Jane Loudon

Sites

Ancient style, Arbor, Arboretum, Basin, Bed, Border, Botanic garden, Conservatory, Column/Pillar, Edging, Fence, Flower garden, Fountain, Ha-ha/Sunk fence, Lake/Pond, Lawn, Modern style/Natural style, Parterre, Pleasure ground/ Pleasure garden, Pot, Rockwork/Rockery, Rustic style, Seat, Shrubbery, Statue, Sundial, Terrace/Slope, Trellis, Vase/Urn, Walk

Texts

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (p. 120)

“ARBORE’TUM.—A collection of trees and shrubs, containing only one or two plants of a kind, arranged together, according to some system or method. The most common arrangement is that of the Natural System; but the plants in an arboretum may be placed together according to the countries of which they are natives; according to the soil in which they grow; or according to their sizes and habits, or time of leafing, or flowering. In all small villa residences an arboretum is the most effectual means of procuring a maximum of enjoyment in a minimum of space, as far as trees and shrubs are concerned. To render an arboretum useful and interesting, each tree and shrub should be named.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (p. 120)

“ARBOURS.—Seats or resting-places, forming terminations to walks, or fixed in retired parts of shrubberies or pleasure-grounds. In general, every straight walk ought to lead to some object of use, as well as of beauty; and an arbour is one of those in most common use. The structure being formed, climbing plants, ligneous or herbaceous, are planted all around it at the base of the trellis-work, or frame, against which, as they climb up, they ought to be tied and trained, so as to spread over the whole arbour. Some of the best plants for this purpose are the different species of Honeysuckle, Roses, and Clematis; and the Laburnum, the Periplòca graeca, the Maurandias, the Wistarias, Eccremocárpus scábra, Lophospermum, Rhodochiton, the Virginian creeper, Cobaea scándens, Menispermum canadensis, and ivy.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (pp. 131–32)

“BORDER.—A border differs from a bed in having a walk only on one side; and an ornamental border, in which flowers or shrubs, or both, are grown, ought to have the plants so arranged in regard to height and distance, as to have them seen to the greatest advantage from the walk. For this purpose the lowest-growing plants should be placed in front, and the highest kinds behind them, and the distance between the different plants should be proportioned to their breadth, not to their height. . . . With regard to the mode of arranging herbaceous plants in borders with reference to the colour of their flowers and time of flowering, the object ought to be to have an equal number of plants in flower in each of the floral months; and among the plants of each month to have as nearly as possible an equal number of each of the principal colours. This is the beau idéal that the cultivator should keep in view; but it is not easy to carry it out into practice without the assistance of a reserve garden, and a number of plants in pots, that can be brought out when in flower on the shortest notice. . . .

“BORDER FLOWERS.—Herbaceous plants of hardy constitution; showy in appearance, and of easy culture, and therefore well adapted for ornamenting the borders which accompany walks in gardens.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (p. 133)

“BOTANIC GARDEN.—A garden devoted to the culture of plants with a view to botanical science; and in which the plants are arranged according to some system, only one of a kind is planted, and a name appended to each. The most convenient mode for study is to place the plants in straight rows of narrow beds, one row in a bed, with a narrow path between; but the best mode for effect is to place them in groups of one order, tribe, or genus in a group. These groups have the best effect when of a circular form, and when placed on a lawn. The position of the groups relatively to each other should be such as to correspond with the botanical system followed.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (p. 166)

“CONSERVATORY.—This term originally implied a house in which orange-trees, and other large shrubs, or small trees, were preserved from frost during the winter; but at present it is applied to houses with glass roofs, in which the plants are grown in the free soil, and allowed to assume their natural shapes and habits of growth. A conservatory is generally situated so as to be entered from one of the rooms of the house to which it belongs; and from which it is often separated only by a glass door, or by a small lobby with glass doors. It should, if possible, have one side facing the south; but if it is glazed on every side, it may have any aspect, not even excepting the north: though in the latter case, it will only be suitable for very strong leathery-leaved evergreens, such as Camellias, Myrtles, &c. . . . The plants should be of kinds that will grow in a few years nearly as high as the glass; and they should, as much as possible, be all of the same degree of vigour, otherwise the stronger kinds will fill the soil with their roots, and overpower the weaker. . . . The pillars which support the roof, and, to a certain extent, the under side of the rafters, may be clothed with creepers. . . . The most suitable plants for conservatories are those that flower in the winter season, or very early in the spring.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (p. 197)

“EDGINGS are lines of plants, generally evergreens, to separate walks from beds or borders. The plant in most universal use for this purpose in British gardens is the dwarf Box. . . .

