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.