.
Site and Views. Excavation of chalk. 'Rose
garden. Planted Walls. Garden-houses.
Colour schemes. Framing the Views 46
CHAPTER VII. — THE TREATMENT OF SMALL
SITES.
Some gardens by Mr. Inigo Triggs. The
value of historical examples. 'Paved
parterres. The use of treillage. A town
garden by Mr. Lutyens. A seaside garden
by Mr. Mallows. Planting scheme by Mr.
H. Avray Tipping. Various' typical
examples . . . • ' '55
CHAPTER VIII. — ON HILLSIDE GARDENS.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu on terraces.
Stairways. Terraced gardens. Inexpensive
materials. Various examples . 74
CHAPTER IX. — STEPS AND STAIRWAYS.
Approach steps from road. Stairways in
children s dramas. Stepped treatment for
gentle slopes. Straight and curved stairs.
Terrace steps. Unformal stairs . 85
CHAPTER X.- — BALUSTRADES AND WALLS.
The design of balusters. The imitation of
historical examples. Walls and parapets
of open brickwork. Walls surmounted by
beams. A coronal garden. Serpentine
walls. Building in concrete . 100
CHAPTER XI. — CLIMBING AND OTHER PLANTS
ON WALLS AND HOUSES.
Misuse of ivy. Of ampelopsis. Of
wistaria. Various climbers. Shrubs trained
to walls . . . .ill
CHAPTER XII. — RETAINING WALLS AND
THEIR PLANTING.
Hillside sites. Turf banks. Dry walling.
Grouping in planted dry walls in sun and
shade. Construction. Importance of ram-
ming. Steps . . . .119
CHAPTER XIII. — YEW AND OTHER HEDGES.
Tew hedges in ancient gardens. In modern
use. Other trees for hedges. Box. Holly.
Privet. Laurel. Beech. Hornbeam.
Thorough planting. Topiary work . 129
CHAPTER XIV. — WATER IN THE FORMAL
GARDEN.
" The soul of gardens?' Reflections. Pools
and their water-levels. Varied shapes*.
Lily ponds and their depth. Separate poof
gardens. Water parterres. Fountains and
their sculpture. Leadwork. Well-heads.
Pumps . . . . .141
X.
CONTENTS— continued.
CHAPTER XV. — METHODS OF PAVING.
Rectangular jointing. 'Random jointing.
Local methods. Pitched paving. Paving
of shingle. Of bricf^ and tile . 171
CHAPTER XVI. — THE PERGOLA.
Italian pergolas. Sng/is/i, of oa^ and of
larch poles. With stone ^ bricJ^ and tile piers.
Troportions. Garlands on chains. Suitable
plants. Cohered alleys. Treillage . 179
CHAPTER XVII. — GATES AND GATEWAYS.
Entrance stairways. Gates to forecourts.
Carriage gates. Notes on eighteenth century
smiths. Gateways and vistas. In walled
gardens. Wooden gates . . 194
CHAPTER XV11I. — GARDEN-HOUSES.
The place of summer-houses in general scheme.
"Building in vernacular manners. Thatched
roofs. Cob. Use of old materials. In
walled gardens. Shelters and tool-houses
207
CHAPTER XIX. — STATUES AND VASES.
Their especial ^alue in small gardens.
Scarcity of good models. Professor Lethaby
on leaden figures. On gate - piers.
Cupids. Pan. The right placing oj
ornaments . . • .219
CHAPTER XX. — SUNDIALS AND SEATS.
The placing of sundials. Various simple
types. The game of " clocks.'* Stone seats
and their setting. Wooden chairs and
tables . . . . .227
CHAPTER XXI. — ROCK GARDENS (con-
tributed by Raymond E. Negus).
Modern rock gardening. Principles of design.
Stratification. Formation of the roc^ garden.
I(inds of roc J^. Likes and dislikes ofalpines.
Planting. Shrubs. Situation of the rock
garden. Uses of rockwork. Pools. Bog
gardens. Paths. Steps. Moraines . 240
INDEX
257
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
COLOURED FRONTISPIECE : JUNE BORDERS OF LUPIN AND IRIS IN THE GARDEN AT MUNSTEAD WOOD.
i. Lily Pool and Colonnaded Screen of
Treillage.
ii. Drawing Showing Close Connection ol
House and Garden,
iii. Plan of a Garden by C. E. Mallows.
THE GARDEN OF OWLPEN MANOR :
iv. Hillside Garden, View from South-
west.
v. Plan,
vi. Sections,
vii. View from North-west.
viii. Bird's-eye View.
THE GARDEN OF MARKYATE CELL :
ix. The Pergola.
x. View Across Forecourt,
xi. Chief Stairway Looking Eastwards,
xii. Access to the Rose Garden,
xiii. Plan.
xiv. Section.
xv. ,,
xvi. Looking Across Rose Garden to
Yew Hedge,
xvii. Curved Stair at Corner of Rose
Garden.
xviii. Plan of Mr. Horace Hutchinson's Garden,
xix. Yews at Shepherd's Gate,
xx. Walled Garden at The Murrel, Aberdour.
xxi. Plan of a Garden by E. White,
xxii. Plan of Garden of Hardy Flowers on
One and a-half Acre.
BRIDGE END GARDEN, SAFFRON WALDEN:
xxiii. Lead Fountain,
xxiv. View from Platform at East End.
xxv. Plan and Cross Section,
xxvi. Topiary Work.
GARDEN AT DORMY HOUSE, WALTON
HEATH :
xxvii. Plan,
xxviii. Approach from Golf Club.
xxix. Pergola.
xxx. A Planted Pavement.
xxxi. Walled Garden at Edzell Castle,
xxxii. An Idea for Wall Gardening,
xxxiii. Flower Border Against Wall.
xxxiv. Treillage at Ravensbury Manor,
xxxv. A Broad Treillage Arch,
xxxvi. A Treillage Colonnade,
xxx vii. Trellis at Orchards.
xxxviii. Plan of Rock Garden Near but Screened
from House,
xxxix. Effect of Simple Flagged Path Across
Lawn.
xl. Treatment for the Forecourt of a Small
Cottage.
xli. Another Forecourt Treatment,
xlii. Suggested Plan to Provide Turning
Space for Motor-car.
MILLMEAD :
The First Summer-house.
Planting Plan.
Planting of Retaining Wall and Border.
General Plan.
Planting Plan.
Border by Lower Steps.
The House from Bottom of Garden.
Steps and Sundial.
The Dipping Well.
Woo DG ATE :
Steps and Garden-house.
Garden Plan.
Pool in Water Garden.
A Lily Pond.
HIGH COXLEASE :
Entrance Front.
The South Front.
In the Rock and Water Garden.
Lilies and Gables.
•
A GARDEN IN BERKSHIRE :
The Garland Rose.
General Plan.
The Tank Garden.
Planting Plan.
Planting Plan of Tank Garden.
West End of Flower Border.
The Garland Rose, Hanging Over a
Dry Wall.
Steps and Dry Walling.
Planted Dry Wall.
i.
2.
3-
4-
5-
6.
7-
TO.
II.
12.
13-
14.
16.
17-
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23-
24.
25-
26.
27.
Xll.
ILLUSTRATIONS—
28. Rambling Rose in Old Apple Tree.
29. Planting Plan.
30. Flower Border Near Back Gate.
31. Planting Plan.
WESTBROOK, GODALMING :
32. The Pleached Lime Walk, from the
Study Window.
33. General Plan of Garden.
34. A Roofed Seat.
35. The Loggia.
36. The Circular Sunk Garden : Planting
Plan.
37. The Sunk Garden from the South.
38. The Sunk Garden from the West.
39. Planting Plan of the Winter Garden.
40. The Winter Garden.
41. A Sheltered Seat.
A GARDEN IN WEST SURREY:
42. The Tank and Steps.
43. The Paved Court and Steps.
44. General Plan.
45. The Paved Court.
46. The East End of the Main Flower
Border.
47. Yuccas in the Flower Border.
48. A Special Border of Grey, White,
Pink and Purple.
49. Ditto : Planting Plan.
50. The Green Wood-walk.
51. One of the Ways from Wood to Lawn.
52. Planting Plan of a Group at the Wood
Edge for Winter and Early Spring.
53. Autumn-blooming Shrubs.
54. The Thunder-house.
HlGHMOUNT, GUILDFORD I
55. Circular Tank and Steps at West End
of Rose Garden.
56. General Plan.
57. Steps and Pavement at the East End
of Rose Garden.
58. Planting Plan of Top of Circular Dry
Wall.
59. From the Middle of the Rose Garden.
60. Sketch of Wall Planting.
61. Angle of Dry Wall.
62. Campanula isophylla alba, in the Dry
Wall.
63. Planting Plan of Borders of West Walk.
64. The Garden-houses.
65. The West End of the Pergola.
66. LITTLE BOARHUNT, LIPHOOK:
67. The Sunk Garden.
68. Steps, Gate and Wall.
69. A Simple Brick-built Dovecote.
70. Plan of Garden.
71 Rose Garden at Island, Steep.
72. Paved Forecourt at Seal Hollow, Sevenoaks.
73. Paved Garden at Combelands. Pulborough.
74. „ at The Platts, Petersfield.
75. Sunk Garden at Cray before Planting.
PLEWLAND, HASLEMERE :
76. Plan of Garden.
77. View of Sunk Garden.
78. Plan of a Garden enclosed by treillage.
79. Sketch
100, CHEYNE WALK, CHELSEA :
80. Plan of a Town Garden.
81. Pool and Statues.
82. The Screen
83. A Sheltered Seaside Garden on the East
Coast : Drawing by C. E. Mallows.
84. A Sheltered Seaside Garden : Plan.
85. Pool and Paving.
86. A Little Garden at Walberswick : Plan.
87. ,, ,, Masonry Seat.
88. „ ,, Stepped Path.
GOODRICH HOUSE :
Plan of Garden.
Fountain.
View.
View.
Plan of a Garden at Dorchester.
A Scheme tor Treatment of a Narrow Plot :
Perspective Sketch.
Ditto : Plan.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93-
94.
95-
HURTWOOD, SURREY :
96. Treatment of Sloping Ground Without
Stairway.
97. A Steep Ascent.
98. Plan of Gardens, near House.
99. Design by C. E. Mallows for Stairway on
Gentle Slope.
LlTTLEHOLME, GUILDFORD '.
zoo. Plan and Section Showing Treatment
of Sloping Site.
101. View from Loggia, Across First and
Second Terraces.
Terraces and Stairs from South-west.
Showing Outline of Upper Terrace.
The Terrace Stairs.
102.
103.
104.
HURTWOOD EDGE :
105. Perspective View of Scheme for Garden.
106. Terrace from Below.
107. The Terrace.
lo-S. Plan of Garden Scheme.
109. Treatment of Hillside at The Barn, Witley.
no. A Hillside Garden at Petersfield.
in. „ >,
112. Widening Stairway at Ardkinglas.
1 13. Curved Entrance Stairway at Owlpen Manor.
114. An Unrailed Stair.
ILLUSTRATIONS—
Xlll.
115. An Angled Stairway with Low Coping.
116. Terrace Stairway Divided by Small Pool.
117. Terrace Staircase of Flags and Flint.
118. At Home Place, Norfolk.
119. Alteration of Round and Square Steps.
120. Stepped Approach to Pergola.
121. Detached Porch and Stair.
122. Round Stair on Terrace.
123. Steep Flight of Steps at Mathern.
124. Roughly-built Stair from Terrace to Lawn.
125. Terrace Steps by E. L. Lutyens.
126. Broad Stairway from Terrace to Lawn.
127. Double Stairway with Pool : Perspective
Sketch.
128. „ „ Plan.
Simple Stairway for a Woodland Walk.
A Jacobean Balustrade.
Balustrade at Newton Ferrers, Cornwall.
Terrace Balustrade at Rotherfield.
Details of Terrace Walls.
Wall in Moulded Brick.
Open Parapet of Curved Tiles.
Wall of Hollow Hexagonal Tiles.
Wall with Openwork Panels.
Stone Wall with Timbered Piers.
The Same in Brick with Flower Boxes.
The Coronal : Round Walled Garden at
Athelhampton.
141. Serpentine Wall at Heveningham Hall.
142. Flower-bed Against Serpentine Wall : Plan.
143. ,, „ Alternative Plan.
144. Wall with Square Breaks.
145. Concrete Walls at Lambay.
146. Wall Masking Kitchen Quarters.
I46A. Wall at Wroxall Abbey.
147. Overgrowth of Ivy on Sculptured Gateway.
148. ,, ,, Gate-pier and Garden-
house.
149. ,, ,, Gate-pier and Wall.
150. Stone Gateway Moderately Clothed.
151. Wistaria Misplaced.
152. Rambling Roses, Vine and Ivy on Rough
Buildings.
153. Clematis Montana.
154. Ampelopsis Veitchii Restricted in Growth.
155. Thin Slate Stones Laid Level.
156. Brick Dry-walling : Planted with Pansies,
Snapdragons, London Pride and Other
Saxifrages, with Tufted Pansies at Foot.
157. A Ten-foot Wall Planted with Gypsophila,
Valerian, Santolina, Rock Pinks and
Cerastium, Lupines and Rosemary at Top.
158. Brick Dry-walling Planted with Rambling
Roses Above and Tea Roses Below.
159. Colour Scheme in Dry Wall of Purplish-grey
Brick : Cerastium, White and Lilac Tufted
Pansy at Foot ; China Roses Above.
160. Pale Pink Rose, Valerian, Cerastium and
Rock Pink in a Rough Stone Wall.
161.
162.
163-
164.
165-
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.
171.
172.
173-
174.
175.
176.
177.
178.
179.
180.
181.
182.
183-
184.
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
190.
191.
192.
193-
194.
195-
196.
197.
198.
199.
200.
2OI.
2O2.
203.
204.
205.
2O6.
207.
White Foxglove in Dry-walling of Large
Stones.
Brick Wall with Spaces Left for Plants.
Steps with Front Edges Only of Stone
(Plan).
Section of Dry-walling.
Steps with Front Edges Only of Stone
(Section).
Section of Dry Wall Showing Planting of
Top and Face.
Elevation of Planted Wall, Showing
Grouping of Plants.
Lawn Enclosed by Ancient Trimmed Yews.
Cleeve Prior : The Twelve Apostles.
An Ancient Bowling Green.
A Quiet Bowling Green.
Yew Hedge as a Background to Flowers.
Yew Hedges in a Design by C. E. Mallows.
Yew-hedged Garden by H. Inigo Triggs :
Perspective.
Ditto: Plan.
Yews at Bulwick.
Yew Hedge Screening Offices from Garden.
Hedge of Portugal Laurel Backing a Pool
Garden.
Hedge Cut into Little Gables.
Pollarded Limes Used to Heighten a Wall.
Topiary Work at Mathern : Ten Years'
Growth.
A Garden Avenue of Lombardy Poplars.
Hurtwood : Fan-shaped Lily Pool.
,, Relation of Steps and Pool.
,, Fountain with Basin and
Oblong Lily Pools.
At Great Baddow : Reflections.
Hurtwood : Looking Down on Fountain.
Parapeted Pool at Blythburgh.
Pool in Paved Court.
„ ,, „ at Morton House,
Hatfield.
Shaped Pool at. Athelhampton.
,, at Wootton Lodge, Stafford-
shire.
Small Pool and Niche at Athelhampton.
Pool in a Petersfield Garden.
,, at Island, Steep.
Sketch for Pools, Grouped Round Sundial.
,, Pool Shaped for Tubs.
,, a Simple Shape.
,, with Raised Inlet.
with Jet and Cascade.
Plan of Shaped Pool.
Pool and Fountain Design by H. Inigo
Triggs.
Plan and Section of Brick Fountain.
Lily Pond at Millfield, Brentwood : Sections.
„ ,, ,, Photograph.
Small Pools Interspersed in Paving.
XIV.
ILLUSTRATIONS— continued.
241.
242.
243-
244.
245.
246.
247.
248.
249.
250.
251.
252.
253-
254-
255-
256.
Marsh Court : Sunk Pool Garden.
,, „ Pool, Steps and Balustrade.
Pool at Papillon Hall.
Water Parterre : Plan for.
Sketch of.
Walled Pool with Angle Fountains.
Extended Pool at Chehvood Vetchery.
Tile-built Fountain by E. L. Lutyens.
Lion Mask for Fountain.
Section of Basin with Lead Tortoises on
Rim.
Lead Tortoise by Lady Chance.
Lead Dolphin.
Gargoyle for Garden Wall.
Hippocampus in Lead by Lady Chance.
Garden Fountain by Alfred Gilbert.
Wall Fountain at Hampton Court.
Lead Tank and Fountain by George
Bankart.
Lead Cistern by George Bankart.
Chalice Bird Bath.
Shallow Bird Bath of Lead.
A Good Eighteenth Century Tank.
Kelsale Manor : A Little W'ooden Bridge.
,, ,, A Stone Bridge.
Bathing Pool at Stoneywell Cottage.
Well-head of Istrian Stone.
,, Modern.
Italian, with " Overthrow."
A Wooden Pump Casing.
Lead Pump-head.
Well-head at Sutton Courtenay.
Pump-house at Pitsford.
Paving of Ironstone and Bargate Stone for
a Summer-house.
Paving Simply Treated with Stones of
Natural Shape.
Paving of Rough-edged Slabs.
Pavement of Rectangular Flags of Port-
land Stone.
Stone Paving with " Random " Joints.
A Circular and Concentric Brick Paving.
Paving Jointed to Follow the Terrace
Plan.
Plan Showing Suitable Planting for the Side-
joints of a Paved Path.
Pavement of Rectangular Flags in a Rose
Garden by Gilbert Fraser and T. H.
Mawson.
An Old Sussex Church Paving of Brick.
Plan of a Pavement Rather Over-planted
in the Middle.
Brick and Tile Paving, Scale Plan.
A Pergola of Poles in Venice.
Piers of Rubble, Plastered, at Amain.
257-
2:50.
259-
260.
261.
262.
263.
264.
265.
266.
267.
268.
269.
270.
271.
272.
273-
274.
275-
276.
277.
278.
279.
280.
281.
282.
283.
284.
285.
286.
287.
288.
289.
290.
291.
292.
293-
294.
295-
296.
297.
298.
299.
300.
301.
302.
303-
304-
305-
306.
307.
Pergola of Larch of too Slight a Construc-
tion.
,, ,, with Well-shaped Braces.
Gourds on Larch Pergola Framework.
A Well-built Pergola Adjoining Racquet
Court at St. Clere.
Pergola with Piers of Brick and Stone.
,, with Piers, some Round, Some
Square.
with Piers of Tiles, Well-jointed,
with Alternate Round and Square
Piers.
A Meeting-place of Radiating Paths.
A Pergola Surrounding a Fruit-room.
Pergola at Sandhouse.
,, at Ewelme Down.
A Pergola Sheltering a Garden Door.
,, of Cordon Fruit Trees.
Outer View of the Cordon Fruit Pergola.
Stepped Pergola at Acremead : Plan and
Section.
Ditto: View.
A Garden of Treillage.
A Green Tunnel of Laburnum.
Gate and Mounting Block at Cleeve Prior.
Entrance to Biddestone Manor.
Gateway to a Courtyard.
Entrance from Road to Small Garden.
Treatment of Wall and Gates.
Carriage Gates.
A Grille in Screen Wall.
A Foot-gate.
Vista Between Two Gates in Wr ailed Garden.
Garden Gate Made by the Brothers Roberts.
Gate at Wych Cross Place.
at Wotton House.
,, at Packwood House, Birmingham.
,, at Norton Conyers.
,, at Wittersham House.
At Great Maytham : Main Gate to Walled
Garden.
In the WTalled Garden at Great Maytham.
Gate on Terrace at Chelwood Vetchery.
Wooden Door with Postern.
A Trellis Door.
Garden-house Designed by H. Inigo Triggs.
at Athelhampton.
at Hurt wood : Above Lily
Pool.
Gazebo at Corner of Terraced Forecourt.
Garden-house at the End of a Long Walk.
An Angle Summer-house near Liphook
— and Another of Unusual Plan.
Garden-house at The Grove, Mill Hill.
Thatched, in Norfolk.
,, Thatched, in Angle of Cob
Walls.
„ at Little Boarhunt, Liphook.
Built of Old Materials.
ILLUSTRATIONS- continued.
XV.
308.
309-
310.
311.
312.
313-
314-
315-
Garden-house of Two Storeys.
at Little Ridge.
in Corner of Walled Garden.
at St. Clere.
at Wittersham House.
at Staplefield Grange.
A Trellis Garden Shelter.
Thatched Garden Shelter.
316 and 3i6A. Two Typical Scottish Garden
Pavilions.
317. A Seemly Toolhouse.
318- Statue on Gate-pier.
319. Boy Figure in Niche at End of Grass
Walk.
320 and 321. Statues on Gate-piers at Papillon
Hall.
322. Boy and Dolphin in Pool.
323 A Piping Boy.
324. Boys Modelled by Jan Van Nost.
325. Quarrelling Cupids at Melbourne, Derby-
shire.
326.
327-
328.
329-
330.
331-
332.
333-
345-
346.
347-
348.
349-
350.
A Terminal Pan
Cupid and Swan Rising from Pool.
Fountain Figure by Puech at Wych Cross
Place.
Flower-pot on Millstone and Statue of
Mercury in Background.
Statues Guarding Stairway.
Vase at Hampton Court.
,, with Tinned Ornament by George
Bankart.
Simple Sundial on Adequate Base.
A Good Sundial Badly Placed.
Sundial at Ditton Place, Balcombe.
The " Blackamoor " Sundial.
Modern Sundial at Marsh Court.
An Eighteenth Century Sundial.
Sundial of Two Rough-dressed Stones.
A Lead Sundial.
An Old Garden Roller in a New Employ-
ment.
A Sundial : The Game of " Clocks."
Statue Holding Dial in Rose Garden.
Sundial Placed at Intersecting Paths.
,, at Sedgwick Hall, Horsham.
,, at Danby Hall, Yorkshire.
Stone Seat Designed by H. Peto.
352-
353-
354-
355-
356.
357-
358.
358A.
359-
360.
361.
362.
363-
364-
365-
366.
367-
368.
369-
37°-
372-
373-
374-
375-
376.
377-
378-
379-
380.
381-
382.
383-
384-
385-
386.
387-
An Isolated Seat.
Seats and Table in Appropriate Setting.
Garden Seat Designed by E. L. Lutyens.
by J. P. White.
Table and Chairs Designed by Maurice
Webb.
Garden Seat.
Small Stone Seat at Markyate Cell with Lead
Figures at Ends.
Outcrop of Stratified Rock at Corners.
Rocks Properly Stratified and Skilfully Laid.
Bold Stratified Rockwork and Mass-planting.
Rocks Ill-placed Without Uniformity or
Enough Space for Plants.
Treatment of an Odd Corner with Rockwork.
Alpine Primulas Growing in Vertical
Fissure.
,, ,, ,, in Horizontal
Fissure.
A Rough Retaining Wall.
Rock Formations.
Simplicity : The Keynote of Success in
Planting.
Planting in Bold Masses.
Large Clumps of Plants Giving an Appear-
ance of Solidity.
Bold Treatment of Rock and Plants.
A Judicious Use of Compact Shrubs.
Retaining or Boundary Wall of Rough,
Unhewn Blocks.
Boundary Wall with Its Top Planted with
Shrubs.
Boundary Walls.
Bog and Water Garden.
A Good Rock Pool.
Stepping Stones.
Bold Stratified Rockwork and Small
Cascade.
Pond for Small Garden.
A Rocky Path.
A Rough Paved Path.
Cypripediums Thoroughly at Home on the
Upper Margin of a Rock Garden.
Rock Steps Leading from Terrace Through
Rock Wall to Rock Garden.
Constructions of Small Moraine.
Construction of Moraine on Slope.
Level Ground.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
xvii.
INTRODUCTION.
Relation of Garden to House— -Importance of Preserving or Creating Character —
Hillside Gardens — Owlpen Manor and Markyate Cell — Misuse of Conifers— Beauty of
Native Evergreens — Various Sites — Yew and Other Hedges — Topiary Work in Small
Gardens — Walls — Treillage — Quiet Entrances — Planting at House- foot.
IT is upon the right relation of the garden to the house that its value and the
enjoyment that is to be derived from it will largely depend. The connection
must be intimate, and the access not only convenient but inviting. The house,
in the greater number of cases, will stand upon a slight platform, not only because it
is better that it should be raised above the ground-level, but also because the making
FIG. II. — CLOSE CONNECTION OF HOUSE AND GARDEN
XV111.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
of such a platform is an obvious and convenient way of disposing of the earth or
sand excavated for foundations and cellars. It is also desirable to have one wide, easy
terrace on the sunny side. The plan and sketch (Figs. ii. and iii.) show a clever treatment
by Mr. C. E. Mallows of a rectangular space of about an acre. The house is near the
middle — an advantage on a small plot ; it is well bounded laterally by a pergola,
FIG. III. — PLAN OF A GARDEN BY MR. C. E. MALLOWS.
walled on its outer side to the east, and by an evergreen hedge, thick and high, to the
west. A small loggia is notched into the house itself — we are in the house and yet in
the garden — a step down leads to a comfortable space of terrace ; four more steps
go directly into the garden. There is a fairly large lawn, a winding walk through a
home spinney, and the rest is kitchen garden.
Introduction.
xix.
In the arrangement of any site the natural conditions of the place should first
be studied. If tney are emphatic, or in any way distinct, they should be carefully
maintained and fostered. It is grievous to see, in a place that has some well-defined
natural character, that character destroyed or stultified, for it is just that quality
that is the most precious. Many a hillside site has been vulgarised by a conven-
tionally commonplace treatment, when it presented infinite possibilities to both the
formal and natural schools of design. Among the notable examples of little hillside
gardens treated in formal fashion, none is more delightful than that of Owlpen
Manor, Gloucestershire. Its plan and sections appear in Figs. v. and vi. A
bird's-eye view (Fig. viii.) has been prepared to supplement the photographs,
which in the nature of things cannot give a fair idea of the wealth of incident
crowded into an area of little more than half an acre. Fig. vii. shows indeed with
what modesty the house nestles against the hillside and seeks to hide itself amidst
regiments of yews. Great skill has been shown in their planting, for they emphasise
the drops between the succeeding levels of the terrace, even though they partly veil
them. The great square yew parlour is an unusual feature, the outcome of very
many years of growth and of patient tending.
-HILLSIDE GARDEN AT OWLPEN MANOR! VIEW FROM SOUTH-WEST FROM POINT C
(SEE PLAN FIG. V.)
XX.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Its green walls vary in thickness from six to ten feet and are no less than
twenty-five feet in height. The garden slopes downwards from north-east to south-
west and faces the road on the south and east boundaries. It steps upwards from
the road in five terraces, and the whole rise is about twenty-five feet. The front of
the house is on the second terrace and the back on the third. The main entrance to
SCALE I nl
*° J° •t0 5° e° 7°
I I ' -I t— 1 1
BUILDINGS
HEDGES
BEDS
VIEW POIMT
A (BIRD'S EY
ISO FEET AWA
FIG. V. — PLAN OF GARDEN AT OVVLPEN MANOR.
the garden is on the south, where there is a gateway (illustrated among Steps and
Stairways on page 86) with a broad path leading to the house. On the north boundary
there is a wall, which forms an embankment to the churchyard rising above it.
Not unlike Owlpen in some of its characteristics is the garden of Markyate Cell,
near Dunstable. While Owlpen has known no change save that of maturing growth
Introduction.
xxi,
J
&
FJG. vi. — OWLPEN: SECTIONS OF GARDEN
.SHOWING TERRACES.
FIG. VII. — OWLPEN : VIEW FROM NORTH-WEST FROM POINT B (SEE PLAN.)
XX11.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Introduction.
xxin .
FIG. IX — MARKYATE CELL : THE PERGOLA.
FIG. X. — HILLSIDE GARDEN AT MARKYATE CELL! VIEW ACROSS FORECOURT.
XXIV.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Introduction.
xxv.
tor a great number of years, Markyate Cell is an example of what can be done to
improve an old garden by judicious changes. The house, as its name reveals, contains
part of an old monastic building which served as cell to the Abbey of St. Albans.
To this considerable extensions in the Tudor manner were added in the second quarter
of the nineteenth century. Although the period was an unfortunate one for domestic
architecture, Markyate Cell is one of the shining exceptions. Its detail reveals its
date, but the general grouping is very picturesque, and demanded an appropriate
garden setting, which, until two years ago, it lacked. There were, however, some good
materials, notably a fine yew hedge, and some terra-cotta balustrading of simple but
FIG. XII.— MARKYATE CELL ; THE ACCESS TO THE ROSE GARDEN.
very effective design. The house is approached from the south, and stands on a hill
which slopes downwards to the west and upwards to the east. The terrace on the west
side of the house was already enclosed by the old terra-cotta balustrading, but the
eastward slope had been planted without thought or conscious design, except for a
great stepped yew hedge, which destroyed the vista that was possible, and stood in
no definite relation to the house or anything else. When the owners of Markyate Cell,
Mr. and Mrs. MacLeod, called in Mr. Dillistone of Messrs. R. Wallace and Co. to advise
them in re-modelling the garden, one of the principal difficulties was the lack of
communication between its different parts. The governing feature of the changes
XXVI.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
made was the cutting of a way through the middle of the old stepped hedge, so that
a vista might be secured from the forecourt up a new stairway through the hedge
and across the rose garden that was then formed on the upper level, which was once a
bowling green. This vista is picturesquely closed by a great purple beech, which
stands out from the woodland at the east boundary. Thus was established a scheme
.' ^
/,li-
m^fftm
"K^y^l
'>' " W- --.t^i^Jj-AUi vV Vi-vkW^ifeV-:^ SI
°'° — ,.,„.
M
,^^',^..,....^,::.K^,i-^;^^nMn:r.^
- --- -r - - - • - - - - - - . ; -.< y— - -— r - -
1 'u- - ,
• ' ~ . . : ••-•'
VffiU^^^A....^. .'•••'.•r..,. •-.'.• -"- .TTT- -'
ft*. :^^"- • • '
I
KHJRKffiOT, • CELL KEAK DUNATADLlfr
FIG. XIII. — MARKYATE CELL: PLAN OF GARDEN.
the chief feature of which is a marked axial line at right angles to the longer axis of
the house. The effect of the vista was emphasised by a fine old stone vase on a roughly
paved round base in the middle of the rose garden. A central feature of this kind is
very valuable in increasing the impression of distance, and is attractive in its own
right as an ornament of simple and pleasing character. The upper piers of the
flight of steps which lead through the break in the stepped hedge are made the more
Introduction.
xxvn .
FIG. XIV. — MARKYATE CELL: SECTION OF GARDEN AT M — M (SEE PLAN).
interesting by a pair of leaden peacocks.
Above the rose garden is a final terrace,
from which delightful views are secured over
the whole estate. The obvious method of
giving access to it would have been by FIG XV._SECTION AT N_N.
providing another night 01 steps on the
main axial line, but the obvious in garden design is often dreary. Considerable variety
has been achieved by providing a series of steps, curved on plan, which wind from
the south-east corner of the rose garden round to the upper terrace (shown in Figs. xvi.
and xvii.).
These notes, taken in conjunction with the plan and photographs, explain how
the garden was treated from west to east, but it was felt that a sense of breadth was
also needed, and its provision has brought with it that valuable quality in garden
FIG. XVI. — MARKYATE CELL : LOOKING ACROSS ROSE GARDEN TO STEPPED YEW HEDGE.
XXV111 .
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
designing, viz., surprise. Running east and west, and dividing the area already
described from the kitchen garden, is an old wall. An opening was made in it at the
end of the paved walk, which runs below the big stepped hedge and parallel with it.
This opening was filled with a charming old iron gate, slenderly wrought, through which
access is given to a long pergola with brick piers, leading to the far wall with an opening
filled by a similar gate. This pergola is very well placed. A too frequent defect in
the use of such a feature is its obtrusiveness, and the failure to relate it to other features
of the garden design. Here, however, it forms a natural shelter for the path leading
across the kitchen garden to the open parkland beyond. It must be explained that
all these alterations have only just been made, and that the photographs now reproduced
were taken in December. They, therefore, reveal only the bones of the design, and
FIG. XVII. — MARKYATE CELL! CURVED STAIR AT SOUTH-EAST CORNER OF ROSE GARDEN.
do not give any idea of the added richness which will come when the rose garden is
blazing with colour and the borders are gay with lavender, pinks and hollyhocks.
Markyate Cell is altogether a very good example of what can be done in the
treatment of a hillside site by a just use of architectural features and formal growths.
Owlpen and Markyate Cell are both jewels in rich and gracious settings, but,
beautiful as they are, a like treatment would accord ill with a wild moorland
hillside. Such a place has possibilities that are delightful, and all the easier to
accommodate because the poor soil imposes certain conditions and restricts the
choice of plants. There are natural gardens in these places, and especially natural
groves, that cannot be bettered in the way of consistent and harmonious planting
by any choice from a nursery catalogue. "Such a region is a hillside clothed with
Introduction.
xxix,
SLOPES 5HOWN
FLOWER BEDS
HEDGES
BRICK PATHS
FIG. XVIII. — PLAN AND SECTION OF
MR. HORACE HUTCHINSON'S GARDEN.
XXX.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
juniper, holly, birch, mountain
ash, scrub oak and Scotch fir,
in delightfully spontaneous
grouping, with undergrowth of
bracken and whortleberry, and
heaths in the more open places,
and other delights of honey-
suckle, wild thyme, wood sage
and dwarf scabious. It is
grievous to see this natural and
well-adjusted beauty ruthlessly
destroyed, and common nursery
stuff, such as laurels and a
heterogeneous collection of
exotic conifers, put in its place,
whereas it may be so well
planted with the native trees
that are absolutely sympathetic
to its own character, with the
addition of the hardier of the
cistus, brooms and their kindred
species, with rosemary, lavender,
phlomis and many another good
plant of Southern Europe. So
it is with any other place that
has a distinct natural character,
whether of granite, limestone or
slate-rock. All these have their
own flora, indicating to the
FIG. XIX.— YEWS AT SHEPHERD S GATE.
FIG. XX. — WALLED GARDEN AT THE MURREL, ABERDOUR, FIFE.
Introduction.
xxxi.
careful observer the classes of trees and plants that will best nourish and best
adorn .
Happily, our newer gardens are no longer peppered over with specimen
conifers. Much as we honour those heads of our great nursery firms and others,
whose enterprise and practical encouragement of botanical explorers has so greatly
increased the number of coniferous trees that we may now choose from, the earlier
HEDGES
STONE FLAGGING
FLOWED BED5
SCALE
FIG. XXI. — PLAN OF GARDEN AT THURSLEY DESIGNED BY MR. E. WHITE.
mistakes in planting have in many cases been disastrous to gardens. About fifty
years ago, when they were being raised and distributed, and horticultural taste
was at a low ebb, a kind of fashion arose for planting conifers. It mattered not
that they took no place in garden design, and that those who planted had no idea
what they would be like when full grown ; the object was merely to have one each
of as many kinds as possible. If the intention had been simply to make a collection
from the botanical point of view there would be nothing to criticise ; but they were
XXX11.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
COB . N U T
KITCHEN
K ITCHEN
GARDEN
GARDEN
/ s
BUILDINGS V////////W/-/ 6
HEDGES
BEDS i
CCASS
"STONE PAVING E55S2SS5
TERRACE PAVED OR GRAVEL
FORE COURT
TENNIS LAWN
12Q'x 60 '
LOMBARDY
POPLAR L:7,
FIG. XXII. — A GARDEN OF HARDY FLOWERS ON AN ACRE AND A-HAI.F.
Introduction.
xxxin .
crowded into nearly every garden as exponents of the horticultural taste of the
day. Now, when they are approaching maturity of growth, they have either been
cut away wholesale, or their owners, of the later generation that has learnt better
gardening, look ruefully at the large trees so unwisely planted. In fact, unless space
is so great that experimental planting may be done on a large scale, or the foreign
trees are so well
known in all stages
of growth that
they can be used
with a sure hand,
it is safer to trust
to our native ever-
greens and the few
European kinds
that we have long
known. In their
way nothing is
better than the
native juniper,
Scotch fir and yew
for our sandy up-
lands ; yew also
for chalky soils,
and spruce and
silver fir for cool
hollows. Our
noble English yew
is nearly always
beneficial in the
garden landscape.
Whether as a
trimmed hedge or
as a free-growing
tree, its splendid
richness of deep-
est green, and,
indeed, its whole
aspect, is of the
utmost value.
No tree is more
s a t i s f actory for
emphasising i m -
port ant points.
Fig. xix. shows
two vigorous
yews of upright
habit in Mr .
Horace Hutchin-
son's garden at
Shepherd's Gate, FIG. xxm. — LEAD FOUNTAIN IN BRIDGE END GARDEN, SAFFRON VVALDEN.
XXXIV.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Introduction.
xxxv.
in the old forest region of Sussex. They stand just within the rose garden,
above and flanking a flight of steps that leads to lower ground. Standing in
the rose garden, and looking between the yews to the half-distant view of wooded
hill and down, so typical of the beautiful Ashdown Forest district, they form the
frame of the picture, and the tender colouring of the distance is much more fully
appreciated than it would be if they were not present. It is a good lesson, and
suggestive of what might with great advantage be oftener done in gardens, namely, to
frame a distant view in near greenery, either by an occasional arch or by a whole
arcade. Roses are well used at Shepherd's Gate ; they rejoice in the rich loam of
the district, not only growing strongly but also flowering profusely. The whole
country is richly wooded, and gives a feeling of protective shelter that is all the
1 " - - -•"."•/ * > •" •" : ,
BUILDINGS % WALLS
HEDGES
BEDS
STONE R\V1NG
FIG. XXV. — -PLAN OF TOPIARY WORK IN BRIDGE END GARDEN.
more favourable to the well-being of the roses and of the many other good garden
plants that flourish in this pleasant place. (For plan see Fig. xviii.)
Very different as a site is that of The Murrel in Fife, the work of
Mr. F. W. Deas, in a country of wide spaces and low, wind-swept hills (Fig. xx.).
The house and all the outbuildings are closely grouped together, and one feels, with
this accomplished architect, how much the whole needed the protection of the great
stone wall, whose height, varying from twelve to eighteen feet, rises to one level
as the ground falls. It is heavily buttressed, and, like the house, roofed v/ith
pantiles.
A site of about two acres at Thursley in Surrey has been cleverly treated
by Mr. Edward White (Fig. xxi.). House and pleasure garden occupy about half
XXXVI .
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
frh»» lit n«_»i.
viiinr(i|T
' JU
FIG. XXVI. — BRIDGE END GARDEN : TOPIARY WORK.
Introduction.
xxxvii,
^LADY CAY
UNA
BUILDINGS
HEDCES(YEW
FLOWER BEDS
STONE PAVIN
3O 4O SO 6O 7O
FT.
FIG. XXVII. — DORMY HOUSE I PLAN OF GARDEN.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
XXXV111.
the ground. The entrance path is square with the road, and the house door cuts
across an angle formed by the meeting of the main block and the office wing. The
house, standing diagonally to the road, allows of a longer extension of the flower-
borders and the circular garden at the end than could otherwise have been put
upon the site. Kitchen garden and orchard are conveniently placed, and the
remaining space becomes a useful paddock.
