In previous chapters I have dealt almost entirely with the general formation of a Topiary garden; the soils and manures that are most suitable for the cultivation and welfare of the yew; and I tried to give my readers some idea of the general treatment required in the management of both old and young trees. In this chapter it is my intention to explain, as clearly as possible, the yearly management of a Topiary garden. The general routine of work in the Formal or Dutch garden is very much the same as in any other garden, with, of course, the exception of the clipping and training of the trees. That in itself adds a very great amount of extra labour to the general work. But fortunately it is work that requires to be done at the slackest time of the year for gardening, viz., the autumn. If the garden is an old established one, the arranging and planting of the different beds will have been carried out many years previous, very possibly at the time the trees were planted, at the foundation of the garden, although there is no doubt they will have been subject to many alterations during the years that have elapsed since the time when the garden was first formed. But in this chapter it is with the planting and arranging of the various flowering plants in the beds of a garden that has been laid out on the principle recommended in an earlier chapter of this work—on the formation of the Topiary garden—that I intend chiefly to deal with. [Illustration: THE COTTAGER’S PRIDE ] The planting of the beds and their various contents is in the Topiary garden a very important part of the work, and one that requires both a great amount of skill and forethought, as to a great extent on the arranging of the various kinds of flowering plants in the different beds will depend the future beauty of the garden. Of course I do not mean to imply that the arrangement of the various beds is of as much importance as the planting of the trees, as they differ in this respect so far, that once the trees in a Topiary garden are planted, they should under no circumstances whatever be altered; but in the case of the beds, they may be subject to many alterations, as circumstances may occur. The yew by itself is not a very bright or attractive tree, but when you see it planted in the Topiary garden and clipped into all kinds of unique shapes and figures, and all the available space in the beds is utilised for the purpose of massing either herbaceous or bedding plants, the effect is extremely beautiful; it is then that one sees a garden with a charm and beauty about it that is very seldom if ever met with in the more modern garden.