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.
If the rose and honeysuckle hedge is desired, have the carpenter make
a lattice screen of the desired height, or simply construct a rustic
fence and plant the creepers near it and train them so that they will
make a wall of flowers and leaves.
XVI
_Paths_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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