When the site is a bare field, or any place without individuality, the designer
has a free hand, but will be wise in choosing something that is definite, so as
to give that precious quality of character. It can only be created by simplicity of
aim ; by doing one thing at a time as well and distinctly as possible, and so avoiding
complexity and confusion. For instance, if it is desired to treat the ground of a small
site of about an acre and a-half as a garden of hardy flowers it may be conveniently
laid out as in Fig. xxii. The lawn next the terrace has a shady retreat at each end,
and the wide turf
path leading to
the further cross
path gives the im-
pression of the
whole space being
given to pleasure
garden, while there
are still two good
plots for kitchen
garden, completely
screened, on each
side, and space for
a play 1 a w n
between the house
and the road.
Tennis players
prefer a ground
whose longer axis
runs north and
south, but in this
case the exigencies
of the site oblige
the lawn to run east and west. Such a garden can be worked by a single-handed
gardener, with possibly occasional help at pressing times. The green parlours on
the front lawn are made with weeping elm, a tree not so much used as it deserves.
A slight framework of something like split chestnut is wanted at first to guide
the branches laterally to form the roof. As they grow, and then hang down the
sides, a complete shelter is formed in a few years.
Yew and holly hedges, such as are shown in this garden, are necessarily costly.
The best size to plant, in the case of yew, is from two and a-half feet to three feet,
at a cost of five pounds a hundred, putting them eighteen inches apart. Holly of the
same height would cost a little more, but the price would be about the same for
bushy plants a little under two feet high — a good size to begin with. To make a
thick hedge, well furnished to the bottom, yew should have its yearly growth tipped
at the ends by at least one-third of the length. Hollies will not want any trimming
for the first few years. Such hedges, in favourable conditions, would take from
FIG. XXVIII.— THE BORMY HOUSE, WALTON HEATH! APPROACH FROM GOLF CLUB.
Introduction.
xxxix.
twelve to fourteen years to come to a full growth of six feet to seven feet. Box and
holly would be rather slower than yew ; privet, thorn and hornbeam faster, but
as these would have to be cut down nearly to the ground after their first twelvemonth's
growth, they would make very little show for the first two years. These are fairly
average indications of growth, but on some sites the rate of increase would be
considerably more.
It must be confessed that the gardener who is drawn towards topiary work needs
to be equipped with ample patience and the prophetic eye. Without these qualities
he will not be prepared to de-
vise a scheme which must take
many years to mature. Given
foresight and patience, however,
there is nothing unreasonable
in attempting, even on a very
small site, a conscious scheme
of shaped hedges on lines quite
elaborate. Bridge End Garden
at Saffron Walden is especially
interesting in this connection,
because its treatment, as shown
by plan in Fig. xxv. and by
photographs in Figs, xxiii., xxiv.
and xxvi., covers an area of no
more than one hundred and
twenty-one feet by one hundred
and seventy-three feet, which
amounts to a little less than half
an acre. This garden was laid
out some seventy years ago by
the late Mr. Francis Gibson, a
cultivated amateur, who had
the courage to break through
the dreary traditions of land-
scape gardening which obsessed
people in the eighteen-forties.
At the east end of the garden
an iron platform has been built,
with a stair of access from
which the visitor may survey
the whole scheme, and that
is the view-point taken by the
camera in Fig. xxiv. From this and from the plan it is clear how cleverly the yews
have been spaced and the beds shaped. In the middle of the round grass plat is a
lily pool, and kneeling on a column is a lead Triton, whose horn serves as fountain.
The figure is almost an exact replica of one in the Rijks Museum at Amsterdam.
The Bridge End Garden should stimulate anyone who has patience and half an acre
unplanted to emulate its charms. It has the further merit of being visible at all
times, for its present owner, the Right Hon. Lewis Fry, allows access to it
throughout the year, a privilege which the folk of Saffron Walden very fully
appreciate.
FIG. XXIX. — AT THE DORMY HOUSE I THE PERGOLA.
xl.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
In the case of the very successful garden of the Dormy House at Walton
Heath Golf Club the yews and hollies lately planted have made surprising
growth. In this garden the object was to obtain the greatest effect that could
be secured while involving the least labour. This has been effected by having
several well-arranged flower-borders, and by the use of a quantity of rambling
roses on posts and chains. One large double flower-border gives a charming look-out
from the club sitting-rooms ; another border is at the entrance to the Dormy House
(Fig. xxviii.), whose walls already have a luxuriant growth of vines, the most beautiful
of wall ornaments. On its
southern side there is a fine
piece of stone paving, widening
at the two ends into large
square platforms (Fig. xxx.).
The joints are planted with
Alpines — perhaps just a little
too freely. Many small plants
take so kindly to this treatment
that the temptation to plant
them mav easily result in too
much invasion of the walking
space. A warning as to this
over-planting will be found at
page 128. A plan showing a
suitable amount of planting is
given on page 175 (Fig. 247).
The excellent growth of the
yew and holly hedges in the
Dormy House garden will, in
a few years, give such good
protection and sense of en-
closing comfort that the
absence of built walls will
not be felt ; but where the
cost is not prohibitive, walls of
brick or stone are the best of
garden boundaries. An ancient
wall is in itself a thing of beauty.
In the course of long years
Nature paints the stone or
brick with a number of tender
tints, mellowing the whole
surface colour ; even the passing
of twenty years will often show the beginning of this precious patina. Then the
walls enable us to enjoy many beautiful things, such as myrtle and pomegranate,
that are not generally hardy in our climate.
Chapter XII. is devoted to Retaining Walls and Their Planting, but all the
examples there shown illustrate what may be called informal planting. There is,
however, at Edzell Castle in Forfar a walled enclosure which shows a formal treat-
ment of wall planting full of suggestion (Figs. xxxi. and xxxii.). This pleasure
garden was made at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and it is remarkable
FIG. XXX. — THE DORMY HOUSE : A PLANTED PAVEMENT.
Introduction.
xli.
that the idea thus admi-
rably set on foot should
not have been imitated
or developed since. The
pleasure garden is ob-
long, and has an area of
rather more than half
an acre. Three of the
walls were divided by
stone shafts into com-
partments, which are
alternately filled with
two types of device
which made possible
charming effects in wall
gardening. Of these, the
more important consists
in a series of twelve
small recesses arranged
checker - wise in three
rows of four each. The
garden wall was built
by a Lindsay of Edzell.
and the recesses repre-
sent the checkered fesse
of his coat-of-arms. The
Lindsay checkers are
blue and silver, and no
doubt the recesses were
filled with some blue
flowering plant of dwarf
habit and inconspicuous
leaf. Parkinson's Para-
disi in Sole, published in
1629, gives many flowers
that Lord Edzell might
have employed. Dwarf
campanulas, bell-flowers,
double blue daisies,
globe - flowers or even
cornflowers might have
been used to give a com-
pact mass of blue. Per-
haps the best flower for
the purpose to-day would
be the lobelia ; but it was
not available in 1604. If
he chose to use the silver
of his coat, in the re-
cesses of an adjoining
FIG. XXXI.— TREATMENT OF WALL AT EDZELL CASTLE.
FIG. XXXII. — A SEVENTEENTH CENTURY IDEA FOR WALL GARDENING.
xlii.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Introduction.
xliii.
bay, some silvery foliage would have served, such as stachys, woundwort, gnaphalium,
catsfoot or cerastium. The idea is well worthy of adoption in modern walled
gardens, where the recesses could be arranged to suggest some device appropriate to
the owner of the garden, whether heraldic in character or marking some hobby or
special interest.
Fig. xxxiii. reminds us of the advantage of a wall backing a flower-border, but
care needs to be taken lest the roots of the hedge should appropriate to them-
selves all the virtue of the manure provided for the flowers. This can be done by
cutting back the hedge roots, so that they do not trespass on the border, or by
building a rough underground wall to separate the two territories. In the
example illustrated in Fig. xxxiii. the border might, with advantage, have been
wider ; it was, no doubt, made narrow in order that the path should go straight
to the doorway at the end. It is one of the many cases in garden arrange-
ment where the
course that is
easiest is chosen
rather than one
that is more
thoughtful and
less obvious.
Where neither
wall nor hedge is
suitable, there is
the device of treil-
lage, which takes
the least room in
point of width of
any kind of
planted fence.
This may be either
of the carefully
designed and con-
structed kind as
at Rave n s b u r y
(Fig. xxxiv.),
where it fitly
a c c o m p a nies a
house of eighteenth century character, or it may be of simple oak posts and laths,
as at Orchards (Fig. xxxvii.). Here it is in the walled kitchen garden. Espalier
fruit trees are trained against it, and it forms the back on each side of a double
flower-border that runs right through the middle of the garden. The posts, standing
five feet out of the ground, are set seven and a-half feet apart, and are connected
by a top rail, two by one and a-quarter inches, mortised into the posts. The end
posts are four inches square ; the intermediate ones three inches. The laths, one
and a-half inches wide by half an inch thick, are set square at a distance apart of
eleven inches from centre to centre.
Not the least merit of treillage is that it gives opportunity for the inexpensive
construction of all sorts of architectural fancies. The garden shown in Figs, i., xxxv.
and xxxvi. is an admirable example of its possibilities in this direction. Fig. xxxv.
shows a broad, elliptical treillage arch, which forms a most attractive entrance to the
FIG. XXXIV. — TREILLAGE AT RAVENSBURY MANOR.
xliv.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Introduction.
xlv.
garden and frames its distant view. Seen through this arch, on which creepers
have made an almost impenetrable roof, appears a lily pool surrounded by a treillage
colonnade which follows its outlines. Although this screen brings to the place a
hint of the grand manner of French garden design, and with it a sense "of size
and dignity, the actual area of the garden which it adorns is little more than
half an acre. This is mentioned in order that it may not be supposed that
the quality of dignity to be secured by the use of treillage is appropriate only to
large gardens.
Where a rock garden forms part of a scheme it is best placed quite away
from the house ; but in many a small garden the only suitable place may
FIG. XXXVI. — A TREILLAGE COLONNADE.
be not far from it. When this is the case it can be effectively secluded by
banks planted with shrubs, as shown by the plan in Fig. xxxviii.
The owner of a small place often has the desire of making a good show of flowers
—as an amiable form of cheerful welcome — immediately within the entrance. It is
a kind thought, but not the most effective way of arranging the garden. It may
be taken as a safe rule that the entrance should be kept quiet and, above all,
unostentatious. A certain modest reserve is the best preparation for some good
gardening on the sunny side of the house, for in most cases the way in will be on
the north or east. Labour and horticultural effort are often wasted on flower-
borders or summer bedding all along a short carriage-way, which would be^ much
better with a wide grass verge and shrubs alone.
xlvi.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. XXXVII. — TRELLIS AT ORCHARDS.
PART OF
LAWN
^v. a rxesjezi
WATEKI
PATH fvx .—
FIG. XXXVIII. — ROCK GARDEN NEAR BUT SCREENED FROM HOUSE.
Introduction.
xlvii.
In cases where a carriage-way is not an absolute necessity, the substitution of
a flagged pathway is a great gain to the restfulness and beauty of the garden. A
beautiful treatment of this kind is shown by Fig. xl., the entrance to Mr. Leonard
Berwick's charming home in Sussex, where a flagged path passes through the quiet,
unbroken green of well-kept grass. But there are many places where a means of
driving to the door is required. Here the difficulty arises, in the case of quite a
small house, of the disproportion between the space required for turning a motor
or a pair-horsed carriage and the size of the house-front. A simple square fore-
court always looks well as in Fig. xxxix., a design by Mr. Leopold S. Cole. The same
kind of treatment, but with the angles rounded, is shown at Fig. xli., by Mr. Alick
m
FIG. XXXIX. — TREATMENT FOR THE FORECOURT OF A SMALL COTTAGE.
Horsnell. But in both these examples the expanse of gravel is rather large, nearly
double the area of the block-plan of the house itself. Where the coach-house or
garage stands beyond the house, and more or less parallel with the line of the main
ridge, this difficulty may be overcome by some such arrangement as that shown on
the plan Fig. xlii., which leaves only the width of a road at the front door. It is
done by making a third piece of road, branching symmetrically with that to the
carriage-house, and stopping short, as to its full width, when length enough has been
given, and ending either in a narrower garden path or some small special garden.
The carriage or motor would go forward, as shown by the single dotted line, would
then back for a short distance as shown by the double dotted line, and then again
go forward.
xlviii .
Introduction.
xlix.
FIG. XLI. — ANOTHER FORECOURT TREATMENT.
A frequent example of
waste of effort is where a
narrow border at the foot
of a house is filled with
small plants — annuals or
other summer flowers. The
border itself is often poorly
devised, fussing and
dodging in and out among
bays and slight projections.
It is much better to carry
the border straight across,
and to fill the spaces next
the house with something
of solid and. shrubby
character, such as laurus-
tinus, choisya and escal-
lonia, with a planting, in
the narrower spaces and
towards the path, of smaller
shrubs, such as lavender,
rosemary, phlomis, the
dwarf rhodode ndrons,
olearias and hardy fuchsias ;
then, if front spaces still
need filling there is nothing
better than the
leaved megaseas
stately acanthus in com-
bination with the dark-
leaved shrubs, and of
southernwood and santolina
with the grey.
The title of this volume,
" Gardens for Small Country
Houses," needs, perhaps,
some explanation, because a few of the pictures reproduced belong obviously to large
gardens. Although some of the gardens described in the earlier " monograph "
chapters (I. to VI.) are of fairly large extent, they mark the increasing tendency to be
generous in the provision of garden space round country houses which may fairly be
called small. We have not attempted to deal with the little plots which belong to little
cottages, as they give scarcely any scope for invention or conscious design. Several
scores of photographs have been taken specially for the purposes of the book, but it
has not been found possible to rely solely on existing small gardens, known to us,
for pictures thit would elucidate the points we wished to make. It is fair to claim,
however, that no feature has been illustrated which would not be fitting in a small
garden when reduced in scale, or which it would be wrong sj to reduce. In order
that the range of illustration should be as wide as possible, we have been glad to
avail ourselves of several sketches for pools, walls and the like, which Mr. Inigo Triggs
has kindly placed at our disposal. To Mr. J. Maxwell Scott and Mr. Charles Yates,
large-
and the
FIG. XLII. — SUGGESTED PLAN TO PROVIDE
TURNING SPACE FOR MOTOR-CAR.
1. Gardens for Small Country Houses.
among others whose names are given in the text, are due our thanks for the care
with which they have made drawings of gardens and their features. The
pleasant but not inconsiderable labours of visiting dozens of attractive gardens
have been more than repaid by the courtesy and kindness shown by their makers
and owners. We may hope that they will have a second harvest in an increased
care to secure a right quality in garden design. It is impossible to compress within
the limits of such a book more than a fraction of what may be told by pen and picture,
but the endeavour has been made to ignore nothing that is essential.
GERTRUDE JEKYLL.
LAWRENCE WEAVER.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER I.— MILLMEAD, BRAMLEY, SURREY.
Site of Ancient Buildings — Shapeless Ground — Terraced in Successive Levels — Steps
and Dry-walling — Summer-houses.
SOME old timbered cottages, dating from Jacobean times, standing on a piece of
ground in a lane leading westward out of Bramley, were condemned and
demolished at the end of the nineteenth century. The ground remained
unused for some years, and the part next to the lane, overgrown with docks and nettles,
had become a place where neighbouring cottagers found it convenient to throw their
household debris. . In 1904 an old former inhabitant went over it, and found that
from halfway down it looked over the wooded grounds of the old home and the half-
distant hilly woodland that had been the scene of childish primrose-picking rambles,
while the foot of the plot adjoined the green mill meadow, in view of some fine, near
trees and the rushing millstream, and was within the soothing sound of the working
water-mill. It was soon resolved that the land should be bought, and a house built
upon it that should not only be worthy of the pretty site but that should also be the
best small house in the whole neighbourhood, both for architectural merit and for
FIG. I.— THE FIRST SUMMER-HOUSE. POINT OF VIEW "A" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 4) AND
PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 5).
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
convenience and comfort.
The ground is a little more
than half an acre, seventy-
seven feet wide and some-
thing over four hundred feet
deep, on a rather steep slope
facing south - south - east.
Except for the first hundred
feet, which was fairly level,
it lay with an awkward
diagonal tilt, but it was
evident that this could easily
be rectified by terracing in a
series of levels. The area
was not enough to allow of
any space for kitchen garden ;
the whole is therefore given
to flowers and shrubs, with
one or two small grass plots.
The house, designed by
Mr. Lutyens, is reminiscent of
some of the small houses of
good type built in England
under Dutch influence in the
early years of the eighteenth
century. It is approached
from the road by a door in a
wall leading into a forecourt.
A paved path of Portland
stone leads through turf to a
wide, flagged platform of the
same and to the stone-
wrought doorway. The plant-
ing of the forecourt is kept
rather quiet, with plenty of
good green foliage. On the
left the wall of the office wing
is nearly clothed by a vine,
and on the right a rather
high wall is covered with the
wilder kinds of clematis,
montana and vitalba, with
a r b u t u s , laurustinus and
spiraea lindleyana treated as
wall plants, and the borders
at the foot have acanthus,
m e g a s e a , Lent hellebore,
Solomon's Seal and hardy
ferns. The flowers are of the
modest type, such as colum-
bines and campanulas, the
whole intention being to be
Millmead, Bramley.
green and quiet in anticipation of a riot of bright blossom in the main garden
on the sunny side of the house. A narrow way, only five feet wide, leads
between the house and the western wall to the southern garden. It has been made
interesting by the use of some old turned wooden columns that originally formed part
of the decorative structure of the wooden ships of the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries. Heavy oak beams connect them in pairs across the path, which
is paved, partly with the local Bargate stone and partly with a "pitching" of the
black ironstones found in the district. A vine planted at the end will in time roof
the whole. The garden front of the house, facing south a little east, has a wistaria
growing strongly, with good prospect of covering as much of the front as can be allowed,
FIG. 3. — PLANTING OF RETAINING WALL AND BORDER. — POINT OF VIEW " B " ON GENERAL
PLAN (FIG. 4) AND PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 2).
while for the further furnishing of the narrow border at the house foot there are
-escallonia, choisya, rosemary, lavender and iris stylosa.
The garden ground, being in the form of a long strip, the task of the designer
was the judicious management of each succeeding level, so that each should have some
individuality and distinctive interest, and yet that there should be a cdmfortable sense
of general cohesion. From the wide path in front of the house the ground begins
to fall — only a little at first ; three steps down are enough. A dwarf dry wall of
Bargate stone retains the upper path with its border next the house, and another at
the top of the wall ; the latter is planted as a rosemary hedge, sweet to the touch
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
SS=gii^fe^^^!
FIG. 5. — PLANTING PLAN AT VIEW POINT "A." FOE
PHOTOGRAPH SEE FIG. I.
Millmead, Bramley.
FIG. 4. — MILLMEAD : GENERAL PLAN.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 6. — PLANTING PLAN
AT VIEW POINTS "c" (SEE FIG. 7),
AND " E " (SEE FIG. 8).
from the path above
and the grass below.
The lower space is
roughly a square, laid
out as a little rose
garden, with grass paths
and a central sundial.
Here also is the first
summer-house, illustrated
in Fig. i, the arrow and
letter A on the general
plan (Fig. 4) showing the
point of view. It
centres the sundial and
the grass paths between
the rose-beds, and has
a pretty view of the
church and distant hills,
cut as an oval upright
picture through the
shrubs and further hedge.
Outside the grass plot a
path runs round three
sides, with further
borders of shrubs and
flowers. A plan is given
of the planting of the
one on the shady side that
contains the summer-
house (Fig. 5).
To the next division
there is a drop of some
feet — a flight of steps
leading down to another
level, also roughly
square, with a central
path dividing two large
clumps of flower and
shrub. The chinks of
the steps and the returns
of the dry-walling at
their sides are bright
with aubrietia in May,
and the walls to right
and left are planted with
stonecrops, snapdragons,
catmint (Nepeta) and
other pretty things. At
the foot of the steps,
squares with flat stone
" D " (SEE FIG. 9),
Millmead, Bramley.
FIG. 7. — BORDER BY LOWER STEPS. POINT OF VIEW " C " ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 4) AND
PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 6).
FIG. 8. — THE HOUSE FROM BOTTOM OF GARDEN. POINT OF VIEW " E
PLAN (FIG. 4) AND PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 6).
ON GENERAL
8
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
edgings hold a pair of hydrangeas. At the western angle a half-round dipping
tank is notched into the dry-walling ; it is fed by an underground pipe from
the pump in the forecourt against the wall to the road, where there is a
well that formerly supplied the old cottages. Another retaining wall and
flight of steps again lead downwards to a longer piece, the lower part sloping
downhill, but levelled right and left. The level of the upper portion was fixed by the
presence of a very fine old pear tree. It was given its own little grass plot, and a seat
and laurel hedge to surround it on all sides but that of the flower-beds, where the hedge
is of lavender. On the western side of the upper part is a little building grouping
with, and shaded by, an old plum tree. It was originally intended for a tool-shed,
FIG. 9. — STEPS AND SUNDIAL.
POINT OF VIEW " D " ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG.- 4) AND
PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 6).
but the tenant converted it into a charming little summer sitting-room, and it is now
the second summer-house. It is built of oak timber and brick, with a tiled roof, and
has the appearance of a miniature old Surrey cottage. On each side of the middle
path is the main flower border, forming a continuation of the borders on the level
next above. The planting of the retaining wall and border above is shown in the
picture (Fig. 3) and plan (Fig. 2), the point of view being from the arrow and letter B on
the general plan (Fig. 4). A small path, parallel to the middle one, passes down from
the second summer-house between flowering shrubs. At the end of the flower border is
another descent of four steps, with a low retaining wall and cross path. The wall is
Millmead, Bramley.
nearly filled with rock pinks ; just at the top is an irregular row of dwarf lavender, the
short-stemmed, dark-flowered kind that blooms in July— nearly a month sooner than the
larger ordinary lavender — and at the back of this is a hedge of hardy fuchsia. Further
flights of steps, on the same middle line, lead down to the lowest level, which is some
five feet above that of the meadow. In the narrow border next the meadow are only low
shrubs, the better to see the
pleasant prospect of mead and
millstream, though there are
one or two posts for roses, and
a wild clematis that forms
garlands from post to post.
At the southern corner,
where there is an odd angle,
the third summer-house was
built, a wooden structure on a
brick foundation, weather-
boarded outside and also elm-
boarded within. A wide
window with casements and
lead lights looks out on to the
meadow. The little place is
of a queer shape, and yet
seems roomy. It is thickly
roofed with straw thatch. In
winter it is curiously comfort-
able— always feeling dry and
warm. Near it outside is the
dipping well, which was built
to take advantage of a natural
spring, one of the many that
feed the stream. It is built
up with a Bargate wall about
three feet out of the ground.
On this a pair of the old ship
pillars supports a beam with
a pulley for the rope that
dips and pulls up the bucket.
A little tiled roof is built
over, now nearly hidden by
the growth of a climbing rose
and the wild clematis. Next to the bank and holly hedge which form the eastern
boundary, a sloping path on a lower level runs the whole way down, forming a
convenient barrow-way with access to each level.
FIG. IO. — THE DIPPING WELL. POINT OF VIEW
GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 4).
ON
IO
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER II.— TWO GARDENS IN FOREST CLEARINGS.
Woodgate, Four Oaks — Virgin Woodland — Emerson and Reginald Blomfield on Design
—High Coxlease, Lyndhurst — Rock and Water.
THE building of houses and making of gardens on woodland sites raises problems
of treatment and design that need careful thought. Where shall the axe
play and when shall the wielding of it be stayed ? Once the trees are down
the outlines of the scheme cannot be altered. As example is more valuable than
precept, we may in this chapter examine two fine gardens that have been stolen from
the wild — Woodgate, Four Oaks, and High Coxlease, Lyndhurst. To few people is
it given to build their homes in such an ideal setting as six acres of virgin woodland,
as it was to Mr. W. H. Bidlake at Four Oaks. Woodgate stands in a triangle between
two roads and once formed part of the great park which the statesmanlike Bishop
Vesey caused Henry VIII. to grant to the Warden and Society of Sutton Coldfield.
About eighty
years ago Sir E.
H a r t o p p ex-
changed some
land near the
park gates for
that part of the
Corporation's
forest land
which was
known as Lady-
wood, and the
latter is now
being built over,
but the ameni-
ties are well pre-
served. It thus
came about
that Mr. Bidlake
found himself
the owner of a
site that had
never known
the hand of
man, a happy
circumstance
which, joined
with his skill both in planting and design, has brought into existence a
veritable little garden paradise. The woodland had the unusual charm that
most of its growth was indigenous — oak and ' holly and silver birch. These
are varied by mountain ash, firs and Spanish chestnut. Beneath the trees
the ground is carpeted in the spring with hyacinths, which are followed by
bracken. When Mr. Bidlake went to Woodgate the soil had never been
FIG. II. — WOODGATE : STEPS AND GARDEN-HOUSE.
Woodgate, Four Oaks.
ii
disturbed. It consisted of red sand and gravel with scarcely any admixture either
of clay or lime, and over it, separated by a sharp line of demarcation, was a top layer
of black vegetable leaf-mould six inches
thick, the spoil of unnumbered autumns.
In the mixture of this mould with the
sand rhododendrons grow with extreme
freedom owing to the absence of lime, as
a noble bank of flowers at the north-east
corner of the garden testifies. For many
garden denizens this mixture proved too
vigorously acid, WOOD
and for about
two years it
killed almost
everything that
was planted,
but time and
lime have made
it amenable.
Even now very
deep planting is
necessary, as the
top soil dries oft
very rapidly in
hot weather.
Lilies of various kinds, es-
pecially Lilium auratum,
speciosum, monadelphum and
the Canadian varieties,
do very well, while every sort
of campanula flourishes exceed-
ingly. Those charming bulbs
that we owe to South Africa,
ixias and sparaxis, with the
hardy calochorti from North
America, stand the winter well
by being covered with a little
bracken, which preserves them sufficiently from
frosts. The Calif ornian poppy wort, delicate
alike in the texture of its flowers and its
fragrance, adds its stately beauty and spreads
freely underground, but Asclepias tuberosa
(better called Butterfly Silkweed) point blank
refuses to grow despite the sandy soil which
text-books preach for it. Needless to say,
before roses could be induced to make their
home here, no little clay was imported, but,
that done, they grow well, and delphiniums, in common with most herbaceous
things, add the charms of their serried spikes in blues from lavender to indigo.
Though Mr. Bidlake is skilful more than common with his planting, the garden owes
WOODLAND
OAK, HOLLY. CHESTNUT
BIRCH, FIR, BRACKEN X
HYACINTHS.
YEW
HEDGE
JAPANESE
IRIS
SEAT
FIG. 12. — WOODGATE : GARDEN PLAN.
12
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 13. — POOL IN WATER GARDEN.
no less to design,
and the more so
because it seems
to have come
about so naturally.
In this connection
one cannot agree
with Emerson,
whose pronounce-
ments on matters
aesthetic must
always be ap-
proached with
some suspicion.
' Our arts," he
says, " are happy
hits. We are like
the musician on
the lake, whose
melody is sweeter
than he knows."
This would serve
well as a polite apologia for the effect of accidental charm which can bear no close
examination, but is misleading nonsense when considered. Whatever may be the
merits of impres-
sionism in paint-
ing, post or other-
wise, it is a snare
in architecture and
in the daughter
art of garden
design. The truth
is to be sought
rather in the
cogent phrases of
Mr. Reginald
Blomfield, when
he said " There is
no such thing as
impressionism i n
architecture. Our
art does not allow
us to leave our
concept i on
sketched out. The
idea must be
thought out to the
uttermost. The
incomplete phrase,
FIG. 14. — WOODGATE: A LILY POND. in our case, is no
Woodgate, Four Oaks. 13
phrase at all, and as far as it goes, our expression must be at least equal to our
thought." The feeling that Woodgate inspires in its garden setting is that
the thought has been careful and sustained, and the expression adequate.
If the plan be examined, and it is worth careful study, it is clear that
the clearing for the house was made in just the right spot. It affords a drive
from the western road just long enough to give a pleasurable sense of anticipation,
while it gives a short access for tradesmen from the eastern road. South of the house
enough woodland was cleared to give an adequate lawn, surrounded by a belt of oaks
through which there is a vista towards the small formal garden, occupying the southern
angle of the site. Here is placed a large lily pond with Japanese iris at its corners,
surrounded by a yew hedge. A small lawn has also been made on the west side of the
house to prevent the undue darkening by overshadowing trees of the drawing-room
bay window. East of the house is another little garden on geometrical lines, and in
general the terrace and steps on the south front do homage to that element of
formality which is the essence of good gardening near a house. As we leave from
the building that quality dies away and the design is determined by the position of
the big oaks and other trees which it was so desirable to retain. Northwards the
garden has been subtly incorporated with the woodland that shelters the house from
the cold winds, and the four acres covered by trees are threaded by many winding
walks which lead us through a carpet of hyacinth and fern at their several seasons.
It may be suggested that it would have been better to have laid down these paths
on straighter and more formal lines. The intention was to create the feeling of those
woodland paths that take their random windings from the feet of children, who follow
the line of least resistance and walk where Nature has been less prodigal of growth.
From the house porch there is a long avenue, straight save for one break, which hides
the far garden until it bursts into view. After the shadow of the wood the sunlit
lawn comes with that quality of surprise which is so valuable in garden design. The
avenue leads past a well-equipped kitchen garden on the right to the spacious tennis
lawns and bowling green fringed at the north corner by a bank of purple heather, and
free of the shade of the trees. From this upper garden a long flight of brick steps
takes us down to another, six feet below. A retaining wall with pillars flanking the
stairway divides the two, and at its north end is a tall two-storeyed summer-house
which serves both levels, as a retiring-place for tea above, and as a house for garden
tools below.
In this lower garden is a maze of formal walks separated by clipped beech hedges,
crossed by rose arches luxuriantly clad and bordered by beds of herbaceous flowers.
South of the rosery are a rock garden and a little lily pond, where the great white
blooms of gladstoniana stand free above the water boldly until the autumn frosts,
and red masses of gloriosa float fragrantly. Near by is a little place consecrated to
spring bulbs. A good feature of the garden is the judicious use of seats, which are
placed at all points of vantage, such as the upper lawn, the rose and rock gardens,
the end of the herbaceous walk, etc.
The grounds at High Coxlease, Lyndhurst, are laid out with less wealth of detail,
but are none the less a highly interesting example of a garden stolen from the wild.
It would be difficult to find a more enticing site for a house than this little clearing
in the heart of the New Forest. One used as a child to picture just such a setting for
the cottage of Jacob Armitage, the pious old verderer in " The Children of the New
Forest." Though High Coxlease is so near the town of Lyndhurst, it has the
atmosphere of remoteness. It would not be surprising to meet there young Edward
Beverly, the excellent prig of Marryat's story, answering that question which always
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 15. — HIGH COXLEASE : ENTRANCE FRONT.
FIG. l6.— THE SOUTH SIDE.
High Coxlease, Lyndhurst.
enchanted at least one eager boy, " Can you tell the slot of a brocket from a stag ?
Obviously it is the place for brockets. If, however, we must stand upon the letter
of the law, High Coxlease, though in the world of the New Forest, is not of it. It is
the freehold of the Crown, and leased to the owner of the house which the illustrations
show embowered in its trees, but it has nothing to do with the true forest land. The
planting of High Coxlease is also modern, as the forest goes, for it was done with the
rest of the property somewhere about 1830. The plantation was made to some
purpose, for it has a finely mature aspect, and no more clearing was allowed than
seemed absolutely needful for
house and garden. The picture
of the entrance front shows
the drive fringed with bracken
and the roof framed in foliage,
and, indeed, it is impossible
to make anything like a
general survey of the house
save through a foreground
broken by trees. This setting
of the wild has been respected
in a wise spirit. As the
ground slopes southward the
lawn is bounded by a retaining
wall, beyond which a delightful
rock and water garden has
been made. The water itself
makes a home for many of
the beautiful hybrid water-
lilies evolved by the genius
of M. Latour Marliac. The
introduction of these dainty
flowers, embracing as they
do a wide range of colours,
has completely revolutionised
the art of water-gardening
in this country, and has
given it fresh scope and
purpose. The accompanying
picture shows how well they
thrive at Lyndhurst. In the
rather flat rock garden which
frames the pool, choice ex-
amples of interesting saxifrages
with encrusted leaves find a congenial place, and their silvery foliage makes
an attractive feature during those winter months when other plants, are at
their worst. Many another pilgrim from the Upper Alps flourishes in this
rockery, while elsewhere in the garden some rare sorts of daphne are
obviously favourites. Such surroundings demand a house which has simplicity for
its dominant note, and no less can be said of the building which Professor Lethaby
set there in 1901. Plain white walls and chimneys, red roofs, a lead-covered porch
of curiously interesting shape, and gables of moderate pitch — these are elements always
FIG. 17. — IN THE ROCK AND WATER GARDEN.
i6
High Coxlease, Lyndhurst.
satisfying if rightly disposed. We leave High Coxlease with a glance at the
garden flowers growing out of a sea of fern, the latter always beautiful, whether
in its tender green of spring, its duller hue at midsummer, or its rich and rusty brown
in winter, but most of all when the coming of the frost touches the green to
brilliant yellow and Nature carpets the forest with an undergrowth of gold.
The especial charm of making a flower garden in a forest clearing is that the
wilful tribes of Nature can be absorbed into the new population, where they will still
flaunt their wild and brilliant graces. In such gardens the outlying parts are likely
never to be more brilliant than in autumn, when the gold of the furze is glittering
everywhere among the darker hues of heather and the fading greens of bracken.
Furze is a great ally to the garden colourist, for the large and early varieties are followed
by others that are small and late. As the old and pleasant saying runs, gorse is out
of bloom only when kissing 's out of fashion.
FIG. l8. — LILIES AND GABLES AT HIGH COXLEASE.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER III.— A GARDEN IN BERKSHIRE.
Roses Grown as " Fountains " —Brick Dry-walling — Stone-edged Water Garden — Refined
Detail and Ornaments.
ON the outskirts of the village, a high old wall, with massive buttresses and
well-wrought coping, encloses a beautiful new house of moderate size,
designed by Mr. Lutyens, and a piece of ground of something under three
acres. The land, when taken in hand, was old garden and orchard, with a strong
westerly slope ; the soil a rich loam of calcareous character. The -lower part had
been the apple orchard, but the greater number of the trees were dead, and many
of the remainder so much crippled that but little compunction stood in the way of
the removal of a certain number to make way for the new garden design.
The house is approached directly by a door in the wall to the road ; an arched
passage and a paved court with a fountain leading to the main entrance. Another
doorway, close to the eastern angle, leads straight into the garden by way of a paved,
rose-covered pergola. Between this and the house is a small rose garden. The
path is now intersected by the wider terrace running parallel with the south face
of the house ;. but proceeding in the original direction the paved path leads to a further
FIG. 19.— THE GARLAND ROSE. POINT OF VIEW "fi" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 2O).
i8
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
A Garden in Berkshire.
20
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
display of roses ; for, where
it descends by a flight of
seven steps to the orchard-
level, there are masses of
the beautiful garland rose
planted in the border above
the retaining wall. They
grow untrained in their
own way, like natural
FIG. 22. — PLANTING PLAN. SEE
"A" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 2O)
AND PHOTOGRAPH (FIG. 25).
fountains. After rising for
six or seven feet they arch
over, and the masses of
warm white blossoms hang
down over the wall face
to within a foot or so of
the orchard-level. Some of
the old apple trees, either
A Garden in Berkshire.
21
dead stumps or with only a little life in them, serve as supports for rambling roses,
showing one of the several ways in which they grow willingly and display their
beauty.
The locality having no stone suited for, dry walling, the retaining walls of the
different levels are built in brick with earth- joints for planting. In these, pinks
and saxifrages, stonecrops, sandworts, rock-cresses and other small plants of mountain
origin luxuriate, and, having been planted by a master hand, fall into groups of
pleasant form that give enough at a time of one kind of interest/ The old boundary
wall, which was found covered with grass and weeds, was cleared of all undesirable
growths and planted with wallflowers, Cheddar pinks, stonecrops and a few other
such plants.
From a garden door in the middle of the house front a wide paved walk, joining
with and crossing the terrace parallel with the house, leads straight forward to the
FIG. 24. — WEST END OF FLOWER BORDER. SEE "p" ON PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 23).
>rchard, to which it descends by a bold flight of semi-circular steps- on to a grassy
)latform following the same form. From this, three broad grass paths diverge into
the orchard ; the paths proceeding to certain points from which others again radiate.
liese grass paths, ten feet wide, are kept mown. In the spaces between, where the
:ass is let grow as it will, hosts of daffodils appear in spring, followed by fritillaries
md meadow saffron in their seasons.
The water garden on the lower level of the house-front, reached by two angular
lights of steps, is a long parallelogram. At each end is a circular tank, with a
square one in the middle. They are finished with a flat stone kerb and connected in
straight line by a narrow sill having the same kerbing. It is a happy home for
22
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
« o
- 2
< H
W J
> Pu
O o
A Garden in Berkshire.
FIG. 26. — STEPS AND DRY WALLING. VIEW POINT "D" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 20).
FIG. 27. — PLANTED DRY WALL. VIEW POINT "G" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 20) AND ON
PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 31).
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
A Garden in Berkshire.
some good water-plants,
the greater number of
them being natives. On
river banks and in the
shallow waters of marshy
places we often pass these
good plants by with but
scant notice because they
are so closely pressed by
masses of other less in-
teresting vegetation ; but,
brought into the garden,
one is better able to appre-
ciate their rare beauty.
The water forget-me-not
we all know, but the fine
leaves and spreading
lace-like flowers of the
water plantain (Alisma
pi ant ago) and the
almost tropical quality
of the bloom of the
flowering rush
FIG. 29. — PLANTING PLAN AT VIEW POINT " H." SEE GENERAL
PLAN (FIG. 2O) AND PHOTOGRAPH (FIG. 30).
FIG. 30. — FLOWER BORDER NEAR BACK GATE. VIEW POINT " H " ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 20) AND
PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 29).
26
A Garden in Berkshire.
FIG. 31. — PLANTING PLAN. VIEW POINT "G" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 2Oj.
FOR PHOTOGRAPH SEE FIG. 27.
(Butomus umbellatus) require the comparative isolation of some such garden culture
to show their value. The water garden is bounded on its two long sides by wide
flower borders filled with a restricted choice of plants that is varied in some degree
from year to year but retains certain general features.
The garden is rich in delightful detail, notably some remarkably refined figures
in bronze and stone ; one in the entrance court fountain, another on a pedestal in
the square tank of the water garden, and a bronze Mercury at the southern end of
the detached octagonal pergola. The paved paths, with their several flights of
steps of varied and always pure design, add greatly to refinement and also to a
comfortable impression of permanence in this remarkably beautiful and charming
garden.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
27
CHAPTER IV.— WESTBROOK, GODALMING.
Situation — Special Compartments — Careful Planting Scheme — Winter Garden — Covered
Seats — Flower Border Facing North.
WHEN an architect of ripe experience and keen sensibility plans a house and
garden for his own home, one may look for something more than usually
interesting, and in Westbrook one is not disappointed. The house, built
by Mr. Thackeray Turner of the hard local sandstone, stands on a plateau of high
ground to the west of Godalming ; the deep
valley of the river Wey is to the north and
the valley of a tributary stream a little way
to the south. The upper trees of a steep
hanger on the northern side rise protectingly,
and on all the outskirts there are also trees,
with here and there a distant view between
their masses.
The garden fronts are nearly south and
west. On the south side a low wall encloses
a paved space with beds and border of
flowers, an eastward flight of steps leading
down to further flower-borders. Straight
in front is a wide, quiet lawn, bounded
on the right by a long paved path shaded
by pleached limes.
