fountains were very elaborate with regard to their construction.
Bacon says:
"For fountains they are a great beauty and refreshment: the one that
sprinkleth or spouteth water; the other, a fair receipt of water of
some thirty or forty foot. For the first, the ornaments of images gilt,
or marble, which are in use, do well. Also some steps up to it and some
fine pavement about doth well. As for the other kind of fountain, which
may be called a bathing-pool, it may admit much curiosity and beauty,
as that the bottom be finely paved, and with images; the sides likewise
and withal embellished with colored glass and such things of luster
encompassed also with fine rails of low statues."
Hentzner saw three famous fountains on his visit to England in 1592,
at Hampton Court, Whitehall, and Nonsuch. He describes the one at
Hampton Court as follows:
"In the middle of the first and principal court stands a fountain,
splendid, high, and massy, with an ingenious water-work, by which you
can, if you like, make the water to play upon the ladies and others who
are standing by and give them a thorough wetting."
The one at Whitehall was also capable of playing practical jokes:
"A _jet d'eau_ with a sun-dial, which, while strangers are looking at
it, a quantity of water forced by a wheel, which the gardener turns
at a distance through a number of little pipes, plentifully sprinkles
those who are standing round."
More ornate was the fountain at the superb palace of Nonsuch in Surrey:
"In the pleasure and artificial gardens are many columns and pyramids
of marble, two fountains that spout water, one round the other like a
pyramid upon which are perched small birds that stream water out of
their bills. In the Grove of Diana is a very agreeable fountain with
Actæon turned into a stag, as he was sprinkled by the goddess and her
nymphs with inscriptions. There is besides another pyramid of marble
full of concealed pipes which spirt upon all who come within their
reach."
In the small formal garden a fountain looks well at the intersection
of the paths in the center of the quarters. It is not necessary to
have an ornate fountain, for the real charm of a fountain consists in
the upward plume of spray that glistens in the sunshine, that turns
to pearls in the moonlight, and that always charms the eye of man and
delights the neighboring flowers with its spray blown by the breeze.
XI
_The Dove-cote_
Every manor-house had its dove-cote, or columbary, as it was called.
Here doves and pigeons aided in making a very pretty picture as they
flew in and out of the architecturally designed bird-house. The right
to keep them was confined to the lords of the manor, and the law was
very strictly enforced.
Andrew Borde tells us that a dove-house is a necessary thing about a
mansion-place. It is, therefore, quite proper to include a bird-house
in the Shakespeare garden; and a pool for the birds' comfort is also a
pretty as well as necessary adjunct to the dove-cote.
Birds add much to the pleasure of the garden. Pigeons and doves give a
poetic touch as they strut along the paths and flutter about. Nothing
gives more quality and elegance, however, than a peacock, and, to quote
from a contemporary writer:
"The peacock is a bird of more beautiful feathers than any other that
is. He is quickly angry, but he is goodly to behold, very good to
eat, and serveth as a watch in the inner court, for that he, spying
strangers to come into the lodging, he faileth not to cry out and
advertise them of the house."
The peacock is as much of a joy to the garden lover as the sun-dial.
XII
_The Sun-dial_
The sun-dial forms a perfect ornament at the intersection of the garden
paths. Every one responds to the quaint beauty and mystery of the
sun-dial with its dark shadow that creeps quietly across the dial and
tells the hours so softly. As Charles Lamb says: "It is the measure
appropriate for sweet plants and flowers to spring by and birds to
apportion their silver warblings by." Nothing has a more antique air
than the sun-dial. The simple baluster pillar is a good model, and
the base should be surrounded by a circle of grass.
This grassy ring is the "wabe," Where Lewis Carroll's "slithy toves"
did "gyre and gimbel" in the immortal poem "Jabberwocky."
[Illustration: FOUNTAINS, SIXTEENTH CENTURY]
The sun-dial can also be placed at the end of a path, if the path is
important enough to warrant it.