“Edgings to beds and borders are also formed of other materials, such as lines of bricks, tiles, or slates, or of narrow strips of stone, or even of wood. In general, however, edgings of this kind have a meager appearance, especially in small gardens, though they have this advantage, that they do not harbour snails, slugs, or other vermin. In architectural flower-gardens, near a house, where the garden must necessarily partake of the character of the architecture of the building, stone or brick edgings are essential, and they should be formed of strips of curb-stone, bedded on stone or brickwork, so as never to sink. . . .

“Much of the beauty of all gardens, whether useful or ornamental, depends on the neatness and high keeping of the edgings; for whatever may be the state of the boundary fence, of the gravel, or pavement of the walks, and of the soil or plants of the borders, if the edgings have an uneven, ragged appearance, or if the plants be either too large or too small, the garden will be at once felt to be in bad keeping.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (pp. 205–6)

“FENCES for flower-gardens and shrubberies, are either such as are intended to be invisible, or, more properly, not acknowledged,—such as barriers of wire, or, light iron rods, and sunk fences; or such as are intended to be acknowledged, and to form part of the landscape,—such as architectural parapets and hedges. . . .

“Architectural fences are used in small gardens, close to the house; and they should generally be low walls, of open work, in the style of the architecture of the building; and these walls may have piers at regular distances, terminating in vases, or other architectural ornaments, provided these are in harmony with the house. These walls, and indeed all other architectural fences, should be varied with shrubby plants planted against them, so as to harmonize them with the plants in the beds and borders within.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (pp. 209–11)

“FLOWER-GARDENS embrace a subject on which a volume might be written without exhausting it; but the present article will be confined to a few general observations, applicable in every case; and to a short notice of the different kinds of flower-gardens which have been, or are, in most general use.

“All flower-gardens, to have good effect, ought to be symmetrical; that is, they ought to have a centre, which shall appear decided and obvious at first sight, and sides; and all the figures or compartments into which the garden is laid out, ought to be in some way or other so connected with the centre as not to be separable from it, without injuring the general effect of the garden. All the beds and borders ought to have one general character of form and outline; that is, either curved, straight, or composite lines ought to prevail. The size of the beds ought also never to differ to such an extent, as to give the idea of large beds and small ones being mixed together; and the surface of the garden ought to be of the same character throughout; that is, it ought not to be curvilinear on one side of the centre, and flat or angular on the other. In the planting flower-gardens the same attention to unity ought to be kept in view. One side ought not to be planted with tall-growing plants, and the other with plants of low growth; nor one part with evergreens, whether ligneous or herbaceous, and the other part with annuals or bulbs. Flower-gardens which are intended to be ornamental all the year, ought to have a large proportion of evergreen herbaceous plants distributed regularly all over them; such as Pinks, Sweet Williams, Thrift, Saxifrages, and intermixed with very low evergreen shrubs. . . . Flower-gardens which are intended to be chiefly ornamental in spring, ought to be rich in bulbs and early-flowering shrubs . . . those that are intended to be chiefly ornamental in summer, should be rich in annuals; and those that are to be in perfection in autumn, in Dahlias. Flower-gardens on a large scale never look so well as when the spaces between the beds are of turf; but those on a small scale may have the spaces between the beds of gravel, and the beds edged with box. . . .

“All the different kinds of flower-gardens may be reduced to the following:

“The French garden, or parterre, is formed of arabesques, or scrollwork, or, as the French call it, embroidery of Box, with plain spaces of turf or gravel, the turf prevailing. The Box is kept low, and there are but very few parts of the arabesque figures in which flowers or shrubs can be introduced. Those plants that are used, are kept in regular shape by cutting or clipping, and little regard is had to flowers; the beauty of these gardens consisting in the figures of the arabesques being kept clear and distinct, and in the pleasing effect produced on the eye by masses of turf, in a country where verdure is rare in the summer season. These embroidered or arabesque gardens originated in Italy and France, and they are better adapted for warm climates than for England: they are, indeed, chiefly calculated for being seen from the windows of the house, and not for being walked in, like English flower-gardens.