The garden to the west of the house
abounds in charming surprises. Its various
subdivisions are linked together in a simple
general design. Each section shows some
distinct wray of making a garden picture,
and each entices onwards to the next by
the charm of mystery and the stimulus of
pleasant anticipation of something still better
to follow. The main design has a walling
of yew hedges, now, after a growth of
thirteen years, approaching maturity. Within
their several compartments are a small sunk
garden of summer flowers, a rose garden
and one for late autumn. Between these,
crossing and forming in both directions the
axis of the design, are twelve-foot-wide grass
paths with flower-borders on either hand ;
the bright blossom showing finely against
the background of dark yew. Turning
southward at the intersection of the two
grassy ways, a double arch of yew comes in
FIG. 32. — THE PLEACHED LIME WALK, FROM
THE STUDY WINDOW. VIEW POINT "fi" ON
GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 33).
28
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
o£
°S
CO
CO
Westbrook, Godalming.
29
sight. Through and beyond this is the
principal feature of the design, a large
circular sunk garden for flowers of the
middle and later year — an amphitheatre
of summer glory (Figs. 36 to 38). Four
ways, twelve feet wide, with groups of
steps and partly sloping, lead to the
lower grassy level, where a large octa-
gonal tank with a wide stone kerb has
groups of many coloured water-lilies. The
four ways are punctuated, just within
FIG. 34. — A ROOFED SEAT.
the borders, by evergreens of upright
habit, Chinese junipers, golden junipers
and Irish yews. Looking from the western
side, the garden takes its place as an
adjunct to the house, with which it is
connected by a pergola. Looking north
and south there is the double yew arch
with the further green paths and
borderings of flower and shrub. The
scheme of planting of the circular garden
is interesting and effective. The sections
FIG. 35. — THE LOGGIA. VIEW POINT " A " ON
LPLAN (FIG. 33).
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Westbrook, Godalming.
that are in full blaze of the noonday and early
warm colouring, for the most part orange and scarlet ;
both ways to the cool and tender tints that are more
The plan, reproduced in Fig. 36, gives an idea of
details being omitted.
Going southward from this garden there is again
sand, which binds well ; here there is an orchard of
right, and a thick shrubbery to the left. Concealed
afternoon sun are of strong,
the colour-scheme working round
acceptable on the shadier sides.
the general arrangement, lesser
the broad path, but of the local
apples, pears and plums on the
in the middle of the shrubbery
FIG. 37. — THE SUNK GARDEN FROM THE SOUTH. VIEW POINT "c" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 33)
AND PLANTING PLAN (FIG. 36).
is a fifty-foot circle of grass with a bed of heaths in the centre — a pleasantly secluded
retreat. Five winding j>aths lead out of it through the shrubs and trees in different
directions, giving access to various points, and also serving as unobtrusive means of
•escape when a tired worker desiring rest and solitude becomes aware of approaching
intrusion.
From the western upper side of the circular garden a narrow path leads out, and,
turning to the right, goes — whither ? Another slight turn, between dry- walling to
right and left, reveals a solid double arch of stone leading into an enclosed space about
thirty-five feet each way (Fig. 40). It is the winter garden — a delightful invention !
32
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Westbrook, Godalming.
33
34
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Walled on all sides, the walling not high enough to exclude the low winter sun, it is
absolutely sheltered. Four beds are filled with heaths, daphne, Rhododendron praecox
and a few other plants. These beds, in company with the surrounding borders
and the well-planted wall joints, show a full clothing of plants and a fair proportion
of bloom from November to April (for planting plan, see Fig. 39) . The brick-paved
FIG. 40. — THE WINTER GARDEN. VIEW POINT " E " ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 33).
Westbrook, Godalming.
35
FIG. zjl. — A SHELTERED SEAT.
paths are always dry, and a seat in a hooded recess is a veritable sun-trap.
The garden is rich in such sheltered seats, built and roofed, for, besides this one in
the winter garden, and the loggia adjoining the house, there are two others at
distinctive points (Figs. 34 and 41). They are important in the garden design
in addition to their practical purpose ; moreover, even if in passing by they are not
actually used, it is a comfort to the eye and mind both to see the well-designed
structure bounding some garden picture and to know of the comfortable and refreshing
refuge. There is an important summer-house on the eastern side of the lawn, with
solid stone walls and a tiled roof. It is cool all day, for a slight air passes through,
and the doorways, facing east and west, only admit the earliest and latest sun.
The experiment of placing one of the most important flower-borders on the north
side of a high wall has answered admirably. The light soil of the garden soon dries
up, and in all but the wettest summers the plants have evidently been benefited by
the protection from hot sunshine at the root.
The pleached lime walk (Fig. 32) leads straight to a pretty place in the further
garden, a long, straight walk of turf bordered by masses of China roses and grey
foliage. The further end abuts upon a field gate to a lane which is a public foot-
path. It was a kindly thought of Mr. Turner to leave this in full view of passers-by,
who thankfully lean their arms upon the gate and enjoy the feast of roses.
36
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER V.—A GARDEN IN WEST SURREY.
Poor Soil—No Definite Plan — Paved Court with Tank and Steps — Colour in Flower-
borders— Woodland Paths — Thunder-house.
FIFTEEN acres of the poorest possible soil, sloping a little down towards the
north, in the Surrey hills. A thin skin of peaty earth on the upper part,
with a natural growth of heath, whortleberry and bracken, where a wood
of Scotch fir had been cut some twelve years before ; the middle part a chestnut
plantation, the lower, a poor, sandy field with a hard plough-bed about eight inches
down. These were the conditions that had to be considered and adapted as well
as might be to the making of a garden. In the upper, heathy part, seedlings of
many kinds of trees were springing up, now fair-sized examples of twenty-five years'
growth. As time went on they had to be severely thinned and at the same time
thrown into carefully-con-
sidered groups, one kind of
tree at a time being given
pre-eminence. A clearing in
the chestnut copse gave
space for the future lawn,
house and near garden. The
lower ground was deeply
trenched and heavily
manured for many years,
and is now a productive
kitchen garden. Much of the
ground had to be laid out, in
some kind of way, before it
was known where the house
was to stand, with the result
that there are portions that
meet at awkward angles. In
fact, there was no definite
planning at the beginning.
Various parts were taken in
hand at different times and
treated on their individual
merits, and the whole after-
wards reconciled as might
most suitably be contrived.
The only portion with a
definite plan is a small paved
court between two wings of
the house and a double
FIG. 42. — THE TANK AND STEPS. VIEW POINT "B" ON flight of Steps enclosing 3
GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 44). tank, all forming one
A Garden in West Surrey.
37
38
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
HEDGES
BEDS
% WALLS J
ROCK GARDENS I
STONE FLAGGING],
# /( ^PEBBLE PAVING!1
FIG. 44 — A GARDEN
IN WEST SURREY :
GENERAL PLAN.
SCALE. I ....I
A Garden in West Surrey.
39
FIG. 45. — THE PAVED COURT. VIEW POINT " A" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 44).
FIG. 46. — THE EAST END OF THE MAIN FLOWER-BORDER. VIEW POINT "c" ON GENERAL
PLAN (FIG. 44).
4o
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 47. — YUCCAS IN THE FLOWER- BORDER. VIEW POINT " E " ON GENERAL PLAN
(FIG. 44).
FIG. 48. — A SPECIAL BORDER OF GREY, WHITE, PINK AND PURPLE.
(SEE FIG. 49 FOR PLANTING PLAN.)
A Garden in West Surrey.
FIG. 49. — A SPECIAL BORDER OF GREY, WHITE, PINK AND PURPLE.
(FOR PHOTOGRAPH SEE FIG. 48.)
design (Figs. 43 and 45). The court has a circular pavement, partly between
two box-edged beds and partly bounded by a raised step next the house.
On the sides of the raised pavement stand pots of fern and funkia, forming a good
green setting for potted plants in flower — lilies, bellflowers, hydrangeas, etc., according
FIG. 5O. — THE GREEN WOOD-WALK. VIEW POINT "p" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 44).
Gardens /or Small Country Houses.
to their season. Clematis montana drapes one side wall and hangs as a garland
from the lower moulded beam of the timber-framed overhang. The opposite wall
is clothed with a vine. The stairways on each side of the tank are punctuated by
eight balls of clipped box. The tank itself has a wealth of ferns growing out of its
cool, north-facing wall, the water being let in by a finely-designed lion mask, the
work of Mr. G. D. Leslie, R.A. (Fig. 42).
From the lawn a wide turfway leads to another at right angles, beyond which
is the main border of hardy flowers, eighteen feet wide and about one hundred and
eighty feet long (Fig. 46). It
is backed by a narrow alley,
not seen from the front, but
serving conveniently to get at
the plants in the back of the
border, and those on the other
side against a high wall of the
local hard sandstone. The
border has a definite colour
scheme ; at the two ends blue,
white and palest yellow, with
grey foliage ; and purple, white
and pink, also with grey foli-
age, respectively ; the colour
then advancing from both ends
by yellow and orange, to the
middle glory of strongest reds.
Bold groups of yucca are at
the ends, and flank a cross-
path that passes by a doorway
through the wall (Fig. 47).
A plan of the actual planting,
and details of some uncommon
ways of utilising some of
the plants to gain unusual
advantages, are given in
Miss Jekyll's book, " Colour
Schemes in the Flower Gar-
den." A special border in the
further part of the garden is
given entirely to a colour
scheme of purple, white and
pink, with grey foliage (Figs.
48 and 49). It follows, from
there having been no exact design for the whole, that the garden falls into separate
spaces — an accident that has been used to some advantage by devoting each space
to a season.
The woodland closely adjoins the lawn and garden ground, and much care has
been given to the regions where the one melts into the other. From a narrow lawn
that is next to the south front of the house a wide grassy way runs straight up into
the wood, to a point where, at some distance away, a fine old Scotch fir, double-stemmed
and therefore spared when the rest of the wood was cut, ends the view, which is still
FIG. 51. — ONE OF THE WAYS FROM WOOD TO LAWN.
VIEW POINT "G" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 44).
A Garden in West Surrey.
43
4-rfaC'
FIG. 52. — P L A N T I N G
PLAN OF A GROUP AT THE
WOOD-EDGE FOR WINTER
AND EARLY SPRING.
VIEW POINT "H"ON
GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 44).
backed by more distant wood. This wide green walk (Fig. 50) is the most precious
possession of the place, the bluish distance giving a sense of some extent and the
bounding woodland one of repose and security, while in slightly misty weather the
illusions of distance and mystery are endless and full of charm. Nearest the lawn
are groups of rhododendron, very carefully chosen for colour, with hardy ferns and
one of the smaller andromedas filling up nearest the grass on the shady side, and
tufts of the natural wild heaths, intergrown with the blue-flowered Lithospermum
prostratum, on the side where the sun shines for some hours of the day.
Of the lesser grassy ways into the wooded ground, one that passes under the
shade of oaks and birches has groups of some of the beautiful wild ferns — male fern, lady
fern and dilated shield fern, in the natural setting of mossy ground and whortle-berry,
44
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
and a complete backing of bracken, with here and there a flowery incident — a
patch of trillium, and further a little bank of the lovely little trientalis and a bold
back grouping of Solomon's seal and white foxglove (Fig. 51). Another passes from
the lawn between banks of Gaultheria, alpenrose and the larger shrubby andromedas ;
it is shown from above at Fig. 53. Another passes up through a region of azalea
and cistus. The intention of all the paths from garden to wood is to lead by an
imperceptible gradation from one to the other by the simplest means that may be
devised, showing on the way the beauty ol some one or two good kinds of plant and
placing them so that they look happy and at home.
One place where two of the paths join that lead up to the wood has been arranged
with a larger number of kinds of plants as a bit of garden for winter and earliest
spring, but here the restful feeling is preserved by keeping the colouring within a
FIG. 53.— AUTUMN-BLOOMING SHRUBS. VIEW POINT " J " ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 44).
restricted range of low-toned pinks and purples, with a fair amount of quiet, deep-
coloured leafage. The planting plan (Fig. 52) shows the arrangement.
There are but comparatively few shrubs that bloom in autumn ; two of them,
viz., ^Esculus macrostachya and Olearia Haastii, have been grouped together by one
of the paths between the shrub-clumps.
At the far end of the kitchen garden, where the north and west walls join at an
uneven angle, stands a little building — a raised gazebo. From inside the garden
its floor-level is gained by a flight of steps that wind up with one or two turns. Its
purpose is partly to give a fitting finish to a bare-looking piece of wall and partly to
A Garden in West Surrey.
45
provide a look-out place over the fields and the distant range of chalk hill to the north ;
for the region of the house and garden is so much encompassed by woodland that there
is no view to the open country. The little place is most often used when there is
thunder about, for watching the progress of the storm, and an incised stone on the
garden side bears its name of " Thunder-house." Fig. 54 shows it as seen from the
road outside. One of its four openings is blocked by weather-boarding because if
left open it would have overlooked a neighbour's house and garden.
FIG. 54- — THE THUNDER-HOUSE.
46
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER VI.--HIGHMOUNT, GUILDFORD.
Site and Views — Excavation of Chalk — Rose Garden — Planted Walls — Garden-houses-
Colour Schemes — Framing the Views.
HIGH MOUNT is one of the new houses standing on the chalk ridge that rises
immediately to the south-east of the town of Guildford. The ridge seems
to stand clear up into the sky, open to all the winds of heaven. The views,
embracing some of the finest points in West Surrey, are extremely extensive, and,
with the exception of one short section, are panoramic for more than three-fifths
of the horizon's circle. Eastward is St. Martha's Hill, church-crowned ; the horizon
is then cut by the bold promontory of the Chantry Woods on a spur of sandy hill.
The view then opens to its full extent, passing over the southern portion of Surrey,
then over the whole width of the wooded Weald of Sussex, to the dim, far line of the
South Downs. A little way to the west are the fine outlines of Blackdown and Hindhead,
FIG. 55. — CIRCULAR TANK AND STEPS AT WEST END OF ROSE GARDEN.
GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
POINT OF VIEW "A" ON
Highmount, Guildford.
47
48
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
about fourteen miles away. Still more to the right Wolmer Forest appears as a bluish
haze ; nearer in the same direction are the woods in the region of Waverley Abbey,
and, close at hand, the valley of the Wey, backed by the ruined Chapel of St. Catherine
on its steep hill of sand and rock.
The garden ground, all on the southern face of the hill, but so near the top
that it is greatly exposed, had already been laid out to a certain degree when
the garden designer took it in hand. Tennis lawn, croquet lawn and bowling
green had been levelled and made ; but the steepness of the remainder,
composed of grassy slopes between clumps of shrubs and flowers of no
particular design, was found to be incommodious, and great need was felt for
FIG. 57. — STEPS AND PAVEMENT AT THE EAST END OF ROSE GARDEN.
GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
VIEW POINT '' B " ON
something more restful
could be done without
and systematic. It was evident that nothing satisfactory
a serious amount of moving of earth. The ground lay in
humps and hollows too blunt and shapeless in form to be utilised as they were, and yet
with sides so steep that foothold was precarious and all progression uncomfortable.
Happily, the owners were willing to face the necessary outlay, by no means a slight
one ; for digging in pure chalk is almost as serious a matter as quarrying in stone,
and in places it was necessary to go eight feet into the solid, and also to find means
of disposal of the waste stuff excavated. This was tipped all along the lowest of the
ground to form a firm embankment for the rose garden. It was found just possible
to get a width of fifty-five feet and a length of two hundred and eighty feet, so that
Highmount, Guildjord.
FIG. 58. — PLANTING PLAN OF TOP OF CIRCULAR DRY WALL. VIEW POINT "H" ON GENERAL
PLAN (FIG. 56).
FIG. 59. —FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE ROSE GARDEN. VIEW POINT "C" ON GENERAL PLAN
(FIG 56).
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
there should be the
comfort of a space
fairly large and
quite level, where
there had formerly
been a kind of night-
mare of confused
and treacherous de-
clivities. Therefore,
with ground rising
on all sides but the
south, the whole rose
garden appears to
be sunk, the addi-
tional comfort being
acquired of absolute
shelter from the
north and of lying
open to the sun.
At the western end
a bold segmental
FIG. 60.— SKETCH OF PLANTING AS SEEN FROM VIEW POINT " D " ON
GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
FIG. 6l.— ANGLE OF DRY WALL FROM VIEW POINT " D " ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
Plighmount, Guildjord.
curve of high retaining wall also gives shelter from any wind coming from a
westerly direction. As will be seen in the general plan (Fig. 56), this encloses a lily
tank and encircling rose-beds (Fig. 55) ; the rose-beds are continued as straight
borders on either side along the whole length ; the quiet middle green space is
broken only by the square tank midway of the whole (Fig. 59). The eastern end
has a flight of circular steps
with a bold half-round paving
at the foot (Fig. 57). This,
with the pergola, garden-houses
and their accompanying flights
of steps on some of the upper
levels, is the work of Mr.
Douglas Round. Thus the
rose garden is a long, level
green parallelogram, quiet and
restful, where before was
only tumbled and disordered
futility.
At the western end, back-
ing the lily tank and rose-
beds, the circular retaining
wall is from six to seven feet
high. The top is rather
boldly planted with yuccas,
the great Euphorbia Wulfenii,
cistus, tamarisk and tree lupine,
and, further back, with tree
box, white broom and red cedar
(Fig. 58). Barely two years
planted, the whole is as yet
too immature to show any-
thing like the ultimate inten-
tion. Facing uphill across the
tank one looks up a series of
steps, rising flight after flight
(Fig. 55). The two lowest, with
a landing between, rise to a
broad turf path between flower
borders, running eastward to
the tennis lawn and giving a
long green vista of over three
hundred feet, with again the
feeling of reposeful space and
security that had formerly been
wanting. The whole length of
the rose garden has its six-foot-high retaining wall planted ; not planted all over,
but enough to display a number of beautiful things in suitable groups, the
same plants being carried up on the top of the wall, where there is a space of four feet
between the wall top and the hedge of tree box that surrounds the tennis lawn at the
eastern end. The same space is also between the top of the wall and the shrubs
FIG. 62. — CAMPANULA ISOPIIYLLA ALBA, IN THE DRY WALL,
FROM VIEW POINT "E" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
"'^^^r^^-^V )
FIG. 63. — PLANTING PLAN OF BORDERS OF WEST WALK. SEE GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
and bush roses that approach it further to the west. The wall is in full sun, and the
good plants and sub-shrubs that we have from the Mediterranean region — lavender,
rosemary, santolina, othonna and so on, with pinks, stonecrops and several of the
rock-loving campanulas of the Alps (to name only a few of the plants utilised) — rejoice
in the full southern exposure and the brilliant, unveiled light of the high elevation.
- ill III! Ill
-
FIG. 64. — THE GARDEN-HOUSES, FROM VIEW POINT "F" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
Highmount, Guildford.
53
The strong calcareous loam is also favourable, and the position in the joints between
the stones, giving shelter and protection from wet to the crown of the plant, made
it possible to use plants that would otherwise not be hardy. Conspicuously beautiful
at Highmount, though so lately planted, is the tender South Italian Campanula
isophylla, usually grown in greenhouses and not hardy in the open, though here in
rampant growth and fullest health and development. Looking up the double flight
of steps from the rose garden across the square tank from C (Fig. 59), a patch of this
fine campanula shows on the right ; the same group comes to the left of the picture
in the angle view from D (Fig. 61 ). A further view from E shows another patch on the
FIG. 65. — THE WEST END OF THE PERGOLA, FROM VIEW POINT "G" ON GENERAL PLAN (FIG. 56).
face of the wall, with a group of nepeta (the pretty purple catmint) above and the
Algerian Iris stylosa at the wall foot (Fig. 62).
The garden-houses, standing on the north side of the tennis lawn, will, in time,
be pleasantly framed by the vines planted on the pergolas which bound and roof the two
flights of steps giving access to the tennis lawn from the end of the main pergola and
the garden above (Fig. 64). The building on the right has a nearly flat roof of corrugated
iron, whose unsightliness has been veiled by a coating of earth and a planting of stone-
crops. Above the buildings is the garden of spring flowers, where, besides all the other
good things, it is a yearly joy to see the wonderful vigour and bloom of the wall-
flowers. All the crucijevcB rejoice in a limy soil — stocks, wallflowers, iberis, alyssum,
sethionema, with others of the same large botanical family, on such a soil are seen
54 Highmount, Guildford.
at their best. The flower borders are carefully considered for colour arrangement ; the
long green walk has a massing of strong reds and yellows in the middle of the length,
with the ends cooler coloured, in the way that seems to make the most satisfactory colour
picture. A shorter upper double border, called the west walk, is mostly of yellows,
with tender and brilliant blue (Fig. 63). These colour-schemes are not only highly satis-
factory in themselves, but they serve to give individuality and a quality of dignity and
distinction to various portions of a garden. Offering to the eye one clear picture at a
time, they rescue the beholder from the distracting impression of general muddle and
want of distinct intention that is so frequent in gardens and so wasteful — wasteful
because a place may be full of fine plants, grandly grown, but if they are mixed up
without thought or definite scheme they only produce an unsatisfactory effect, instead
of composing together into a harmonious picture.
Although the view at Highmount is very extensive, it is from the pictorial point
of view not as beautiful as it might be, and as it is confidently hoped it will be in a
few years' time. The material is there for at least half-a-dozen beautiful scenes,
but, just as a painted picture is comparatively of little effect without its frame, so in
a much greater degree is the outdoor picture. Everyone has noticed how, coming
suddenly on some perhaps quite tame garden scene through a doorway, it seems to
be invested with a strange kind of beauty. So, in the case of a view that is over-
panoramic, we plant so as to cut it up and frame it in different directions. A glance
at the general plan (Fig. 56) will show how this is provided for, the more deeply-
shaded masses of shrubs and trees comprising such as will rise high enough to come
well above the horizon line and make of each opening a definite picture. In the
plan the chief points of view so separated are shown by the feathered arrows.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
55
CHAPTER VII.— THE TREATMENT OF SMALL SITES.
Some Gardens by Mr. Inigo Triggs — The Value of Historical Examples — Paved Parterres—
The Use of Treillage — A Town Garden by Mr. Lutyens — A Seaside Garden by Mr.
Mallows — Planting Scheme by Mr. H. Avray Tipping— V arious Typical Examples.
THERE is no problem before the architect and garden designer more difficult,
and at the same time more attractive, than is presented by small sites, and
particularly by the long, narrow spaces that go with houses of small frontage.
So important are the limitations of the latter that a separate chapter has been
devoted to the treatment of a typical case, i.e., Millmead, Bramley (pages i to 9).
In this chapter will be described various examples of successful small gardens that
owe their charm mainly to skilful design, however well that has been expressed and
emphasised by right choice in planting. Where the area to be dealt with is a small
rectangle and flat, there are few better ways of treating it than by laying out a paved
garden with or without grass, but preferably with it. If grass be omitted altogether,
winter, with its empty flower-beds, brings a grim and bare look. It is fitting to begin
the series with one devised by
Mr. H. Inigo Triggs.
The revival of the right
principles of garden design in
England during the last twenty
years is due to a compara-
tively small band of people,
who by word and deed have
shown the right way. The first
thing necessary was to go back
to such old examples as had
survived the onslaughts of the
' landscape " school, to publish
measured drawings and photo-
graphs of them, and to analyse
the qualities that make their
beauty. In this necessary work
Mr. Inigo Triggs has taken a
leading part. His great folio
volumes, Formal Gardens in
England and Scotland and The
Art of Garden Craft in Italy,
were pioneer works that did
great service. The especial
need of such historical research
becomes obvious when it is
realised how swiftly and some-
times irrevocably the aspects
of gardens change. Mr. Triggs
has emphasised the fact that FIG. 66. — LITTLE BOARHUNT, LIPHOOK.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
The Treatment of Small Sites.
57
no examples are extant of the garden as it appeared in the Middle Ages. If it is
desired to reconstruct its features, recourse must be made to illuminated MSS. and
paintings of the period. From such sources we learn about such enchanting features
as the Ladies' gardens, which usually consisted of a little square enclosure surrounded
by high walls. Even when we turn to much later periods we cannot be certain that
the formal gardens adjoining old houses at all faithfully represent their original form.
Succeeding owners and gardeners have impressed their own ideas on the gardens under
their control. It is indeed doubtful whether any garden of even so recent a period
as the beginning of the eighteenth
century appears to-day as it did
when first made. A gazebo here
or a fountain there may occupy its
original place, but such elements
as parterres, paths and hedges are
likely to have been altered beyond
recognition. The student is often
impressed by the divergence between
the existing condition of historic
gardens and their presentment in
early prints. The outlines and
main divisions may be the same,
but with details such as the
widths of borders and paths and
the placing of statues so altered
as to destroy the original pro-
portions and quality of the com-
plete scheme. The value of Mr.
Triggs' work has been enhanced by
the creative ability which he brought
to his labours. It follows that the
gardens which he has himself de-
vised are based on a wide know-
ledge of what gave to the old
gardens of England their peculiar
attraction. In the many houses
which are the fruit of his part-
nership with Mr. Unsworth we do
not look in vain, therefore, for
scholarship and original fancy. Of
these, Little Boarhunt, which is
his own home, is a good example.
It shows how the qualities that
make the beauty of the historic formal gardens may be reproduced in little for
houses of moderate size.
Whether or not it be true that King John ran a boar from Liphook to Southsea
before killing, Boarhunt has been the name of a Liphook manor since the Middle
Ages. The site of the house now illustrated has been called in turn Deadman's and
Fry's Farm, but Mr. Inigo Triggs did wisely in reviving so pleasant a name as Little
Boarhunt. Other monarchs than John have been identified with the place, which is
easy to be explained, for the old road from London to Portsmouth once passed through
FIG. 68. — LITTLE BOARHUNT: STEPS, GATE AND WALL.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
the garden. It is an odd commentary on the levels of roads before Macadam's day
that the surface of this old highway is quite twenty feet below the surrounding ground,
and now forms the bottom of a woodland dell in Mr. Triggs' garden. Common lands
interspersed with patches of woodland— all that now remain of the great forest of
Woolmer— stretch away from the house for many miles. It is not too fanciful to
guess that the garden of Little Boarhunt was the scene of a charming incident
recorded by Gilbert White in the History of Selborne. " As Queen Anne was journey-
ing on the Portsmouth road, she did not think the forest of Wolmer beneath her royal
regard. For she came out of the great road at Lippock, which is just by, and reposing
herself on a bank smoothed for that purpose, saw with great complacency and
satisfaction the whole herd of red deer brought by the keepers along the vale before
her, consisting then of about five hundred
head." Mr. Inigo Triggs has smoothed
many banks in the making of his garden, but
the red deer have given place to pigeons. As
lately as June, 1910, Little Boarhunt was a
small farmhouse of no especial merit, with
a barn and yard, but no garden. All the
building and the remodelling of the farm-
yard was done in six months ; by the spring
of 1911 the garden had grown up, and it
now looks old-established.
The note of gaiety is struck at the en-
trance. Mr. Triggs has chosen to border the
drive with broad beds full of herbaceous
plants, instead of with the dull shrubs that
too often find a place there. The farmyard
to the south of the house was excavated to
make a sunk rose garden. Its retaining walls
of rough stone are brilliant with saxifrages,
pinks and veronica. Herbaceous borders sepa-
rate the surrounding paths from the low en-
closing walls, which are carried up with square
stone piers supporting timbers clothed with
climbing roses. Particular attention is
drawn to this wall treatment, which is as
delightful as it is uncommon. Further
reference is made to it in Chapter X.
The wall is broken at its south corner by
a garden-house, inexpensively built a single brick thick, with its faces cemented. In
the neighbouring wall is a small old wooden hand-gate of satisfactory construction
(Fig. 68). The sunk garden itself is an admirable example of the wealth of interesting
detail that can be employed in a small space without creating any feeling of overcrowding.
It is divided by a little brick canal, served by rain-water collected from the roof. This
rill widens at its middle into a dipping pool, of practical use in watering the garden,
and from it rises a slender brick column surmounted by a little Italian figure of a boy
with a fish. The four beds for standard roses are divided by narrow brick paths, set
out to differing designs. Altogether the garden is as pretty as can be, and has a further
pleasant feature in the brick dovecote, which comes at the end of the north enclosing
wall. It must be explained that the plan of Little Boarhunt shows to the south-west
FIG. 69. — A SIMPLE BRICK- BUILT DOVECOTE.
The Treatment of Small Sites.
59
a green court and pool which have not yet been made, but on pages 150 and 151 are
given plan and sketch of the interesting fountain treatment which Mr. Triggs has
devised for it. The area covered by the sunk and walled garden now illustrated (by
a comprehensive view in Fig. 67) is only ninety feet by sixty feet, and is justly
described as small.
The paved garden at Island, Steep (Fig. 71), illustrates a practical point of impor-
tance. The beds are arranged in such a way that all work on the flowers can be
done from the paved paths. This is useful in the many cases where ladies do not
leave pruning, etc., to the gardener, and like to do the work dryshod. In this garden
the parterre is sunk about eighteen inches telow the general level, and there are
bands of turf above and below the retaining wall, but not among the flower-beds.
Another example of a paved parterre without grass is illustrated in Fig. 72,
which shows the
treatment by Mr.
Baillie Scott . of a
forecourt at the en-
trance front of a
house at Sevenoaks.
An attractive feature
of it is the raised
basin in the middle,
which is built
is Dunt in
coloured tiles. Other
examples of like treat-
ment are at The
Platts, Petersfield,
by Mr. Inigo Triggs
(Fig. 74) ; Combe-
lands, Pulborough,
by Professor E. S.
Prior (Fig. 73) ; and
Cray, by Mr. Maber-
ley Smith (Fig. 75).
The photograph of
the last of these
was taken before
planting was begun,
and shows the gar-
den in all the naked-
ness of its unclothed masonry, but it shows the levels all the better for that. It
should be explained that great tubs with clipped trees are intended to be placed
at the ends of the tongues of paving, which otherwise would be purposeless. More
detailed reference to the laying of paved work and to suitable materials are given
elsewhere (Chapter XV.), but it may be noted in connection with the sunk garden
at Plewland, Haslemere, designed by Messrs. Read and Macdonald (Fig. 77), that
the dry-built retaining walls make, with their rough stone, a strong-looking base
to the house itself. In districts where the local stone is costly for house-building
or unsuitable by reason of being porous or possessing other defects, it is good to use it
for garden walls. It yields a contrast with the red brick of the house and gives an
impression both of roughness and stability that is helpful.
FIG. 70. — LITTLE BOARHUNT I PLAN OF
GARDEN.
6o
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 71. — ROSE GARDEN AT ISLAND, STEEP.
In the case
of small garden
spaces which are
overlooked there
is nothing more
helpful to the de-
signer than a treil-
lage screen. In
Figs. 78 and 79 is
shown a scheme,
devised by Mr.
Inigo Triggs, for
the treatment of
a square plot,
which measures
seventy-four feet
each way. There
is a stepped pool
in the middle, and
the shaped beds
of a parterre are
geometrically dis-
posed with reference to four Irish yews. In the corners there would be wooden
seats, which have been omitted in the perspective sketch for the purpose of clearness.
For the same reason no roses are shown clothing the trellis and no flowers in the beds.
The treillage itself is intended to be made of split oak laths interwoven basket-
fashion, and the framing would also be of oak with little balls on the tops of the
posts. The general effect of a scheme like this, when in being, is well shown by the
photograph of a
trellis garden,
which is included
among the illustra-
tions of the Pergola
Chapter.
Although this
volume is devoted in
the main to the gar-
dens of small country
houses, the designing
of a town garden does
not demand the
application of very
different principles
except in so far as
more conscious archi-
tectural motifs may
find a just place. The
garden at 100, Cheyne
Walk, Chelsea, the
FIG. 72. — PAVED FORECOURT AT SEAL HOLLOW, SEVENOAKS. residence of Sir Hugh
The Treatment of Small Sites.
61
FIG. 73. — AT COMBELANDS, PULBOROUGH.
FIG. 74. — PAVED GARDEN AT THE PLATTS, PETERSFIELD.
FIG 75. — SUNK GARDEN AT CRAY BEFORE PLANTING.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 76. — PLAN OF PLEWLAND GARDEN.
Lane, is a good
example of what
may be done in
a limited space
(Figs. 81 and 82).
The garden is
divided from the
space at the back
of the house by
a simple colon-
nade of stone.
Fortunately,
there existed
two fine trees,
one a mulberry
of noble growth,
and these make
brave features,
paths, the middle
old, uninteresting
A sense of length is given to the garden by the wide parallel stone
one of which is interrupted by a round pool. At the far end the
wall has been transformed by the building of two niches, which shelter statues in the
classical manner. Reference to the plan (Fig. 80) shows a practical point in the provision
of a narrow flagged path up the east side, which gives access to the flower-beds
on either side. The whole scheme is simple and unlaboured. Too often the makers of
FIG. 77. — THE SUNK GARDEN AT PLEWLAND, IIASLEMERE.
The Treatment of Small Sites.
town gardens try to make up
for the absence of a fine show
'of plants by an excess of sculp-
ture, which raises visions of a
monument mason's yard. Mr.
Lutyens has shown a wise re-
straint, and the garden has a
refined classical flavour without
being stiff. When the borders
are furnished at their proper
seasons with such things as
arabis, spreading its bloom
and leafage over the paving,
and later with carnations that
will bring their brilliant array
of colour, the garden will be
complete. Carnations in par-
ticular are kindly to the town
gardener, and in nowise turn
against a soil that builders of
many generations have salted
with brick rubbish. Indeed,
the lime of old mortar is
often a beneficent aid.
FEET
FIG. 78. — PLAN OF TRELLISED
GARDEN.
FIG. 79. — A GARDEN ENCLOSED
BY TREILLAGE.
64
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
From Chelsea to a windswept Norfolk shore is a far cry, but the conjunction is
instructive, as it emphasises the great influence of wind on the design and planting
of gardens. There is shown in Figs. 83 to 85 a scheme for remodelling a dilapidated
little homestead at Happisburgh, designed and drawn by Mr. C. E. Mallows. The essence
of the planning is the protection of the garden from the fierce and frequent winds
that blow from north and east. This would be contrived by repairing an old barn on
the east side to serve as a playroom or studio, and some cow hovels on the north to
make a covered way, useful for summer meals or for a skittle alley. The house is on
the west, and the garden is open only to the south or landward side, where additional
shelter would be provided by planting trees,
___ s*—^ as described later. On the house side, a
hedged recess with some sort of seat or
shelter is planned so as to continue the lines
of the house and form a feature and a bul-
wark between the flower garden and the
more open lawn. The flower garden is essen-
tially the old farmyard converted. It would
be cleared out, the central part sunk and
fresh soil introduced, and laid out in flagged
paths and steps surrounding the flower-beds
and edging the borders which lie against the
buildings. The planting of such a garden
would depend upon two considerations. The
first is whether it is to be merely a place of
summer resort, or whether it is intended for
inhabitance at other seasons of the year also.
The second consideration takes in the ques-
tions of soil and climate, for on some know-
ledge of these will largely depend the choice
of plants. There are enough and to spare
that will flourish here, and care should be
taken in making a selection not to stray
beyond this quite adequate store. The fol-
lowing scheme of planting has been devised
by Mr. H. Avray Tipping, and will give
many helpful suggestions to the owners of
seaside gardens. The soil resembles that of
Holland, and the Dutch have now bulb-
growing competitors in East Anglia. Spring
bulbs should therefore be freely used, for
the sheltering buildings will save even the
brittle-stalked tulip from destruction by wind.
Short-stemmed species may be reserved to less protected areas. The formation of
wind-breaks is the preliminary operation. A bank would be raised, behind which
young trees can obtain early shelter. Sycamores, poplars and Austrian firs will prove
FIG.
-PLAN OF A TOWN GARDEN.
the most successful. Near to the bank they should be set in serried ranks, affording
mutual support, and be allowed to grow into a tangle. Further in, the planting should
be more sparse, and thinning should be yearly attended to, so that the trees that are
left may attain fine shape and good grouping. Where high trees are not desired, sea
buckthorn will brave the gales and make a thicket. Close planting in this case also
The Treatment of Small Sites.
FIG. 8l.— AT 100, CHEYNE WALK, CHELSEA : POOL AND STATUES.
FIG. 82. — THE SCREEN.
66
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
ro
oo
The Treatment of Small Sites.
should be the rule, but for a further reason. Unlike our own species, that of
Hippophae rhamnoides seems to produce a majority of the male sex, and nine-tenths
of them must be cut out, so that the yellow-berried Amazons of the tribe may have
full scope to display their charms. Within these shelters, and even without them,
the Japanese euonymus, both green and golden, will flourish, while Griselinia littoralis,
Escallonia macrantha and Olearia Haastii are only a few of the other evergreens
that have a friendly feeling towards the sea. But the subjects must be educated to
rough usages. Let them be pot grown or yearly transplanted stuff. Plant late in
spring. Use the local reed-screens against wind and sun. Be liberal with the
water-pot and the syringe when the air is hot and dry. Thus treated, tamarisks,
gorses and brooms will be thoroughly at home. None of these will mind a slight
-fp GotW focus far Furrmerjrfeab a-
FIG. 84. — PLAN FOR A SHELTERED SEASIDE GARDEN.
sprinkle of salt or a moderate buffeting of wind, and, if rightly arranged, they will
frame an enclosure as thoroughly protected as the sunk garden itself. That, with
its artificial bulwarks all ready, will offer an immediate harbourage. The tree-
surrounded oasis will be a future outlet for gardening energy. The early bulbs
already spoken of— not tulips merely, but daffodils and hyacinths, chionodoxas and
squills, anemones and crocuses — should have an accompaniment of double arabis
and varied aubrietias ; of wallflowers, Alpine species as well as garden hybrids ; of
Blue-eyed Mary and rose-coloured Himalayan primrose. The last two will share
the dampest spot with some of the mossy saxifrages, while the low dry wall, which
sustains the wide walks that stretch out on a level from the loggia, will be the home
of the encrusted section and of sedums and houseleeks. Of the last named there are
68
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
new varieties which are of a rich deep red when grown in seaside sun, and the poorest
soil and driest place will suit them side by side with Zauschneria californica, which
will bear its tubular scarlet blooms from July to frost. The great majority of alpmes
will do well here. The charm of many of them depends on their close and orderly
growth and the delicate poise of their blooms. In the rich soil of enclosed and leafy
valleys they are apt to take
on a coarseness which ren-
ders them almost valueless.
Their original deportment
will, however, be well pre-
served in the light soil, the
brisk air and the open
character of the East Coast.
The dry walling of the sunk
garden should therefore be
reserved for them, while a
section of the suggested ex-
tension can be prepared for
their additional location.
No rockwork should be
attempted. Rocks adequate
in size and number to create
an effect would be costly to
import, and wrould look quite
alien to the environment.
But miniature hills and
dales, such as we often find
among sand-dunes, can be
created and covered with
the largest sizes of the sea-
shore pebbles. Such an
arrangement will exactly
suit the rooting and growing
habits of the plants, which
will soon lay their leaves
and stems over the stones.
The slight acclivities may
be rendered more pro-
nounced by setting tall
things on them. All the
sea hollies (eryngium) would
look admirable so placed.
Their tough stalks with-
stand the wind, and that
should be a consideration
in making the selection.
Very likely the wandflower
(Sparaxis pulcherrima)
might succeed here, for it
will bear hard frost when
FIG. 85. — POOL AND PAVING.
The Treatment of Small Sites.
other conditions are favourable. Its tall wing stems, headed by the pink cascades
of bloom, sway easily in wind and never break. Sea lavenders and horn poppies
would be thoroughly apt, and when we seek to accentuate the depressions by planting
them with lowly growths, we should not forget such seaside subjects of sessile habit as
the thrifts and Silene maritima.