In our Shakespeare garden I suggest using a Shakespearian quotation for
the inscription, such as, for example:
For never-resting Time leads summer on.
or
Nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defense.
or
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end.
or
Come what, come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
XIII
_The Terrace_
The terrace is essential, if one would have the true Elizabethan
atmosphere. The terrace can be of stone, or brick, or brick combined
with stone, or brick combined with wood. Whatever the material, the
balustrade is of the greatest importance. The designs for balusters
in the old architectural books are legion, some of them of very
complicated inter-twining after the patterns of arabesques and
_cuirs_ (strap-leather work), but good taste, even in that day of
complicated design, demanded that the balusters should be very widely
spaced. This is obvious, because half of the effect, at least, of
out-of-door architecture depends upon the open spaces for light to
play its part--and a great part, too--in the design. In balustrades
the spacing is, therefore, very important. The balusters should never
be too crowded. The most satisfactory ones are those in which the
distance from center to center almost equals the height from plinth to
coping. The piers dividing the groups should not be too far apart--ten
to fifteen feet is a good distance. Much, however, depends on the
proportion of the balusters themselves. Frequently the balustrade is
adorned with ornamental vases, or urns, set at regular intervals on
the rail and on the newel-posts of the steps. As a rule, the steps
lead from both ends of the terrace. Sometimes there are also steps in
the center; sometimes the terrace is double. A jar, vase, or tub of
growing plants, or containing one handsome plant, looks well placed on
the lawn on either side of the steps. Vines can be trained gracefully
along the balustrade, hand-rails, and posts of the steps. A rich border
of flowers should be grown all along the side of the terrace: in the
spring hosts of daffodils and in the summer larkspur, marigolds,
lilies, iris, and climbing roses and honeysuckle. The terrace gains
in style and beauty when the proper floral decorations are tastefully
selected and well combined.
From the terrace one can enjoy a fine view of the garden as a whole;
and it is a pleasant place to stroll upon and to sit. Sometimes the
terrace is of two levels with several stairways.
Leaving the architectural terrace, which is an adjunct of the house
bringing the house into relation with the garden, we must turn to the
garden terrace made of grass, and ascended by grass steps cut in the
bank, or by stone or brick steps cut in the bank, or standing outside
with handrails and newel-posts. If the steps are of grass, good effects
can be made by placing large jars, or tubs, filled with flowers, ferns,
or a single plant, such as the pomegranate, for instance, on either
side.
The grass-terrace is very charming leading up to the garden, leading
from one garden to another, or leading from the lawn proper to the
sunken garden. A very attractive arrangement was at Penshurst, Kent,
the home of the Sidney family. It is described thus: "Garden on south
and west, ground sloping to south and west, house on a grass platform,
about nine feet above the garden level. Along the southwest side of the
flower-garden a broad grass-terrace, and near the house a few steps
lead to the yew alley, at the end of which is a quaint old sun-dial
known as the Turk's Head."
The yew alley was evidently a pleached alley.
XIV
_The Pleached Alley_
The "Pleached Alley," another typical feature of the Elizabethan garden
(from the French _plessir_, to weave), is nothing more nor less than
a thickly covered walk. In Shakespeare's time this was constructed of
woven boughs and climbing vines and flowers, or a series of arbors.
The old prints and pictures show them to be complete tunnels of
greenery. We can make a pleached alley to-day by setting up a pergola
and smothering it with flowers and vines. Ironwork arches covered with
roses, honeysuckle, and other creepers will produce the proper effect.
A latticework trellis covered with vines and flowers will, if properly
constructed, produce the appearance of a pleached alley.
When the pleached alley is not used to enclose the garden, then a brick
wall or, still better, a fine hedge should be planted.
XV
_Hedges_
Box makes a perfect hedge. The hedge must be clipped at the upper part
narrower than at the base, otherwise the base will become bare. Privet
makes an excellent hedge and so does the Osage orange, which grows
luxuriantly in some parts of the United States. It is decorative to
trim the hedge so that tall pyramids ornament either side of the gate,
or an arch can be made to grow over the gate. A small lavender hedge is
very attractive. Each autumn, after the flower-spikes have gone, trim
plants for the dwarf hedge.
Roses, particularly the sweetbrier, make a charming hedge. Honeysuckle
is another delightful flower for a hedge; and nothing could be more
beautiful than the two combined.
If the rose and honeysuckle hedge is desired, have the carpenter make
a lattice screen of the desired height, or simply construct a rustic
fence and plant the creepers near it and train them so that they will
make a wall of flowers and leaves.
