COTTAGE TOPIARY AT NORTH WEALD, ESSEX
If it should happen, as I remarked before in this chapter, that the glass accommodation is limited, it is of particular importance that the utmost use be made of what there is at hand for the storing and propagating of bedding plants, more especially if the requirements of the place are such as to make an autumn display of bloom one of the most important features in the garden. If such is the case, it will be necessary when the bedding season arrives, to be careful that only such plants are used as will be at their best in the autumn, more especially in the most important beds. No attempt whatever should be made at carpet bedding; it is a style of bedding that has very little to recommend it at any time and certainly none in the Topiary garden; for one reason it is much too stiff for a garden where there are a great many clipped yews. Of course in a new garden that has been recently laid out and where both the trees and the box edging are in a small state, the system of carpet bedding may be practised by those who wish to entirely discard Nature from their gardens. But if the garden is an old one, full of old specimen yews, the larger and taller growing the bedding plants are that are used for bedding out purposes, the better. I will name a few of the bedding plants that are extensively used in the gardens here at Levens; but of course, as is well known, the gardens here are among the oldest examples of Topiary work in England. There are some varieties of bedding plants that are far more effective than others when planted among yews, and among the most suitable, there is nothing that has more effect than the brilliant scarlet Lobelia cardinalis and its varieties. Some objection may perhaps be taken to the plant by some people, but when planted in large masses among the sombre yews in a Topiary garden, I have not the slightest hesitation in saying it has no equal: when growing in large masses with a background of green yew and the sun shining on the dark foliage and brilliant scarlet flowers, the effect is really beautiful. Perhaps the only drawback to the various varieties of Lobelia cardinalis is the difficulty experienced by some in keeping it over winter; but if instead of following the old system of partly drying it off in winter, directly it is lifted out of the beds, one places it in a frame or greenhouse with a gentle heat and gives it a fair amount of water, thus encouraging it to start into growth at once, the difficulty will to a very great extent be done away with. Another favourite plant here, and one that is greatly used for bedding out purposes in the Topiary garden, is the beautiful old-fashioned plant Salvia patens. Like the scarlet lobelias, Salvia patens should be largely grown in every garden where there are a lot of yews. The brilliant blue of the flowers against the dark green of the yew trees has a very striking effect indeed, either when planted in masses by itself or mixed in the beds along with the scarlet lobelia or the tall yellow Calceolarias amplexicaulis. But the foliage of the Salvia patens has not the same showy appearance as that of the Lobelia cardinalis, but this is a point that can be overlooked, as the brilliant blue of the flowers fully compensates one for the lack of beauty in the plant, and it rarely happens among the general stock of bedding plants that one can find plants with foliage and flowers equally effective. But in my opinion, if a fault is to be found with the Salvia patens as a bedding plant, it is its inability to withstand wet weather. Through that cause it is very often denuded of its flowers, but it very soon revives with a few bright days. Among other plants that are extremely useful for bedding purposes in the Topiary garden are the taller growing varieties of fuschias that are hardy enough to stand planting out in the flower garden, and more especially if the yews are old and large; fuschias planted either in clumps or massed alone in large beds with a groundwork of violas, or some other suitable plants, will give a very striking effect among yews, and they have the additional advantage of giving a good show of bloom during a mild autumn long after the majority of bedding plants have finished flowering, which is a quality that ought to recommend them in any garden as well as the Topiary one. In most gardens, variety of plants is considered a necessity in the work of bedding out, and space will not permit me to point out the special qualities of each and every different variety of plant that may be used in the embellishment of a Topiary garden, but I will give the names of a few that I have found most suitable and effective for bedding out in a garden where the yew tree is extensively grown. The different types of antirrhinums, both dwarf and tall growing varieties, calceolarias, cannas, begonias, heliotropes, yellow and white marguerites, gladioli, and the various varieties of geraniums. Geraniums, and more especially the ivy leaved varieties, should be given a place in the garden if beds that are suitable for them blooming well can be found for them. Grown as pyramids or trained over a wire framework three or four feet high, the effect is very pretty.
In all the bedding arrangements of a Topiary garden, a natural appearance is a thing that should be studied and as much as possible sought. Always remember that in the practice of clipping and training yews into all kinds of shapes, Nature is to a very great extent discarded, therefore there is all the more reason why it should be as much as possible encouraged among the plants in the flower garden; all stiffness should be avoided and as little tying as possible done; though of course a certain amount of tying will be necessary to keep the wind and storm from breaking the plants, unless, indeed, the garden is a sheltered one.
There is another point that should be aimed at in the old formal garden, and that is, to always keep the garden well supplied with old-fashioned flowers. I certainly do not mean it to be understood that none of the new and beautiful varieties of the different species of garden plants that are being introduced every year should not be given a place in the garden, but what I want to be understood is this, that there should not be a wholesale clearing out of the old favourites to make room for the new ones.
As I pointed out before, the general routine of work in the Topiary garden is, with the exception of the clipping and training part of the work, practically the same as in any other garden. If there is a kitchen garden, a necessity that almost every garden, whether Topiary or otherwise, is almost certain to have attached to it, the work of looking after and attending to the various kinds of vegetables will have to be seen to, and a trim and tidy appearance kept in it, more especially if it is combined with the Topiary garden.
LEVENS GARDENS, SHOWING LETTER B AND LION
If the garden has been laid out on the principle recommended in the chapter dealing with the Formation of a Topiary Garden, and the paths in the flower garden and grounds are composed principally of grass, a fair amount of care and attention will have to be given to them to keep them in proper order. Grass paths are, and always have been, one of the principal features of the formal garden, and no amount of labour and care should be considered wasted in keeping them in good condition. Grass paths require far more labour and attention in keeping them in proper order than those that are composed of some hard substratum, especially if there is a considerable amount of traffic on them; if such is the case, it will be necessary to go over them every spring and re-turf places that have got worn out, afterwards well rolling them; then during the summer and autumn months they will require constant attention in the way of mowing and in keeping the edges well clipped so as to maintain a clean and tidy appearance.
In the Topiary garden it should always be remembered that everything should be kept in as trim and formal a condition as possible, with the exception of the different varieties of plants or shrubs that have been planted for the purpose of giving colour to the garden; amongst those, Nature should as far as is consistent be encouraged; but the walks, beds and borders, and everything else in the garden should be made to present as formal an appearance as possible. If the garden is a formal one, let as much as possible in it be made to have a formal appearance.
In writing on the Topiary garden, I have perhaps made it appear to some of those who may read it as hideously unnatural, and I am aware there are plenty who maintain that it is a style of gardening that has nothing to recommend or encourage about it. But those who think that the formal garden is without its charm make a very great mistake, as in every old world garden there is a charm that belongs to it only. In the woods and the parks let us by all means study and cultivate Nature as far as possible; but in the gardens we should have the trees to present as neat and formal an appearance as possible, a thing that can only be had by the aid of constant clipping or pruning.