While there is no reason for limiting the selection to shore plants, these should
be well represented, and give the note to the whole arrangement. Subjects that
look awkward and unfriendly in such association should be excluded, for in the tree-
girt extension which we are now considering a somewhat natural lay-out should prevail,
and the formal garden alone should contain florist flowers. Of these, carnations do
well, and assume their most brilliant colouring by the sea. Roses flourish if adequate
shelter, such as this garden possesses, is provided. The petals of many varieties,
however, become spotted and decayed by the slightest tincture of salt borne in the
rain driven by a sea wind. Such should be avoided, and stout-petalled kinds chosen,
such as Caroline Testout, Marie d' Orleans, Frau Karl Druschki, Belle Siebrecht and
George Nabonnand. Such is a meagre outline, with only very occasional filling in,
of how this bare and derelict homestead could be converted into a charming home,
surrounded by flourishing gardens. In preparing a list for planting the latter, it must
not be forgotten that this Cromer country has been called poppyland, and that the
great tribe of poppyworts, including romneya and argemone, must be duly honoured
and housed. Of shrubby growths the hardy fuchsias will flourish, while to the ever-
greens already mentioned Choisya ternata, lavender and rosemary must certainly
be added. Probably the delightful creeping form of rosemary will here survive the
winters, for it is not frost but damp which is its enemy.
We may now leave this East Coast garden of a dream, for another that is in being.
In nothing is there opportunity for greater skill than in the treatment of small
sites of irregular shape, such as that shown in Fig. 86. Eastwood Cottage, Walbers-
wick, stands on a narrow tongue formed by two converging roads, arid Mr. A. Winter
Rose has made the most of an awkwardly-shaped plot by breaking it up into several
features of interest. Two are illustrated in Figs. 87 and 88. The east corner is
laid out as a rock garden, to which access is given from the sunk wall that runs along
FIG. 86. — PLAN OF LITTLE GARDEN AT WALBERSWICK.
7°
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 87. — WALBERSWICK : MASONRY SEAT-
FIG.
5. — AND STEPPED PATH.
the north boundary. It is entered between a pair of masonry piers (Fig. 88), and
the flagged path, broadly stepped, is in good accord with the rockwork. Its southern
end is approached along a path, flanked by broad herbaceous borders, which skirts
the angled seat shown in Fig. 87. Other good points about this garden are a little
bird bath in the form of a circular canal and a pigeon-cote adapted fiom an old
tool-shed.
It is not often that the laying-out of a garden suffers such interference as at
Goodrich House, Hatfield, where Mr. Winter Rose had to deal with a very unusual
situation. Across the length of the garden there was a right-of-way, which had to
be respected, though it is rarely used. It was necessary, therefore, to divide the
garden scheme into two parts. The little paved court at the back of the house is
FIG. 89. — PLAN OF GARDEN AT GOODRICH HOUSE.
The Treatment of Small Sites.
enclosed by two
buildings, which pro-
ject on each side.
This section, with
its charming little
pool, is illustrated in
Fig. 92, and the
letter A on the plan
(Fig. 89) shows the
point of view. The
right-of-way has been
masked to a large
extent by carrying it
through a little poly-
gonal walled space
with four gateways,
two on the axial line
between the house
and the main garden,
and two on the line
of the right-of-way.
When this " no man's
FIG. 90. — FOUNTAIN AT GOODRICH HOUSE.
FIG. 91. — GOODRICH HOUSE : FROM VIEW
POINT " B " ON PLAN.
FIG. 92. — FROM VIEW POINT "A
(FIG. 89).
ON PLAN
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
GREENHOUSES
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O RCHARD
0 €> O Q e
o o a o
o O a 7 Q
o o o a o
FIG. 93. — PLAN OF A GARDEN AT DORCHESTER
-SKETCH FROM iOuT.
FIG. 94.— -SKETCH SHOWING SCHEME FOR NARROW PLOT.
(FOR PLAN SEE FIG. 95 )
The Treatment cf Small Sites.
.'and " has been passed we reach the garden
proper, and notice on the left a pretty
masonry fountain, illustrated in Fig. 90.
The setting-out of the rest of the garden is
sufficiently indicated by the general plan
(Fig. 89).
A site almost square and flat without
natural features offers a blank cheque in the
matter of design. In Fig. 93 is illustrated
such a garden laid out at Dorchester, Dorset,
by Mr. Morley Horder, the architect of the
house. It shows a useful division of the
space into flower and kitchen gardens. As
Horman wrote in his Vulgaria, " the knotte
garden serve.th for pleasure, the potte
garden for profit te." Importance is given
to the scheme by the wall in alternate
bays, which divides the two main divisions
and ties them both to the house. A photo-
graph of a similar wall in another garden
is reproduced in Chapter X. The two long
pergolas which reach out from the house
southwards serve a like purpose. A word
must also be written about the very useful
plan of a narrow suburban garden site
shown in Fig. 95, and by sketch in Fig. 94.
The ground treated measures only fifty by
two hundred and ten feet. The garden on
the entrance side is happily managed. It
is divided by a tall yew hedge running east
and west, so that a pretty little square
garden, walled on the north and west sides,
is provided for the sole pleasure of the
servants. The entrance court adjoining it
is left perfectly simple with grass margins
to the paved walk. Flowers are con-
centrated on the low terrace, which is reached
from the loggia. A hedge divides it from
the tennis lawn, which is surrounded by
lime trees, presently to be pleached. The
success of the scheme is the result in no
small measure of not attempting too much,
which is the usual fault in very limited
gardens. .
SCALE
40_
FIG. 95. — GOOD ARRANGEMENT OF NARROW PLOT.
74
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER VIII.— ON HILLSIDE GARDENS.
Lady Mary Worthy Montagu on Terraces — Stairways-— Terraced Gardens — Inexpensive
Materials — Various Examples .
NO site gives such great opportunity to the designer as one that slopes sharply.
Whether from the point of view of house or garden, it is a moot point whether
it is better that the slope shall be downwards from north to south, or with
an upward slope southwards. Assuming that the house is to face south, the former
disposition means an open and the latter an enclosed view. Most people prefer an open
outlook, but there is a feeling of comfort about seeing one's own boundaries that needs
to be taken into account. Generally, however, an alternative is not available, and our
site has to be accepted as Nature fashioned it. When a hillside is considered purely
from the point of view of garden design, it is obvious that its chief merit is that it calls
for the free use of terracing and steps, and no other two features of garden architecture
give so great an opportunity for varied and striking treatment. Bacon said that a bay
window was the place for conference, and one may pay equal heed to a more lightsome
author in her definition of a
terrace. Writing from Hinchin-
brook to her husband a few
months after her marriage,
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
tells him, "I walked yesterday
two hours on the terrace," and
again a few days later, "The
terrace is my place conse-
crated to meditation, which I
observe to be gay or grave,
as the sun shows or hides his
face." Solvitur ambulando is
always a good rule, and a
terrace walk, with its un-
changing prospect and the
sense of security given by its
balustraded walls, is always
friendly to quiet thought. It
keeps the mind free from that
hint of surprise which tickles
the fancy of the true country
lover in the turns even of the
most quiet lane.
That the creation of arti-
ficial levels is not, however, the
only way to deal with a hilly
site is clear from the first
illustration of this chapter. It
shows the admirable effect of FIG. 96. — TREATMENT OF SLOPING GROUND WITHOUT STAIRWAY
On Hillside Gardens.
75
FIG. 97. — AT HURTWOOD, SURREY : A STEEP ASCENT.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
a broad sloping grass path between two yew hedges at Hurtwood, Surrey. It
will be noted that the size of this part of the garden is considerable, and it is pre-
cisely this element which makes its success. A like treatment on a small scale would
tend to dulness, and we may turn therefore to the stepped treatment of another part
of the same garden. The ground covered by the stairway shown in Fig. 97 is quite
small in extent, and therefore serves as a guide for the treatment of other steep sites.
No little of its charm is in the contrast between the formal masonry of the steps and
landings and the luxuriant growths which border them. In Fig. 99, which shows a
design by Mr. C. E. Mallows, a similar treatment is indicated, but for a site with a far
gentler slope. This enables very broad steps to be used without " risers," and does
away with the need for landings, which are essential in the case of steeper stairways.
It should be borne in mind that it is rather troublesome to walk up and down easy
stairways with broad treads of this type unless each tread is broad enough to make
it comfortable to take two steps to each. This suitable width is indicated in Mr.
Mallows' drawing, but no definite dimensions are given here, as everyone can easily
experiment for himself and fix on a width
which he thinks most comfortable.
We may now consider the use that has
been made of terracing by Mr. Thomas
Young, who laid out the garden at Mr. G.
Muntzer's house, Littleholme, Guildford,
Surrey, in conjunction with Mr. Voysey,
who was the architect for the house. The
plan and section (Fig. 100) show clearly to
what good account the hillside has been put.
When the construction of the approach from
the road was in hand, the hill showed the
defects of its qualities, for the slope on the
north side was very awkward. On the south
side of the house a wide paved terrace has
been provided with a pleasant double stair-
case leading down to a small grass garden
surrounded by yew hedges, and provided with
a pond and sundial. The little plateau so
formed is held up on its south side by a
curved brick bastion, which appears in Fig. 102.
Westward of this, the garden is laid out in gradual terracing with flights of steps of easy
gradient, which lead to what is now being planted as an orchard. The setting of the
house on its precipitous site is perhaps best appreciated by the view shown in Fig. 101,
which was taken from the loggia looking out across the terrace to the magnificent view
that reaches to Bramley and Ewhurst. The garden walls are of purple brick coped with
Bargate stone, and some of the terrace retaining walls are of flints which were dug
from the site. On the front of the big lower bastion is an interesting gargoyle
in wrought lead, which is illustrated in Chapter XIV. The making of such a
garden naturally involved considerable excavation, and its owner has wisely pro-
ceeded with the work slowly. Our photographs hardly do the designer justice, because
the garden as yet lacks the luxuriant growth which will soften the outlines of wall
and terrace. It is useful to add that work of this kind, involving very con-
siderable excavation, is a costly matter. The mere work of digging and
wall-building, the construction, in fact, of the carcass of the garden, cost over five
FIG. 98.-
HURTWOOD : PLAN
NEAR HOUSE.
OF GARDENS
On Hillside Gardens.
77
FIG. 99. — DESIGN BY MR. C E. MALLOWS FOR STAIRWAY ON GENTLE SLOPE.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
hundred pounds, and this takes no account of planting, but the money has been
worthily spent.
Sometimes, as at Hurtwood Edge (Fig. 105), the obviously right placing of the
house with reference to aspect and view brings it about that the slope is at an angle
with the chief front. It is a dangerous enterprise to plan a terraced garden on
irregular lines in order to follow an erratic contour, and a geometrical, or at least
symmetrical, shape will almost always be the best. The perspective view repro-
duced in Fig. 105 represents the original design of the garden (not yet carried out
entirely). It shows how delightful a feature may be made of the tall buttress with
its pier at one corner of the terrace. The natural fall of the site gave an
architectural opportunity which Mr. Arthur T. Bolton, who designed the house,
\
FIG 100.— LITTLEHOLME, GUILDFORD : PLAN AND SECTION SHOWING TREATMENT OF SLOPING SITE
BY MR. THOMAS YOUNG.
On Hillside Gardens.
79
8o
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 102. — LITTLEHOLME, GUILDFORD : TERRACES AND STAIRS FROM SOUTH-WEST.
was not slow to grasp. The plan, shown in Fig. 108, elucidates the scheme, and the
neighbouring views mark the happy effect of the upper terrace of the house and the
balustrading built up of curved tiles. The stair in the foreground of Fig. 106 is part
of a simpler scheme of treatment than that originally planned. An unpretentious
FIG. 103. — LITTLEHOLME ! SHOWING OUTLINE
OF UPPER TERRACE, —
FIG. 104. — AND THE TERRACE STAIRS.
On Hillside Gardens.
81
82
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. I06— HURTWOOD EDGE! TERRACE FROM BELOW.
but satisfactory way of dealing with a sloping site
in a small garden is shown in Fig. 109, which
illustrates the garden at The Barn, Witley,
Reading. Mr. Frank Chesterton has done no
FIG. 107. — THE TERRACE.
FIG. I08.— HURTWOOD EDGE! PLAN OF GARDEN SCHEME.
more than provide a short flight of steps,
between dwarf walls, which leads to a little
terrace. The materials deserve a word. In order
to save cost the steps were built of rough purple
On Hillside Gardens.
FIG. ICQ. — AT THE BARN, WITLEY, READING.
lumps of old burnt firebrick, which can sometimes be got from gasworks for a nominal
sum, if not free. This must not be confounded with black gas clinker, which some
misguided folk have used for rockeries. Clinker is as dismal and unpleasant a material
as the old firebrick is attractive. The latter should not be used when the cost of good
brick or tile or stone can be encompassed, but as a cheap alternative it is quite
satisfactory. The view from the garden door at The Barn is a happy commentary
on the pleasant air which a suburban garden can take on when some thought and
very little money have gone to its making.
. . ... :»tf?;gl:^:.._ ...._:...•:..
SECTION
FIG. 1 10. — A HILLSIDE GARDEN AT STEEP.
On Hillside Gardens.
Another interesting treatment of a hillside site is shown in the photograph and
plan (Figs, no and in) of a garden at Steep, designed by Mr. Inigo Triggs. In
the front of the house is a terrace twenty-five feet wide, wdth steps leading down to
a semi-circular grass terrace bordered by yew hedges. The next lower level is occupied
by two flower borders divided by a grass path. From the end of the latter another
flight of steps leads down to a green walk, which is enclosed on each side by yew hedges.
This slopes down to a round rose garden. The section which is printed below the plan
(Fig. no) shows clearly how admirably the slope has been employed to give a
succession of interesting garden incidents.
FIG. III. — A HILLSIDE GARDEN AT STEEP.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER IX.— STEPS AND STAIRWAYS.
Approach Steps from Road — Stairways in Children's Dramas — Stepped Treatment for
Gentle Slopes — Straight and Curved Stairs — Terrace Steps — -Unformal Stairs.
THE notes on the treatment of hillside gardens given in the last chapter necessarily
included some references to stairways associated directly with terracing, but
the question of steps and their design arises in every kind of site, and in many
parts of it. It is usual for a long stairway to be built of the same width throughout
its flight, but a very pleasant variety can be got by widening it as it descends. The
example shown in Fig. 112 is at Ardkinglas. It was devised in this manner by Sir
Robert Lorimer, and very attractive it looks. Where the site of a house stands well
above the roadway an interesting and dignified approach is secured by broad steps,
FIG. 112. — WIDENING STAIRWAY AT ARDKINGLAS.
86
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
•
FIG. 113. — CURVED ENTRANCE STAIRWAY AT OWLPEN MANOR.
Steps and Stairways.
FIG. II/|. — AN UNRAILED STAIR.
88
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 115. AN ANGLED STAIRWAY WITH LOW COPING.
Steps and Stairways.
semi-circular on plan, such as is seen at
Owlpen Manor (Fig. 113). When a
considerable difference in level between
two parts of a garden is masked by
a wall pierced with a communicating
door, an interesting feature can be
made of the necessary steps. In
gardens frequented by children — and
it is a sad place that never knows their
hurrying footsteps — unrailed stairs are
not without danger. It is not difficult
to see that, for young folk, the doorway
illustrated in Fig. 114 demands to be
made the scene for those swift comings
and goings that belong to the search
lor treasure and the rescue of distressed
maidens. The top step is obviously
the place for the last stand of a
devoted retainer, sworn to defend the
brave lady of his absent lord. The
shadow of the wall is no less clearly
the place where conspirators will gather
with hood and lantern, until the door
flies open and the heroic knight leaps
on them sword in hand. All this is
right and proper, and it is one of the
justifications of garden architecture
that it provides a stage. But an un-
guarded stair in conjunction with a
doorway that conceals its dangers is a
trap that may break young heads, and
this aspect of the matter needs to be
remembered. There is more of safety
in the provision even of a low coping
that follows the line of the steps, as
.in the angled stairway shown in
Fig. 115. In the case of broad stepping
that leads down to terrace walks it is
often pleasant to break its line by a
little pool or other projection from the
upper level, such as is indicated by
the treatment which Mr. Walter Cave
employed at Ewelme Down (Fig. 116).
Small gardens of gentle slope must
usually be formed as a series of shallow
terraces for reasons of economy, and
the stepped scheme at Home Place,
Holt, designed by Professor E. S.
Prior, will be a counsel of perfection to
most people. Still, it is illustrated in
FIG. Il6. — TERRACE STAIRWAY DIVIDED BY SMALL POOL.
9°
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Steps and Stairways. 91
Figs. 117 and 118, because it is full of ideas that are capable of being interpreted on
a smaller scale. The characteristic and beautiful house is built of flint and tile, and
its south side is planned " sun- trap " fashion. A curved flight of steps leads down from
the main terrace to a long stairway of gentle descent with wide, shallow treads. This
FIG. Il8. — AT HOME PLACE, NORFOLK.
is divided down the middle by a long stepped pool, which is richly hospitable to free-
growing water plants (Fig. 117).
Returning, however, to strictly small gardens, it may be said that many of them
lose in attractiveness by the careless treatment of the short stairways which lead from
one level to another. It is not always realised how much additional charm is given
by the well-conceived design of such details, or how great a variety lies open to the
straying choice. Steps need to be considered in relation to the retaining walls, in which
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG.
. — ALTERNATION OF ROUND AND SQUARE STEPS.
they often make a
break. They should
have wide treads and
low ' risers " so that
they -are easy-going.
Too great a regularity
in their building is
generally to be
avoided. Rough
rubble masonry is to
be preferred to ashlar,
where stone and not
brick is the material,
but the rustic character
should not be over-
done. Great variety
is to be attained by a
happy conjunction of
straight with curved
steps, as is seen in
Fig. 119, which shows
also the value of rough
FIG. 1 2O. — STEPPED APPROACH TO PERGOLA.
Steps and Stairways.
93
piers to mark the break in the retaining wall. This
example is chosen from Island, Steep, designed by
Messrs. Unsworth and Triggs. A similar treatment
is illustrated in Fig. 120, which shows the entrance
to a walled garden at Ewelme Down. A terrace
stair at the same house, half-round on plan, is also
shown in Fig. 122. The plea for the wide treads
that make an easy-going stairway only holds good
when practical considerations of site and convenience
make it possible. Where there is a great break in
levels a steep flight may be inevitable, and Fig. 123
shows how very pleasant it may look. It is rare
that an approach road is very greatly higher in level
than the ground floor level of the house, but this
FIG. 122. — ROUND STAIR ON TERRACE.
FIG. 121. — DETACHED PORCH AND STAIR-
sometimes happens on a
steep hillside. At Sulling-
stead, near Hascombe, Mr.
Lutyens has contrived an
interesting way out of the
difficulty. At the upper
road level has been built a
detached porch with a tiled
roof carried on pillars. From
this a brick stair winds down
to a narrow forecourt, which
divides the entrance door
from the foot of the porch
stairway by no more than a
few feet.
In the contriving of the
stairs from house terrace to
lawn it is desirable to avoid
the common mistake of
making them too narrow.
94
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 123. — STEEP FLIGHT OF STEPS AT MATHERN.
Steps and Stairways,
95
Several examples are
given which show
stairs adequately de-
signed in this respect.
That illustrated in
Fig. 124 is in the
garden of a house in
North - East Lanca-
shire, designed by
that able artist and
attractive person-
ality, the late Dan
Gibson, who did so
much to revive the
type of architecture
proper to the Lake
District. The rough
stone steps accord
well with the dry-
walling. Attention
may also be drawn
to the pool set in an embrasure of the wall. Another example is in a more regular
and finished manner (Fig. 125). It is at a house designed by Mr. Lutyens, and the
variety in the steps descending two ways is in charming contrast to the massive
bulk of the retaining walls of the terrace. Very often it produces an excellent
FIG. 124. — ROUGHLY BUILT STAIR FROM TERRACE TO LAWN.
FIG. 125. — TERRACE STEPS BY MR. LUTYENS.
96
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
m ' ;
"k- • ii
"
' '
1 ' __
FIG. 126. — BROAD STAIRWAY FROM TERRACE TO LAWN
Steps and Stairways.
97
effect to provide a very broad flight of steps from the middle of the terrace
to the lawn below, such as is suggested by the drawing by Mr. C. E. Mallows
(Fig. 126).
In the chapter on " Water in the Formal Garden " many of the diverse schemes
shown by photograph or drawing depend for their success on the steps with which
the pools compose. The design by Mr. Inigo Triggs, now illustrated in Figs. 127 and 128,
gives a hint for the treatment of a double stairway connecting two levels, and has a
shaped pool for its central feature. This scheme could be applied very appropriately
FIG. 127. — DOUBLE STAIRWAY WITH POOL.
-SCALE OF
i 134 56/8
I I I L I I I I
9 1O
I I
PLAN
30
FEET
FIG. 128. — PLAN OF ABOVE.
98
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Steps and Stairways. 99
to the descent from house terrace to sunk garden, or as the ascent from such sunk
garden to a lawn beyond.
Although stairways are among the most useful elements in garden design, and
give just opportunity for conscious architectural treatment, it is not always desirable
to force the note of formality. In situations where Nature has been lavish with her
wild charms the signs of the hand of man should be suppressed, so that nothing may
appear to compete with effects of a kind that no designer can bring. Even in small
gardens that are made on woodland sites there is often a green alley over-arched with
trees which fleck the path with sunlit tracery. Of such a kind is the example
illustrated in Fig. 129. The stone steps there are of the simplest, and show themselves
to be perfectly right for their situation. The adding of flanking piers crowned by
vase or statue would strike a note of artifice which would accord ill with the natural
beautv of the scene.
100
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER X.— BALUSTRADES AND WALLS.
The Design of Balusters — The Imitation of Historical Examples — Walls and Parapets
of Open Brickwork — Walls Surmounted by Beams — A Coronal Garden — Serpentine
Walls — Building in Concrete.
TERRACE balustrading in stone of the sort shown in the picture below is a
costly feature of garden architecture, and belongs rather to large schemes
than to those which develop round a small house. Beyond illustrating as
models this Jacobean example, and a modern application of the same treatment by
Mr. Inigo Thomas at Rotherfield, in Figs. 132 and 133, it will, therefore, be enough to
put in a claim for refinement in baluster design. In the terraces of great houses where
FIG. 130. — A JACOBEAN BALUSTRADE
Balustrades and Walls.
101
102
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
the scale is big throughout, a certain
heaviness of treatment is not
only allowable but even necessary,
but small schemes demand delicate
handling. It is unsafe to rely upon
historical examples for imitation
merely because they look admirable
in their own setting. We have to
reckon with the glamour which age
brings with weathering and lichen,
and to beware. There are many
features of old work which will not
bear reproduction without looking
garish to the point of vulgarity.
It is difficult, moreover, in the case
of an old house or church, to draw
a line between the emotional appeal
of history and the strictly archi-
tectural merits, the more so a?
Time's way with buildings, as with
men, is to soften them. The student
of such things may amuse himself
by wondering what would be the
verdict of the sightseer concerning
Roslyn Chapel if he were to see it
in all its luxuriance, but fresh from
FIG. 132. — TERRACE BALUSTRADE AT ROTHERFIELD.
FIG. 133.- — ROTHERFIELD : DETAILS OF TERRACE WALLS.
Balustrades and Walls.
103
FIG. 134. — IN MOULDED BRICK.
the chisel, and without the mist
of sentiment which rises from
the legend of the Prentice
Pillar. In considering the value
of old work as a model for
imitation it is necessary to
study the material to which
has been given various forms.
The balusters at Newton Ferrers
(Fig. 131) have a coarseness of
outline which amounts almost
to brutality, and makes them
very unsuitable as models.
Yet in their own place, and
against the austere background
FIG 135. — OPEN PARAPET OF CURVED TILES.
104
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
ELEVATION
FIG. 136. — OF HOLLOW HEXAGONAL TILES.
SECTION
of an eighteenth century house,
they are seen to be altogether
admirable, because they are of
Cornish granite. The form was
determined by the intractable
material and exactly suits it.
From these notes it will be
clear that it is impossible to lay
down any rules for the design
of terrace balustrades of stone ;
they form an integral part of
the house, and are governed by
the factors which determine its
architectural treatment. Terrace walls of open brickwork make a simpler problem.
Much can be done with tiles and bricks of ordinary forms in achieving interesting
varieties of treatment. The wall illustrated in Fig. 134 shows bricks moulded after
a Portuguese pattern, which give a light and lace-like effect. The short stretch
of parapet which appears in Fig. 135 is of very pleasant appearance, but it is built
up of ordinary elements. The rusticated piers are of thin red bricks, and the
openwork of curved tiles, each made to a quarter of a circle. Fig. 136 shows a North
Italian example of hollow hexagonal tiles with top rail and plinth. The expense
of preparing moulds for a special size or shape of hand-made brick is trivial when
it is spread over the making of a few thousands. Fig. 137 shows a design by Mr. Inigo
Triggs for an attractive and unusual wall with tile capping and recurring panels rilled
with pierced and shaped bricks.
The walls of fruit gardens are best built in a straightforward way, but fancy
may be let loose in designing the walls of a flower garden, especially if the treatment
/TILE CAPPING
, ,, ... , .... ... . ,, ... , ,,
I 6 O
SCALE OFI , I . I
FEET
DETAIL OF BRICKS
FIG. 137. — WALL WITH OPENWORK PANELS.
Balustrades and Walls.
I05
contemplated lends changefulness to variety of growth. Very often the designer
of a small garden is faced by the difficulty of giving it privacy, and shrinks from the
uninteresting solution of building a plain high wall. In such a case the two schemes
indicated in Figs. 138 and 139 suggest happy alternatives, the former of which appears
in a modified form in the picture (Fig. 68) of Mr. Inigo Triggs' own garden at Liphook.
It shows a stone wall eighteen inches thick, and it is'desirable, where choice is possible,
to build it of sandstone in order that it may weather to a pleasant colour. This type
of garden masonry looks best when the j oints are well raked out, so that each individual
stone may show distinctly. The piers are spaced ten feet apart, and are connected
by curves. Rough beams about four inches square, with cross-pieces about two inches
square, are supported on the piers, and roses and other creeping plants are trained to
intertwine amid the woodwork. In Fig. 139 a similar arrangement is shown for brick
1
'"*
-
FIG. 138. — STONE WALL WITH TIMBERED PIERS. FIG. 139. — THE SAME IN BRICK WITH FLOWER BOXES.
walls, with this interesting difference : the piers for a distance of two feet from the
top and the boxes at their sides are of four and a-half inch brickwork filled with earth.
In the illustration these receptacles are shown in broken section rather than with
appropriate plants growing, in order that the method of construction may be clear.
Each should be drained with a small pipe about one inch in diameter, which will throw
the drainage-water clear of the wall on its far side. The spacing of the piers in this
case, as in the last, should be about ten feet, and a good height for either type is eight
feet, the walls thus being about five feet. Where bricks are used, red is the best
colour. If only inferior bricks are available, the walls should be rough-cast or
cemented (a finishing coat being laid very roughly), and should show the marks of the
wooden float. Much more ambitious and very successful is the design of the wall
that encircles a little round garden (called the Coronal) at Athelhampton, designed
by Mr. Inigo Thomas. Its parapet dips in a series of half rounds, and the rising
io6
Balustrades and Walls.
107
io8
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 142. — -FLOWER-BED AGAINST SERPENTINE WALL —
parts between are crowned with stone obelisks, round which climbing roses have
wound their tender way. It is an admirable device for the treatment of a
small space, and could be carried out in a simpler fashion in brick without undue
expenditure (Fig. 140).
Among the less usual forms of brick walls a high place must be given to those on
a serpentine plan, and for several reasons. If built only about five feet high, they can
be constructed a single brick thick. This is not safe with a straight wall of the same
height, which should be two bricks thick. The extra length of single brickwork
occasioned by the wavy plan only means an addition of about one-quarter to the
cubic measurement. This means that a ribbon wall stretching a hundred feet would
involve only five-eighths to three-quarters the cost of a straight wall covering the
same distance. There are, moreover, cultural advantages. The concave faces on the
south side of a serpentine wall serve in some sort as sun-traps, and are therefore kindly
to wall fruit.
The example at
Heveningham Hall
(Fig. 141) is nearly
ten feet high, and
is therefore more
than a single brick
thick, but even tall
walls can be built
more cheaply ser-
pentine fashion
than straight. In
laying out a flower
border under such a
wall it would be
well to emphasise
the unusual line by
waving the outline
of the border. The
obvious method is
a simple reversal F1G T^ — AND A BETTER OUTLINE.
of the wavy line,
as shown in Fig. 142, but that gives a rather weak effect, and it is better to rely on a
more geometrical setting-out, as indicated in Fig. 143. As such a flower border would
work out very wide at the points where the convex curve is opposed to the concave
recessing of the wall, the wise method with all wide borders under walls— viz., of
providing a narrow path between wall and bed — is all the more valuable. This
treatment is indicated in both plans. Eighteen inches is a sufficient width for such
a path. •
It is difficult to establish the date when serpentine walls first came into vogue,
but it is unlikely that it was before the middle of the eighteenth century. Miss
Phillimore, in her Life of Wren, when writing of Wroxall Abbey, Warwickshire, which
was bought by the great architect in his old age, says, " Sir Christopher is said
to have designed the kitchen garden wall, which is built in semi-circles." This wall
(Fig. I46A) is not serpentine, but set out in half-circles with straight stretches connecting
them : the idea is, however, the same. A device of this kind is just one of the things
with which the inventiveness of Wren is likely to have played. As, however,.
f^FEET
Balustrades and Walls.
109
FIG. 144. — WALL WITH SQUARE BREAKS.
FIG. 145. — CONCRETE WALLS AT LAMBAY.
FIG. 146. — WALL MASKING KITCHEN QUARTERS.
1789 is on a stone
of the wall, his
authorship must be
doubted. The writer
of this has seen a
serpentine wall at a
Suffolk house o f
late in the eighteenth
oe n t u r y. A good
modern example, a
single brick
thick, designed by
Mr. F. W. Troup,
is illustrated in
Small Country
Houses of To-day.
Built with the
same purpose as
a serpentine wall,
i.e., to give somewhat
sheltered bays for
fruit, is the straight
wall with square
breaks at a Buck-
inghamshire house
designed by Mr. P.
Morley Horder. It is
the better, both prac-
tically and in appear-
ance, for its tiled
ridge. In districts
where both stone
and brick are more
costly than concrete,
the latter material is
useful for garden
walls. In Fig. 145 is
illustrated a concrete
wall of very good
appearance, designed
by Mr. Lutyens for
the gardens of
Lambay Castle. The
terminal posts are
given almost a Doric
character by the
marks left by the
wood boxing set up
temporarily, into
which the half-liquid
no
Balustrades and Walls.
concrete was poured. An admirable crown is given to the wall by dark grey
Dutch pantiles. The building of garden walls to mask kitchen courts and
other spaces, which are necessarily untidy at times, belongs rather to the design
of the house than of the garden, but one example is illustrated in Fig. 146 because
of its intrinsically garden treatment. A stout trellis is set penthouse-fashion from
the ridged screen wall (in the foreground of the picture) to the wall of the house,
and offers hospitality to such creepers as are light enough not to interfere too
much with the usefulness of the windows beneath.
FIG. I46A. — WALL AT WROXALL ABBEY WITH SEMI-CIRCULAR BAYS.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
in
CHAPTER XT.— CLIMBING AND OTHER PLANTS ON WALLS
AND HOUSES.
Misuse of Ivy — Of Ampelopsis — Of Wistaria — Various Climbers — Shrubs Trained
to Walls.
THE appearance of many a house is made or marred by the wise or injudicious
use of climbing plants. A house of no special character may become a thing
of beauty ; one of architectural value may have that whole value obliterated
and the structure greatly damaged. In the latter case the danger is so great and
negligence so frequent that it will be well to offer some words of warning. Many a
fine old gateway of carefully-
designed brickwork or of
wrought stone has been allowed
to become smothered with ivy.
Ivy is of the nature of a true
hard-wooded tree. When the
mortar has fallen out of the
joints of old masonry, these
open joints are just the places
seized upon by the fast-growing
ivy shoots. The shoot, at first
a bare eighth of an inch thick,
quickly swells, hardening as it
grows. Soon it fills the joint,
and, ever increasing, acts as a
wedge with irresistible power,
and eventually forces the stones
apart. Ancient buifdings and
ruins that are of historical and
archaeological interest are the
easiest and most usual prey of
the devastating ivy, but many
fine old houses throughout the
land are even now suffering
from its dangerous overgrowth.
In some cases, from the pic-
torial point of view, the need
for abolishing the ivy is some-
thing of a misfortune, especially
in the case of old ruins ; but
its removal is a necessity if the
evil is not to be aggravated.
In the case of a new bare wall
where the joints are sound,
and level with the face of the FIG. 147.— OVERGROWTH OF IVY ON SCULPTURED GATEWAY.
112
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 148. — OVERGROWTH OF IVY ON GATE-PIER AND GARDEN-HOUSE.
Climbing Plants.
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Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 150. — STONE GATEWAY MODERATELY CLOTHED.
Climbing Plants.
brickwork, there is no danger, and the ivy is even protective, the leaves throwing off
the wet. But the plant is quick to detect and occupy any opening, when danger
and damage may quickly follow.
The fine and boldly-treated brick piers to wrought-iron gates shewn in Figs.
148 and 149 have been smothered with ivy, and not the piers only, but also the rather
important point where the pier rises from the wall. This is specially deplorable in
the picture from the outside of one of the entrances to the walled garden, with the
flight of uncommon circular
brick steps (Fig. 149). It may
be noted incidentally that
this illustration shows another
defect very common in gardens
where there is no critical eye
ever on the watch for such
blemishes. The level of the
path has shrunk away several
inches, leaving the under-course
of brickwork exposed, and
making the whole step incon-
veniently high as well as entirely
out of proportion. In the case
of the inner view, where one of
the brick piers is, happily, free,
the summer-house with arched
doorway is also over-smothered
with ivy (Fig. 148) . We believe
that the overgrowth of ivy on
this fine example of gateway
treatment has been removed,
but are glad that the piers
were photographed in their
overdone state as a useful warn-
ing. The beautiful eighteenth
century gateway shewn in
Fig. 147, photographed in 1903,
but now, we hope, cleared,
shows ivy obliterating the
architrave and entablature
of an ornate design. There
is no harm in the slight en-
croachment of a leaf or two of
the flanking magnolias ; nobility
of form in foliage is a desirable accompaniment to good architecture, but it should
only be allowed to accompany, not to oppress — still less to overwhelm.
It is not the fault of the ivy, a precious and beautiful climbing plant — it is the
misuse of ivy and the neglect of due control that we desire to emphasise. Ivy was
largely used in decorative schemes by the French in the eighteenth century and later,
and to this day is cleverly employed as screening walls of greenery on railings and
treillage. It deserves to be much more used as a screen plant, and if a large unbroken
surface should appear monotonous, the want of variety can be remedied by training
FIG. 151. — WISTARIA MISPLACED.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
116
over it a tracery ot some other climber, such as Clematis Flammula or Virginia creeper.
Another stone gateway (Fig. 150) is reasonably clothed with rose and vine foliage ;
but their growth is already quite enough — a little more and it would be overdone.
The popular and, in its place, valuable Ampelopsis Veitchii has much to answer
for. It has per-
ceptibly harmed
the fine brickwork
of some of the old
Tudor buildings at
Hampton Court-
not only smother-
ing the architecture
but actually
damaging the
surface. The plant
clings by little
roundish suckers ;
in time these
become dry and
as hard as wire.
When the harmful
growth was at last
recognised on some
of the portions of
the palace built by
Cardinal Wolsey,
and it was cleared
away, the dry
suckers held so
tightly that they
could not be dis-
lodged without
bringing away
some of the face
of the brick.
In the case of
the wistaria form-
ing an outer
curtain to a
pointed-arched
window one may
easily guess how
such an odd misuse
FIG. 152. — RAMBLING ROSES, VINE AND IVY ON ROUGH BUILDINGS.
of a fine plant may
have occurred
(Fig. 151). It is evident that it was forbidden to drive supporting nails or staples
into the joints of the stonework, and that the only apparent alternative was to fasten
the plant to the iron bars of the window itself. The still simpler alternative was
overlooked, namely, that of refraining from the use of a plant requiring nailing on a
wall where it could not be nailed. The same picture shows an error only too common
Climbing Plants.
117
in gardens — that of having a bed of small plants in immediate connection with impor-
tant masonry. The wistaria, with its probable ultimate fate, is the more to be regretted
because the plant itself is in fine, young vigour, having got over the earlier stage of
standing still for the first few years, as is the way of its kind. This fine plant may
be used in many
ways — on garden HHHHfe ^x ^
and house walls,
on pergolas and
arbours. The
newer Japanese
kind (W. multijuga)
is as easily grown
as the older W.
Chine n sis , but
although the
racemes of flower
are much longer,
it is hardly a more
attractive plant
than the better-
known kind.
Besides the
walls where climb-
ing plants are
grown for their
own beauty there
are places in nearly
every garden where
it is desirable to
clothe some rough
building or to
cover or screen
something un-
sightly (Fig. 152).
For this the
rougher of the
rambling roses arid
the wilder of the
clematises are in-
valuable. The
native C. Vitalba
covers very large
spaces, and grows
fast. Clematis
montana is eager
to rush up to a considerable height and then to tumble over with sheets of graceful
foliage and cataracts of pure white bloom (Fig. 153). Clematis Flammula rambles
widely among other growths, flowering in September ; it is followed closely by
C. paniculata in October. Space only allows of the barest mention of other good
climbing plants— clematis species such as the yellow-bloomed C. graveolens ; in
FIG. 153. — CLEMATIS MONTANA.
n8 Climbing Plants.
choicest gardening the splendid varieties of the Japanese C. patens and the
Chinese C. lanuginosa, and the many pretty hybrids of C. viticella. Then we
have Bignonia radicans with its ash-like leaves and trumpet flowers of orange
and scarlet ; Solatium crispum and 5. jasminoides. Grape vines of the Chasselas
class form perhaps the most beautiful of all wall covering, especially for
sheltered, quiet places where bright flowers are not absolutely needed ; but among
vines, where colour is wanted, there is the crimson-foliaged claret vine and Vitis
Coignetice, brilliant-hued in autumn. Roses one can but barely touch upon except
to say that warm walls are only suitable for teas and noisettes.
Then there are the numbers of shrubs, which, though not of a climbing habit, are
thoroughly satisfactory when trained to walls. Figs for important foliage ; Pyrus
japonica and the winter-sweet (Chimonanthus] for winter bloom; Abutilon vitifolium,
of extreme beauty and strangely little planted ; ceanothus of several kinds ; Buddleia
variabilis Veitchii, choisya, the brittle Robinia hispida, with flower-clusters something
like wistaria, but of a charming pink colour. Then for cold exposures the common
guelder rose makes a capital wall plant, and is well accompanied by Clematis montana
running through it, flowering at the same time, and adding to the pretty picture of
copious white bloom. Another happy mixture for a cool wall is the handsome shrubby
spiraea, S. lindleyana, with its cream-coloured bloom and fine pinnate leaves. Clematis
Flammula trained through this forms another desirable combination. Laurustinus,
not only the common but also the black, and the later-blooming L. lucidus are all
excellent for training to cool walls.
FIG. 154.— AMPELOPSIS VEITCHII RESTRICTED IN GROWTH
SO THAT THE WHOLE WALL FACE IS NOT COVERED.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
119
CHAPTER XII.— RETAINING WALLS AND THEIR PLANTING.
Hillside Sites — Turf Banks — Dry Walling — Grouping in Planted Dry Walls in Sun
and Shade — Construction — Importance of Ramming — Steps.
