Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/464

 THK GARDEN 442 By The Hon. FRANCES WOLSELEY Principal of the Glynde School for Lady Gardeners in Sussex Drawings by Miss M. G. Campion The Ornamental Value of the Sunk Garden — The Garden in the Front of Kensington Palace- Suggestions for Making such Gardens, and Practical Hints Adapted to All Purses ■yHERE is great charm about a sunk garden, and I recommend all who think of making one to study that which is in front of Kensington Palace. In this instance it forms but one feature in a large garden, one of the many little surprises which all large pieces of ground should be provided with, to save them from monotony. Here we have the wide, stately, pleached alley, made of lime trees, sur- rounding two sides of an oblong. Under the shade cast by this covered Way we look down, through small openings, to the dazzling brightness of the sunk garden below. Beneath us are paved walks, water-lily tanks, old grey ornamental lead cisterns, chpped box-trees, and gay flowers. Across the garden, on the other two sides, are chpped privet hedges, raised upon banks and shaped into artistic half-circle lines. Here and there, to give additional height to the enclosing fence, a small upright tree stands erect as a sentry. Let us study Plan a, which belongs to a house in a country town, built on the top of a very high hill. Pl»n A.— A, The house sunflowers, d»hli»s, etc B Closely clipped hedge five feet high ; D, Oblong wooden boxes ; h. Meart-shaped beds for tea-roses, etc. ; H, Wall ; L, Brick wall house terrace The garden is at a considerably lower level than the road, in fact, it is about 20 feet beneath it. The site being such an exposed one, this is fortunate as regards the plants and flowers, for they obtain shelter. There is, however, a slight draw- back to the privacy of the place, for a passer- by can look over the four-feet-high wall h and scan not only the whole garden, but also the windows of the house. In order to protect these from observation, oblong wooden boxes have been placed on the small terrace at d, upon which the house stands. The boxes are painted dark green, filled with good soil, and in them privet is planted. It is trained to bamboo stakes which stand five feet upright in the boxes. To strengthen their support, bamboo stakes are interlaced horizontally with the upright ones, and form a firm but scarcely noticeable trellis for the privet. Thus the windows of the house are hidden from observation. The next thing to do is to protect the east and west sides of the garden likewise. Some- of the soil which was originally taken out to make the sunk garden has been raised up evenly to form a sloping bank of good soil. This bank can either be a well-mown grass slope — winter aco- nite, blue scillas, yellow crocuses en- liven it in spring — or, as at Kensing- ton Palace Gardens, it may be made the home of bright her- baceous plants. At the top of this bank a closely clip- ped hornbeam hedge will give the protec- tion required, and, when it has grown to be about five feet high, there will be no fear of the gar- den being over- looked either on the E, Beds of east or west. supporting ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^