8 and 9 on pp. 22 and 23. Access from the slope down from the south side of the house is by steps flanked by three retained sections, the lowest being a formal pool. This reduces the steepness of the bank and avoids having one high wall or a series of parallel terraces. The beds can be planted with numerous choice shrubs-even, if wished, plants which are not compatible with the natural soil of the garden, for compost can be imported into such growing areas. INTEGRATING DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE GARDEN A situation sometimes occurs where the flower garden and the lawn near the house is only part of the garden in toto, with the remainder consisting of an old orchard copse, email paddock or the like. To integrate such a feature into the decorative part of the garden might be desirable but unacceptable in view of the maintenance it would involve. One way to integrate such features successfully with the rest of the garden is to have closely mown paths 4 to 6ft(i.25 to 2m) wide intersecting the area of semi-rough grass with access from the main lawn (see Figs. 10 and 11). The amount of planting can be flexible and it might consist of having naturalized bulbs in the grass and forming a conservation area for wild flowers. It would also offer sites for several specimen trees, the number and size depending on the space involved. To add further interest a group of shrubs could be planted in a fork which is formed where the paths divide. Shrub groups could each consist of three or five shrubs planted as close as 2ft(6ocm) apart so that a substantial individual unit is quickly formed. The planting positions would initially have to be kept free from weeds, but once the shrubs had established themselves the thickness of the growth would make continuous cultivation unnecessary. The ultimate spread of such shrubs, if, for example, some viburnums, variegated dogwood and cotoneaster were planted, should be considerable; and they could be sited so that their branches will not spread over the paths within a few years. Alternatively, the position of the mown paths can be altered to pass around the established groups. The concept of linking a naturalized area and the garden proper can be adapted to other conditions. There are new houses in Surrey, Hampshire and elsewhere, with fenced-in plots of Scots pine, birch and heather which had previously been part of indigenous heathland, and it might be better, instead of considering total clearance of the site, to relate the natural flora to the garden with grass walks or trodden paths of peat or, perhaps, sand. On heathland, much of the heather can remain in situ with paths being cut through it and with plantings made of specimen trees and shrubs that are at their happiest growing in acid soil. The shrubs would include cultivars of Erica and Calluna. Similarly, gardens on heavier soils or perhaps the sites of coppiced ash and hazel would provide conditions suitable for quite different plants-primroses, cowslips, hardy ferns and the like.