MANY gardens that are on hillsides are of necessity arranged in a succession
of terraces needing retaining walls to support each succeeding level. In
the case of gardens made fifty years ago, before better influences prevailed,
the difficulty was got over by making turf banks. But it is very rarely that a turf
bank is a desirable feature in a garden ; more often it is distinctly ugly, or, at the best,
quite uninteresting, while it is always difficult to mow and burns badly if on a
southern slope. Where such a turf bank remains, it would, in nearly every case,
be better to convert it into a wall ; the line of the wall being taken at halfway down
the slope and carried to the lower level, the earth excavated at the bottom filling up
above. When this is done space is gained both above and below, while the wall itself
becomes precious gardening ground ; for if built as a " dry wall," that is to say, with
earth joints instead of mortar, the joints, and the chinks in the case of uneven stones,
are the happiest possible places for the growing of nearly all alpines, or if the wall
FIG. 155. — THIN SLATE STONES LAID LEVEL.
I2O
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
f
Retaining Walls and Their Planting. 121
is of some size and height, for a number of our best garden plants. Then the fact of
the plants being raised some feet above the ground brings them into the most convenient
range of sight. Some lovely little alpines at easy eye-level can be much more
comfortably and leisurely examined than in the ordinary rock garden ; all their little
beauties of form, colour and scent can be enjoyed and appreciated to the full.
Many of them grow naturally in rocky clefts, hanging down in sheets of loveliness,
so that the wall shows, in a better way than any other kind of gardening, the real
habit and character of the plant — -its own method of growing, enjoying life and
displaying beauty.
In the case of such planted walls it is best to have no flower-border at the foot,
but to have a border above, occupying, in the case of a converted grass bank, what
would represent the upper half of the bank. It is well to fill it with a good proportion
of things of bushy habit, such as bush roses, Scotch briars, lavender, rosemary, olearias,
phlomis and so on. In this way the border forms a protecting parapet, while the whole
wall-face is free for use. It also allows of combining the upper planting with that
of the wall in a way that always proves satisfactory ; some of the plants of the top
being also placed in the upper joints. But in a garden where there are many planted
walls monotony of treatment is avoided by having in some part rambling roses at the
top to tumble over, with a thinner growth of tea roses at the foot, and but little
planted in the wall- joints.
As in arranging flower-borders, it is well to place the plants in groups of a fair
quantity of one thing at a time ; and, in the case of small plants, such as thrift or
London Pride, to put them fairly close together. If they are spaced apart at even
distances they look like buttons ; but even when this has been done, either
inadvertently or by an unpractised hand, it is easily remedied by adding a few plants
to make the group hang together. Though it is advised that there should be no
border at the foot of a planted dry wall, yet it looks well to have its junction with
the grass or gravel broken here and there by some plant that enjoys such a place,
as, for example, Iris stylosa or Plumbago larpentce in a sunny aspect, or hardy ferns
and Welsh poppy and small pansies in a shady one. It is well also to make careful
combinations of colour, for they not only give the prettiest pictures, but also that
restful feeling of some one idea completely presented that is so desirable, so easy to
accomplish, and yet so rarely seen in gardens. As an example, on a sunny wall there
may be a colour-scheme of grey with purple of various shades, white and pale pink,
composed of dwarf lavender, nepeta, aubrietia, cerastium, Helianthemums of the kinds
that have grey leaves and white and pale pink bloom, rock pinks, stachys, the dwarf
artemisias and Achillea umbellata, and in the border above, yuccas, lavender,
rosemary, the larger euphorbias, China roses, phlomis and santolina with white and
pink snapdragons. Phlomis and santolina both have yellow flowers, but a slight
break of yellow would harm the effect but little during their time of bloom, while
both are of year-long value for their good grey foliage ; moreover, it is easy to remove
the santolina bloom, which comes on shoots that are quite separate from the foliage.
If it were quite a high wall, larger plants could be used, especially in the upper half.
Yuccas are grand coming out of rocky chinks high up, and gypsophila in great clouds,
and centranthus (the red valerian) in big bushy masses.
On a shady wall there would be a preponderance of good greenery of hardy
ferns, male fern and hart's- tongue, with the smaller ferns, woodsia, cheilanthes,
adiantum and allosorus, with Welsh poppies, corydalis, mimulus and the smaller
alpine bell-flowers, such as the lovely little Campanula pusilla, both blue and white,
and the rather larger carpatica and eriocarpa. Then if the shady wall was of good
122
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
size there would be columbines in quantity, white foxgloves and mulleins growing
with splendid vigour and enjoying the cool root-run among the stones.
The way the walls are put up is of the utmost importance, for on the way it is
done depends not only the appearance but the stability. Dry walling made rightly
may be carried up twelve feet or more, even in recently disturbed soil, while if wrongly
or negligently done a wall only three feet high will come down with the first heavy
storm of rain. The following description will help those who wish to build their own
walls, and to an intelligent amateur there is hardly a department of garden work
that is more interesting and even delightful, especially where there is good local
stone. Where there is no stone a dry wall can be built of brick, but this is duller work
and is best done by a trained bricklayer. In some cases, in brick retaining walls
a brick or half-brick is left out to give more space for inserting plants, or the whole is
built in mortar, leaving such spaces only for planting ; but the earth joint throughout
is rather more satisfactory, giving more freedom for the shaping of the groups.
The wall should lie back a little- ' batter back " is the technical word, derived,
no doubt, as are so many of our words for tools and building, from the French. It
FIG. 157. — A TEN-FOOT WALL PLANTED WITH GYPSOPHILA, VALERIAN, SANTOLINA, ROCK PINKS AND
CERASTIUM, LUPINES AND ROSEMARY AT TOP.
suggests a near relationship to abattre, to beat down or beat back. As a good general
rule it may batter back in the proportion of one foot in six of height. Every stone,
lying on its natural bed at right angles to the sloped-back face, has the back a little
lower than the front. It follows that every drop of rain that falls on the face of the
wall runs into the next joint, to the benefit of the plants. If a dry wall is built on
solid ground it needs but little foundation. Two thin courses under ground will be
enough. The tilting back of the stones is begun under ground, then the upper
courses follow naturally. A bed of earth is laid between each course and the ends of
the stones, as if it was mortar. As the work comes out of the ground, and, indeed,
from the very beginning, the loose soil is rammed in behind and between all the stones
that project backward. It is upon firm and quite conscientious ramming that the
stability of the wall depends. Labourers are apt to scamp it ; even experienced
builders and foremen, unless they have had special experience in dry walling, do not
give it the unremitting attention that it requires. This tight ramming cannot be too
strongly insisted on or the absolute need of it too often repeated. Ram as tightly
Retaining Walls and Their Planting.
123
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124
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
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Retaining Walls and Their Planting.
.,
;
FIG. 160. — PALE PINK ROSE, VALERIAN, CERASTIUM AND ROCK PINK IN A ROUGH STONE WALL.
126
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
as possible and on every part of
the back of the walling. If the
whole thing is in " made ground "
it must all be rammed, but the
part just behind the stones is the
vulnerable point. If the ram-
ming is neglected or is insufficient
the wall will either come down
in heavy rain or will bulge at
various points in a manner that
is very unsightly.
It is always best to lay the
stones level as to right and left
and on their natural bed, that
is, the same way up as they lay
in the quarry ; they both look
better and stand better. They
can be either sorted into those
of approximately the same
thickness for separate courses,
or the thinner stones laid to
come level with the thicker. All
" random " walling is ugly and
unrestful, giving the impression
of a wilful violation of simple
laws of structure. When there
are pieces of small broken stone
to be disposed of, they can be
rammed in with the earth at the
back of the wall, making quite
sure that no cavities are left.
The. roots of the wall plants
like nothing better than to cling to the cool and always moist stone surfaces.
A dry wall cannot be built against a scarp of hard sand or chalk. Enough must
be taken out at the back to allow for fresh filling and ramming. Builders often think
they can build against a solid scarp, but the experiment always results in disaster.
FIG. l6l. — WHITE FOXGLOVE IN DRY WALLING OF
LARGE STONES.
FIG. l62. — BRICK WALL WITH SPACES LEFT FOR PLANTS.
Retaining Walls and Their Planting.
127
PLAN
FIG. 163. — STEPS WITH FRONT
EDGES ONLY OF STONE.
SECTION
FIG. 164. — DRY WALLING (SECTION).
TIGHTLY RAMMED EARTH SHOWN BY
VERTICAL HATCHING.
FIG. 165. — STEP WITH FRONT EDGES ONLY OF STONE.
If the scarp is of actual rock there is no need forlthe
wall except in cases where the strata tip down forward,
when plants could not be comfortably grown. But in
such a case it would be better to have some of the
wilder clematis or roses planted at the top to wreathe
and trail over the rocky
surface.
The steps that
accompany dry walling
can be made
in a very sim-
ple way, if it is
desired to save
the expense,
both of stone
and labour,
of paving the
whole surface.
The front edge
only need be
of stone, as
shown in Figs.
163 and 165 ;
FIG. l66. — DRY WALL (SECTION),
SHOWING PLANTING OF TOP AND
FACE.
ELEVATION!
FIG. 167. — ELEVATION OF PLANTED WALL, SHOWING GROUPING.
128 Retaining Walls and Their Planting.
the stones chosen or trimmed so that they have fairly good front edges and so
that they come together at the joints for at least a part of their depth. To
give better cohesion at the back a triangular piece can easily be fitted, as shown in
Fig. 163. The joints are then cemented, the cement joint being kept down
low and as much out of sight as possible. Then the whole thing will hold
together and little mosses will grow in the upper parts of the joints. On the
sides and even towards the earthy back of the step tiny things like the smaller
stonecrops and the smallest bell-flowers can be grown. Other near plants will
also seed over the space, and in a few years the problem will be how to repress
rather than encourage the quantity of plants that are only too willing to invade the
steps. The wider and shallower the steps the pleasanter they are to go up and
down — the extreme of comfort being a step from four to five inches high and twenty-
two to twenty-four inches from front to back ; such steps as one may run up and down.
The planting of the joints of pavements gives scope for much judicious work,
but needs great care and restraint. There should be no inconvenient invasion of
plants. The idea of such planting has so greatly attracted garden enthusiasts that
in many cases it has been carried too far. It should be remembered that the first
purpose of a paved space is to provide a dry, level place for easy progression. If
nearly every joint is filled with plants, those who pass along will either be obliged
to keep their eyes on the ground or they will frequently feel, with a pang of regret,
that some pretty thing has either been trodden under foot or inadvertently kicked
against and dislodged. It is better to keep all the middle space free, or to attempt
to do so, for small plants like these joints so well that they are apt both to run and seed
freely within their welcome shelter.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
129
CHAPTER XIII.— YEW AND OTHER HEDGES.
Yew Hedges in Ancient Gardens — In Modern Use — Other Trees for Hedges — Box-
Holly — Privet — Laurel — Beech — Hornbeam — Thorough Planting — Topiary Work .
WHEN the great English houses were built that no longer needed to be fortresses ;
when their windows might safely look abroad into the open country instead
of giving on to an inner court ; then also the pleasure garden, which had
hitherto been necessarily restricted, was greatly enlarged and its many possibilities
were developed. Whether it was that the tradition of the old need of walled pro-
tection was still in every man's mind, or whether the wonderful sense of fitness that
characterised the work of our Tudor and Jacobean ancestors was the impelling agency
we know not, but it is clear that they at once adopted the system of surrounding and
subdividing their gardens with hedges of living greenery. They rightly chose the
FIG. l68. — LAWN ENCLOSED BY ANCIENT TRIMMED YEWS.
130
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 169. — CLEEVE PRIOR : THE TWELVE APOSTLES.
Yew and Other Hedges.
English yew as the tree that should conform to their will as green walls and ornaments
in their gardens of formal design. Some actual examples remain, while traces of the
use of green yew, clipped and regulated, as important portions of the garden plan,
are so frequent as to point to its general use. In some cases of remaining
examples the original design is distorted or entirely lost, and yet a mysterious
and strangely attractive charm remains ; while in others some kind of symmetry
has been maintained (Fig. 168). There are examples of noble use from old times in
gardens of quite moderate size. The ancient yews at Cleeve Prior (Fig. 169), known
as the Twelve Apostles, stand in six stately pairs flanking the paved walk to a modest
manor house. At a little more than halfway of their height each pair stretches out
branches to the next, forming a connecting arch, so that a framed garden scene, five
times repeated, is visible from right and left. Hedges of yew with turf alone have an
FIG. 170. — AN ANCIENT BOWLING GREEN.
extraordinary quality of repose — of inspiring a sentiment of refreshing contentment.
One thinks, with abounding satisfaction of many an ancient bowling green, with its
bright, short turf underfoot, its deep green sides of yew, or yew and quiet wall, and
nothing more but the sky above and perhaps some masses of encompassing trees
(Figs. 170 and 171). Compared with the yew no tree is so patient of coercion, so
protective in its close growth, or so effective as a background to the bright
bloom of parterre or flower-border (Fig. 172). Its docility to shaping into wall,
niche, arch and column is so complete and convenient that it comes first among
growing things as a means of expression in .that domain of design that lies between
architecture and gardening. Our architects and garden designers are well aware of
its value. A drawing by Mr. Mallows (Fig. 173) shows, next below a raised terrace,
two square garden courts, the terrace steps between them descending to a long green
132
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
walk, with flower-borders backed by yew hedges, leading to a circular fountain
court paved and brick-walled. The perspective and plan of a garden by Mr.
Inigo Triggs (Figs. 174 and 175) show the same need and good use of yew hedges for
enclosing and protecting rectangular gardens. At Bui wick (Fig. 176) some old yews
are clipped only where their lateral advance threatens the closing of a green path.
Yew hedges have much use besides for securing privacy. Fig. 177 shows a young
hedge that will be allowed to grow some feet higher to screen the offices and their
possibly unsightly adjuncts from the pleasure garden. Such hedges are usually
carried up to a height of from six to seven feet. For finishing the top the best-looking
and most practical form is that of a very low-pitched roof ; this also presents
the most easily accessible shape for clipping.
FIG. 171. — A QUIET BOWLING GREEN.
Though yew is undoubtedly the best tree for garden hedges, it is by no means
the only one. Where the soil contains lime, or, in fact, in any good loam, the green
tree box makes a fine hedge and clips well. But it is slow to grow — slower than
yew — and both are costly. Ilex can be trained and clipped into tall hedges ; there
are fine examples at the remarkably beautiful and successful Italian gardens at
Brockenhurst. Green holly is also a fine hedge plant, but wants more width if it is
to be carried up any height. For a quicker hedge at less cost there is the Lawson
cypress, growing fast and clipping well. The humbler privet we all know ; it is
quite cheap and soon grows into a neat hedge. We are so well used to seeing it bearing
green leaves all the year that we forget that it is really deciduous. When it grows
wild as a small twiggy tree it is leafless in winter. It is the trimming that induces
Yew and Other Hedges.
FIG. 172. — YEW HEDGE AS A BACKGROUND TO FLOWERS.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 173. — YEW HEDGES IN A DESIGN BY MR. MALLOWS.
Yew and Other Hedges.
FIG. 174. — YEW-HEDGED GARDEN BY MR. INIGO TRIGGS : PERSPECTIVE.
the fresh growth and
leafing at an unusual
season. Quite a pictorial
effect is often seen of well-
trimmed privet forming a
sheltering entrance arch
over a cottage door.
Hedges of common laurel
are so easily grown and
so often misused that
unthinkingly one has come
to hold them cheap in
estimation and to under-
value their real merit ; but
a laurel hedge twelve feet
high is a splendid thing ;
the size of leaf telling well
in proportion to the
height. It must be cut by
hand ; never mutilated
with shears, which would
cut across the leaves. A
tall hedge of bay is also a
most satisfying sight, for
the leaf itself and the
whole growth are of a
beauty and dignity that are
'p. . . f . . . ?
50
FEET
FIG. 175. — PLAN OF ABOVE.
136
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 176. — YEWS AT BULWICK
FIG. 177. — YEW HEDGE SCREENING OFFICES FROM GARDEN.
Yew and Other Hedges.
FIG. 178. — HEDGE OF PORTUGAL LAUREL BACKING A POOL GARDEN.
FIG. 179. — HEDGE CUT INTO LITTLE GABLES.
138
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
quite unequalled. This also must be cut by hand and the surface allowed a little
freedom. Fig. 178 shows a hedge of Portugal laurel backing a lily pool in a good
piece of rectangular gardening, and Fig. 180 a clever way of using pollarded and
clipped limes for greatly heightening a garden wall abutting on a road.
For commoner purposes, such as a hedge to a kitchen garden, beech and horn-
beam are both excellent. They serve also, especially hornbeam, for training over
arbours and covered
ways ; growing close
and twiggy when
regularly clipped.
All such green
hedges must be well
planted, the ground
deeply dug and
liberally enriched
and, if possible,
further encouraged
during the next few
years by additions
of manure just
under the surface.
T h e y cannot be
hurried. Nothing is
more frequent or
more fatal than
compliance with the
wish of the im-
patient client who
desires to have an
effect at once. It
can only be success-
fully done by special
and unusual means
and at great cost.
For yew and holly,
three feet is the limit
of height for prudent
planting. Beech can
be planted four feet
to five feet high at
once; hornbeam,
privet and white-
thorn should be cut
down to within a few
inches of the ground
the year after they are established, when they soon throw up a number of strong shoots.
Besides the green things used as actual hedges, fine effects are gained by the use
of upright trees bounding grassy walks. Fig. 182 shows Lombardy poplars so
used by Mr. Reginald Blomfield. Irish yews, the upright cypresses and their
near relations, the junipers, can be so employed. Of the junipers, the neat
FIG. l8o. — POLLARDED LIMES USED TO HEIGHTEN A WALL.
Hedges.
(U "O
CH &
'** H
2 ^
~: c
O '42 c
c 5
w » &
^ T3
£3 C
60 rt
140
Yew and Other Hedges.
Chinese and the much larger Virginian — commonly called red cedar — are the best.
Topiary work, to which the yew is so submissive, is receiving attention in modern
gardens. As in the case of other toy-like tricks in gardening, it may in some cases
be satisfactorily employed, but if followed merely as a fashion, and not because the
design of the garden would be bettered by a certain form, it may easily give an
impression of silliness or wanton frivolity. But fine effects are sometimes gained,
where there is need for distinct punctuation, by carrying up a square plinth some
six inches or eight inches above the level of the top of the hedge and growing a well-
formed ball upon that. Fig. 181 shows yew hedges at Mathern with the trees, at
important points, trained up in the form of swollen cones surmounted by bird
forms. In unpractised hands such treatment might be dangerous, but in that of
Mathern's owner we know that his skill and fine taste will bring them into right
and fitting garden ornaments.
FIG. 182. — A GARDEN AVENUE OF LOMBARDY POPLARS.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
141
CHAPTER XIV.— WATER IN THE FORMAL GARDEN.
:' The Soul of Gardens " —Reflections — Pools and their Water-levels — Varied Shapes-
Lily Ponds and their Depth — Separate Pool Gardens — Water Parterres — Fountains
and their Sculpture — Leadwork — Well-heads — Pumps.
F
'OUNTAINS and waters are the soul of gardens ; they make their chief
ornament and enliven and revive them. How often it is that a garden,
beautiful though it be, will seem sad and dreary and lacking in one of its most
gracious features, if it has no water." So wrote Pierre Husson in La Theorie et la
Pratique du Jardinage in 1711, and set down a truth that is coming into its own again.
This chapter is .called " Water in the Formal Garden " because it is concerned with
water as a factor in design, rather than as the element which makes possible all
the enchanting growths proper to the water garden in its technical meaning. Husson,
who published his book in Holland, had all the French devotion to rather theatrical
uses of water. He extols " eaux jaillissantes, celles qui s'elevent en Tair au milieu
des bassins, forment des jets, des gerbes, des bouillons d'eaux." Appropriate as such
features are in great gardens, water needs to be employed very simply in small ones.
Little pools and rills and fountains, with their waters not too vigorously " jaillissantes,"
need to be disposed with a sparing hand.
Although the gardens at Hurtwood, Surrey, are of large extent when taken
together, the great variation in levels necessitated their division into several gardens,
some quite small, which are complete in themselves, and therefore useful to illustrate
our argument. Even in the great fan garden, the features at the radial point from
FIG. 183. — FAN-SHAPED LILY POOL AT HURTWOOD.
142
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
10
oo
Water in the Formal Garden.
H3
which it starts, i.e., the fan-
shaped pool and paved work,
give suggestions for the treat-
ment of quite small gardens.
The result of the delightful
design made by Mr. Christopher
Turnor for Major - General
Sartorius, V.C., appears in
Figs. 183 and 184. The chief
pool is fan-shaped, and thus
leaves between the water and
FIG. 187. — HURTWOOD : LOOKING DOWN
ON FOUNTAIN.
the open parapet a half-round
space which gives hospitality
to flowers. The paving is well
managed. The stones which
edge the water are of regular
shape, while the rest of the
space has random flagging.
Near by is another pool,
which, by throwing out a
curved edge to meet the
chief flight of steps, marks a
FIG. 186. — AT GREAT BADDOW : REFLECTIONS.
FIG. l88. — PARAPETTED POOL AT BLYTHBURGH.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
ll
FIG. 189. — POOL IN PAVED COURT.
FIG. IQO. — AT MORTON HOUSE, HATFIELD.
Water in the Formal Garden.
happy relationship in design between itself and the stairways from the higher ground.
No less ingenious is the treatment of the garden on the west side of the house
(Figs. 185 and 187, and for plan see Fig. 98). Water here also takes a prominent
place. A round basin is set on a square base built of tiles with a stone coping.
From the basin rises a fountain with its figure spouting freshness. On each side of
this central feature is an oblong lily pool, and the whole design is bound together by
a broad frame of paving.
Simple pools, with the water brought up nearly to the ground-level, give a pleasant
variety to a paved court when it is enclosed by the wings of a house built on
FIG. 191.— SHAPED POOL AT ATHELHAMPTON.
an H plan. This is well shown in a design by Mr. C. E. Mallows (Fig. 189).
His drawing suggests what is one of the chief charms of pools, however small.
Since Narcissus first espied his face in a fountain, wise designers of gardens
have been mindful of the beauty of reflections. Whether it be a window, as
in Mr. Mallows' drawing, or vase, yew and dovecote, as in the parapetted pool
at Blythburgh in the garden of Mr. Seymour Lucas, R.A., or the little boy's
figure and the garden-house at The Vineyards, Great Baddow (see Figs. 186 and 188),
146
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
ON
Water in the Formal Garden.
FIG. 193. — SMALL POOL AND NICHE AT ATHELHAMPTON.
there is a changeful beauty in the dim outlines and fleeting colours of
reflected things that no other element in garden design can give. In order to
ensure these effects it is important that the water should be kept at its proper
level, which is as high as is possible. The nearer it is to the kerb of the pool, the
wider and more beautiful will be the reflections. Nothing looks more dreary
FIG. 194.— IN A PETERSFIELD GARDEN.
148
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 195. — AT ISLAND, STEEP.
• /' '
3EE3PECTTVE SKETCH
PLANT IN TUBS
SCALE
FIG. 196. — POOLS GROUPED ROUND SUN DIAL.
SCALE
PIwA.NT IN TUBS
fr PLAN *
» r f t f f f f f T
FIG. 197. — POOL SHAPED FOR TUBS.
Water in the Formal Garden.
149
than a tank of
three or four feet
in depth with
only a few inches
of water in the
bottom, the more
so as its walls
are apt to be
slimy. When
water is scarce
in rainless
seasons this may
be unavoidable,
but there is little
excuse for a per-
m a n e n 1 1 y low
level, which is
PLAN
SCALE 0?LI
L
f
FIG. 198. — A SIMPLE SHAPE.
FEET
PLAN
t f ?
FIG. 200. — WITH JET AND CASCADE.
laso I 23-*-56789io
rffiru'1 'I'' I I I || I
WATgE.
WATER,
A POND FOE. THE
END OF A
PLAN
f- 7 8 » 'O n
— • — I I I I I J FEET
FIG. 199. — WITH RAISED INLET.
usually the result of placing
the inlet and outlet too low
in the wall of the pool. At
Morton House, Hatfield, Mr.
A. Winter Rose has set in
a paved court a round pool
which groups pleasantly with
the loggia and a statue in
its niche (Fig. 190). The
shapes which garden pools
can take are almost endless
in their possible variety, but
it is usually well to be
satisfied with simple forms.
The illustrations of this
chapter show rectangles in
various proportions, which
are generally dictated by
the paved court or grass
plat in which they are set.
Two types of oblongs with
curved ends are illustrated,
from the gardens of Wootton
Lodge, Staffordshire, and
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
• PLAN-
.- f M r f r r T
— i
JEEET.
FIG. 201.
PLAN
SCALE OF u.T \ ( t f f f f ' i' T I' FEET
FIG. 202.
,- K J[- ,
- ,»«r m K
' •: *
i mk
•
FIG. 203. — POOL AND FOUNTAIN DESIGN BY MR. H. INIGO TRIGGS.
Water in the Formal Garden.
Athelhampton Hall, Dorset. Of the two the former (Fig. 192) has a slightly
more broken outline, and is given an increased architectural emphasis by the
moulding of the raised kerb. The latter (Fig. 191) is as simply made as can be,
save that a rounded moulding overhangs the side of the pool a little. It should be
noted that the axial line of this feature cuts through the middle of the gate to the
walled garden in which it is, and the full effect of water treatment in helping an
interesting vista is thus secured.
Another little pool, fan-shaped, in the same garden is illustrated in Fig. 193 to
show how well it groups with the niche in the wall above it. The possible
wnr
CRASS
PLAN
SCALE OF I
9
I FEET
FIG. 204. — PLAN AND SECTION OF BRICK FOUNTAIN. (SEE FIG. 2.)
combinations of pools with other features are well-nigh endless, and it is not possible
to show more than a few typical examples. A very attractive treatment is shown
in Fig. 194, where the drop in level from one terrace to another is made the occasion
for an amusing little stepped bridge of masonry. This was designed by Mr. W. F.
Unsworth and Mr. Inigo Triggs for a garden at Petersfield, and very successful it is.
To the same architects is due the manipulation of simple elements in a garden at
Island, Steep (Fig. 195). A double flight of steps leads down from a long upper terrace
to a lower one, which juts out over the hillside with a semi-circular bastion-like front.
The curve of the stairs determined the outline of one end of the pool, and the similar
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG.205- — CROSS AND LONGITUDINAL SECTIONS THROUGH LILY POND, MILLFIELD.
FIG. 206. — LILY POND AT MILLFIELD, BRENTWOOD.
Water in the Formal Garden.
153
FIG. 207.— SMALL POOLS INTERSPERSED IN PAVING.
'54
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
shape of the other end marches with the plan of the lower terrace. The chief purpose
of this pool, as of most of its kind, was to find a home for water-lilies. Surrounding
the basin, and less than a foot below the normal water-level, is a shelf about fifteen
inches wide, on which may be set pans or baskets containing lily plants. There are
varieties which, on account of their intrinsic value, or for the purpose of ensuring
better growth, it is desirable to place in this way. It may be added that some of the
more robust water-lilies will grow in from six to ten feet of water, but such a shelf
as is now described need never be more than two feet below the ordinary level-,
FIG. 2O8. — SUNK POOL GARDEN AT MARSH COURT.
and is more convenient if only about six inches below. A practical point worth
remembering in the construction of such pools is the risk they bring to those gardens
that are made the more gracious by the presence of little children. If they are built
with broad, shallow steps which drop by gentle degrees towards the middle of the
pool, an over-venturesome child is not likely to come to very serious harm. The
gradually receding levels of the stone or brick, moreover, add to the appearance of
the pool, when the water is clear enough to reveal its floor. In Figs. 196 to 202 are
shown seven pool shapes drawn by Mr. J. Maxwell Scott from sketch designs by
Water in the Formal Garden.
'56
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Water in the Formal Garden.
Mr. Inigo Triggs. Four are simple
outlines, and one of them is devised
to leave suitable spaces for the placing
of pots of shrubs. Fig. 196 provides a
quartette of connected pools grouped
round a baluster sundial. Another
is furnished with a jet and a little
stepped cascade. The example shown
in Fig. 199 is designed to come at the
end of a path, and has a little raised
basin from which the water spouts into
the pool.
Although very simple forms are
the safest for pools, there is room for
an occasional burst of gaiety in outline,
especially when the rest of the garden
plan is of necessity treated in a severe
fashion. The brick-edged pool shown
by plan and perspective in Figs. 203 and
204 was designed by Mr. Inigo Triggs,
and is reminiscent of the wealth of
fancy that enlivens the gardens of the
East. The jets are very happily
placed ; they would make a garden so
SECTION A- A
TEET
FIG. 211. — PLAN OF WATER PARTERRE.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
SECTION
PLAN
adorned a little Paradise of freshness, and musical
with the tinkle of falling spray. In Figs. 205
and 206 are illustrated by sectional drawings and
photograph an attractive stepped lily pond at
Millfield, Brentwood, designed by Mr. A. Winter
Rose. The parapetted walls add considerably to its
effect. The interspersing of many little pools
tied together by a coherent geometrical design in
JFEET a long stretch of paving is another treatment of
water which is of large interest, as is shown by
Fig. 207. There is a suggestion of patches of
enamel set in ivory.
Water takes its highest place in garden archi-
tecture when it determines the complete design of
an enclosed space, such as the pool garden at
Marsh Court, devised by Mr. Lutyens, and illus-
trated in Figs. 208 and 209. No scheme contrived
within so small a compass could exceed in richness
of effect this combination of steps, paving, pool
and balustrade. A note of gaiety is added by
the lead hippocampi, to the modelling of which
reference is made later (see Fig. 221). In the
same manner, but on a smaller scale, is the
delightful pool at Papillon Hall (Fig. 210), where
•
j
FIG. 213. — WALLED POOL WITH ANGLE FOUNTAINS, SHEWING MOORISH INFLUENCE.
Water in the Formal Garden.
the contrast between the curves of the descending steps and the lines of the margin
of the pool is altogether successful.
Another scheme of design, eminently suited to gardens of limited area, is
the water parterre, such as is shown by plan and perspective by Mr. Inigo Triggs
(Figs. 211 and 212). The design, made by the same hand, for a walled pool
and • fountains, reproduced in Fig. 213, is unusual and interesting. The
water is carried to shaped basins on the top of brick piers at the four corners,
whence it falls into tanks built in the corners of the dwarf walls. From here
it circulates round a tiny canal and ultimately finds its way to the lowest pool.
This treatment is intended for a flat site, so that the level of the topmost kerb
FIG. 214. — EXTENDED POOL AT CHELWOOD VETCHERY.
would be the same as the surrounding garden. The plan and section explain
the design in detail, the total space occupied being only a square seventeen
feet six inches each way. It should be added that tall fountains of this type
can only be worked in connection with a supply cistern placed at a higher
level than the basins. The whole idea is based on some of the delightful little
patio gardens in Southern Spain, and nowhere can better lessons be learnt of the
use of water in small gardens.
i6o
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
The shaped pool at Chelwood Vetchery, designed by Mr. Rome Guthrie (Fig. 214),
is part of a large and imposing scheme of garden design ; but it is instructive as showing
an idea equally applicable on a smaller scale. The pool is placed below the retaining
FIG. 215. — TILE-BUILT FOUNTAIN BY MR. LUTYENS.
wall of the terrace (the curved projections of which are also worthy of attention),
and the sense of length is emphasised by the extension of the pool as a narrow canal.
This is an interesting variation of the canal or rill treatment, which is also shown
Water in the Formal Garden.
161
in the Berkshire garden (Fig. 21) and at
Little Boarhunt (Fig. 67).
The design of standing fountains is
generally the outcome of combining two
elements— a basin and some sculptured
fancy that discharges the water. The
various types of pools illustrated in this
chapter are capable of being supplemented
by little spouting figures, such as are illus-
trated in Chapter XIX., which is concerned
with statues. The Boy and Dolphin shown
there would look well, for example, in a pool
like that of Fig. 191. Smaller conceits, how-
ever, take an attractive place on tanks of
limited size. In Fig. 217 is shown the section
of a simple round basin, for which Lady Chance
modelled a very attractive tortoise, cast in
lead (Fig. 218), and some toads. Other ex-
amples of fountain sculpture by the same
skilful hand are the hippocampus of Fig. 221 and the lion mask of Fig. 216. The
latter is for a wall fountain discharging into a bowl built up in tilework
FIG 2l6.— LION MASK FOR FOUNTAIN.
FIG. 217. — SECTION OF BASIN WITH LEAD TORTOISES ON RIM.
(Fig. 215), designed by Mr. Lutyens. The hippocampus is a delightful beast, spouting
from his muzzle, and was used in a group of four disposed symmetrically on the
outer margin of the
rectangular tank at
Marsh Court (Figs. 208
and 209). In all
these examples the
sculptor has shown
her felicitous sense
of the right treat-
ment of animal
forms. She has
shown, for example,
not an exact repre-
sentation of a tor-
toise, but an inter-
FIG. 2l8. — LEAD TORTOISE BY LADY CHANCE. pretatlOn of One,
162
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 219. — LEAD DOLPHIN. FIG. 22O. — GARGOYLE FOR GARDEN WALL.
bringing to her work that just quality of convention which makes it art instead
of naturalistic imitation. Another pleasant lead spout for a garden fountain is the
dolphin modelled by Mr. Cashmore, and
illustrated in Fig. 219. The gargoyle
designed by Mr. Voysey, and built up in
sheet lead, serves a rather different purpose
(Fig. 220). It is fixed to the front of a big
brick retaining wall at Littleholme, Guild-
ford (see also Fig. 102), and has a delightfully
grotesque quality that is suggestive of the
mediaeval craftsman. Its purpose is to
throw clear of the wall the surface water
drained from the terrace above.
A combination of pool with wall foun-
tain which is singularly attractive is to be
seen at Hampton Court (Fig. 223). The
entwined dolphins spouting freshness into
a big shell owe no little to their intrinsic
charm as sculpture, and modern replicas
would, no doubt, be of greater cost than
the owners of most small gardens could
encompass, but their placing with reference
to the twin pools below is very happy and
suggestive. Though the atmosphere of
gardens does not demand that their orna-
ments shall be great sculpture, it occasion-
ally happens that a master hand models a
figure that finds its way into a garden
setting. The slender fountain at Wych
Cross Place, illustrated in Fig. 222, is a case
in point, for it is the work of that great
but erratic sculptor, Alfred Gilbert. The
bronze stem was modelled for some alto-
FIG. 221.— HIPPOCAMPUS IN LEAD. gether different purpose. Upon it has been
Water in the Formal Garden.
163
set a simple old Dutch bowl of stone, and to crown
the composition, the exquisite statuette by Gilbert
of a Dancing Boy, stung by a fly and holding a
tragic mask in his hand. It is very successful,
and the figure has that enchanting vitality which
makes it reasonable to call Gilbert the English
Carpeaux. It is characteristic of the casual, frag-
mentary career of this great artist that the bronze
stem should have lain unheeded in a dealer's
shop until the owner of Wych Cross Place found
for it a use so admirable.
Among modern fountains made wholly of lead
a high place must be given to the composition
shown in Fig. 224. It consists of an octagonal
tank, decorated in flat relief with grapes and vine
leaves, combined with a tall fountain, in which its
designer and maker, Mr. George P. Bankart, has
gone for inspiration to a late mediaeval example
in the South Kensington Museum. The treatment
of the metal is exactly right ; the modelling is
softly done, and the corona at the top of the
fountain is in openwork of lace-like effect to which
lead lends itself so well. Simpler and smaller
tanks than this are very helpful in the water
equipment of any garden. Eighteenth century
tanks, such as that illustrated in Fig. 229, are
FIG. 222. — BY ALFRED GILBERT.
FIG. 223. — WALL FOUNTAIN AT HAMPTON COURT.
164
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 224. — LEAD TANK AND FOUNTAIN.
not difficult to acquire. The areas of old London houses continually 'disgorge
examples with panelled fronts that bear dates and initials and little classical devices of
all kinds. The modern craftsman, however, should not be forgotten in the ruling
passion for " antiques." Two examples by Mr. Bankart are illustrated in Figs. 225
and 226. One of them, with its stout swag of fruit and flowers, has a definite
garden character, and the other has delicate ornament in slight relief which suits
well the nature of the material. When cisterns like these for convenience in
watering the garden are remembered,
the needs of the birds must not be
FIG. 225 — LEAD CISTERN.
FIG. 226
MR. GEORGE BANKART.
Water in the Formal Garden.
165
forgotten. Fig. 228 shows a shallow bird bath made
of lead, and Fig. 227 a chalice-shaped vessel of terra-
cotta, both admirable in their different fashions.
There are few small gardens that can boast a
stream or an old moat, but either is a welcome
feature, for it gives opportunity for a bridge. Illus-
trations elsewhere in this book (e.g., Figs. 21 and 194),
FIG. 227. — CHALICE BIRD BATH.
FIG. 228. — SHALLOW BIRD BATH OF LEAD.
show how effectively bridges can be contrived in connection with pools, and the
problem of a little stream is not greatly different in kind. In the little garden at
Kelsale Manor, Saxmundham, there is an old and narrow moat, over which Mr. A.
Winter Rose has thrown a little oak bridge, which is shown in Fig. 230. Over a
continuation of this moat is a small stone bridge by a curved stairway (Fig. 231).
It forms a connecting link between the lawn and the parkland beyond.
Most of the pools illustrated in this chapter are designed on definitely formal
lines, and it is only rarely that naturalistic treatment produces satisfactory results.
When, however, a
cottage has been
set on a rough
hillside and the
heather reaches to
the door, a
conscious garden
scheme may be
u n d e s i r able or
even impossible.
Such is the case
at Stoneywell
Cottage in Charn-
wood Forest
(Fig. 232), where
the margin of the
bathing - pool has
been made to
follow the natural
contour of the
ground. Mr.
Ernest G i m s o n
has shown a just FIG. 229.— A GOOD XVIIL CENTURY TANK.
1 66
Gardens /or Small Country Houses.
FIG. 230. — A LITTLE WOODEN BRIDGE.
appreciation of the character of the site by making
the pool accord in its rough simplicity with the
attractive, roughly-built cottage which it serves,
and with the pump-house, which also appears in
the picture.
On the subject of well-heads a note of warning
may be sounded. Where an actual well exists it is
very desirable that its head should be made an
FIG. 232. — BATHING POOL AT STONEYWELL COTTAGE.
FIG. 231. — AT KELSALE MANOR.
attractive thing.
The modern example
illustrated in Fig. 234
has a simple stone
wall and coping with
a wr ought-iron
" overthrow " of neat
design. Most people,
however, who are set
on possessing a well-
head look for an old
one. There seems no
end to the stream of
them, old or
" antique," which
does not necessarily
mean the same thing
in these days of skilful
reproduction . They
come, or are said to
come, from Italian
courtyards and
gardens, some com-
plete with the old
iron arching that
Water in the Formal Garden.
167
holds the pail-hook and supports a pulley.
Heads which are carved of grey and other
dark-hued stones are more suitable for
English gardens than those of white marble,
which are apt to look harsh and staring.
Many of them are adorned with the arms
of families represented now in Italy by
nothing but the memory of their names
FIG. 234. — A MODERN WELL-HEAD.
and the bravely-carved heraldic achieve-
ments on a well-head. One of the two old
examples in Istrian stone illustrated in
Figs. 233 and 235 once belonged to the Mar-
cello family, now extinct. The other is
ornamented with simple and appropriate
representations of a water vessel. Such
FIG. 233. — OF ISTRIAN STONE.
