.0 
 
 ■^ 
 
 
 
PLANTING THE 
 HOME GROUNDS 
 
THE COUNTRYSIDE PRESS 
 
 BOOK PUBLISHERS 
 
 HARRISBURG, PA. 
 
1. An ideal approach to the house 
 
PLANTING THE 
 HOME GROUNDS 
 
 Jf HORACE McFARLAND 
 
 AUTHOR OF "getting ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES, 
 "my growing garden," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 HARRISBURG, PA. 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE PRESS 
 
 1915 
 
^3 
 
 ^'l^ 
 i\'^^ 
 
 Copyright, 1915, by 
 THE COUNTRYSIDE PRESS 
 
 NOV 18 1915 
 
 J. Horace McFarland Company 
 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 ©C(.A416438 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 SECTION PAGE 
 
 1 Make a Plan 13 
 
 2 Study Existing Conditions 14 
 
 3 Plant for Simplicity 17 
 
 4 Unreasoning Imitation 17 
 
 5 Open Spaces of Grass 20 
 
 6 Avoid Straight Lines ' ... 21 
 
 7 Slopes Rather than Terraces 26 
 
 8 Plan and Plant Suitably 29 
 
 9 The Small Dooryard 31 
 
 10 A Natural Plan for the Larger Areas 35 
 
 11 Plant for Succession of Bloom 36 
 
 12 For Spring Bloom 36 
 
 13 For Midsummer and Early Fall 37 
 
 14 For Late Fall 39 
 
 15 These Lists Are Incomplete 40 
 
 16 Hardy Herbaceous Perennials 41 
 
 17 Tropical and Tender Plants 45 
 
 18 Annual Flowers 46 
 
 19 Use Vines Freely 47 
 
 20 Vines to Cover Walls 49 
 
 21 Vines for Trellises, etc 54 
 
 22 Trailing Vines 56 
 
 23 Living Fences and Hedges 58 
 
 24 As to Preparation of Soil 60 
 
 25 Have a Compost Pile 61 
 
 26 Plants do not Like Wet Feet 62 
 
 27 Start with Good Soil 63 
 
 28 Planting Hints 63 
 
 29 Plants Require Trimming 64 
 
 30 About Watering 65 
 
 31, 32 To Make a Lawn 66, 69 
 
 33 Plant Something 69 
 
 (7) 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 THIS little treatise is intended as an introduc- 
 tion to home planting, and is not offered as an 
 encyclopedia of gardening. If it shall excite 
 interest in the right-doing of things that need to be 
 done about the home, and then lead to study and 
 investigation and work, it will be doing all I can 
 hope for. 
 
 Indeed, I take it that getting a man or a woman 
 thoughtfully interested in improving any ground — 
 be it the smallest ^ 'handkerchief-garden" possibility 
 about a city home, or a spacious area there or else- 
 where — is the main thing. Gardening does most 
 good as it is taken hardest, so to speak; and there is 
 not much hope for the home planter who is either 
 indifferent or imitative. Through the latter asser- 
 tion I mean to express the value of individuality 
 in home-improving, as compared with the doing of 
 a thing because someone else did it. 
 
 Let me explain. I went to see the lovely home of a 
 friend near Baltimore, whose garden is a joy with 
 planting that is most successful. In a beautiful vista 
 across the place the chief object in sight was a 
 gigantic mullein; just the common roadside weed, 
 if you please, but here splendidly decorative and 
 effective. Did I go home and at once transplant to 
 
 (9) 
 
10 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 my garden from the weedy pasture nearby a half- 
 dozen mulleins? Not at all; I admired Mrs. Bouton's 
 achievement and success, but I had enough sense 
 to know that it related to her particular place and 
 environment; it was hers, not mine. 
 
 Now the home-planting interest that put the 
 mullein where it would do the most good is the thing 
 to be excited. Home-ground improving needs a 
 home and grounds to improve ; but it needs interest, 
 thought, desire, and actual love, to be really and 
 individually successful. 
 