“The ancient English flower-garden is formed of beds, connected together so as to form a regular or symmetrical figure; the beds being edged with Box, or sometimes with flowering plants, and planted with herbaceous flowers, Roses, and one or two other kinds of low flowering shrubs. The flowers in the beds are generally mixed in such a manner, that some may show blossoms every month during summer, and that some may retain their leaves during winter. This kind of garden should be surrounded by a border of evergreen and deciduous shrubs, backed by low trees; and in the centre there should be a sundial, a vase, a statue, or a basin and fountain.”

“The modern English flower-garden has the groundwork of turf, on which a system of beds are formed, in such a manner as to constitute a symmetrical figure; or, if on a very large scale, groups of figures. The French flower-garden and the ancient English garden were chiefly calculated for being seen from an elevated situation, so as to show the whole at once; but the modern English flower-garden is calculated to be walked through, and seen by degrees. The beds are generally of roundish or curvilinear figures, and they should never be of figures with numerous narrow angles, or projecting points; because such parts can never be properly covered with plants, and therefore have always a bad effect. These beds are sometimes planted with a mixture of flowers alone, and sometimes with flowers and shrubs; but they are more generally planted, each bed with one kind of flower or one kind of shrub, so as to produce masses of colour, or of shades of colour, which will harmonize with the masses in the other beds. . . . For every garden of this kind there is, or ought to be, a basin of water, as well for effect, as for watering the plants; and if the garden be on a large scale, there may be statues, vases, open and covered seats, rustic baskets containing plants, rockwork, and a variety of other objects; but these require to be introduced with great caution, and afford an excellent opportunity for a lady to exercise her taste in their arrangement. In fact, these ornaments, if not well managed, destroy the simplicity and elegance of the garden, and do more harm than good. When flower-gardens are close to the house, and are intended to be very highly kept, the beds are often surrounded with a low frame-work of wire or trellis-work, so as to give them the effect of baskets of flowers; and this has sometimes a very good effect. . . .

“The architectural flower-garden, or Italian garden, always adjoins the house, and it is bordered and separated from the rest of the pleasure-grounds by an architectural parapet or wall—see FENCES. It consists of beds symmetrically arranged, with gravel or pavement between; and the beds are bordered or edged with stone. In other respects, these gardens are treated like the old English flower-garden.

“Terrace-gardens are merely architectural-gardens, formed on platforms adjoining the house, on one or more levels, each level being supported by a terrace-wall; but as they are chiefly adapted for mansions and places of considerable extent.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (pp. 213–14)

“FOUNTAINS are of two kinds; jets, which rise up in a single tube of water to a great height, and then fall in mist or vapour; and drooping fountains, which are forced up through a pipe, terminated by a kind of rose pierced with holes, called an adjutage, which makes the water assume some particular shape in descending. The principle on which fountains are constructed is, that if a large quantity of water be contained in a cistern, or other reservoir, in any elevated situation, and pipes be contrived from it to carry the water down to the ground, and along its surface, that the water will always attempt to rise to its own level the moment it can find a vent. . . . The height to which a jet of water will ascend, therefore, depends on the height which the cistern that is to supply it is above the ground from which it is to ascend; and on the size of the orifice through which it is to issue. . . .

“Drooping fountains do not require the water to rise so high for them as for jets; and consequently the cistern need not be so much elevated. The beauty of fountains of this kind depends on the adjutages, which are so contrived as to throw the water in many different forms. For example, some are intended to represent a dome, and others a convolvulus, a basket, a wheatsheaf, and a variety of other devices. The water from these fountains is generally received into a shell, whence it forms a sort of miniature cascade to the basin below.”

• 1845, Gardening for Ladies (p. 413)

“Water as an element of landscape scenery, is exhibited in small gardens either in ponds or basins, of regular geometrical or architectural forms; or in ponds or small lakes of irregular forms in imitation of the shapes seen in natural landscape. In general all geometrical or architectural basins of water ought to have the margins of masonry, or at least of stones placed so as to imitate a rocky margin. The reason is, that by these means the artificial character is heightened, and also a colour is introduced between the surrounding grass, vegetation, gravel, or dug-ground, which harmonizes the water with the land. Artificial shapes of this kind should never be of great diameter, because in that case the artificial character is comparatively lost, and the idea of nature occurs to the spectator.”