FIG. 235. — ITALIAN WELL-HEAD WITH
"OVERTHROW."
1 68
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
memorials of a grandiose world which has not survived
the clash of modern life may be well enough in a great
English garden. For the smaller schemes of design, for
which we are now considering the appropriate type of
ornament, they are less fitted than a well-head built of
brick or stone. It is, however, in their placing that
most care is needed. The example at Sutton Courtenay
(Fig. 238) stands well on its broad spread of paving,
but very often one is seen set down on a grass plat
without any suitable base, and looking lonely and
useless. There is no reason why a well-head should not
be used as a dipping- well or fitted with a jet and used for
a fountain in a pool. Such a use renews its connection
with water, but to employ it as a flower-pot is an
indiscretion. Not to employ it at all, but to regard it
merely as an ornament, seems justified only when it has
marked merits as a piece of sculpture. The fact remains
that Italian well-heads are appropriate in Italy and
sometimes look awkward in an English garden, especially
when they are not used in connection with a well, which
rarely exists in a place where decorative emphasis is
possible or desirable.
Figures 236, 237 and
239 are concerned with
the more typical English
water engine, the pump.
In the eighteenth century
pump - heads were com-
monly made of lead and
decorated with little lion masks, rosettes and dates.
Fig. 237 shows a good example, but placed as it is it
lacks meaning and looks uncomfortable. It is rather
difficult but possible to adjust such a pump-head to
the mechanism of a modern pump, and that method
seems the only reasonable one to adopt. An interesting
alternative is suggested by the foreign pump casing of
wood (Fig. 236), panelled and carved, now preserved in
the South Kensington Museum. The iron handle is
delightfully wrought, and the general effect suggests
that here is a field for decorative effort. There are
many gardens which rely for their watering on roof
water, bath wastes, etc., carefully gathered and
conducted to an underground cistern which needs
to be pumped for garden use. In such a case it is
good to have an attractive rather than a merely
utilitarian pump. This wood-cased example may
therefore be helpful in suggesting a covering treat-
ment for the modern pump of commerce.
It sometimes happens that the well is close to
FIG. 237.— LEAD PUMP-HEAD. the house, and occupies a prominent place in the
FIG. 236. — A WOODEN PUMP
CASING.
Water in the Formal Garden.
169
garden. In such a case it is good to make a virtue of a necessity and use the
well as an opportunity for an interesting architectural feature. In Fig. 239 is
shown a well and pump-house at Pitsford, which Mr. Morley Horder has treated
attractively. The roof space serves as a pigeon-cote.
It is hoped that this chapter may give a stimulus to the use of water in the formal
garden. Its employment as a decorative element fell into great neglect during the
Victorian period, and is even now imperfectly understood. It is true that it took an
important place in some of the big gardens which owed their design to such men
FIG. 238. — AT SUTTON COURTENAY.
iyo
Water in the Formal Garden.
as Sir Joseph Paxton, but it was not very wisely employed. As early as 1821 Paxton
made a large lake at Battlesden Park, where he was employed as gardener, and he
was responsible for the great fountains at Chatsworth. The work of his school, how-
ever, showed no sound appreciation of the possibilities of water. The lessons of
Versailles and Hampton Court had been wrasted as far as the nineteenth century was
concerned. Especially was this the case in the use of water as an element in the design
of small gardens. The qualities that make for successful treatment of limited spaces
are the same in principle as in the case of big areas ; the differences are only
in detail.
We need not be so dogmatic as Bernard Palissy, the great French potter of the
sixteenth century, who wrote : ' It is impossible to have a spot proper for a garden
unless there be some fountain or stream passing through it." Nevertheless, our
illustrations show how great an aid water brings to the designer of gardens, and
with water companies spreading their mains far into country districts, much can be
done without the ideal means of a natural stream.
FIG. 239. — PUMP-HOUSE AT PITSFORD.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER XV.— METHODS OF PAVING.
Rectangular Jointing — Random Jointing — Local Methods — Pitched Paving — Paving
of Shingle — of Brick and Tile.
IN some portions of the garden, and especially near the house, some kind of paving
is sure to be wanted. Where a suitable local stone exists, it is, of course, the best
thing that can be used, although the style of the house may be a determining
influence in the choice of the material. Thus, a house of eighteenth century character
or a garden of formal design seems to demand a pavement of squared flags of York
or Portland stone (Fig. 243), while a house of the cottage class may be content with
random-jointed stone, or even with a few rough-edged flat slabs laid like stepping-
stones through grass and flowers, to give a dry footway to a modest entrance (Fig. 242).
Stones of the Yorkshire class, and also those related to slate, present smooth surfaces
by natural cleavage, and are
the most suitable for using
as rectangular flags- -there is
something distasteful about
laying them with " random "
joints. It is sometimes done,
but always has a displeasing
appearance, whereas such
treatment is unobjectionable
in the rougher-surfaced sand-
stones.
Some of the most inter-
esting methods of paving are
those that are peculiar to a
district — that grow directly
out of the employment of
some local product that has
stimulated inventive use
from past ages. There are
a few square miles in West
Surrey where the hard sand-
stone called Bargate stone is
quarried. A quite different
kind of stone, largely com-
posed of iron, also occurs
in small pieces close to the
ground-level. Many of these,
weather- washed for ages, are
of a form that presents one
or two sides or ends with a
flat surface. A typical stone
would be three to four inches
~^*T*^r^^r^^^^*T^Tjr
to
-1
FIG. 240. — A SUMMER-HOUSE PAVING OF IRONSTONE AND
BARGATE STONE.
172
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
T<IG. 241. — PAVING SIMPLY TREATED WITH STONES OF NATURAL SHAPE.
Methods of Paving.
FIG. 242. — ROUGH-EDGED
SLABS.
in length, an inch
wide and three
inches deep. For
hundreds of years
they have been
used by the
country people, set
on edge, as a
" pitched " paving,
often with a deeper
kerb of the hard
sandstone. Whole
inn-yards may be
found of such
pavement. Some-
times they were
set in patterns and
are so used now,
with guiding lines
of the yellowish
sandstone and a
filling of the pur-
plish black iron-
stone. Fig. 240
shows such a
FIG. 243. — PAVEMENT OF RECTANGULAR FLAGS
OF PORTLAND STONE.
FIG. 244. — STONE PAVING WITH " RANDOM " JOINTS.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Methods of Paving.
FIG. 246. — PAVING JOINTED TO FOLLOW THE TERRACE PLAN.
PLAN
FIG. 247. — PLAN SHOWING SUITABLE
PLANTING FOR THE SIDE-JOINTS OF
A PAVED PATH.
FIG. 248. — PAVEMENT OF RECTANGULAR FLAGS IN A ROSE GARDEN BY MR. GILBERT FRASER AND
MR. T. H. MAWSON.
176
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 249. — AN OLD SUSSEX CHURCH PAVING OF BRICK.
FIG. 25O. — PAVEMENT RATHER OVER-PLANTED IN THE MIDDLE.
pavement as the floor of a
summer-house.
In the case of places near
the sea, pretty pavings can be
made by collecting stones of
different colours from among
banks of shingle. There is
hardly a shingle beach that
does not contain stones that
are nearly black and nearly
white, and others with several
shades of buff and brown, only
waiting for the invention and
ingenuity that will work them
into patterned pavements.
When it is not convenient
or desirable to use stone there
is the alternative of brick and
tile, materials which also offer
a wide field for thoughtful and
clever treatment. The circular
paving round the sundial (Fig,
245) shows how ordinary paving
bricks may be laid, with-
out any shaping of the bricks,
in a way that is extremely
simple and yet full of dignity.
A radiating pavement of tile
and brick can also be made of
roofing tile on edge forming the
rays with a herring-bone filling,
of brick. A pavement under
Methods of Paving.
177
(^=^e^^>=^^^^^==:^c^
9 THIN TILES BROK
2 *4"*4" PURPLE HEADEJR5
U
i\ 9"-9|iOCTACpNAL
x/BRICKSV
U
nnnnr nnnnnf
I"*.a>9" THIN TILES ;
OR 2"* 4* * 4* PURPLE HEADERS
>" BORDER BRICKS
1
FEET
FIG. 251. — BRICK AND TILE PAVING.
2"»9*9 SQUARES
II 6 O
I I I I I I I I I I I I I
FEET
FIG. 252.— BRICK AND TILE PAVING.
the pergola at Marsh Court (Fig. 263) of large stone flags, with filling of brick,
is simple and stately. In more than one old church in Sussex there is a paving of
red brick set in a pattern that suggests interwoven ribbons (Fig. 249). The
small dark squares were specially prepared by bricks of the usual size, having
the surface deeply channelled in the mould so as to form eight divisions. These bricks
were then " flare-burnt," the surface acquiring a purple colour and half vitrified quality,
while the deep scoring made them easy to cut into the small squares. Paving bricks
are also moulded to special patterns, as with one end diamond-pointed for the fitting
of four ends together, as in Fig. 254, the square inter-spaces being filled with nine-inch
tiles. Fig. 253 shows an example of a tracery of sections of half-round tile connected
with small pieces of roofing tile, with filling of another material, and Figs. 251 and 252
illustrate various ways of using pieces of roofing tile and brick on edge with paving
tiles of square and octagonal form.
Methods of Paving.
1
111
FEET
FIG. 253. — BRICK AND TILE PAVING.
'?
FEET
FIG. 254. — BRICK AND TILE PAVING.
Any person of inventive capacity and some skill in handicraft can make
delightful pavements with tesserae of pieces of broken roofing tiles. The tesserae
are prepared by cutting the pieces of tile into small cubes of approximately the
same size with a cold chisel and hammer ; they are then set to the pattern
desired in mortar or cement on a concrete bed prepared beforehand, and brought
up to a suitable level.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
179
CHAPTER XVI.— THE PERGOLA.
Italian Pergolas — English, of Oak — Of Larch Poles — With Stone, Brick and Tile Piers-
Proportions — Garlands on Chains — Suitable Plants —Covered Alleys — Treillage.
WHEN one considers how commonly some kind of pergola is used in Italy, it
would seem a matter for wonder that it has taken so long to reach us in
England, for twenty years ago it had hardly been thought of. But now
it is a familiar garden feature, and, translating its original use as a convenient means
of growing vines and ripening grapes into our English way of having it for the
display of beautiful climbing plants, as well as for its comfort as a shady way in
summer, its development for our needs has of late years been surprisingly rapid.
In fact, so popular has it become that there is scarcely an example of modern garden
design in which it does not
find a place. It is true that
it is often injudiciously placed.
There are many gardens that
have not had the benefit of
experienced advice, where a
poorly - constructed pergola
stands in some open place where
it has no obvious beginning or
end ; whereas it should always
lead from one definite point
to another ; one at least being
some kind of full-stop, either
of summer-house or arbour,
or, at any rate, something of
definite value in the garden
design.
As to construction, we
follow in the main the Italian
prototypes. In many cases
the pergola is a mere frame-
work of poles (as shown in
Fig. 255), replaced from year
to year, either wholly or in
part as the need arises, or it
has posts of solid masonry.
These are commonly built of
rubble, thickly covered with
that lime plaster of coarse
texture that is so well used
by Italian masons. These
columns are sometimes square,
but more often round in FIG. 255.— A PERGOLA OF POLES IN VENICE.
i8o
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 256. — PIERS OF RUBBLE, PLASTERED, AT AMALFJ.
The Pergola.
181
section (Fig. 256). In some cases even, marble pillars from some ruined ancient
building are brought into use — always with a satisfying effect of solidity and
permanence.
When in our British gardens there can be no question of such solid treatment
and only rough wood is available, the posts of the pergola are best made of oak trunks
of anything from eight inches to ten inches diameter. Their lifetime can be
lengthened by stripping the bark off the butts for a length of three feet and coating
the stripped part with gas-tar. Charring in the fire is even better, but is less con-
venient to do in the case of heavy posts. It is important that the tarring or charring
should be carried to a height of quite a foot clear of the ground, the danger-spot
being at the ground-line and just above it. The oak posts being set up, a rather
slighter log, adzed at the ends on what is to be the under side (so as to lie flat and
steady), is spiked to each pair of posts across the path, any slight curvature of the
FIG. 257. — LARCH PERGOLA OF TOO SLIGHT A CONSTRUCTION.
log being taken advantage of to show some degree of upward camber. Nothing
looks weaker or less satisfactory than a cross-beam that swags downwards, as it does
naturally when of weak stuff, or if not adzed at the ends to give a firm seat. This
weak effect shows in the larch pergola illustrated in Fig. 257, which is altogether too
slight in construction. Pergolas of this class often show such cross-beams of weak,
drooping form, and stiff, straight braces cut out of the larch tops. The braces are
better when shaped as in the picture of the pergola with a paved path and fir trees at
the end (Fig. 258), where they are cut out of branches that have a little upward curve.
The example built of larch poles supporting gourds is cleverly done, the braces
of alternate posts taking a wide angle, and, after passing and being spiked to the
beam, joining at a ridge point ; the wider angle helps to give more rigidity to a
l82
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
•UHB
flimsy structure and the prolongation affords more spacious support to the shoots
of the gourds (Fig. 259). Often a house and garden are occupied on a short
tenancy, such as three years ; in this case such a pergola of short lifetime would
form a delightful feature.
When it is possible to build with solid piers, we see how thoroughly our architects
and garden designers
have assimilated the
pergola idea, and the
many and various
ways in which they
are working it out
and adapting it for
combination with
other structures.
In the example at St.
Clere, Kemsing (Fig.
260), designed by Mr.
Godfrey Pinkerton,
it covers a wide
flagged terrace
adjoining one side of
the racquet court.
The piers are built
of large, flat paving
tiles resting on a
stone step, and have
stone caps and bases.
They carry a heavy,
continuous beam:
lesser beams, with
one end resting on
this, have their other
ends treated putlog
fashion and built
into the house wall.
A singularly satis-
factory pergola by
Mr. Inigo Triggs
(Fig. 261) is built of
ordinary brick with
wide mortar joint,
on short plinths of
rough local stone,
FIG. 258. — OF LARCH POLES WITH WELL-SHAPED BRACES. with Steps of the
same. Oak timbers
from an old building form the roof. Chains hang from post to post for the future
training of roses as garlands. In a very beautiful open pergola at Marsh Court,
designed by Mr. Lutyens (Fig. 263), the piers are built of tiles with wide joints ;
they have stone plinths and moulded stone caps, the section being square and
concave square alternately. This fine example also shows the value of the solid,
The Pergola.
183
slightly cambered beam.
In some cases a good
effect is gained by build-
ing the piers round and
square alternately (Fig.
264) . It is not difficult
to have bricks specially
moulded for building in
the circular form. At
Home Place, Norfolk
(Fig. 265), a clever use is
made of cobble stones
by Mr. E. S. Prior, where
four round cobble piers
are set four-square on a
circular platform raised
on two steps, which
forms the centre of wide,
flagged, radiating paths.
A good effect is gained,
and might be more
often obtained in build-
ing generally, by not filling up the putlog holes. A fruit-room at Chelwood
Vetchery, five sides of an octagon in plan, is happily treated by Mr. Rome
FIG. 259. — GOURDS ON LARCH FRAMEWORK.
FIG. 260. — A WELL-BUILT PERGOLA ADJOINING RACQUET COURT AT ST. CLERE.
184
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 26l. — PIERS OF BRICK AND STONE
FIG. 262. A PERGOLA WITH PIERS, SOME ROUND, SOME SQUARE.
The Pergola.
185
Guthrie, with a surrounding pergola following the same plan (Fig. 266). The piers
are circular in section, of a light-coloured brick, and stand upon a flagged platlorm.
The whole is planted with vines, the most beautiful of all pergola plants.
Brick piers at the ends, with wooden ones between, and a roofing of trellis over
a brick pavement, form a pergola at Sandhouse, Sandhills, Witley (Fig. 267), from
the design of Mr. F. W. Troup. This pergola is unusually high in proportion to
its width. It is in general more agreeable to let the width across the path be greater
than the height, as in the example by Mr. Walter Cave at Ewelme Down, where
some specimens of topiary work in tubs are placed at the ends of paths (Fig. 268).
"N
FIG. 263. — PIERS OF TILES, WIDE-JOINTED.
A pergola of open structure by Mr. J. P. White at Garston Park gives partial
•shelter to a garden door. Under it is a wide, flagged terrace, slightly sloping away
from the house to throw off rain, the joints near the planted piers being left open
for the benefit of the climbers. Against the house is an interesting reproduction
of the old-fashioned perspective treillage (Fig. 269).
For a general guide as to dimensions, it may be taken that the piers may be
anything from seven feet two inches to eight feet out of the ground, eight feet to
nine feet apart across the paths, and nine feet to twelve feet apart in the length of
i86
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
ID
c*
The Pergola.
FIG. 265. — A MEETING-PLACE OF RADIATING PATHS.
FIG. 266.— A PERGOLA SURROUNDING A FRUIT-ROOM.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
•
the path. It is often a convenience, especially in the case of wooden posts, to have
the roofing of flat iron arches ; but in this case it is well to fasten some kind of wooden
rods or slight trellis to the iron, the contact with cold iron in winter tending to check
and damage some plants. When chains hang from post to post to form garlands,
it is also well to wind a tarred cord rather closely round the chain, so that the shoots
rest on the cord and not on the chain. But a better way is to have two chains
spread apart about six inches with rigid iron ties, for the training to this is more
under control. All gardeners
who have had to do with rose
garlands know the trouble of the
whole thing swinging round to
the under side, like a saddle
turning on a horse.
In some large gardens iron
pergolas have been adapted for
the growing of pears and apples
trained as cordons (Figs. 270
and 271). They are formed of
successive arches, all in one
piece, of thick iron rod, with
wires fastened longitudinally.
They form a pleasant as well as
interesting shady path, and, as
the trees are necessarily pruned
to short spurs, the quantity of
bloom is a wonderful sight in
proportion to the space.
As a general rule, the per-
gola is most satisfactory when
on level ground, and when it
is straight from end to end ;
but it is sometimes convenient
for it to follow nights of steps
and landings leading from one
level to another. Such a case
has been cleverly treated at
Acremead in Kent (Figs. 272
and 273), to the design of Mr.
Dunbar Smith and Mr. Cecil
Brewer, where it goes straight
downhill, with solid square piers
FIG. 267. — AT SANDHOUSE.
of local stone. Easy flights of
steps and landings give access
to paths at right angles. As to the best plants for pergolas, there is nothing more
delightful than grape vines, or for other good foliage aristolochia and Virginia
creeper. Where flowering plants are desired, there are wistaria, clematis, and
preferably the kinds near the species such as montana, Flammula and Vitalba,
white jasmine, Japan honeysuckle, Dutch honeysuckle (both of the early and late
kinds), Bignonia radicans and climbing roses. But roses on pergolas need great care
in regulating by pruning and training, their inclination being to run up to the top,
The Pergola.
FIG. 268. — AT EWELME DOWN.
FIG. 26q. — A PERGOLA SHELTERING A GARDEN DOOR.
FIG. 270. — A PERGOLA OF CORDON FRUIT TREES.
FIG. 271. — OUTER VIEW OF THE FRUIT PERGOLA.
The Pergola.
191
so that unless the pergola is on a lower terrace and is seen from above, the beauty
of the mass of bloom is lost. There are also a number of shrubs and small trees
that can be adapted for pergola use, one of the best being laburnum. At West
Dean in Sussex there is a complete tunnel of laburnum with an ivy arch at the
two ends (Fig. 275). Among other shrubs that can be trained to the same use are
guelder roses,
Pyrus Mains flori-
bunda, snowy
mespilus, laurus-
t i n u s, common
laurel, Solanum
crispum and Robi-
nia hispida.
The pleached
alleys of our
Tudor ancestors
have much in
common with
the pergola.
Columns, arches
and whole gal-
leries of shady
verdure, trained
on a founda-
tion of wooden
treillage, are de-
scribed by Bacon.
They were com-
monly planted
with hornbeam
or wych elm.
Treillage was also
used to a large
extent in French
gardens in the
eighteenth c e n-
tury, but it is only
now that it is
being revived in
England. In Fig.
274 is shown an ex-
ample by Mr. J. P.
White with walls,
arbours and rose
temples.
There is still
earlier record of
something of the
pergola kind in
England, for in
FIG. 272. — AT ACREMEAD I PLAN AND SECTION.
FIG. 273. — STEPPED PERGOLA AT ACREMEAD.
192
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
The Pergola.
193
William Horman's " Vulgaria," published in 1519, nearly a century earlier than the
works of Bacon, these passages occur : " Aleys in gardens covered with Vynes and
railed up with wythe stakis vaute wyse do great pleasure with the shadowe in
parchynge heat." And further : "A vyne clevynge to his railes with his twyndynge
stringis and lette hangynge down his clusters of grapis maketh a plesaunt walkynge
aley."
FIG. 275. — A GREEN TUNNEL OF LABURNUM.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER XVII.— GATES AND GATEWAYS.
Entrance Stairways — Gates to Forecourts — Carriage Gates — Notes on Eighteenth
Century Smiths — Gateways and Vistas — In Walled Gardens — Wooden Gates.
BOTH before and since Robinson Crusoe '" made up the Entrance, which till
now I had left open," the treatment of the way into house and garden has
been fruitful of varied opportunity. Crusoe was concerned for the safety
of his house and gear, and had an eye to those same needs of defence that find such
delightful architectural expression in moat and bridge, gatehouse and portcullis. The
small house and garden, however, raise no such military problems, and the
possibilities are limited to the treatment of archways in high walls, gates that break
the line of low walls and sometimes the provision of steps. In Fig. 276 is shown an
FIG. 276.— GATE AND MOUNTING BLOCK AT CLEEVE PRIOR.
Gates and Gateways.
195
FIG. 277. — AT BIDDESTONE MANOR.
196
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
attractive pair of wooden gates approached
by two curved steps. Beyond them a
mounting block witnesses to the days before
petrol had all but supplanted horseman-
ship. The entrance to Biddestone Manor
(Fig. 277) shows the good effect of a simple
and well-designed pair of stone piers and
a longer flight of steps. The battery of
Time and lichen have left their tender
marks on this typical Cotswold ashlar-
work. When the house is close to a
frequented road it ensures a larger privacy
if the wall is carried high and the doorway
made in an arched opening, as in the
example designed by Mr. Walter Brierley,
and shown in Fig. 279. A sense of security
s given by filling the tympanum of the
FIG. 279. — ENTRANCE FROM ROAD TO SMALL GARDEN.
FIG. 278. — GATEWAY TO A COURTYARD.
arch with wrought-iron work, and the
gate is the easier to open from not being
the full width of the opening. A similar
treatment is shown in Fig. 278, where an
iron gate gives entrance to a paved
courtyard.
The steady increase in the use of
motor-cars by people of moderate means
tends to make a carriage entrance
necessary for houses of quite modest
size. Many are content with the pro-
vision of a simple field gate ; but when
something more ambitious is contemplated,
the design of the gates themselves and of
Gates and Gateways.
197
FIG. 280. — TREATMENT OF WALL AND GATES.
the adjoining walls is a serious factor in
the artistic success of the house and its
approach. The disposition of the entrance
to a Berkshire house designed by Mr. W.
J. Parker is somewhat ambitious in scale,
but its plan shows a treatment appropriate
to small houses if carried out on smaller
lines. From the brick piers at the ends of
the boundary walls the line of the wall
curves inwards to the piers of the carriage
gates (Fig. 280) . In these curved wings on
either side of the main carriage gates (Fig. 281) are set two foot-gates and two round
grilles (Figs. 282 and 283), all of which gave pleasant opportunity for the art of the
modern smith. The wise choice of iron gates of good design has considerable bearing
on the successful appearance of an entrance. So many eighteenth century houses
in towns are now being demolished that old gates can often be acquired at reason-
able prices, and the chance of finding one is worth enquiry and some little trouble ;
but caution is necessary. Old gates are not worth buying unless they are in a
satisfactory condition, because repairs to them are apt to cost almost as much as new
gates. Moreover, it is a mistake to be led into buying a gate, however pleasant its
design, if it is not of the right
size and proportion for the
opening that needs to be filled.
The \vriter of this bears in
mind an unhappy friend. Ten
years ago he bought a gate and
stretch of railing of admirable
design and in good repair, in
the hope that it would "fit in
somewhere," but he has never
contrived a place for it. The
methods of the " bargain sale "
do not apply conveniently to
architecture. It may be
helpful, however, to set down
notes on some typical work of
the old smiths, in order to
show the sort of work which is
good and pleasant, whether it
be old or new. Fig. 285 shows
a delightful gate of the size
suitable for the entrance of a
small country house. It is
fixed in a wall between two
gardens, and never served as
a carriage gate, for there is in-
sufficient head-room under the
" overthrow," but in character
of treatment it is very instruc-
FIG. 281. — THE CARRIAGE GATES. tive. It was made in 1720,
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
and is traditionally believed to be the work of the Brothers Roberts. The
character of the work supports the tradition. The year 1719 is the earliest that
^^^ can be associated with the independent
activities of the Roberts, for they then did
the very elaborate gates at Chirk Castle.
•-«— - They do not seem to have worked much
outside Shropshire, Cheshire and Wales.
FIG. 202.— GRILLE IN SCREENWALL.
FIG. 283.— FOOT-GATE.
FIG. 284. — VISTA BETWEEN TWO GATES IN WALLED
GARDEN.
Leeswood, near Mold, Emral, Eaton Hall
and Shrewsbury were among the places
that boasted notable examples from their
smithy. The design of the gate illustrated
in Fig. 285 is the best guide to its attribution.
No one could have made it in 1720 who had
Gates and Gateways.
199
not fallen under the spell of Tijou or at least of his book of designs. The
horizontal lines are heavily emphasised and the embossed shells at the top of
the side panels are unusually prominent. The "overthrow" of the gate is
very marked by the range of embossed acanthus leaves (derived apparently
from Tijou's gadroon and acanthus border) which connect the two stout
horizontals supporting the pyramid of scrollwork, etc. A rather unusual feature
is the trio of oval rings at the base of each side panel. The embossed leaves are well
executed, though without the natural swirl that characterises them in Tijou's work
and connects them organically with the iron tendrils to which they are fixed. For
all that, their placing in the design is very happily managed, and could not have been
done by a smith who
knew nothing of
Tijou's pioneer work.
The execution is very
good, and the repairs
which Mr. C. G. Hare
has lately superin-
tended fortunately
did not need to be
extensive. No doubt
the succeeding
owners of the gate
have been careful to
keep the ironwork
painted. Without
such attention the
slight substance of
the embossed work
would long since
have rusted away.
Modern craftsmen
doing similar leaf-
work commonly use
sheet copper or sheet
bronze, which defies
the weather and can
be blacked as easily
as sheet iron.
The history of
English wrought-iron
gates can hardly be
said to have begun
until the advent of
Jean Tijou in 1689.
Further particulars
of the career of this
great artist are given
in a chapter, (by Mr.
J. Starkie Gardner)
in The House and FIG. 285. — GARDEN GATE MADE BY THE BROTHERS ROBERTS.
2OO
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
its Equipment. Tijou's influence was not, how-
ever, universal. Without him English smiths
would probably have continued to make strong
gates and railings of straightforward design, with
little fancy ; but it is unlikely that they would
have adopted the repousse work which is so
characteristic of Tijou. His influence is clearly
shown in the delightful gate at Wotton House
(Fig. 287). Despite the obvious attractions of the
new methods, the national liking for a large restraint
in craftsmanship persisted even under the very eye
of Tijou. While he was working at St. Paul's some
less important commissions in the Cathedral were
entrusted to Thomas Robinson, who was evidently
an individualist, for he did not follow at all closely
FIG. 287 • — AT WOTTON HOUSE.
FIG. 286. — AT WYCH CROSS PLACE.
in Tijou's steps. Where he
used embossing it was with
imperfect understanding of its
possibilities. When he was free
from the master's influence
and began working at New
College, Oxford, about 1711,
he discarded the Tijou style
and developed a simpler manner
of his own which is markedly
English. Warren and (despite
his Dutch - sounding name)
Buncker did work of a similar
kind during the first quarter
of the eighteenth century. The
gates at Packwood House,
Birmingham (Fig. 288), and at
Norton Cony ers (Fig. 289), show
this more restrained note in
design, the latter in a marked
degree.
The majority of the gates
of the first half of the eighteenth
Gates and Gateways.
201
CO
oo
202
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
century — the golden age of the English smith — are of this simple type. Embossed
work is used sparingly, and the basis of their designs is scrolled work taking the
form of lyres and G's, variously combined and enriched by water-leaves.
Occasionally there is a diversion into naturalesque forms, when terminals spread
out as bunches of
laurel leaves. What
may be called the
London type was
essentially sober,
though rich in treat-
ment, and it is this
type which should
be followed in the
entrance and garden
gates of the small
modern house. They
should be built of
stout bars. Satisfac-
tory results cannot
be got from flimsy
sections, and the
temptation to use
light material to save
cost is to be resisted.
Far better a simple
gate of adequate
sections than one
bedecked with
acanthus but lacking
strength.
Where there is
a garden-house
approached by a
long walk with an
opening in the wall
at the end of it, as
at Norton Conyers
(Fig. 289), it is per-
missible that the
gate should be of less
sturdy build, so that
the full value of the
distant picture be
not lesse n e d .
Another example of
this is seen in the
very light gate in a wall that divides two long paths at Wych Cross Place (Fig. 286).
Considerable space has been given to historical notes on the design of iron gates
because so many garden pictures are spoiled by ugly examples, but the placing of
FIG. 289. — AT NORTON CONYERS.
the gates is an even more important question.
Gates and Gateways.
203
FIG. 290. — AT WITTERSHAM HOUSE.
was my happy chance
to have entrance into a
goodly gardene plotte,"
he unfortunately did not
say what manner of gate
let him in, but we may
imagine it was at the
end of a long alley such
as the Elizabethans loved.
In the planning of
gardens the gates of
walled enclosures can
often be placed on axial
lines, so that the full
value of a vista may be
secured. The gateways
illustrated in Fig. 284
show this well.
Walled gardens are
especially favourable to
FIG. 291. —AT GREAT MAYTHAM : MAIN GATE TO WALLED GARDEN.
204
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
interesting gate treatment, as may be
seen in Figs. 291 and 292, which show
examples at Great Maytham designed by
Mr. Lutyens. The larger gate is the chief,
and the smaller a subsidiary entrance to
the same garden. By the same hand,
but on a much smaller scale, is a little
gateway in the garden of Wittersham
House (Fig. 290). The outlines of the
ironwork are of the simplest, but the
gate has the quiet distinction which
follows good design even on the smallest
scale and in the humblest materials.
Although the chief place of gates will
always be at the entrance to carriage-ways
and in walled gardens, a long terrace some-
times gives opportunity, as at Chelwood
Vetchery, the seat of Sir Stuart Samuel,
Bart., M.P. Mr. Rome Guthrie has here
marked a drop in terrace level by an iron
gate between brick piers at the head of a
flight of steps curved on plan.
In Fig. 284 is shown a good pattern
of wooden garden gate, made of stout
FIG. 292. — IN THE WALLED GARDEN AT GREAT
MAYTHAM.
FIG. 293. — AT CHELWOOD VETCHERY.
Gates and Gateways.
205
FIG. 294. — WOODEN DOOR WITH POSTERN.
206
Gates and Gateways.
oak bars. Though itself modern, it is of earlier type than those of wrought iron
which have been described. Sometimes for the sake of greater privacy a solid
wooden door is desirable, as in the attractive old Tudor example with a postern
which is illustrated in Fig. 294. Always satisfactory and with the added merit of
being very inexpensive are doors of simple wood trellis, such as Mr. Lutyens has
employed at Great Maytham (Fig. 295).
Not less important than the gates themselves are their posts. The Packwood
House example (Fig. 288) is built in rusticated brickwork with a simple stepped top,
but the eighteenth century was much addicted to ball finials, as at Norton Conyers
(Fig. 289), and no better finish can be devised. For smaller gates the treatment shown
in Fig. 287 is admirable ; the steps in the wall make the upper part of the opening
wide, and give opportunity for an overthrow of more imposing design than the width
of the gate itself would allow. It is a happy compromise between a simple narrow
gate and one with a pair of side panels running the full height, as at Norton Conyers
(Fig. 289).
A word on the undue growth of creepers is never out of season. The wanton
growth of ivy on the left gatepost in Fig. 288 shows how this noxious weed veils cornice
mouldings and destroys architectural proportion and balance. In addition, there
is to be remembered the deadly injury done by ivy shoots in penetrating and
loosening the joints, until in an evil day it pulls down the fabric which has endured
its baleful embrace.
Stairways of all kinds are considered in their proper chapter, but reference
may be made here to the curved steps, built of brick on edge, which add so
greatly to the charm of the gate at Packwood House (Fig. 288).
FIG. 295. — A TRELLIS DOOR.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
207
CHAPTER XVIII. -GARDEN-HOUSES.
The Place of Summer-houses in General Scheme — Building in Vernacular Manners-
Thatched Roofs — Cob — Use of Old Materials — In Walled Gardens— Shelters
and Tool-houses.
THE success of summer-houses and pavilions, considered as elements of garden
design, depends as much upon their skilful placing as upon their form and
materials. It may be laid down that, in cases where the pavilion is near
the main house and related to it by path or pergola, it should have the same
architectural treatment. By way of example we may refer to Fig. 296, which
shows a design by Mr. H. Inigo Triggs. In this case the pavilion serves as a
focus for the other elements of the design. It is connected with the house by a
pergola, and its four windows overlook the lawn, the sunk garden, etc. It is proper,
therefore, that it should be of the same half-timber construction as the house, to
which it stands in a definite relation. It is an outpost where the amenities of the
house and its more gentle employments can be enjoyed in a garden atmosphere. From
the architectural point of view it is an added value in such a pavilion that
it gives dignity and scale to the main building. This is notably the case at
A'3^~«^g
v%m1^
•-^JPfe
*npt??$$K* ''tV-*£ ;1.
FIG. 296. —A GARDEN-HOUSE DESIGNED BY MR. INIGO TRIGGS
208
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Hurtwood (Fig. 298), where the
simple gazebo at the corner of the
terrace emphasises the height of
the house behind, and serves as
a pleasant resting-place whence
the beauties of the outlook may
be enjoyed. Its situation above
the lily pool helps to mark the
charms arising from the wise
treatment of a site that slopes
FIG. 298. — AT HURTWOOD I GARDEN-HOUSE ABOVE LILY POOL.
FIG. 297. — GARDEN-HOUSE AT ATHEL-
HAMPTON.
sharply. Similar advantage has
been taken of a difference in
level between two important
sections of a garden at Atriel-
hampton (Fig. 297), where the
windows of the pavilion command
both an upper lawn and a long
vista of path and border on the
low side of a clipped hedge.
Where a forecourt or terrace
Garden-houses.
209
has been built up on a hillside, a
corner gazebo, like that shown in
Fig. 299, designed by Mr. Walter
Cave, seems to buttress the terrace,
while it serves as a delightful
vantage-point whence the country
round may be espied. The quality
to be aimed at in all garden archi-
tecture is coherence in the relation-
ship of parts. A pavilion should
not stand alone, but be tied to the
rest of the scheme by orderly design.
Where the house is of definitely
classic form, it is permissible that the
summer-houses shall take on the
aspect of a little temple. In Mr.
Arnold Mitchell's garden at Great
Baddow, illustrated in Fig. 300, the
vista made by path and borders is
FIG. 300. -AT THE END OF A LONG WALK.
FIG. 299. — GAZEBO AT CORNER OF TERRACED FORECOURT-
closed by a pleasant little classical conceit in
stone. In the case of houses of no marked
style, it is better for the design of pavilions to
follow the vernacular traditions of simple
building proper to various districts.
A garden at Liphook shows the pleasant
results of rough masonry and tiles employed
in two summer-houses designed by Mr.
W. T. A. T. Carter (Figs. 301 and 302). One
has a hexagonal roof in the corner of the wall ;
the other is of L plan, which marks the end of
210
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 301. — AN ANGLE SUMMER-HOUSE NEAR LIPHOOK-
Fir. 302.— AND ANOTHER OF UNUSUAL PLAN.
Garden-houses.
211
the wall, and has a delightful little conical
roof rising at the angle. This unusual and
interesting plan has the practical advan-
tage that the occupants of the pavilion
have two views, one down the path to the
first summer-house, the other across the
lawn. Reference must also be made to
the treatment of the wall. The stepping
in its parapet is emphasised by the crown-
ing of the piers by simple ornaments of
obelisk type which have quite a Jacobean
flavour. But they are no more than old
rick-stones, and their mushroom-shaped
tops have been placed under the stalks to
serve as bases. It was an ingenious
thought to give these old features of the
farmyard a new lease of life as garden
decorations. At The Grove, Mill Hill,
Mr. Stanley Hamp has designed a pleasant
garden - house (Fig. 303) in brick and
timber, which is the more interesting for
FIG. 304. — THATCHED HOUSE IN NORFOLK.
FIG. 303. — AT THE GROVE, MILL HILL.
being set on the side of a sharp slope.
Rising as it does from a well-grown
herbaceous border, it dominates its
surroundings in very agreeable fashion,
and looks across a wide stretch of
garden to the house, with which it
accords well.
The thatched pavilion at Happis-
burgh, Norfolk, designed by Mr.
Detmar Blow, is in a vernacular
manner (Fig. 304). The house which
it adjoins is also thatched. In general
this roof treatment needs to be em-
ployed with discretion. Sometimes a
rustic pavilion, log-built and thatched,
will be placed in relation to a. house
212
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Garden-houses.
213
of some definite architectural period,
such as Georgian, and only succeeds in
creating the idea that its builder is
playing at rusticity. When, however, a
summer-house is placed in a remote
corner of a garden and bears no definite
relation to the main house, some latitude
is permissible. Nothing could be more
attractive than the Devonshire example
illustrated in Fig. 305, where a thatched
summer-house shelters in the corner of
a walled garden. In this case the walls
are built of " cob," i.e., of earth rammed
FIG. 307. — BUILT OF OLD MATERIALS.
FIG. 306. — AT LITTLE BOARHUNT, LIPHOOK.
in the local fashion, which has prevailed
for centuries. A cob wall (or pise, as
it used to be called early in the nine-
teenth century) will last almost for
ever, if it is built on a stout foundation of
stone or brick or concrete, and if it is
soundly roofed with thatch, so that the
wet is kept from its sole and its head.
Where the natural treatment of the
adjoining wall is thatching, it is wholly
fitting that the summer-house should be
roofed in the same fashion. The solecism
to be avoided is the importation into
a part of the country, where thatch is
unknown, of a ready-made thatched
pavilion framed in barked logs, which
are too often made garish and ridiculous
by yellow varnish.
214
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
The use of old materials— of the disjecta
membra of demolished buildings -- is a
piece of amateur antiquarianism which
needs to be approached with some
reserve. There are cases, however, where
an old set of columns will take their
places faithfully and naturally as the
supports of a new-built garden-house.
Such a use , is illustrated in Fig. 307.
It is the more appropriate because this
FIG. 309. — ROUND GARDEN-HOUSE AT LITTLE RIDGE.
FIG. 308. — OF TWO STOREYS.
delightful curved pavilion, with the
tiles well " swept " in the making of
its conical roof, adorns the garden of
an old house in Broadway, where a
ripe age gives the prevailing atmo-
sphere. A pavilion built up of ill-
assorted Elizabethan fragments may,
however, look very uncomfortable
in a garden which owes its design
wholly to the eighteenth century.
In the gardens of small new houses
it is far safer to accept modernity as
the governing factor, and to build a
garden-house" that frankly expresses
the age to which it belongs. That is
not to say that the teachings of
historical design should be neglected.