 There is also the preliminary requisite that, 
 before the planting of the home grounds is under- 
 taken, the advance work of clearing up shall have 
 been done. I am not advocating the use of shrubs 
 to hide dirty or disgraceful conditions that ought 
 rather to be changed entirely. If an ash-heap must 
 be tolerated, as a permanent feature, we may plant 
 to contain it. An outbuilding ought not to be so 
 decrepit, or ugly, or ill-placed as to require conceal- 
 ment; but, if it cannot be either removed or improved, 
 it may often be ameliorated by proper planting. But 
 let us clean up, carefully, as a preliminary to 
 planting. 
 
 Nor do I intend in these pages to propose plans 
 that will take the place of those, especially for con- 
 siderable areas, of a competent landscape architect. 
 Rather are these hints in the nature of the simple 
 home remedies, always at hand, good only for what 
 they say, and not ''patent medicines" guaranteed to 
 fit all diseases and persons and climates ! I want to 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 11 
 
 propose a right start for the smaller home grounds, 
 including the city back yard, the suburban home 
 plot of modest area, and the farm-home house-lot. 
 
 Just why people are scared of the landscape 
 architect I confess I do not understand ! Those able 
 gentlemen are nothing but doctors for home grounds 
 and larger areas, after all; and it ought to be no 
 harder to consult one for a planting problem than 
 it is for the housewife to go to her physician for a 
 bad headache ! Often the cost of the consultation is 
 trifling compared with the saving in the doing that 
 follows. I know a man who schemed and screwed and 
 shifted and twisted to get for nothing plans for the 
 planting of the grounds around his pretentious 
 home, eventually paying about a thousand dollars 
 more for trees and plants because he had "saved" a 
 hundred dollars on the landscape architect. 
 
 True, some of the younger ''landscapers" take 
 themselves too seriously, and would feel insulted to 
 be asked to make a ten-dollar suggestion; but others 
 of more ability have better sense, and some very 
 good college and university schools are now turning 
 out every year bright young men who have the 
 principles of landscape design well sewed into their 
 brains, and with a strong desire to make good first 
 on little things. 
 
 And, before I venture into the details that must 
 justify this little book, let me mention other and 
 far better books that the sincere home-ground 
 improver can to advantage possess. Bailey's "Man- 
 ual of Gardening" is just that, and more, for it tells 
 
12 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 also of home-ground design and planting in a funda- 
 mental way. Mrs. Ely's books on gardening — ''A 
 Woman's Hardy Garden" and its successors, are 
 of use for the larger grounds. The book "My Grow- 
 
 ing Garden" tells of my 
 
 own trials and triumphs; 
 and the library that con- 
 tains Bailey's ''Standard 
 Cyclopedia of Horticul- 
 ture," in six great volumes, 
 has an unfailing resource 
 for every planting problem, 
 whether of a great estate 
 or a window-box. All may 
 be had through the pub- 
 lishers of this little book. 
 
 But, now addressing the 
 subject more intimately, 
 let me say that the saving 
 touch of greenery always, 
 and of plentiful flowers 
 usually, can be had about 
 any home in America, from 
 British Columbia to the 
 Isthmus of Panama (and so on south, of course), 
 regardless of sun, cold, heat, soil, or exposure. In 
 smoky Pittsburgh or in sandy Florida something 
 will draw beauty from the ground and the air for 
 your eyes, if but a little care begins and continues 
 the effort for home-betterment. 
 
 For comfortable reference, the subjects relating 
 
 Fig. 2. Showing the eflfect of 
 having lawn, trees, shrubs, walks, 
 etc., arranged in straight lines. 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 13 
 
 to planting the home grounds will be set off in num- 
 bered sections, as they follow. 
 