XVI
_Paths_
"There is no pleasanter path than that of grass, and even the small
garden ought to have a little grass-walk between the flower borders and
rose beds. It adds immensely to the attractiveness of the garden and
none other is so pleasant to the tread. Constant mowing and rolling
are necessary and the edges must be kept neat and trim; for while a
well-kept grass-path is most attractive of all, its charm is never
fully realized unless it is carefully attended to."[92]
[92] H. H. Thomas.
Gravel-paths must be frequently rolled and the surface of the walk made
a little higher in the center than the sides with a curving outline, so
that water may drain away to the sides.
The brick pathway is capable of much variety. Bricks may be laid in
many patterns; and the little garden, if very small, may be entirely
paved with bricks, leaving the formal flower-beds only of earth. A
fountain or sun-dial looks well in the center.
Flagged pathways are effective in certain garden arrangements. Old
paving-stones are suitable, but they should first be broken up into
irregular pieces.
"Build a good foundation, cover it with a thin layer of sandy loam,
then lay the larger pieces flat on this. Fill the interstices with the
fragments, but leave crevices filled with soil, two inches or so wide,
here and there. Make up a compost of equal parts of loam, sand and
leaf-mould, sweep this over the path and let it settle in the joints.
Many plants can be established in the joints and a pretty effect
obtained."[93]
[93] H. H. Thomas.
Among the plants practical for this purpose are thrift, thyme, and
camomile, and the more they are trodden on the sweeter they smell and
the better they grow.
"The Gardener's Labyrinth" gives three or four feet as the width
for paths between beds and one foot to one foot six inches for the
cross-path.
XVII
_Borders_
Borders should not be confused with edgings.
"Border is the name applied to the narrow division of the garden which
usually accompanies each side of a walk. In fact, any bed which acts as
a boundary to a walk or grass-plot, or the main quarters of a garden
may be properly described as a border.
"Flower-borders should be well drained. In plotting them it must
be remembered that if narrow no art will impart to them an air of
boldness. If the pleasure grounds are small, narrow borders are
permissible. All flower-borders should be made in proportion to the
size of the garden and other surroundings. Neatness must be the
presiding deity over flower-borders; and no application of the hoe and
rake, no removal of decayed leaves, no tying up of straggling members
can be too unremitting."[94]
[94] Johnson's "Gardener's Dictionary and Cultural Instructor," edited
by Fraser and Hemsley (London, 1917).
According to Lawson, the borders "should be roses, thyme,
lavender, rosemary, hyssop, sage and such like and filled with
cowslips, primroses, violets, Daffy-down-dillies, sweet Sissely,
Go-to-bed-at-noon, and all sweet flowers; and, chief of all, with
gilliflowers, July-flowers, commonly called gilliflowers or clove
July-flowers (I call them so because they flower in July); they have
the names of cloves of their scent. I may well call them the King of
Flowers (except the rose). Of all flowers save the Damask Rose they are
the most pleasant to sight and smell."
XVIII
_Edgings_
Edging is the material used for dividing beds and borders from the
paths, or grass leading up to the bed, if the bed is alongside a wall,
or terrace, or veranda.
Box is a formal, but charming, edging. "The growth must be regularly
clipped each year. Stretch a line the whole length of the edging, so
as to show the correct height; then cut evenly and neatly both at top
and sides. When relaying, take up the plants, pull them to pieces and
use the strong young growths, which must be clipped to one level. Box
is easily grown and stands pruning with impunity." Such is the advice
of an authority. Another practical gardener says: "Most amateurs clip
box-edgings early in the Spring. This causes an early growth, which
is just in the condition to be nipped by a sharp, late frost. The
safeguard is to delay clipping until the end of August. Then comes
free, healthy growth, which renders box-lined garden paths cheerful and
pleasant to the eye through times of heat and drought."
Thrift (_Armeria_) is one of the best edgings as it is green all
the year round and in summer is covered with bright pink flowers. A
flower-lover says:
"Thrift is seen as an edging in many old English gardens. To preserve
its beauty the plants must be lifted, divided and replanted once
in at least four years: a rich even growth is then the reward. The
tufted habit, fresh green growth and rose-purple flowers in Summer are
enjoyable to look at."