The garden-house at Little Boar-
hunt (Fig. 306) shows how satis-
factory can be a pavilion which is
not a copy of any particular old
example, though it owes its pleasant
aspect to a knowledge of what was
Garden-houses.
215
done by the old builders.
The round pavilion,
shown in Fig. 309,
stands at the corner of
the formal garden at
Little Ridge, laid out by
Mr. Detmar Blow and
Mr. Fernand Billerey,
and is of characteristic
and interesting design.
Elliptical arches rest on
its stout piers, and above
the cornice the roof,
ogee in section, rises to
a pretty ball . finial. A
simple and attractive
round summer-house at
the end of a grass walk
at Wittersham is shown
in Fig. 312.
A good treatment of
a garden-house in the
corner of a walled garden is seen at Great Maytham, designed by Mr. Lutyens
(Fig. 310). Though the scale is small, the little pavilion is given an air of comely
dignity by the few steps which lead up to its door
and there is a practical thought in this provision.
It gives a view over the outer garden from the
windows on the far side. Yet another idea for a
pavilion in the corner of a walled garden is afforded
FIG. 310. — IN CORNER OF WALLED GARDEN.
FIG. 311. — AT ST. CLERE.
FIG. 312. — AT WITTERSHAM HOUSE.
2l6
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
by the example designed by Mr. W. F. Unsworth and illustrated in Fig. 308. The
house is of two storeys, and the upper floor is carried on stout oak posts. The
undercroft serves as a store for garden implements, and the room above is reached by
an outside staircase on the other side of the wall. Such a little apartment makes a
quiet retreat for a writer, or
an admirable room for a
bachelor when the normal
sleeping accommodation of the
house has reached its elastic
limit. A very important detail
in the design of any garden-
house, which is to serve as an
outdoor room for reading and
writing, is the window. It is
not enough to rely on the light
that comes through the opening
of access. One window at least
should be provided, and so
placed that the light comes
over the left shoulder of the
writer. If such a window
chances to face south-west or
south, a light curtain over it
will prevent the sunlight falling
directly on book or manuscript.
Attractive open summer-houses
can often be contrived with
little cost of building by
taking advantage of an exist-
ing corner formed by a garden
wall. The example at St. Clere
(Fig. 311), designed by Mr.
Godfrey Pinkerton, gives a hint
as to how such a little resting-
place may be contrived. A
dwarf wall with two columns,
side wall and pent-house roof
make up an attractive place.
The low front wall has an
advantage over columns run-
ning to the ground-level ; or
it helps to temper the cold airs
of spring and autumn to the
occupant. An architect has his
greatest opportunity when the
garden-house is an integral part of the design of a broad terrace adjoining the
house, but this does not often arise in the case of small garden schemes.
In Fig. 316 is illustrated a modern terrace pavilion with a roof of ogee outline
which is typically Scottish. It was designed by Sir Rowand Anderson, and groups
delightfully with a house designed by William Adam, father of the famous brothers.
FIG. 313. — AT STAPLEFIELD GRANGE.
Garden-houses .
217
FIG. 314. — A TRELLIS GARDEN SHELTER.
Fig. 3i6A shows
an old example at
Kinross House,
designed by Sir
William Bruce.
Another
attractive little
garden house
is at Staplefield
Grange, Sussex,
the home of Mr.
Percy Macquoid
(Fig. 3i3)- It
dates from the
time of Robert
Adam, and was
built as an ad-
junct to a late
eighteenth cen-
tury villa at
Twickenham.
When the house
suffered great
damage by fire
not long ago, the remaining materials were sold, and Mr. Macquoid has made
very apt use of the prize he secured. Although its design suggests masonry,
it is, in fact, built of wood. Seen across a lily pool at the top of a steep flight
of steps it gives a charming architectural flavour to a beautiful garden.
Though this chapter
deals chiefly with
garden-houses of solid
construction, one picture
is given of a garden
shelter designed by Mr.
Basil Oliver on lines
which slightly recall
Chippendale's trellis
manner (Fig. 314), and
another of two thatched
shelters at Mr. F. E.
Smith's cottage, de-
signed by Mr. Alan
James (Fig. 315). It is
as well to bear in mind
that the outlying parts
of the garden devoted
to its purely working
hours should not be
made unseemly by tool-
FIG. 315.— THATCHED GARDEN SHELTERS AT CHARLTON, OXON. hoUSCS TOOfed with
2l8
Garden-houses.
FIGS. 316 AND 3l6A. — TWO TYPICAL SCOTTISH GARDEN PAVILIONS.
corrugated iron. In Fig. 317 is illustrated a good building for this purpose with
weather-boarded walls and tiled roof, designed by Mr. A. Winter Rose.
FIG. 317. — A SEEMLY TOOL-HOUSE,
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
219
CHAPTER XIX.— STATUES AND VASES.
Their Especial Value in Small Gardens — Scarcity of Good Models — Professor Lethaby
on Leaden Figures — On Gate-piers — Cupids — Pan — The Right Placing of Ornaments.
IT seems to be thought rather generally that ornaments, such as statues and
fountains, find their just place only in great formal gardens like those of Wilton,
Dray ton, Melbourne or Wrest Park. Probably this feeling is a survival from
the day when the formal garden itself was held in small esteem, or tolerated only
when it helped to frame some great historic house. It may be admitted that ornaments
need to be employed sparingly in small gardens, and that an undue liberality in their
use calls up visions of the mason's yard, but therein is
no reason for their neglect. Another cause that has made
designers of gardens, whether amateur or professional,
rather chary of resorting to them is the scarcity of good
models small enough to be in scale with a little garden.
It is the fact that small figures which are genuinely old
are rarely met with in salerooms. Many of the avail-
able examples that pose, not very plausibly, as
" antiques " are copies of very poor models, and are
rejected as soon as seen. Present taste has accepted
the principle of formality in garden design. So far from
formal treatment being suitable for great gardens only, it
seems to be pecu-
liarly applicable to
little spaces.
Where a garden
scheme extends
over several acres
a designer can
afford to be
severely simple in
the details of his
concept ion. A
broad grass walk
which runs a
hundred yards
between her-
baceous borders
of, say, fifteen feet
delightful in itself
FIG. 318. — ON GATE-PIER.
FIG. 319. — BOY FIGURE IN NICHE AT END OF
GRASS WALK.
in width is a thing so
that its charm is self-
contained. The absence of a statue framed
in clipped yews to close the vista is forgotten
in the beauty of the wide sweeps of turf
and blossom. Variety of growth and
changeful schemes of colour provide the
necessary incident. A little garden, however,
220
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
if too simply treated, soon
exhausts our curiosity. The
more the designer lacks space,
the apter should he be in
making us forget his garden's
limitations. Ingenious plea-
santries of treatment here and
there arrest the interest. By
concentrating it the}7 make
the visitor oblivious of the
smallness of the theatre which
yields so much diversion . This
is not a plea for many orna-
ments, still less for any one
that stands out markedly from
its surroundings ; no more is
claimed than that ornament
of the right kind is even more
welcome in small gardens than
in big. It is admittedly diffi-
cult to get anything small
enough in scale that is at the
same time pleasant as sculp-
ture in its own right. There
are always available little re-
productions in bronze of the
exquisite Narcissus at Naples.
FIG. 322. — BOY AND DOLPHIN IN POOL.
FIGS. 32O AND 321.— ON GATE-PIERS AT PAPILLON HALL.
It figures in a score of gardens,
and always looks well. It is,
however, unreasonable always
to demand of a garden figure
that it should be fine as
sculpture
Professor Lethaby wrote
•j
years ago of garden figures :
" Lead is homely and ordinary
and not too good to receive
the graffiti of lovers' knots,
red letter dates and initials."
This theory must be withheld
from such younger sons of
the house as own pen-knives,
but it shows a right attitude
to such pleasant unheroic sub-
jects as may properly find
their being enshrined in lead.
It is an insult to submit a
finely - modelled bronze or
marble figure to the changing
Statues and Vases.
221
assaults of the English climate and to the slow invasion of
lichen. In a little garden the motif of the sporting child
is always fresh. Fortunately, there are many skilful artists
who have turned their hands to modelling boys, winged
and wingless, busy with every sort of merry employment.
A few are illustrated here, some old, some new. The
youngster at Temple Dinsley (Fig. 318) who surveys us,
shield in hand and rather soberly, raises a question as to
the placing of statues. Nowhere do they look better or
more reasonable than on the top of gate-piers. Their size
seems less than when they are nearer to the eye-level, and
from a practical point of view they are better than large
open vases, which it may be difficult to keep supplied
FIG. 324. — MODELLED BY JAN VAN NOST.
FIG. 323. — A PIPING BOY.
with growing flowers.
Best of all, they give a
human welcoming
quality to the forecourt
over which they seem
to preside. A very at-
tractive pair is the leaden
Youth and Maiden
dressed in eighteenth
century costume that
nod and beckon to each
other from neighbouring
gate - piers at Papillon
Hall (Figs. 320-1). They
are only about four feet
222
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 325.— QUARKELLING CUPIDS.
FIG. 326.— AT MELBOURNE, DERBYSHIRE.
high, and of a type suitable for comparatively small, though not for very small,
gardens. They will be recognised as little cousins to the well-known Watteau-like
Shepherd and Shepherdess who simper at each other in the solemn atmosphere of the
South Kensington Museum.
Very serious students of art are urgent to tell us that sculpture has no right to
represent violent action ; but even austere critics are inclined to relax these rules
in the case of amorini. There is just the right degree of movement in the chubby boy
who rides a dolphin (Fig. 322) and spreads a sail to the favouring breeze. Very
pretty and thoughtful is the little piper (Fig. 323) who surveys his garden world from
the low pier at the end of a dwarf wall. Both these are of to-day, modelled by the
craftsmen of the Bromsgrove Guild, very much in the spirit of the figures at Wilton
(Fig. 324) and Melbourne, Derbyshire (Figs. 325-6). These were made in lead at the
beginning of the eighteenth century by Jan Van Nost, a Dutchman who came
to England after William III. became King, and helped to establish here the Dutch
manner of formal gardening. The Melbourne amorini form a dramatic sequence.
The chubby pair fight for the possession of a garland, mishandle each other severely,
but in the fourth group (not illustrated) seal their reconciliation with a kiss. Sir
George Sitwell has written that " a pleasure-ground, however small, should have its
presiding genius, its Nymph of flower-garden or grove or woodland or Naiad of the
well ... to give a personal interpretation to the forces of Nature . . . and
for this reason sculpture in a garden is to be regarded not as an ornament,, but almost
Statues and Vases.
223
as a necessity, as like that last touch of colour in a picture
which sets the whole canvas in a flame." Figures look
well in wall niches, as in the garden, designed by Mr.
A. Winter Rose, which appears in Fig. 319. The kneeling
Boy with Dolphin, which serves as a fountain in the pool
at Wych Cross Place (Fig. 329) has beauty in its own right,
for it was modelled by Puech, an artist who has added no
little to the beauty of Paris by his monuments. None the
less, it is in the reflections it casts on the still water, and
in its judicious placing by Mr. Thomas Mawson in relation
to the terrace steps, that no little of its charm resides.
A like fancy is the Cupid and Swan of Fig. 328, which
makes an ideal ornament for a pool.
Among the many subjects with which the old
designers chose, to people their gardens there is none
which is so steadily successful as Pan. The Romans used
his bust chiefly as a Term set on a diminishing pedestal,
and it is in this form and from a modern model that
Fig. 327 shows him. Lead holds indisputably first place as
the material for garden ornaments in England ; but it
is apt to be expensive, and cement, if rightly used and
coloured, makes a satisfactory substitute. There remains
terra-cotta, which can be admirable if of quiet colouring
and attractive texture ; but the shiny red of some clays
is hard and unpleasant. Some delightful garden pottery
of subdued reds
and greys is made
by the Potter's
A r t s Guild at
Compton, Surrey,
the enterprise of
Mrs. G. F. Watts. The bird bath, illustrated
in another chapter, is a good example of the
service ceramics can do to the garden, and
there are many satisfactory bowls to be had
in the same material, modelled on simple
lines and sparingly decorated with swags of
fruit and the like simple devices.
The right placing of statues and vases is
of as much importance as their intrinsic
merit. What, for example, could be
pleasanter than the flower-pot on an old
millstone which ends a stone-flagged path
(Fig. 330). In the background is seen the
always welcome figure of Gian di Bologna's
Flying Mercury, who seems here to have
alighted on a sea of bloom. Both vases and
statues are very well employed in adorning
balustrades and stairways, as in the example
FIG. 328.— CUPID AND SWAN RISING FROM POOL, illustrated in Fig. 331. at Sandhouse Witley,
FIG. 327. — A TERMINAL PAN.
224
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Statues and Vases.
225
designed by Mr. F.
W. Troup, where two
leaden gods make
music from vantage
points afforded by the
staircase piers.
Of the many
types of vases that
are available, it is
impossible within the
limits of this book to
illustrate a series ;
but we can at least
show some differing
examples, each good
in its own way and
appropriate to various
surroundings. The
stately pot that is
seen in Fig. 332 is one
of the brilliant works
ascribed to Jan Van
Nost. It stands on
a terrace at Hamp-
ton Court Palace, but
is of moderate dimen-
sions. It is suitable,
therefore, to serve as
FIG. 330. — FLOWER-POT ON MILLSTONE AND
MERCURY IN BACKGROUND.
the chief feature of a
small garden of
formal design, that
frames a house of
early eighteenth cen-
tury character. For-
tunately, it has been
well reproduced and
can be obtained. As
Mr. Lethaby has
written of it : ' The
little sitting figures
(which form the
handles) , slight as
they are, are charm-
ing in their pose ; the
folded arms and
prettily-arranged hair
give us a suggestion
of life, which most
of these things sup-
posed to be in the
classic taste lack."
In quite another
manner is the lead
pot (Fig. 333) with a
band of open orna-
ment traced in bright
FIG. 331. — STATUES GUARDING STAIRWAY.
226
Statues and Vases.
tinning, made by Mr. George P. Bankart.
Two other lead tubs by the same hand
are illustrated in Figs. 334 and 335. In one a
hen and her chicken stand against a back-
ground of corn, and in the other the little
fr-
FIG. 332. — AT HAMPTON COURT.
panels made by a network of rope moulding
are filled by the inhabitants of a Noah's
Ark. All three have the character of
simple and straightforward craftsmanship,
which marks them as fitting for the garden
of a cottage.
FIG. 333. — WITH TINNED ORNAMENT.
FIG. 334- — BY GEORGE BANKART.
FIG. 335- — FROM NOAH'S ARK.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
227
CHAPTER XX.— SUNDIALS AND SEATS.
The Placing of Sundials — Various Simple Types— The Game of
Seats and Their Setting — Wooden Chairs and Tables.
Clocks " — Stone
SUNDIALS, like other ornaments, depend more for their decorative success on
their right placing than on their intrinsic merit as garden sculpture. A
common fault is the lack of a suitable base. In Mr. W. Robinson's garden at
Gravetye Manor there is a sundial of twisted baluster pattern designed by Sir Ernest
George. It is set on a moulded square base, which rises from an octagonal platform
(Fig. 336). Simple and slender as it is, it has an air of dignity by reason of being
properly set. By way of contrast there is illustrated in Fig. 337 a sundial of pleasant
and sturdy design, which looks lonely and neglected on a lawn, and bears no relation
to the rest of the garden. It
needs a stepped base of some j—
sort to detach it from its
surroundings. No little of the
value of a sundial is the
opportunity it affords to em-
phasise the central point at
the junction of converging
paths, as at Ditton Place,
Balcombe (Fig. 338). The octa-
gonal base makes a pleasant
break between the round of
the baluster and the shallow
circular step which lifts it
above the paving. It was
designed by Mr. Horatio Porter.
The more imposing the sun-
dial itself, the more need is
there for a dignified base. Of
the many examples of the
lead Blackamoor that English
gardens can show, none is
better supported than the ex-
ample illustrated in Fig. 339.
The four steps are adequate
for the importance of this
very interesting figure, which
was sold freely in the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century
by Jan Van Nost. Anyone
who is interested in the history [ ',.. . . ...
of this famous garden orna-
ment may be referred for a full FIG. 336.— SIMPLE SUNDIAL ON ADEQUATE BASE.
228
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
account of it to English Leadwork : Its Art and History. The next illustration
(Fig. 341) shows an eighteenth century variation of the simple baluster treatment,
with women's masks connected by festoons of drapery. This, again, is an
example of an interesting pillar, which loses much of its possible effect by its lack
of a proper base or platform and a margin of paving. At Marsh Court there is an
example of to-day, designed by Mr. Lutyens, which is admirable for many reasons.
The octagonal stone seat from
which it rises provides a digni-
fied base, and the stone pillar,
which carries the most
modern and scientific form of
dial, has a charming entasis.
Recourse was made for its
decoration to a byway of the
leadworker's craft, viz., inlay.
It was popular enough in the
Middle Ages, but has since
been neglected, save for the
dreary purpose of making im-
perishable the lettering on
tombstones. Bands of simple
conventional ornament wind
spirally up the column between
diamonds, all of lead inlaid in
matrices cut in the stone. The
whole composition is inter-
esting and unusual. Wholly
of lead, except for the iron
gnomon, is the sundial illus-
trated in Fig. 343. Made by
Mr. George Bankart, it is a
good example of what can be
done with the most typically
English metal (in the Middle
Ages and later the Continent
got much of its lead from
us). Good use has been made
of a simple device which has
pleased many generations of
plumbers since the Roman
occupation of Britain — the
rope-moulding — and the leaf-
work round the base is
pleasantly modelled. Round
the top is cast one of those
many legends about the flight of time which have exercised the ingenuity of rhyme-
sters since sundials were first made. Another, and more delicately adjusted, kind
of outdoor timepiece is illustrated in Fig. 344. Its combination of slender hoops is
pretty in itself, and the column which carries it did more active garden service
It is a stone roller retired from work in favour of the more manageable
FIG- 337- — A GOOD SUNDIAL BADLY PLACED.
once.
Sundials and Seats.
229
FIG. 338. — AT DITTON PLACE, BALCOMBE.
230
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Sundials and Seats.
231
sort that the ironfoundry supplies. Of
markedly rustic type, yet successful, is
the mushroom-like example at Plew-
land, Haslemere. It is made of two
rough-dressed stones, that formed one
of the posts of an old farm " rick-settle,"
FIG. 341.— AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TYPE.
FIG. 340. — MODERN SUNDIAL AT MARSH COURT.
set on an old millstone, which rises a
little above the surrounding paving
(Fig. 342). Of the dials themselves in
their manifold forms, and of the gentle
art of dialling, which used to be a need-
ful part of a gentleman's education,
this is no place to write. Nor need we
fill a page with any of the hundreds
of sundial mottoes, which have been
printed often enough in scores of gossip-
ing books about gardens. It may be
added, however, that some garden-lovers
think it wise to be content with a plain
brick pillar and concentrate the interest
on the dial and gnomon. In Fig. 345 is
illustrated an example of bronze, in
which a girl with daintily-modelled
figure leans over and plays " clocks "
with a dandelion. It is a pretty fancy
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 342. — TWO ROUGH-DRESSED STONES.
to set upon a sundial, and none
the less fitting to be used because
the game seems to have come
with the modern child. It is at
least much less than a century
since the first reference to the
game of " clocks " appears in
literature. There is no better
FIG. 344. — AN OLD GARDEN ROLLER IN A NEW EMPLOYMENT.
FIG. 343. — A LEAD SUNDIAL.
place for a sundial than in a rose
garden, as at Marrowells, Walton-
on-Thames (Fig. 346), designed
by Mr. A. Winter Rose. In the
middle stands the stone figure
of a man. His head is bent over
the sundial, which he holds to
Sundials and Seats.
233
catch the rays of the westering sun. The
hour of sunset is the time which chiefly
brings out the beauties of a rose garden,
and very admirable this statue looks as the
late glow emphasises the strong modelling
of the face, and an almost archaic sim-
plicity in the heavy folds of the robe. The
garden at The Vineyards, Great Baddow,
shows a good example of a sundial placed
on a circle paved with mingled brick and
stone, radially set, which breaks a long
gravel walk (Fig. 347). Another sundial
which owes much of its charm to its setting
on a broad expanse of circular brick paving
is at Saighton Grange (See Chapter XV).
There is a certain reasonableness in
grouping in one chapter ' Sundials and
Seats." In days of universal watches the
function of the sundial is to be decorative
and to stimulate gentle moralising. For the latter employment the best authorities
are agreed that it is well to be comfortable in body, not always an easy thing to be
contrived in a garden. For sheer comfort there is no doubt that something of flimsy
appearance, made of canvas and a few sticks or of basket-work, is best ; but both
FIG. 345. — THE GAME OF "CLOCKS.'
FIG. 346. — STATUE HOLDING DIAL IN ROSE GARDEN. FIG. 347. — PLACED AT INTERSECTING PATHS.
234
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 348. — AT SEDGWICK HALL, HORSHAM.
Sundials and Seats.
235
O
vn
CO
236
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CO
d
Sundials and Seats.
237
FIG. 352. — SEATS AND TABLE IN APPROPRIATE SETTING.
kinds have the disadvantage of suffering in the weather. The seat that will defy the
rain is therefore a necessity, but it is more — it is a decorative aid. In Fig. 350 is
illustrated a carved stone seat designed by Mr. Peto. It comes at the end of a
terrace, and with its gay little flanking figures closes the vista in delightful fashion.
A stone seat never looks better than against a background of yew. This may be
seen in a simple example at Sedgwick Hall (Fig. 348), and in another, of imposing
classical aspect, at
Danby Hall (Fig.
349.) It is always
desirable for the
builder of a stone
seat to provide an
adequate stretch of
paving in front of it,
which is the better,
both practically and
in appearance, for
being raised step-
height above the
adjoining grass or
gravel. It is not a
good thing to place
a seat in an isolated
position, as in the
example, well
designed in itself,
which appears in
Fig. 351- A bench FIG. 353. — DESIGNED BY MR. LUTYENS.
238
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
should give the impression of being
there to be sat on, and that is not
likely to be very convincing if
there is no path to give access
to it. In the majority of small
gardens, however, it will be found
more practicable to rely on mov-
able wooden seats of stout build.
Teak or oak are the best materials,
but well-seasoned deals, of a sort
that does not tend to split on
exposure to rain and sun, are good enough if carefully and regularly painted. Green is a
doubtful colour for a seat, as it is likely to quarrel with the varied natural greens which
are near it. White is safe, but looks rather staring during the seasons when there is
no brilliant colour in the flower garden to relieve it. Oak untreated and allowed to
take on the silvery hues which weather will bring to it is, on the whole, the best
FIG. 354. — BY MR. J. P. WHITE.
IK! IMI IHI
FIG- 355- — BY MR. J. P. WHITE.
material for the garden seat ; teak, though good, because almost everlasting, is not
of so pleasant a colour.
It is well to provide a paved space for such heavy wooden furniture as is not likely
to be moved about. Gravel is not comfortable for the feet, and the disadvantages
of grass are obvious. An admirable arrangement at Wittersham House is shown in
Fig. 352. Three
long seats, two
chairs and a table
are arranged on a
paved floor, and
the wall behind is
treated with niches
holding basket-
bearing lead boys
between pilasters
crowned by tro-
phies of fruit.
F 1 o w e r vases
standing at the
corners of the
paving complete
a very pretty
FIG. 356. — DESIGNED BY MR. MAURICE WEBB.
Sundials and Seats.
239
FIG. 357.
FIG. 358.
scheme of an open-air room that must be a pleasant place for the discussion of
tea. In Fig. 356 are shown a well-devised table curved on plan, and a pair of
armchairs, designed by Mr. Maurice Webb, for the tea pavilion at Chislehurst,
illustrated in the last chapter (Figs. 313 and 314). The remaining pictures in this
chapter illustrate good and simple pieces of furniture in various manners for
differing types of garden design.
FIG. 35§A. — SMALL STONE SEAT AT MARKYATE CELL,
WITH LEAD FIGURES AT ENDS.
240
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
CHAPTER XXL— ROCK GARDENS.
(CONTRIBUTED BY RAYMOND E. NEGUS.)
Modern Rock Gardening — Principles of Design — Stratification — Formation of the Rock
Garden — Kinds of Rock — Likes and Dislikes of Alpines — Planting — Shrubs— Situation
of the Rock Garden — Uses of Rockwork — Pools— Bog Gardens — Paths — Steps — Moraines.
THE charms of rock gardening are so many and so varied that no owner of a
garden should fail to devote some small portion of the space at his disposal
to the culture of alpines and rock plants if the site lends itself to such treatment.
In spite of the mass of literature upon the topic the true principles upon which practice
should be based are little appreciated
to-day. The rock garden, unlike many
other forms of horticulture, is a deliberate
imitation of Nature ; nine-tenths of our
rock gardens, if they imitate Nature at all,
imitate her in her least pleasing moods, for
they represent formless heaps of rubble.
Every stone in the garden should bear
the semblance of having been in its place
from time immemorial. The first principle
of rock gardening is, " Adopt a definite
scheme of stratification and carry it out
uniformly throughout your garden." In
Nature, it is true, a few kinds of rock,
such as granite, are unstratified ; but
they are rarely suitable for rock garden-
ing. The stones used should be of
the largest possible size compatible with
convenience of handling. It is of the utmost importance that a stone once placed
in position should never be moved ; moreover, large, well-placed rocks are a joy
in and for themselves (see
Fig. 361), whereas small
ones almost invariably look
scrappy. Large rocks afford
a firm foothold by which
you may hop nimbly from
ledge to ledge and use deft
fingers to advantage with-
out leaving a footmark, and
without inflicting injury on
tender growths.
Fig. 362 affords an
example of the errors into
which neglect of right
principles leads the maker
of a rock garden. In the
foreground are several FIG. 360.— ROCKS PROPERLY STRATIFIED AND SKILFULLY LAID.
FIG. 359. — OUTCROP OF STRATIFIED ROCK AT CORNERS.
Rock Gardens.
241
FIG. 361. — BOLD STRATIFIED ROCKVVORK AND MASS-PLANTING.
242
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
o
Rock Gardens.
243
FIG. 363. — TREATMENT OF AN ODD CORNER.
simple rules be obeyed, the
rock garden will appear to be
something inherent in the soil,
and not a mere fortuitous
medley of stones. It is desir-
able that all the rocks should
dip the same way. It used
to be thought that it was
necessary to have all stones
dipping backward into the
soil, but experience has shown
that this is not so. The reverse
slope shown in Fig. 367 at A
will conserve moisture quite as
effectually as the slopes indi-
cated at C and E. The forma-
tion shown also in Fig. 367 by
B and D has been found
successful from every point of
view. The actual appearance
of rocks laid as shown by
C and E is seen in Figs. 359
and 360 respectively. The
whole of the soil underlying
the rock garden must be
thoroughly trenched and
worked to a depth of at least
two and a half feet, and
deeper still if possible. Plenty
of leaf mould, or thoroughly
rotten manure, should be in-
corporated in the soil.
dozen clumps of choice silvery and mossy
saxifrages, but the rocks, though large and
good, are so placed that not only do they
fail to please, but they do not readily
permit of proper planting. Stones properly
stratified, on the other hand, are admirably
adapted to the needs of the plants. The
best all-round kind of rock to employ is
weather-worn limestone, which is beautiful
in itself. Natural stone should be used
wherever it occurs in the district. Sand-
stone crumbles somewhat rapidly, but the
grit thus produced is a valuable rooting
medium. Avoid, as you would the plague,
all manner of brickbats, clinkers, concrete
and tree trunks. Always lay the stones with
their broadest face downwards. If these
FIG. 36.J. — ALPINE PRIMULAS GROWING IN VERTICAL FISSURE.
244
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 365. — ALPINE PRIMULAS GROWING IN HORIZONTAL FISSURE.
Alpines, almost without ex-
ception, revel in a deep, rich,
cool soil. No trouble should
be spared to ensure thorough
preparation. The great enemies
of the dainty mountain plants
are damp and drought. A deep,
well-worked, porous soil will do
more towards preventing
fatalities than any amount of
artificial drainage and superficial
watering. Practically the whole
of the alpine flora has an intense
dislike of a stiff or retentive
soil. All soil used for planting
should contain a goodly admix-
ture of sharp sand or grit. For
the lime - lovers, such as the
encrusted saxifrages, lime, if
possible in the form of old
mortar rubble, should be in-
corporated in the compost. All
alpines dislike wet about the
collar. A top-dressing one inch
in thickness of small granite
chips will do much to save
them from this danger, and will
FIG. 366. — A ROUGH RETAINING WALL.
Rock Gardens.
245
SECTIONAL VIEW
also prevent undue evaporation in hot weather. The
greatest care must be taken in planting. Some alpines
are extremely fastidious during the early days of their
career, and trouble taken at this stage is well bestowed.
Many disappointments are due to the unsatisfactory
condition in which plants are received. It is worth
while to pay a slightly higher price and make sure of
getting plants in good condition and well packed.
Other failures are due to planting too late in the
autumn. Experience shows that the best of all times
for planting is the late spring, unless it can be done
early in a wet September, due regard being had to
peculiar conditions. What is best in one county may
be disastrous in another. Void spaces left behind
rocks are fatal . to the well-being of any plants whose
roots penetrate into them. For this reason light,
friable, porous soil should be used, since it can be
well rammed between and behind the stones without fear "of its caking. If the stock
of plants is ready to hand, so that planting and building can be done at the same
time, so much the better. The smaller and younger the plants the more likely they
are to take kindly to their new surroundings. Old, well-established clumps are a snare,
while the rapidity with which even notoriously difficult subjects increase if once they
FIG. 367. — ROCK FORMATIONS.
BIG. 368. — THE KEYNOTE OF SUCCESS IN PLANTING IS SIMPLICITY.
246
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 369. — "PLANT IN BOLD MASSES."
FIG. 370. — LARGE CLUMPS GIVE AN APPEARANCE OF SOLIDITY.
Rock Gardens.
247
FIG. 371.: — BOLD MASSES OF ROCK AND PLANTS.
be persuaded to settle down
when quite young is amazing.
Not a chink in the rock\vork
but should be filled with
vegetation. Alpine primulas
make splendid crevice plants
for the cool side of the garden.
In all rock gardens,
whether great or small, the
keynote of success in planting,
as in building, is simplicity.
The majority of rock gardens
are mere botanical collections,
interesting but not beautiful.
If means are limited, fewer
kinds of plants may be acquired,
but many examples of those
kinds, or, better still, seedlings
may be raised and then planted
in bold masses. In a small
rock garden ambitious schemes,
unless they be faultless in every
detail, are doomed to failure.
An intelligent reproduction of
some corner which has struck
FIG. 372. — A JUDICIOUS USE OF COMPACT SHRUBS.
248
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 373. — RETAINING OR BOUNDARY WALL OF ROUGH UNHEWN BLOCKS.
FIG. 374. — BOUNDARY WALL WITH ITS TOP PLANTED WITH SHRUBS.
the eye with pleasure
may well result in the
creation of a delightful
effect. A judicious use
of compact shrubs will
add greatly to that
appearance of solidity
which every rock garden
should present. In a
well-planned rockery the
eye should not see too
much at a time, but
should be gently led from
one prospect to another.
Suitable shrubs further
this purpose. The larger
heaths are useful, and
Japanese maples are in-
dispensable, providing
rich colour in autumn.
The cistuses and their
lesser brethren, the
helianthemums, are good
but rampant, the cistuses
requiring plenty of head-
room. The prostrate
cotoneasters and dwarf
kinds of cytisus are
among the best, as are
Gaultheria procumbens
and Pernettya mucron-
ata. One of the most
charming of all small
shrubs i s Daphne
C n e o r u m , with its
innumerable fragrant
pink blossoms. The
lesser genistas and
veronicas, especially V
Hectori, are useful .
S k i m m i a . j aponica is
decorative in winter
with its red berries, and
at all seasons valuable
for its excellent foliage.
The shrubby spiraeas,
such as arguta multiflora
and prunifolia, are
splendid in every way.
The list of suitable
Rock Gardens.
249
WHERE ONE SIDE ONLY
IS TO BE UTILISED.
WHERE BOTH SIDES ARE
USED FOR PLANTING.
FIG. 375. — BOUNDARY WALLS.
shrubs is a long one, but there should in every
case be a goodly number of dwarf conifers of the
Savin class, such as Juniperus compressus nanus and
the ordinary J. Sabina. Very choice, delicate plants
should be grown in a portion of the garden specially
allotted to them, in order to avoid risk of their
becoming overwhelmed and lost. Very many of the
choicest species succeed best in the moraine. It is
a common but misguided practice to plant yuccas in
the rock gardens. No plants are more hopelessly out
of keeping with the general character. These and
any plant or shrub which has anything of a tropical
aspect must be rigidly excluded.
No difficulty should be experienced in respect of the situation of the rock garden,
for there are numberless species to suit every aspect. The shade, and even the
proximity, of trees must
be carefully avoided.
Generally speaking, the
more open and exposed the
situation the better, pro-
vided some sort of shelter
can be furnished against
cutting or excessively bois-
terous winds. In every
case the rock garden should
be as far as possible from
the dwelling-house, and the
transition to it should be
gradual. It is a great
mistake to cramp the rock
garden unless the space
available is very circum-
scribed, for the greater the
freedom the greater will be
the illusion of reality. Fur-
thermore, nearly all alpines
love light and air.
There are various
forms of rock garden, such
as the dell, the ravine, the
miniature cliff, the knoll.
Many different types will be
found in the illustrations.
Even in the smallest back-
yard there is scope for a
square yard or two of such
construction as is seen in
Figs- 359> 36o and 363.
The mere fact of its being
an odd corner should not FIG 376. — BOG AND WATER GARDEN
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
FIG. 377. — A GOOD ROCK POOL.
be an excuse for hasty workmanship.
There is a use to which rockwork is
seldom put, namely, as a boundary wall.
It is true considerable trouble and ex-
pense are entailed, because such a wall
must ordinarily be double, with at least
two feet of good soil between the faces.
The second face should be of rock or
brick or concrete, according as it is or is
not visible from the garden. The method
of construction is illustrated in Fig. 375,
and examples are to be seen in Figs. 366,
373 and 374. A perforated pipe led
along the top of the wall will make it
a suitable home for the choicest subjects.
Failing that expedient, the soil should
consist largely of peat, sand and leaf-
mould, with but a small proportion of
loam. Water properly employed forms
a charming feature in any rock garden.
Few things are more delightful than the
reflection in still water of overhanging
rocks clothed with masses of blossom. A
good example may be seen in Fig. 377.
FIG. 378. — STEPPING-STONES.
Rock Gardens,
251
PEAT, LEAF -MOULD,
SAND AND LOAM
IN EQUAL PARTS
A little cascade, such as appears in
Fig. 379, can sometimes be arranged.
Where space permits, a path may be
led down to the edge of a pool, and
carried across by means of stepping-
stones, as in Fig. 378.
No rock garden is complete with-
out a space of boggy ground, for many
gems, such as primulas farinosa and
rosea, are never completely happy
under other conditions than those
afforded by moist ground. The type
of pond illustrated in Fig. 380 has
been found admirably adapted to the
needs of the small garden. Upon the
margins contained within the actual
boundaries of the
SECTIONAL VIEW pond Japanese
FIG. 379.—
CONCRETE OF
CEMENT ONE PART
$SAND THREE
PARTS.
FIG. 380. — POND FOR SMALL GARDEN.
BOLD STRATIFIED ROCKWORK AND
SMALL CASCADE.
irises, primulas, dodecatheons
and other moisture - loving
plants will flourish. Primula
rosea grown in this way is a
prodigy of vigour and abun-
dant bloom. A typical bog
FIG. 381. — A ROCKY PATH.
252
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
and water garden is seen in Fig. 376, but such a conception can only be carried
out where there is a good stream. With a little forethought in planning and
construction, however, a wonderful illusion of spaciousness may be produced in a
small area.
As to paths in the rock garden, the best form is that seen in Fig. 381, but it
is somewhat expensive to make. It is, however, one with the garden, and is beautiful
in itself, not a hideous and anomalous intrusion, as is the common gravel path.
A paved path, as in Fig. 382, is another good type. Fig. 369 shows what may
be called ' land stepping-stones." The slabs of stone which form the path,
instead of being let in flush with the surface of the soil, are left projecting some eight
FIG. 382. — A ROUGH PAVED PATH.
or nine inches. The interspaces are filled with dwarf flowers, and thus one may walk
over a veritable sea of blossom without so much as damaging a petal. Failing the
rocky or stone path, the best kind is of grass. In many respects it is more natural
than any other kind, and serves as a setting to the rocks and their vegetation. The
amount of labour entailed is somewhat heavy, and care should be taken that no rock
is placed within six inches of the verge of the grass, otherwise the edges will need to
be trimmed by hand.
Where the garden lies on a slope it may be terraced, the terraces being supported
by retaining walls of rock, preferably constructed of large unhewn blocks after the
manner described in Chapter XII. The secret of success is to have a thick layer
253
FIG. 383. — CYPRIPEDIUMS THOROUGHLY AT HOME ON THE UPPER MARGIN OF A ROCK GARDEN.
254
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
of rich compost behind
the rock face. Fig. 384
shows the charming effect
of roughly - hewn rocky
steps leading down through
such a wall from the
terrace to the rock garden.
Such, steps should not be
allowed to become over-
grown with herbage,
though small fry, like
Erinus alpinus, lonopsi-
dium acaule and Linaria
alpina, may be suffered
to grow in the interstices.
In the small bog garden
one must carefully avoid
such vigorous growers as
Gunnera, Rodgersia,
Saxifraga peltata and all
those plants which appear
in catalogues under the
heading " Bog and Water-
side Plants." The bog
should be devoted to
Primulas rosea, cock-
burniana, farinosa,
frondosa, japonica,
pulverulenta, c a p i t a t a ,
denticulata, Sieboldii ; to
shortias, terrestrial orchids,
the choicer t r o 1 1 i u s e s ,
dodecatheons and
mertensias.
The soil must be spongy and constantly moist, but at the same time well drained,
for nothing worth growing will endure stagnant moisture. A few large, flat slabs
of stone on the surface will be of great value in
bog without injury to the
plants. Fig. 383 shows INLET PIPE
cypripediums thoroughly
at home upon the upper
margin of a bog garden.
A moraine garden is
troublesome to construct,
but repays the trouble.
The essentials are very
sharp drainage and abund-
ance of moisture in dry
weather. Unless the supply
of water is very limited,
FIG. 384. — ROCK STEPS LEADING FROM TERRACE THROUGH ROCK
WALL TO ROCK GARDEN.
affording
A few large,
access to all parts of the
GRANITE CHIP5 SAN
'AND LEAF MOULD
FIG. 385. — CONSTRUCTION OF SMALL MORAINE.
Rock Gardens.
255
it is not necessary to have the concrete foundation shown in Fig. 385, although
the latter is the best form for the small moraine, affording the most complete control
over the water supply. In wet weather the inlet pipe is shut and the outlet opened ;
in dry weather the converse. Where a slope is available, Fig. 386 shows a
simple but efficient type of moraine. A half-inch pipe perforated at every six inches
is led along the top six inches below the surface. Flat rocks are useful, as in the bog
garden, for access to the plants. Fig. 387 shows the construction of a moraine
which has been found to work well in practice.
'PEBFOKATED PIPE
SMALL- GRANITE
CHIPS £ SPRINKJJA/C
OF LEAF MOULD
^A LITTLE OLD
MORTAR RUBBLE
„.. STONES SUCH
SECTIONAL AS PEBBLES OR
VIEW. C08ES
FIG. 386. — CONSTRUCTION OF MORAINE ON SLOPE
TITY OF SAND, .