 1. Make a Plan. Begin right, by first making 
 a plan of your home grounds, however small. Have 
 this plan to a definite 
 "scale," even if it be a 
 mere outline. The ''scale" 
 I refer to may be of a 
 quarter- or half-inch or an 
 inch, on paper, for each 
 foot on the ground you 
 are considering. Anyone 
 has a yardstick to meas- 
 ure the place, and the 
 same yardstick may be 
 used to lay off little 
 squares on a sheet of plain 
 paper, ruling it at right 
 angles to quarter-, half-, 
 or inch rectangles. Then 
 locate everything — the 
 house, the fence or hedge, 
 the entrances, the out- 
 buildings, the paths — if 
 they exist; the trees and 
 shrubs — if there are any. Get a north and south 
 line indicated, so you will know about what the sun 
 will do for you. 
 
 Properly made, this plan will show the home 
 grounds about as you would see them from an 
 aeroplane passing slowly over your place fifty or a 
 
 Fig. 3. Showing the advantage 
 of placing the features of the lawn 
 in irregular order and employing 
 curves. Note the open spaces. 
 
14 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 hundred feet above. Figures 2, 3, and 8 will show 
 you what the plan will look like. If there are ever- 
 green trees on the place, indicate them like the three 
 such as shown to the left of the path a half-inch 
 from the bottom of Figure 3. Leaf -dropping or 
 ' 'deciduous" trees are properly shown by an irregu- 
 lar encircling line that will give their spread of 
 branches. Shrub groupings are dotted in, as at the 
 left of Figure 3. 
 
 Now if you are of mind to materially change any 
 features of the place, make another plan of the 
 same dimensions, with the fixed boundaries and 
 features only upon it, so that you may have oppor- 
 tunity to sketch in the new features. This is a 
 ''planting plan,'^ and with the two plans you may 
 have a complete "before and after" view. 
 
 2. Study Existing Conditions. Look at the plan 
 you have made to show existing conditions; think it 
 over. If there are existing trees, plants, or vines that 
 are to remain, the work to be done must relate 
 materially to these. Are they so located that they 
 may be used to plant in pictures of God's colors — 
 pictures that mean something, and get somewhere? 
 Are the existing growths so located as to be really 
 doing something for these pictures to, from, and 
 along the house? 
 
 Often a tree will seem to be in the wrong place; but 
 be careful about removing it or other well-estab- 
 lished and healthy growths. John Muir once said, 
 *'Any fool can cut down a tree in a hurry, but it 
 takes even God a long time to grow one." Some- 
 
Iig. 4. An jnst:iiir<' ,,7 tlir ('i|<m t ot y<,\\i ncigtil,,,! 
 related to your own lioiue 
 
 (15) 
 
 '■"ma 
 
 ;,ujuiitLs as 
 
IG PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 times a rearrangement of lesser objects will permit 
 the developing of a fine tree to a great advantage, 
 or of a noble shrub to be part of that picture-gallery 
 about the home I shall keep harping upon. I remem- 
 ber one tree directly in the center of the approach 
 to a home that seemed for a while impossibly placed. 
 SufTicient thought worked out a simple rearrange- 
 ment of the walk that left the tree as a charming 
 incident. 
 
 But sometimes a tree or plant is hopelessly out 
 of place and must be removed. One efficient, well- 
 placed tree or shrub is worth a dozen that are 
 crowded, or out of place, or sickly. It took me nearly 
 a year to make up my mind about a certain hemlock 
 that was interfering with the dignity of a great 
 sycamore. When I did take it out, the betterment 
 was instantaneously obvious. 
 