Thrift requires frequent trimming.
London-pride (_Saxifraga umbrosa_) is very pretty when in flower and,
therefore, makes an attractive edging.
Pansies also form a decorative edging for flower beds, large and small.
Another charming edging is the carnation, especially the white
varieties. The gray-green foliage makes a beautiful border for
flower-beds. Pinks are pretty, too, for bed edgings, and the
sweet-william is also attractive for this purpose.
XIX
_Knots_
The knot should occupy a piece of ground from twenty-five to one
hundred feet square. According to "The Gardener's Labyrinth" "the
flower-bed should be kept to the size that the weeder's hands may well
reach into the middest of the bed." The size given in this manual
is twelve feet by six, "each bed raised one foot above the ground
(two feet in marshy ground) and the edge cased in with short planks
framed into square posts with finials at the angles with intermediate
supports." A prettier method, however, is to border the flower-bed with
an edging of box, thrift, pansies, or pinks. This border outlines the
shape of the knot. Within the edging, or border, "the flowers are all
planted in some proportion as near one into another as it is fit for
them, which will give such grace to the garden that the place will seem
like a tapestry of flowers."
It would seem from the hundreds of designs for knots in the old
garden-books that every possible combination of scroll and line and
curve had been exhausted; but ingenious persons liked to invent their
own. Markham tells us that "the pattern of the design cannot be decided
by rule; the one whereof is led by the hops and skips, turnings and
windings of his brain; the other, by the pleasing of his eye, according
to his best fantasie."
Lawson gives the following nine designs for knots:
Cinkfoyle Lozenges
Flower-de-luce[95] Cross-bow
Trefoyle Diamond
Frette Oval
Maze.
[95] Fleur-de-lis.
Here the maze is not intended as a labyrinth to walk in, but is a
design for the planting of flowers.
Markham's knots are:
Straight line knots
Diamond knots, single and double
Single knots
Mixed knots
Single impleate of straight line
Plain and mixed
Direct and Circular.
Knots, formed with "a border of box, lavender, or rosemary, are
eighteen inches broad at bottom and clipped so close a level at the top
as to form a table for the housewife to spread clothes to dry on," are
Lawson's idea.
The old garden books contain many designs for knots, some of which are
astonishingly intricate. Examples occur in Markham's and Lawson's books
and in Didymus Mountain's "Gardener's Labyrinth" (editions of 1557,
1594, and 1608), which are perfectly practical for use to-day.
In David Loggan's "Oxonia Illustrata" (Oxford, 1675, folio) several
large plates show formal gardens. Among them New College Gardens and
those of Jesus are extremely interesting. Loggan's companion book on
Cambridge, "Cantabrigia Illustrata" (Cambridge, 1688), has splendid
views of architecture and formal gardens with knots.
Typical flower-beds are also represented in Vredeman de Vries's
"Hortorum Viridariorumque" (Antwerp, 1583) and Crispin de Passe's
"Hortus Floridus" (Arnhem, 1614).
Theobald's as late as 1650 preserved the Tudor arrangement.
"In the great garden are nine large complete squares, or knots, lying
upon a level in the middle of the said garden, whereof one is set forth
with box-borders in the likeness of the King's Arms, one other plot is
planted with choice flowers; the other seven knots are all grass-knots,
handsomely turfed in the intervals, or little walks. A quickset hedge
of white thorn, or privet, cut into a handsome fashion at every angle,
a fair cherry tree and a cypress in the middle of the knots--also a
marble fountain."
XX
_The Rock-Garden_
It is well to build a little unostentatious rock-garden in some
appropriate spot where a few flowers, which you may not want in the
beds, can grow. Flowers that find a congenial home in a loosely
arranged pile of rocks and turf are anemones, columbines, thrift,
thyme, rosemary, violets, buttercups, harebells, ferns, fennel, ivy,
myrtle, pansies, and the ragged-robin (gentian).
Select weather-worn stones and pile them carelessly one above another,
placing some of them as shelves. Leave plenty of room for the earth and
let your flowers grow as they please.