THE WHOLE LATER.
9 INCHES TO
ONE. FOOT THICK
PERFORATED
PIPE
QRANITE CHIPS ETC
AS IN FIG. 386.
EARTH 'OR RUBBLE- '
" " "
FIG. 387. — CONSTRUCTION OF MORAINE ON LEVEL GROUND.
In this moraine (Fig. 387) the following, among other Alpines, flourish and bear
flowers in profusion : Androsace brigantiaca, carnea, lanuginosa, primuloides, villosa ;
Asperula suberosa ; Antirrhinum asarinum ; Arenaria purpurascens ; Campanula
collina, pulla, pulloides, Steveni nana, waldsteiniana ; Cyananthus lobatus ;
Dianthus Freynii, microlepis, neglectus ; Edraianthus Pumilio, pumiliorum ;
256
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Gentiana verna ; Linaria alpina ; Primula nivalis ; Saxifrages apiculata, aretioides,
Boryi, Boydi, Boydi alba, burseriana and its varieties crenata, major, minor, Gloria,
etc., cochlearis, cochlearis minor, dalmatica, Faldonside, Ferdinandi-Coburgi,
Frederici-Augusti, Grisebachi, media, porophylla, Petraschi, rocheliana.
In the present edition it has been considered advisable to suggest a certain
number of plants and shrubs for the rock garden. The lists are not in any way
exclusive, and the alternatives are very numerous. But every one of the plants
suggested will give satisfaction if treated with reasonable care.
For the rocky " corners " illustrated in Figs. 359, 360 and 363.
PLANTS (For shrubs see list below).
Achillea argentea.
Anemones blanda and apennina.
Arenaria montana.
Artemisia Baumgarteni.
Aubrietia Dr. Mules.
Campanulas muralis and pusilla Miss Willmott.
Chionodoxa sardensis.
Dianthus ca^sius and neglectus.
Edraianthus serpyllifolius.
Erica carnea.
Hyacinthus azureus.
Iberis sempervirens Little Gem.
Iris reticulata.
Lithospermum prostratum Heavenly Blue.
Muscari Heavenly Blue.
Saxifraga (silvery) longifolia.
lingulata.
(Kabschia) burseriana.
(mossy) bathoniensis.
Wallacei.
Sedum pulchellum.
,, spathulatum.
Viola gracilis
For the type of rockery illustrated in Fig. 361.
ON THE WALL.
Achillea umbellata.
Androsace lanuginosa.
,, sarmentosa.
Antirrhinum asarinum.
,, glutinosum.
Campanula garganica hirsuta.
Cotoneaster adpressa.
,, horizontalis.
Cytisus decumbens.
Dianthus caesius.
Euonymus radicans kewensis.
Gypsophila prostrata rosea.
Juniperus Sabina prostrata.
Lychnis Lagascae.
Phlox subulata G. F. Wilson.
Santolina incana.
Saponaria ocymoides.
Saxifraga nepalensis.
„ sarmentosa.
Silene Schafta.
AT THE FOOT OF THE WALL.
Campanula persicifolia.
Cheiranthus Allioni.
Crocus biflorus.
,, pulchellus.
Crocus speciosus.
Cyclamen Coum.
,, europaeum.
Dianthus deltoides roseus.
Epimedium colchicum.
Erodium macradenum.
Gentiana acaulis.
Geranium argenteum.
Geum montanum.
Helianthemum Mrs. Croft.
Hypericum reptans.
Iris pumila caerulea.
,, stylosa.
Lavender, dwarf Munstead.
Narcissus odorus rugulosus.
Nierembergia rivularis.
Omphalodes verna.
Onosma stellulatum.
Polygonum vaccinifolium.
Potentilla Miss Willmott.
Primrose, common yellow.
Saxifraga umbrosa.
Wallacei.
Tulipa kauffmanniana.
Tunica Saxifraga. flore pleno.
Veronica Hulkeana.
Plants suitable for a rough retaining wall in a sunny position, such as that
illustrated in Fig. 366. A simple colour scheme in grey and pink.
Achillea umbellata.
Androsace sarmentosa.
Armeria maritima laucheana.
Artemisia Abrotanum.
Cerastium tomentosum.
Convolvulus althaeoides.
Dianthus deltoides.
Geranium cinereum.
Helianthemum Mrs. Croft.
Saponaria ocymoides.
Saxifraga (silvery in variety).
Sempervivum arachnoideum.
Stachys lanata.
Tunica Saxifraga.
If the space is at all confined, omit the Cerastium, the Convolvulus and the Stachys.
Rock Gardens.
257
A list of shrubs, in addition to those already mentioned, suitable for the rock
garden in positions similar to those seen in Fig. 372.
Berberis Wilsoni.
Cistus corbariensis.
Daboecia polifolia.
Daphne Cneorum.
Erica vagans.
Gaultheria procumbens.
Genista hispanica.
Helianthemums in variety.
Lavender, dwarf Munstead.
Ledum palustre (peat).
Nepeta Mussini.
Spirasa prunifolia flore pleno.
Veronica cupressoides.
DWARF CONIFERS. A good selection is :
Cupressus nootkatensis var. nana compacta.
Juniperus recurva squamata.
Picea excelsa nana.
Pinus Bandaisho.
Retinospora obtusa nana.
Thuja dolabrata nana.
,, Rheingold.
A simple scheme of planting for a bog and water garden such as is illustrated
in Figs. 376 and 378.
Eomecon chionantha.
Imila glandulosa.
Iris Kaempferi.
„ sibirica.
,, ,, Snow Queen.
Kniphofias in variety.
Menyanthes trifoliata.
Primula japonica.
,, rosea.
Rodgersia podophylla.
Saxifraga peltata.
Senecio Clivorum.
Spiraea palmata.
Trollius europaeus Orange Globe.
For a shady rock garden such as that illustrated in Figs. 379 and 384.
Aquilegia caerulea.
,, glandulosa.
Cyclamen neapolitanum, etc.
Erythronium Dens-canis.
Haberlea rhodopensis.
Hepatica triloba in variety.
Hutchinsia alpina.
Linnaea borealis americana.
Mertensia virginica.
Myosotis alpestris rupicola.
Phlox subulata in variety.
Primula frondosa.
,, nivalis.
Ramondia pyrenaica.
Saxifrages bathoniensis.
„ Guildford Seedling.
,, Stormonth's Seedling.
,, Wallace! .
Tiarella cordifolia.
Trillium grandiflorum.
Uvularia grandiflora.
Minute prostrate plants suitable for carpeting as in Fig. 381.
Muehlenbeckia complexa.
Saxifraga muscoides atropurpurea.
Thymus lanuginosus.
,, Serpyllum coccineus.
Veronica canescens.
Acaena Buchanani.
Arenaria balearica.
Dianthus deltoides.
Helxine Solieroli.
Hutchinsia alpina.
Mentha Requieni.
AUTUMN AND WINTER EFFECT.
To avoid dulness in the rock garden in the autumn and winter months plant
clumps of such autumn-flowering bulbs as the autumn crocuses, colchicums, Scilla
autumnalis and Galanthus cilicicus. Late-sown nemesias will flower right up to the
severe frosts, as will other dwarf annuals, such as leptosiphon and brachycome.
Anemone japonica is indispensable. Japanese maples and azaleas in the background
will give superbly rich colour effects in late autumn. A mass of the dwarf Thuja
Rheingold will harmonise with the colour of the maples and azaleas and with the tints
of deciduous trees at that season. Spiraea Thunbergi and Berberis Wilsoni should
not be omitted. Jasminum nudiflorum and the witch hazels will link late autumn
with the first arrivals of the New Year, namely, snowdrops, winter aconites and
Crocuses Imperati, tomassinianus, etc. Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (syn. Plumbago
Larpentae) should be planted freely on rock walls, and Corydalis Wilsoni at their base.
A liberal planting of dwarf conifers will afford a sight of beauty even in mid- winter.
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
259
INDEX.
Note. — The LARGE numerals indicate ILLUSTRATIONS of the subject indexed, and refer not to the Figure numbers, but
to the PAGES on which illustrations will be found. The SMALL numerals indicate REFERENCES IN THE TEXT.
Acid in soil, n.
Acremead, Kent, garden at, 188, 191.
Alpines, 52, 68, 119, 244.
Amain, pergola at, 179, 180.
Amorini, Chapter XIX. passim.
" Antiques," 219.
Arches, iron, for pergolas, 188. 190 ; of treillage, xliv.
Ardkinglas, garden stair at, 85, 85.
Athelhampton, garden at, 145, 14-7, 105, 106, 208, 208.
Autumn-blooming shrubs, 43, 44, 44.
Balusters, 100 — -104.
Balustrades, xxiii., xxiv., 155, Chapter X.
Bankart, George P.., designs by, 163, 164, 164, 226
226, 228, 232.
Bargate stone, 3, 171, 171.
Barrow-way at side of long garden, 9.
Bases for sundials, 227.
Basin, tile-built, 160, 161.
Basin, tiled, 59, 60.
Bathing pool, 165, 166.
" Battering " of retaining walls, 122.
Berkshire, a garden in, Chapter III.
Biddestone Manor, gate at, 195, 196.
Bidlake, W. H., garden designed by, 10.
Billerey, Fernand, design by, 214, 215.
Bird-baths, 165, 165, 223.
Blackamoor in lead, 227, 230.
Blomfield, Reginald, A.R.A., designs by, 138, 140 :
quoted, 12.
Blow, Detmar. designs by, 211, 211, 214, 215.
Blythburgh, garden at, 143, 145.
Bog garden, 249, 251, 254, 254.
Bologna, Gian di, 223.
Bolton, Arthur T., designs by, 78.
Borders, backed by hedge, 131, 133 ; by well, xlii., xliii.
Borders by serpentine walls, 108, 108.
Borders, flower, xl., xlix, 3, 7, 8, 21, 25, 35, 39, 40,
42, 52, 121.
Berwick, Leonard, his garden, xlvii., xlviii.
Boundary walls of rock, 248, 249, 250.
Bowling greens, 131, 131, 132.
Box hedges, 36, 37, 42, 132.
Boy and Dolphin, 220, 222, 223, 223.
Boy statues, Chapter XIX. passim.
Bracken, n, 16.
Bramley, Milltnead, Chapter I.
Brick dry walls, 120, 122, 123, 126.
Brick fountain, 150, 151, 157 ; do. paths, 56, 58 ;
do. paving, 176-8, 176-8; do. steps, 201, 206.
Brickwork, open, 104.
Bridge End garden, Saffron Walderi, xxxiii. — xxxvi.,
xxxix.
Bridge over pool, 147, 151.
Bridges over moats, 165, 166.
Brierley, Walter, design by, 196, 196
Broadway, a garden at, 213, 214.
Brockenhurst, hedges at, 132.
Bromsgrove Guild, ornaments by, 222,
Bronze dials, 231, 233.
Building of retaining walls, 122, 126, 127.
Bulwick, yews at, 132, 136.
Buncker, a smith, 200.
Calcareous soil, 53.
Canal treatment, 56, 58, 159, 160.
Carriage gates, 197, 197.
Carriage ways, xlvii., xlix.
Carter, W. T. A. T., designs by, 209, 210.
Cascades, 149, 251, 251.
Cashmore, H. W., modelling by, 162, 162.
Cave, Walter, designs by, 89/89, 92, 93, 93, 185,
189, 209, 209.
Cementing of walls, 105.
Chains for pergolas, 188.
Chance, Lady, garden sculpture by, 161, 161, 162.
Chelwood Vetchery, garden at, 159, 160, 183, 187,
204, 204.
Chesterton, Frank, design by, 82, 83.
Cheyne Walk, 100, garden at, 60, 62, 64, 65.
Children and gardens, 89.
Circular garden, 29 — 32, 30 — 32.
Circular paving, 174, 176; do. pool, 46.
Cisterns, lead, 164, 164, 165, 165.
Cleeve Prior, gate at, 194, 195 ; do., yews at, 130, 131.
Climbing plants, 37, Chapter XI.
Clipped box, 36, 37, 42.
Clipping of yew hedges, 132.
" Clocks," game of, 231, 233.
" Cob " walls, 212, 213.
Cole, Leopold E., design by, xlvii.
Colonnade of treillage, x!v.
Colour schemes, 31, 40, 41, 42, 44, 54, 124, 125.
Colour schemes in the flower garden, reference to, 42.
Colours for garden furniture, 238.
Combelands, Pulborough, garden at, 59, 61.
Compartments, u garden in, 27.
Concrete walls, 109, 109.
Cordon fruit pergolas, 188, 190.
Coronal garden, 105, 106.
Cottages, motor approaches for, xlvii. — xlix.
Courtyard gates, 196, 196.
Cray, garden at, 59, 61.
Creepers — see climbing plants.
Cupid and Swan, 223, 223.
Cupids, Chapter XIX. passim.
Cypress hedges, 132.
Danby Hall, Yorkshire, seat at, 234, 237.
Dancing Boy fountain, 163, 163.
Deas, F. W., design by, xxx., xxxv.
Deep planting, n.
Dialling, 231.
Dillistone, George, garden laid out by, xxv.
Dipping-wells, 8, 9, 9, 56, 58.
Ditton Place, sundial at, 227, 229.
Dolphin, lead, 162, 162.
Dorchester, a garden at, 72.
Dormy House, Walton Heath, garden at, xxvii — xxx,—
xl., xl.
Dovecotes, 58, 58.
260
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Dry walling, 23 ; diagrams, 127.
Dry wall planting, 49, 50, 51.
Dry walls, see retaining walls. Chapter XII.
East Coast, scheme for a garden on the, 64, 66 — 68.
Eastwood Cottage, Walberswick, garden at, 69, 69, 70.
Edzell Castle, walled garden at, xli.
Emerson, quoted, 12.
English Leadworh : Its Art and History, reference
to, 228.
Ewelme Down, garden at, 89, 89, 92, 93, 93, 185, 189.
Excavation, cost of, 76.
Fan gardens, 141, 141.
Firebrick, burnt, for steps, 83.
Flag paving, 175.
Fleming, quoted, 202.
Flower-boxes in walls, 105, 105.
Flying Mercury, 223, 225.
Forecourts, xlvii., xlvii. — xlix.
Fountains, Chapter XIV., xvi., xxxiii., 59, 71, 135,
137, 158, 159, 160, 161-2, 163, 164.
Four Oaks, Woodgate, Chapter II.
Fraser, Gilbert, design by, 175.
Fruit garden walls, 104.
Fruit pergolas, 188, 190.
Fruit room combined with pergola, 183, 187.
Garden houses, 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10, 13, 35, 44, 45, 52,
53, 56, 58, 202 and Chapter XVIII.
Garden in West Surrey, a, Chapter V.
Garden plans, see Plans, garden.
Gardner, J. Starkie, quoted, 199.
Gargoyle of lead, 76.
Garland rose, 17, 22.
Garston Park, pergola at, 185, 189.
Gate-piers, statues on, 219, 220, 221.
Gates and gateways, Chapter XVII., 57, 58, 71.
Gateway, creeper-clad, 111, 112, 114.
Gazebos, Chapter XVIII., 44, 45 ; also see Garden
houses.
Gibson, Dan, the late, designs by, 95, 95.
Gilbert, Alfred, fountain by, 162, 163.
Gimson, Ernest, design by, 165, 166.
Godalming, Westbrook, Chapter IV.
Goodrich House, Hatfield, garden at, 70, 70, 71.
Gourd pergola, 181, 183.
Granite chips for Alpines, 244.
Granite unsuitable for rock gardens, 240.
Great Maytham, garden at, 203, 204, 204, 206, 206,
215, 215.
Grove, The, Mill Hill, garden at, 211, 211.
Guildford, garden at (Littleholme), 76, 78 — 80.
Guildford, garden at (Highmount), Chapter VI.
Guthrie, Rome, designs by, 159, 160, 183, 187,
204, 204.
Hamp, Stanley, design by, 211, 211.
Hampton Court, garden at, 162, 163, 225, 226; misuse
of ampelopsis at, 116.
Happisburgh, design for garden at, 64, 66 — 68.
Happisburgh, garden at, 211, 211.
Hare, C. G., restoration by, 199.
Hatfield, a garden at, 70, 70, 71.
Heath garden, 31.
Hedges, Introduction passim, Chapter XIII.
Heveningham Hall, wall at, 107, 108.
High Coxlease, Lyndhurst, Chapter II.
Highmount, Guildford, Chapter VI.
Hillside gardens, xix. — xxx., Chapter VIII. and 119.
Hippocampus of lead, 158, 161, 162.
Historical examples, value of, 55, 102.
Home Place, Norfolk, garden at, 89, 90, 91, 183, 187.
Horder, P. Morley, designs by, 72, 73, 73, 109, 109,
169, 170.
Herman's Vulgaria, quoted, 73.
Horsnell, Alick, design by, xlvii. , xlix.
Hurtwood Edge, garden at, 78, 81, 82.
Hurtwood, garden at, 75, 76, 141, 141, 142, 143, 208,
208.
Husson, Pierre, quoted, 141.
Hutchinson, Horace, his garden, xxix., xxx., xxxiii.
Ilex hedges, 132.
Iron gates, Chapter XVII.
Ironstone paving, 171, 171, 173.
Island, Steep, garden at, 59, 60, 92, 93, 148, 151.
Italian pergolas, 179, 179, 180.
Italian well-heads, 166 — 168, 167, 169.
Ivy, misuse of, in, 113, 201, 206; well-used, 115.
James, Alan, design by, 217, 218.
Jet for pool, 149.
Kelsale Manor, Saxmundham, garden at, 165, 166.
Laburnum pergola, 191, 193.
Lake District architecture, 95.
Lambay, wall at, 109, 109.
Lane, Sir Hugh, his garden, 60, 62, 64, 65.
Larch pergolas, 181, 181, 182, 183.
Laurel hedges, 135.
Lead gargoyle, 76 ; figures on stone seat, 239 ;
fountain figure, xxxiii. ; garden ornaments, 220;
inlay, 228, 231; peacocks, xxv. ; pump -heads,
168, 168; sundial, 232.
Leslie, G. D., R.A., mask designed by, 36, 42.
Lethaby, Professor, house designed by, 14, 15 ; quoted,
220, 225.
Lilies, good soil for, n.
Lily ponds, xvi., xxxiii., 12, 13, 46, 49, 145, 154, 208.
Limes, pleached, 27, 35 ; pollarded, 138, 138.
Limy soil, n, 53, 63, 132, 244.
Lion mask for fountain, 161, 161.
Liphook, gardens at, 83, 84.
Little Boarhunt, Liphook, garden at, 55, 56, 57,
213, 214.
Littleholme, Guildford, garden at, 76, 78 — 80, 162, 162.
Little Ridge, garden at, 214, 215.
Loggias, 29, 35.
Lorimer, Sir Robert, designs by, 85, 85.
Lucas, Seymour, R.A., his garden, 145.
Lutyens, E. L., designs by, 1, 2, 17, 62, 64, 65, 93,
93, 95, 95, 109, 109, 154, 155, 158, 160, 161,
182, 185, 186, 203, 204, 206, 206, 215, 215,
228, 231, 237.
Lyndhurst, High Coxlease, Chapter II.
MacLeod, W. M., his garden, xxv., xxv.
Macquoid, Percy, pavilion in his garden, 216, 218.
Mallows, C. E., designs by, i., ii., ii., 64, 66 — 68,
76, 77, 96, 97, 131, 134, 144, 145.
Markyate Cell, garden at, xx., xxiii. — xxviii.
Marliac lilies, 15.
Marrowells, garden at, 232, 233.
Marsh Court, garden at, 154, 155, 158, 161, 1.77, 182,
185, 228, 231.
Mathern, garden at, 94, 139, 140.
Mawson, Thomas, designs by, 175, 223, 224.
Melbourne, garden at, 222, 222.
Methods of paving, Chapter XV.
Millfield, Brentwood, pool at, 152, 158.
Millmead, Bramley, Chapter I.
Index.
261
Millstones, 231, 232.
Mitchell, Arnold, designs by, 209, 209, 233, 233.
Moats, bridges over, 165, 166.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, quoted, 74.
Moraine garden, 254-5, 254-5.
Morton House, Hatfield, garden at, 144, 149.
Mottoes on sundials, 228.
Mounting block at Cleeve Prior, 194, 195.
Muntzer, G., his garden, 76, 78 — 80.
Murrel, The, Aberdour, garden at, xxx., xxxv.
Narcissus statue, 220.
Narrow gardens, designing of, i — 9, and Chapter VII.
Nature imitated in rock gardens, 240.
Negus, Raymond E., on rock gardens, Chapter XX.
Newton Ferrers, balustrade at, 101, 103.
Noah's Ark ornament on tub, 226.
North aspect for flower border, 35.
Norton Conyers, garden at, 200, 202, 202, 206.
Oak for seats, 238 ; for pergolas, 181.
Old iron gates, use of, 197.
Old materials, use of, 214.
Oliver, Basil, design by, 217, 218.
Openwork walls, 104, 104.
Ornaments, garden, xxvi., Chapter XIX.
" Overthrow " of gates, 197; of well-heads, 166, 167.
Owlpen Manor, garden at, xix., xix. — xxii. ; gate and
steps at, 86.
Packwood House, garden at, 200, 201, 206.
Palissy, Bernard, quoted, 170.
Pan, 223, 223.
Papillon Hall, garden at, 156, 158, 220, 221.
Paradisi in Sole, reference to, xli.
Parker, W. J., designs by, 197, 197 — 198.
Parterres, 56, 59, 60, 63, 132, 135, 157.
Paths, xlvii., xlviii., 21, 70; behind flower-beds, 62, 64,
108, 108; of escape, 31; in rock gardens, 251,
252, 252; meeting under pergola, 183, 187.
Paved court, 36, 37, 39, 41.
Pavilions, Chapter XVIII.
Paving, xl., xl., 3, 25, 48, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 68; broken
by pools, 153; methods of, Chapter XV.;
planting of, 175, 176.
Paxton, Sir Joseph, 170.
Peaty earth, 36.
Pergola, the, Chapter XVI.
Pergolas, xxiii., xxxix., 53, 53, 73, 173, 176, 177; good
dimensions for, 185 — 186; stepped, 188, 191.
Petersfield, garden at, 147, 151.
Peto, H., design by, 234, 237.
Pinkerton, Godfrey, designs by, 182, 183, 215, 217.
Piping Boy statue, 221, 222.
Pise or " cob " walls, 212, 213.
Pitsford, pump-house at, 169, 170.
Plan of stepped pergola, 188, 191.
Plans, garden, xvii., xx., xxvi., xxix., xxxi., xxxii., xxxv.,
xxxvii., xlvi., xlix., 5, n, 18, 28, 38, 59, 62, 63,
64, 67, 69, 70, 72, 73, 76, 78. 83, 135, 157.
Planting for pergolas, 188; of pavement joints, xl.,
128; of retaining walls, Chapter XII.; scheme
for seaside garden, 64.
Planting plans, 2, 5, 6, 20, 25, 26, 30, 33, 41, 43, 49,
58, 136, 175.
Plastered pergola posts, 179, 180.
Platts, The, Petersfield, garden at, 59, 61.
Pleached alleys, 27, 35, 191.
Plewland, Haslemere, garden at, 59, 62, 231. 232.
Pollarded limes, 138, 138.
Pools, xxxiii., 12, 19, 29, 31, 32, 36, 42, 46, 49, 51, 56.
60, 61, 63, 65, 68, 71, 80, 89, 90, 97, 137.
Pools generally, Chapter XIX.
Pools, various shapes for, 148 — -151, 149 — 151.
Porch, detached, 93, 93.
Porter, Horatio, design by, 227, 229.
Portland stone paving, 171, 173.
Portugal laurel hedge, 137.
Portuguese bricks, 104.
Postern in wooden gate, 205, 206.
Potters' Arts Guild, 223.
Primulas in rock gardens, 243, 244, 247.
Principles of garden design, 12 et passim.
Prior, E. S., designs by, 59, 61, 89^ 90, 91, 183, 187.
Privet hedges, 132.
Puech, a sculptor, 223, 224.
Pump-casing, 168, 168; heads, 168, 168; house, 169,
170.
" Random " paving, 171, 173; walling, 126.
Ravensbury Manor, treillage at, xliii.
Read and Macdonald, designs by, 59, 62.
Reed-screens, to protect against wind, 67.
Retaining walls, 21, 59, 61, 62, 244, 248, 249, 250.
Retaining walls and their planting, 2, 3, 6, 23, 68,
Chapter XII.
Ribbon wall, 107, 108.
Rick-stones, use of, 210, 211, 231, 233.
Rills, 56, 58, 159, 160.
Roberts, the Brothers, smiths, 198.
Robinson, Thomas, smith, 200.
Robinson, W., his garden at Gravetye, 227, 227.
Robinson Crusoe, quoted, 194.
Rock gardens, xlv., xlvi., 15, 69, Chapter XXI.
Rock pools, 250, 250.
Roller as sundial base, 228, 232.
Roofed seats, 29, 35, 35.
Rose, A. Winter, designs by, 69, 69, 70, 70, 71,
144, 149, 152, 158, 165, 166, 218, 218, 219, 223,
232, 233.
Rose gardens, xxvii., 47, 50, 51, 56, 58, 59, 60, 175,
232, 233.
Rotherfield, garden at, 100, 102.
Round, Douglas, designs by, 51.
" Rustic " building, 213.
Saffron Walden, topiary gaiden at, xxxiii. — xxxvi.,
xxxix.
Saighton Grange, sundial at, 233.
St. Clere, Kemsing, garden at, 182, 183, 211, 215
Samuel, Sir Stuart, Bart., M.P., his garden, 159, 187,
204, 204.
Sandhouse, Witley, garden at, 185, 188, 223, 225.
Sand paths, 31.
Sandy soil, n, 36.
Sartorius, Major-General, his garden, 141-2-3, 143.
Scott, Baillie, designs by, 59, 60.
Scottish garden houses, typical, 217, 218.
Screen, open, for garden, 65.
Sculpture, garden, Chapter XIX.
Seal Hollow, Sevenoaks, paved court at, 59, 60.
Seaside gardens, 64, 66 — 68.
Seats, Chapter XX., 13, 29, 35, 35, 70.
Sedgwick Hall, Horsham, seat at, 234, 237.
Serpentine walls, 107, 108, 110.
Servants' garden, 73.
Shady walls, planting of, 121.
Sheltered garden, a, 64, 66 — 68.
Shelters, garden, 217, 218.
262
Gardens for Small Country Houses.
Shepherd's Gate, garden at, xxix., xxx., xxxiii.
Shrubs in rock garden, 247, 248; for walls, 118.
Sitwell, Sir George, quoted, 222.
Slate stones in retaining walls, 119.
Sloping ground, treatment of, xix. — xxxv., 74.
Small Country Houses of To-day, reference to, 109.
Small sites, the treatment of, Chapter VII.
Smith and Brewer, design by, 188, 191.
Smith, F. E., his house at Charlton, thatched shelters
at, 217, 218.
Smith, Maberley, design by, 59, 61.
South Kensington Museum, fountain at, 163.
Stairways, xxiii. — xxviii., Chapter IX., 225, 225 and
see Steps.
Staplefield Grange, garden house at, 216, 218.
Statues, 19, 26, 56, 58, 62, 63, 65, 232, 233, 234, 237,
237, 238, Chapter XIX.
Statues in pools, xxxiii., 161.
Stepped water gardens. 155, 156.
Steps, xxiii. — xxvi., 6, 7, 8, 10, 10, 19, 21, 23, 37, 46,
48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 57, 75, 76, 77, 80, 127, 127,
128, 195, 206; in rock gardens, 254, 254; over
pool, 147, 151.
Stoneywell Cottage, pool at, 165, 166.
Stratification in rock gardens, 240, 241.
Suburban garden, plan for, 73, 73.
Sullingstead, Hascombe, porch at, 93, 93.
Summer houses, Chapter XVIII., and see garden
houses.
Sundial, pools grouped round, 148
Sundials, 6, 8, 174, 176, Chapter XX.
Sunk gardens, 29 — 32, 30 — 32, 56, 58, 61, 155, 156.
Sun- trap walls, 108 — 110, 108 — 109.
Sutton Courtenay, well-head at, 168, 169.
Tables, garden, 237, 238, 238.
Tank garden, 19, 20, 21.
Teak for seats, 238.
Temple Dinsley, gaiden at, 219, 221.
Term figures, 223, 223.
Terraces, xx. — xxviii., 74, 76, 79, 80, 93, 95 ; pavilions
for, 218, 218; gates on, 204, 204; in rock
garden, 254, 254; cost of, 48.
Terra-cotta garden ornaments, 223.
Thatched roof for garden houses, 9, 211, 211, 212,217.
The House and its Equipment, quoted, 199.
Thomas, Inigo, designs by, 100, 102, 105, 106.
" Thunder-House/' 44, 45.
Thursley, garden at, xxxi., xxxv.
Tijou, Jean, smith, 199.
Tile-built basin, 145 ; fountain, 160, 161 ; parapets,
103, 104, 104; pergolas, 182, 183, 185.
Tile-paving, 177 — 178, 176 — 178.
Tinned ornament on leadwork, 226, 226.
Tipping, H. Avray, planting scheme by, 64.
Toads of lead, 161.
Tool-houses, 13, 218, 218.
Topiary work, xix. — xxii., xxiv,, xxvii., xxxiii. — xxxvi.,
139, 140, 185, 189.
Tortoise of lead, 161, 161.
Town Gardens, 60, 62.
Trees as rose supports, 20, 24.
Treillage, xvi., xliii. — xlvi., xliii. — iv., 60, 63, 191, 192;
perspective, 185, 189; shelter, 217, 218; door,
206, 206; roofing to pergola, 185, 188.
Troup, F. W., designs by, 109, 185, 188, 225, 225.
Triggs, H. Inigo, designs by, 55, 59, 63, 97, 97, 104 —
105, 104—105, 132, 135, 157, 157, 158, 159, 177,
178, 182, 184, 207, 207, 213.
Tubs, placed by pool, 148.
Turner, Thackeray, garden designed by, Chapter IV.
Turnor, Christopher, ,, ,, 143, 141-2-3.
" The Twelve Apostles " yew hedge, 130, 131.
Unsworth, W. F., designs by, 57, 214, 216.
Uns worth and Triggs, designs by, 60, 61, 83, 84, 92, 93,
147, 148, 151, 214.
Van Nost, Jan, 225, 226, 227, 230; figures modelled
by, 221, 222, 222.
Vases, xxiii., Chapter XIX.
Vernacular, building, 209.
View, framing of, by garden features, xxxv., 54.
Vineyards, Great Baddow, garden at, 143, 145, 209,
209, 233, 233.
Vistas made by gates, 198, 203 ; treatment of, xxvi.
Voysey, C. F. A., designs by, 76, 162, 162.
Vulgaria, Herman's, quoted, 193.
Walberswick, garden at, 69, 69, 70.
Walks, see Wood-walks.
Wallace, R. and Co., garden laid out by, xxv.
Wall-fountains, 160, 161, 162, 163.
Walled gardens, xxx.,xli.,34, 198,203, 203, 214, 215, 215.
Walls, xl., xlii., Chapter X., 56, 57, 58 ; climbing plants
for, 2 ; retaining, and their planting, Chapter XII.
Warren, a smith, 200.
Water gardens, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21.
Water, in rock gardens, 249, 250, 250.
Water in the formal garden, Chapter XIV.
Water level in pools, 147.
Watts, Mrs. G. F., 223.
Well-heads, 166—168, 167, 169.
Westbrook, Godalming, Chapter IV.
West Dean, pergola at, 191, 193.
White, E., design by, xxxi., xxxv.
White, Gilbert, Natural History of Selborne, quoted, 58.
White, J. P., designs by, 185, 189, 191, 192, 238.
Wind, garden protected against, 64.
Windows in garden houses, 216.
Winter garden, 33, 34, 34.
Wistaria, misplaced, 115, 116.
Witley, Reading, garden at, 82, 83.
Wittersham House, garden at, 203, 204, 215, 215,
237, 238.
Wood-walks, 41, 42, 42, 43, 44.
Wooden gates, 194, 196, 204, 205.
Woodgate, Four Oaks, Chapter II.
Woodland gardens, Chapter II.
Woodland walk, steps for, 98, 99.
Wootton Lodge, Staffs, pool at, 146, 149.
Wotton House, gate at, 200, 200.
Wroxall Abbey, wall at, 108. 110.
Wren, Sir Christopher, 108.
Wrought-iron gates, Chapter XVII.
Wych Cross Place, garden at, 162, 163, 200, 202, 223,
224.
Yew and other hedges, xix. — xxii., xxiv., xxvii., xxxiii. —
xxxvi., xix., xxxiii., xxxix., Chapter XIII., 27, 73.
Yews, Irish, 60, 63.
York stone paving, 171.
Young, Thomas, designs by, 76, 78—80.
Youth and Maiden figures, 220, 221.
Yuccas, 40, 42.
Note. — The LAKGE numerals indicate ILLUSTRATIONS of the subject indexed, and refer not to the Figure numbets, but
to the PAGES on which illustrations will be found. The SMALL numerals indicate REFERENCES IN THE TEXT.
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CORMORANTS, TERNS, GULLS, SKUAS, PETRELS, AND AUKS.
By PERCY R. LOWE, B.A., M.B., B.C.
With Chapters by BENTLEY BEETHAM, FRANCIS HEATHERLEY,
W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT, OLIVER G. PIKE, W. R. PYCRAFT,
A. J. ROBERTS, etc.
Large quarto, cloth, gilt, with over 300 pages and nearly 250 illustrations.
PRICE 15/- NET.
Inland postage 7d. extra.
UNLIKE the majority
of books dealing with
birds, this volume is of
interest to the general
reader and to the student
of ornithology alike. It
is a book that enables the
reader to identify our
sea-birds by name, to
understand their move-
ments, their habits, their
nests, and their eggs.
Dr. Lowe, during
many yachting trips
round the British Islands,
in the Mediterranean,
and across the Atlantic,
has had exceptional op-
portunities of studying
the habits and life-
histories of our sea-birds,
and this book, in addition
to embodying much
valuable information from the latest records, contains a large
number of new facts and original theories of intense interest to
all. The Introductory pages and the chapters on the Flight of
Birds deserve the closest attention.
The Illustrations are of extraordinary merit and beauty.
They exhibit in a marked degree the result not only of the
skill, knowledge, and ingenuity of the photographers, but of their
high enthusiasm and unwearying patience.
(Reduced specimen illustration.)
Pictured by G. D. ARMOUR.
With an Introduction by HORACE G. HUTCHINSON.
Royal quarto, tastefully bound, containing over fifty choice plates.
PRICE 15/- NET.
Inland Postage 6d. extra.
THIS volume is sure of a warm welcome from every Sports-
man and Sportswoman of to-day. In the beautiful picture
gallery disclosed through its pages, Mr. Armour presents a
wonderfully representative collection of his art. Whether it is
the field in " full cry," the grouse coming over the heather, the
polo player dashing towards the goal, or the otto hound surging
through the rapids ; all are portrayed with individuality and
fidelity, by means which have the appealing merit of simplicity
and directness. The plates are perfect specimens of pictorial
art. Each one deserves, and, indeed, demands a frame.
A Book that should appeal to all Nature Lovers
THE PEREGRINE FALCON
AT THE EYRIE
By FRANCIS HEATHERLEY, F.R.C.S.
Illustrated throughout with photographs by the Author and C. J . KING.
Quarto, cloth, gill.
PRICE 5/- NET. By Inland Post 5/6
THIS fascinating book on the Peregrine Falcon — the grandest bird of prey left
in England — combines the salient facts of almost innumerable field notes,
written at the eyrie itself. It is a book that should appeal with irresistible
force to all true nature lovers. Many striking and unexpected facts were revealed to
the author as a result of unwearying patience in a diminutive hut slung from the
precipice of a lonely islet. These records are here set forth in a wonderful narrative
which discloses the life history of the Peregrine Falcon from the moment of its
hatching to the day it finally leaves the eyrie.
THE
"Country Life' Library of Sport
Edited by HORACE G. HUTCHINSON.
Price 12/6 net each volume. By post 6d. extra.
A Series devoted to Sport and Pastime ; each branch being dealt with by the
most qualified experts on the subjects which they have made peculiarly their own
CRICKET With over 80 Illustrations taken from the most interesting of the
old cricketing prints. One Volume.
FISHING With Coloured Plates of Salmon and Trout Flies. Over 250 full-
page Illustrations and numerous diagrams. In Two Volumes.
Tne breeding, rearing and shooting of pheasants, partridges, and
wild duck. In Two Volumes.
mUOOTI TVO With over 200 Illustrations from photo-
*VJ^ lirHJ graphs, showing animals in their actual
habitat and natural environment. In Two Volumes.
POLO, PAST AND PRESENT
turies back, up to the present time. Profusely Illustrated. In One Volume.
"Mr. Hutchinson and his colleagues have done their work thoroughly."— The Globe.
GOLF GREENS AND GREEN KEEPING
By HORACE G. HUTCHINSON.
Cheap Edition 5s. net. By post 5s. 4d.
"The practical worth of the volume is nearly equal to the combined worth of all
the books that have been written on the theory and practice of golf." — Yorkshire Post.
15
THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING.
Edited by E. T. COOK. A comprehensive work for every lover of the
garden. 624 pages, with about 600 Illustrations, many of them full-
page 4to (12 in. by 8| in:). 21s. Net, by post 21s. lOd.
GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS.
(A Handbook to the Garden}. By E. T. COOK. With Coloured
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graphs of selected specimens of Plants, Flowers, Trees, Shrubs, Fruits,
etc. Sixth Edition. 12s. Qd. Net, by post 12s. lid.
WALL AND WATER GARDENS.
By GERTRUDE JEKYLL. Containing instructions and hints on the
cultivation of suitable plants on dry walls, rock walls, in streams,
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200 Illustrations, Plans, Diagrams, etc. Fifth Edition. Large 8vo.
over 200 pages. 12s. 6d. Net, by post 12s. lid.
COLOUR SCHEMES FOR THE FLOWER
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TREES & SHRUBS FOR ENGLISH GARDENS.
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MY GARDEN. By EDEN PHILLPOTTS.
60 full-page Illustrations. Cheap Edition, 6s. Net, by Post 6s. 4d.
THE FRUIT GARDEN.
By GEORGE BUNYARD and OWEN THOMAS. 507 pages.
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A GARDEN IN VENICE.
By F. EDEN. An account of the author's beautiful garden on the
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THE DISEASES OF TREES.
By PROFESSOR R. HARTIG. Royal 8vo. 10s. Qd. Net, by post 10s. 1 Id.
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LILIES FOR ENGLISH GARDENS. [8s. Wd.
Written and compiled bv GERTRUDE JEKYLL. 8s. 6^. Net, by post.
CHILDREN AND GARDENS
By GERTRUDE JEKYLL. A garden book for children. Thoroughly
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ROCK AND WATER GARDENS
THEIR MAKING AND PLANTING.
With Chapters on Wall and Heath Gardens. By F. H. MEYER.
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SEASIDE PLANTING OF TREES & SHRUBS.
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THE BOOK OF BRITISH FERNS.
By CHAS. T. DRUERY, F.L.S., V.M.H., President of the British
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16
THE HARDY FLOWER BOOK.
By E. H. JENKINS. 50 Illustrations and coloured frontispiece.
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By E. T. COOK. 200 pages and 23 Illustrations. The A. B.C. of
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THE FIRST AND CHIEF GROUNDES OF
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ANIMAL LIFE BY THE SEA-SHORE.
By G. A. BOULENGER, LL.D., D.Sc., PH.D., F.R.S., F.Z.S., and
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