 It is not improper to consider your neighbor's 
 grounds in this connection. Of course you cannot 
 cut or plant for him, but often his tree or shrub or 
 grouping will be a part of your home picture-gallery, 
 and there is no dishonesty in thus annexing his 
 grounds (See Figure 4) . In a certain other case, a man 
 planted with care a long garden border, the vertical 
 axis of his home place. He was a little higher than 
 his neighbor across the street, who could thus get 
 full benefit of this rose-decked axis. But the neigh- 
 bor avoided thinking, and built a kitchen lattice- 
 screen right across that axis, shutting it off for both ! 
 He cut himself and his neighbor out from the full- 
 seeing use of a five hundred dollar improvement. 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 17 
 
 3. Plant for Simplicity. Not infrequently the 
 unguided feeling for improvement, the perfectly 
 proper desire to get the benefit of greenery about 
 the home, leads to mixed-up or complex planting. 
 Contrary to casual thought, that simpUcity which is 
 permanently satisfactory is more difficult to attain 
 than a general mess! Recall your feeling when 
 planting a tree or shrub purchased from a persuasive 
 agent, or selected from an enticing catalogue with- 
 out any clear idea as to where you would plant it. 
 With no thought of making the plant part of a 
 picture, you probably placed it in the center of the 
 largest open space you had. If several plants came 
 at the same time, what more likely than that you 
 located them in a row, and at equal distances? I 
 remember a dooryard in which the home-owner had 
 planted at regular intervals in four straight lines a 
 dozen Kilmarnock willows which a slick agent had 
 induced him to buy, and which produced in time a 
 grotesque and ludicrous appearance. The impulse 
 was right, but the uninformed action was unfor- 
 tunate! One good climbing rose, for instance, such 
 as the Dorothy Perkins shown, planted close to the 
 house, in Figure 5, is worth far more than a whole 
 yard full of messy and purposeless planting. 
 
 4. Unreasoning Imitation. Too often these plant- 
 ing messes come about because of imitation without 
 thought. The value of individuality has already been 
 urged; why put an expensive blue spruce in the 
 exact center of your little lawn simply because your 
 neighbor did it? Consider well the plantings that 
 
18 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 impress you as beautiful; but, before adopting any 
 one of them for your planting, also consider your 
 conditions, your home, your exposure to sun and 
 wind. Think particularly of the picture idea, to 
 and from your living-room window, your porch, 
 
 Fig. 5. One good hardy climbing rose, properly placed, is far 
 more effective than a messy planting 
 
 your front door. Be guided more by your study and 
 observation than by the persuasions of the agent 
 or the catalogue, capable as either may be; remem- 
 ber that the salesman is selling, and will pass on, 
 but you must live with what you plant. 
 
 One form of imitation is safe — the imitation of 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 19 
 
 nature. That lovely country roadside you remem- 
 ber passing — there were no straight lines, few indi- 
 vidual specimens, no formality at all — and you 
 liked it! Remember the pleasing mass effects you 
 have seen in a really good public park, where the 
 capable landscape engineer has studied mostly in 
 God's open book of planting — you will quickly see 
 pictures for your own little grounds, rather than a 
 formal orchard effect, or a painful specimen showing. 
 
 All this time you may be making plans on the 
 second one of the plots you have prepared. It is 
 fascinating work, this planting with a pencil, for 
 you can change and transplant most easily on 
 paper. 
 
 One very good way to get a fair view of what is 
 to happen is to select the trees and shrubs you think 
 you will want, all of them. Then let each be repre- 
 sented by a bit of cardboard or paper, clipped to 
 an approximate circle. Take green for the ever- 
 greens, blue for the deciduous trees, yellow for the 
 shrubs, for instance. From a good catalogue or 
 from Bailey's Cyclopedia get an idea of how large 
 a spread on the ground each tree or plant will take 
 in seven years from planting, and proportion your 
 cardboard dummies that way. For example, a good 
 lilac may be expected to grow to a diameter of five 
 feet in ordinarily fertile ground within seven years. 
 If your plan is on a scale of a quarter-inch of paper 
 space for each foot of actual ground area, the yellow 
 circle representing the lilac would be about an inch 
 and a quarter in diameter. You might write the 
 
20 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 name on it, also, and a figure to represent the height 
 — say 8, for it will reach about that height in feet. 
 