XXI
_Flowers_
As I do not pretend to be a practical gardener, having had no
experience, I have culled these hints from several authorities,
including E. T. Cook's "The Century Book of Gardening" (London, 1901);
Johnson's "Gardener's Dictionary and Cultural Instructor," edited
by Fraser and Hemsley (London, 1917); H. H. Thomas's "The Complete
Gardener" (London, 1912); and Mabel Cabot Sedgwick's "The Garden Month
by Month" (New York, 1907).
ANEMONE STELLATA requires a sheltered, warm position and light, sandy
soil, well drained. It grows about ten inches high with star-like
flowers, purple, rose-color, and white. Generally speaking, it requires
the same treatment as the tulip. Anemones also flourish in the
rock-garden.
BOX can be grown in almost any soil, but prefers light soil with
gravelly subsoil. See page 297.
BROOM-FLOWER (_Cytisus scoparius_), a splendid flowering shrub with
yellow flowers of handsome color, succeeds in dry, sandy places where
most other plants fail. It can, therefore, be planted on rough dry
banks. It grows from seed; and this can be sown in any sheltered place
out of doors. Cuttings placed in a frame are also easy to strike.
CAMOMILE will grow in any garden soil. It is a creeping plant and grows
freely in dense masses. The flowers are white and blossom from June
to August. The height attained is from twelve to eighteen inches. The
foliage is finely divided and has a feathery appearance. The plant
makes a good border, for it loves the sun. Propagate by division and
cuttings. Camomile may be allowed to run over paving-stones, for it
grows when trodden upon.
CARNATIONS. A carnation specialist says:
"A great number of amateur cultivators of the Carnation have an idea
that if they obtain seed from a variety of Carnation, the seedlings
produced from such seed will be reproductions of the parent plant.
This, of course, is wrong, and it is well to mention it. Now to grow
Carnations well they must have a good soil, or the plants will not
produce flowers, or layers, for another season. For the open garden, I
strongly recommend seedlings. The cultivator must not expect all the
flowers to be as good as the parent, or even all double. There will be
from ten to fifteen per cent with single flowers, all the others having
double flowers, some as good as, or even better than their parents; but
the majority will be of uncertain quantity.
[Illustration: SUNKEN GARDEN, SUNDERLAND HALL, WITH UNUSUAL TREATMENT
OF HEDGES]
"The seed will germinate in a hothouse well within a week from the
time of sowing, and the seedlings should be pricked out in boxes as
soon as large enough. Plant in good soil and let the plants be fifteen
inches apart and two feet between the rows. Seedlings are not nearly
so particular in regard to soil as-named varieties. The seedling is
more robust; and, given the same cultural conditions, grows more
vigorously. It is always best to dig a trench some time before the
seedling is planted. This admits of the soil being aerated. The plants
should be put out after a shower of good rain. I trench it eighteen
inches deep, put a layer of manure at the bottom and another layer six
or eight inches below the surface.
"A warning is necessary to those unacquainted with the nature of soils.
It will not do to trench up soil that has not been there before. New
subsoil is not adapted to grow anything until it has been well turned
over two or three times and mixed with decayed manure.
"After planting, give a light dressing of manure: it keeps the roots
in better condition and the plant starts more freely into growth.
Carnations must not be left to themselves after planting."
Gilliflowers, pinks, and sweet-williams belong to this family.
COLUMBINES prefer a situation where the roots can obtain moisture. They
also do well and look at home in a rock-garden. "Gather ripe seeds in
July and sow them so that the seedlings are well established before
winter," an authority says. "Such plants will bloom the next year.
Aquilegias often die out after their second year, although they are
classed as perennials, and should therefore be treated as biennials and
raised annually from seed. Seed is produced in abundance and should
be sown as soon as ripe in a shady place in the garden, or in pans in
a cold frame, care being taken to sow the seed very thinly. When the
seedlings are large enough to handle they should be lifted and planted
out in their permanent quarters. Aquilegias growing in a garden are
almost invariably cross-fertilized; and it is therefore necessary,
where more than one variety is in bloom at the same time, to procure
the seed from some other dependable source."
COWSLIP. This flower needs a rich, light soil, not dry. Its small,
yellow cup-like flowers with ruby spots in the center blossom in
the late April and late May. It grows to six or twelve inches and
prefers half-shade. It must be protected in the winter. Propagate by
seed. Cowslips make a charming border plant and are happy, also, in
rock-gardens.