 Now these little disks can be moved around, just 
 as the artist arranges the details of a picture before 
 he begins to draw. Too many? Better to find it out 
 thus before you buy! Too high? For a sun-loving 
 plant you have only a shady spot? Now is the time" 
 to settle that ! This is interesting work, and it is a 
 saving of money, too; for you will not buy much 
 more than you can properly place and plant. 
 ^ There is one point to here enforce. 
 
 Many good landscape architects say that 
 it is proper to plant more than will even- 
 ©) ) tually flourish, for the better immediate 
 
 effect. One man says, 'Tlant thick, thin 
 ^ quick!" Another insists, "Plant thick, 
 never thin at all," for he believes in the 
 effect of close masses, not in individual 
 specimens. Both plans have their merits, 
 , and I suspect the right way is to follow 
 P^W^^ both, in part. 
 
 5. Open Spaces of Grass. Nothing so 
 ^ adds to the restful character of the home 
 _. I grounds as an open space of turf, be it 
 
 ^x\\ ever so small. Even the space of two yards 
 (J]b| square (but not laid out square, by any 
 ^ yycp means !) in clean grass will be far superior 
 pj g in effect to the same space jammed with 
 A series plauts. I havc a friend who has his twenty- 
 teriess^se?- foot dooryard so disposed as to make it 
 
 p e n t i n e 
 curves. 
 
 
 look park-like and far larger than it really 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 21 
 
 is. He does it (a) by maintaining a little bit of lawn, 
 and (6) by planting the profusion of flowers he 
 always has in simple borders. Fig- 
 ures 2 and 3 show how the same 
 space may be crowded or open, 
 according to its poor or proper 
 arrangement, and the open areas for 
 grass are seen to appear at once in 
 Figure 3. 
 
 6. Avoid Straight Lines. Nature 
 has little use in her work for ''the 
 shortest distance between two 
 points." Our home grounds are usu- 
 ally bounded by a rectangle, and 
 that affords straightness enough. 
 Judicious curves greatly help in 
 making beautiful home grounds, and 
 they afford natural places for groups 
 of plants or small trees, as well. 
 Refer again to Figures 2 and 3 for 
 evidence as to curves. Plants them- 
 selves avoid the straight-edge, and 
 will, if left alone, soon open out into 
 grace, and get away from the un- 
 necessary and unnatural direct line. But curves 
 without reason are mere wiggles, and thus worse 
 than the severely straight disposition. Figures 6 
 and 7 contrast the bad and the better arrangement, 
 and the walk from the front in Figure 3 also shows 
 a desirable curve. 
 
 But straight lines have their uses in the arrange- 
 
 Pleasing 
 curves, because the 
 bends vary consider- 
 ably in size. 
 
22 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 ment of home grounds. In a larger area, where 
 separate beds of all one sort of bloom, and also 
 economic plantings of vegetables, are desirable, the 
 rectangle has its place. (Personally, I am not in 
 love with flower beds as compared with borders; for 
 the latter give so much better opportunity and 
 setting, though it is of course not always possible 
 to border-treat a whole place.) The plan outlined 
 in Figure 8 provides a satisfactory combination of 
 useful curves and useful straight lines, and I can 
 see how it has many fine pictures to and from the 
 house-center. Purely as a memorandum, and not 
 at all as a statement of especial suitability, the items 
 of the planting of this larger area in Figure 8 are 
 given, at the foot of this page. 
 
 Another straight-line use is shown in the 
 hydrangea hedge that shuts off sight of a vegetable 
 garden, as in Figure 9. Just why an orderly vege- 
 
 Trees and flowers 
 
 used in the plan (Fig. 8) 
 
 on 
 
 the opposite page 
 
 B. Birch Trees 
 
 5. 
 
 Yucca 
 
 25. 
 
 Larkspur, Annual 
 
 E. Elm 
 
 6. 
 
 Chrysanthemum 
 
 26. 
 
 Lilies 
 
 F. Fruit 
 
 7. 
 
 Geranium 
 
 27. 
 
 Dahlia 
 
 H. Hemlock 
 
 8. 
 
 Hyacinth 
 
 28. 
 
 Lychnis 
 
 M. Maple 
 
 9. 
 
 Tuberous Begonia 
 
 29. 
 
 Cosmos 
 
 P. Scotch Pine 
 
 10. 
 
 Forget-me-not 
 
 30. 
 
 Golden Glow 
 
 S. Shrubs 
 
 11. 
 
 Early Phlox 
 
 31. 
 
 Lily-of-the-Valley 
 
 a. Evergreens 
 
 12. 
 
 Late Phlox 
 
 32. 
 
 Roses 
 
 b. Box 
 
 13. 
 
 Coreopsis 
 
 33. 
 
 Sweet Peas 
 
 X. Tulips 
 
 14. 
 
 Cockscomb 
 
 
 (Spencer Hybrids) 
 
 o. Narcissi 
 
 15. 
 
 Gaillardia 
 
 34. 
 
 Sweet Peas (Ear- 
 
 O. Peonies 
 
 16. 
 
 Snapdragon 
 
 
 liest of All) 
 
 * Hydrangea • 
 
 17. 
 
 Platycodon 
 
 35. 
 
 Aster 
 
 .-. Phlox, Hardy 
 
 19. 
 
 Oriental Poppies 
 
 36. 
 
 Shirley Poppy 
 
 Barberry Hedge 
 
 20. 
 
 Larkspur, Hardy 
 
 37. 
 
 Verbena 
 
 Privet Hedge 
 
 21. 
 
 Canterbury Bells 
 
 38. 
 
 Nicotiana 
 
 1. Sweet William 
 
 22. 
 
 Gypsophila 
 
 39. 
 
 Begonia 
 
 2. Foxglove 
 
 23. 
 
 Heliotrope 
 
 40. 
 
 Physostegia 
 Phlox, Annual 
 
 3. Hollyhock 
 
 24. 
 
 Stokesia 
 
 41. 
 
 4. Privet Hedge 
 
 
 
 
 
SRI- 
 
 
 a 
 
 r^ 
 
 © 
 
24 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 table garden should be screened off I do not know, 
 but some prefer to consider the vegetables as unorna- 
 mental, and to be kept out of sight. A hedge of 
 SpiroBa Van Houttei would be as good or better, or a 
 lilac hedge, or one of the lovely Abelia grandiflora. 
 While I am discussing straight lines, let me men- 
 tion the more set and formal use of such lines, as in 
 
 
 Fig. 9. The use of a straight-liue hedge as a screen. 
 The plant is Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora 
 
 the terrace view shown in Figure 10. This was a 
 beautiful and successful effect, but I beg of the 
 readers of this humble little book of ideas for start- 
 ing home planting to note that it is not shown for 
 imitation. It was the result of the development of 
 the plan of an able landscape architect, made after 
 much study, and at large expense, and just for this 
 one location. It would be a sheer crime for an 
 amateur to try to work out such a planting. Most 
 
26 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 of us home-lovers can write a pretty good love- 
 letter to the one girl, or to the wife; but we are not 
 just ready to produce a Song of Solomon or a 
 Browning epic! Let us stick to the love-letter class 
 in the home planting ! 
 
 7. Slopes Rather than Terraces. If your home 
 yard rises sharply from the highway, a proper access 
 must be had. A terrace is a step cut in the ground. 
 Necessary occasionally for a considerable ascent, it is 
 always difficult to keep in order. Nature slopes all 
 her banks; let us use slopes if possible. Sometimes 
 careful grading will bring the last steep slope or 
 rise next the house, and there we may use steps to 
 the entrance, securing in the rest of the slope a great 
 chance for effective planting of vines — honeysuckle 
 will cover any bank; Multiflora, Wichuraiana or 
 Rugosa roses; matrimony vine, wistaria, trumpet 
 vine, Dutchman's pipe, and a dozen others, all hardy 
 and permanent, will make a steep slope a thing of 
 beauty. 
 
 Of one thing the home planter who is undertaking 
 actual change of grade must make sure : There must 
 be a footing of level or nearly level space about the 
 house, unless, as in a hillside or a cliff-surmounting 
 location, there is an architectural treatment not at 
 all within the scope of this treatise. For the simpler 
 home, the footing of ground is essential. Without 
 it, the house may appear to be insecurely placed, to 
 be slipping down hill. It is also most desirable 
 that the slope of the terrace include a double curve, 
 however gentle. Follow a flattened-out letter S, 
 
Fig. 12. Example of deficient footing for the house, 
 and of incongruous steps 
 
 (28) 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 29 
 
 laid down, rather than the half of a capital O, also 
 laid down. A fine example of a successful slope, 
 pleasingly planted, is seen in Figure 11, in which 
 case a sloping path did away entirely with any 
 approach steps. Yet steps may be made, and 
 often are made, an 
 
 exceedingly attractive J ^. 
 
 featureof an approach, mi^^ "^^^ 
 
 if planted carefully, ^r^ ,^Jli 
 
 and thus decorated ^"^'/^j^ -^ .Hwiiv///*^ 
 with greenery rather ^^^.'^^'^kI) %^\i''^'^^-' 
 than with architecture. ^i"»A 'v^| T^^-^4&; '/^''^ 
 Figure 12 shows two " r^^^,^! fe^/^% J:^ 
 home-ground misfor- 
 tunes— a side-hill house . V. '/J 
 
 without a footing, and ^ig 13. The small e v e r g r e e n s 
 
 *' seemed far enough from the walk when 
 
 expensive steps that t^ey were planted, but six years of 
 
 ^ growth showed the mistake. 
 
 are an incongruous 
 
 combination of formalit}^ and informality. If these 
 steps, or rather the stones at the sides of the steps, 
 were covered with Boston ivy or Virginia creeper, 
 the condition would be much bettered. 
 
 8. Plan and Plant Suitably To be attracted by a 
 stately elm in perfection after a generation's growth 
 in a park, and therefore to plant an elm in a little 
 dooryard is a mistake not infrequently made To 
 make the best of the space at command, we must 
 plant to suit it, considering (a) the space we have, 
 (6) the exposure to the sun, (c) the character of the 
 soil, and (d) the ultimate size of the tree or plant of 
 which we are enamored. Figure 13 shows how an 
 
30 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 unwholesome crowding resulted from lack of con- 
 sideration of the last item. Again, if it is a tree you 
 are planting, consider carefully its mature shape — 
 whether it makes a rounded head, or one that is 
 pyramidal, or resembling an inverted cone. The 
 grand elms of New England are of the latter shape, 
 
 Eig. 14. Maple; the heaviest 
 growth in the bottom branches; 
 hence not well suited for street 
 planting, where long trunks are 
 desirable. 
 
 Fig. 15. Elm; the heaviest 
 growth at the top, inducing 
 the tree to have a high trunk; 
 hence well suited for street 
 planting. 
 
 while a sugar maple takes up more room below. 
 See Figures 14 and 15 for examples, and note 
 that shrubs also have a definite shape, not always! 
 amenable to training. Here the use of the little] 
 disks of scale -size previous to planting wouldj 
 avoid some errors, at least. The planter must 
 remember that the size of the small shrub received 
 from the nursery has little to do with what is to 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 31 
 
 happen in two, three, or ten years. Once I planted 
 two new honeysuckles as received from a propagator 
 of Chinese shrubs. Both were the same size then; 
 but in three years one had grown seven feet high and 
 across, while the other proved to be a trailer, and 
 was covered out of sight until I moved it. 
 
 9. The Small Dooryard. As I have insisted, any 
 little space can be planted to some success and to 
 some beauty. The window-sills and the fire-escapes 
 of city tenements shame many a home-owner who 
 has an available square yard of space as compared 
 with a square inch in worse conditions. If there is 
 the will to plant and the heart to tend, the green 
 will surely come, and probably the flowers. 
 
 About the door vines may be grown, for the fine 
 Boston ivy {Ampelopsis tricuspidata) will push up 
 from the space of three bricks, if a little encourage- 
 ment of good soil is there. The Japanese honey- 
 suckle will do as well, and south of Pennsylvania 
 the English ivy {Hedera Helix) will provide a per- 
 manently elegant green growth, while in the colder 
 regions the sturdy Evonymus radicans, also ever- 
 green, will work up toward the sun, with beauty 
 along the way. 
 
 Clematis paniculata, as shown in Figure 16, or any 
 one of a dozen glorious climbing roses of the newer 
 type, better than the famous Crimson Rambler, 
 will grow over the doorway with sun part of the day, 
 especially in the morning. 
 
 If the spot is entirely sunless, take a lesson from 
 the deep woods, and plant some of our lovely native 
 
32 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 hardy ferns, taking care to give them, if at all 
 possible, a little of the forest soil of rotted leaves in 
 which they flourish best. (See Section 24.) The lily- 
 of-the-valley (bulbous, planted in late fall, perma- 
 nent) will bloom among the ferns in spring before the 
 fronds of the latter do their fascinating unfolding. 
 Our superb mountain laurel {Kalmia latifolia) will 
 live and stay green in dense shade, but it must have 
 a little sun to bring bloom. The equally fine great 
 rhododendron of the North {Rhododendron maximum) 
 will produce its flowers of aristocratic elegance in 
 deep shade, if it is footed or rooted in leaf-mold, and 
 if it is kept moist by watering in dry times through 
 a constant mulch of dead leaves, which as they decay 
 form its food. 
 
 In partial shade pansies bloom well, particularly 
 the so-called tufted pansies (Viola cornuta). The 
 hardy English daisy is also there at home, as also are 
 the fall-blooming sedum, the fine Japanese anemone, 
 and the various forms of hardy phlox. 
 
 Of course the hardy bulbs will bloom in shady 
 places — the hyacinths, the various desirable nar- 
 cissi or daffodils, the crocuses, snowdrops, and scillas; 
 but they may not find strength enough to be per- 
 manent. So. too, the tulips can be had to throw 
 brightness into dark places, and the splendid colors 
 of the Darwin tulips, if selected to fit, can play a 
 symphony of shades in a shady corner. All these 
 bulbs must, of course, be planted in the fall, at any 
 time up to freezing, save that the daffodils do best 
 if planted as early as the bulbs can be had. 
 
Fig. 16. Clematis paniculata as a porch vine 
 
 (33) 
 
34 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 I want to say a special word about the columbines 
 for shady dooryards, and at the same time say that, 
 because they are adaptable to hard conditions of 
 light, there need be no idea that they will fail to do 
 even better with more sun encouragement. The 
 native sort, Aquilegia Canadensis, will carpet a 
 shaded corner even with little moisture, and in 
 spring its red-and-yellow flowers will nod in every 
 breeze. The taller sorts are able to endure partial 
 shade, and their flowers — of the selected long- 
 spurred types — are long-enduring and lovely. If the 
 flower-stems are cut down promptly when the blooms 
 fade, there is often a second crop of flowers. 
 
 But our dooryard or back yard may be sunny, and 
 not shaded. The vines will grow, and more of them — 
 trumpet vine, wistaria, the clematises, the annual 
 hyacinth bean, and very many others. The fine 
 blue spirea, which is not a spirea at all, will fairly 
 glow in the sunshine; the hardy phlox will give 
 richest coloring and a splendid showing all the late 
 summer; the deutzias, spireas, weigelas, and hy- 
 drangeas will do superbly, and the golden wands of 
 the forsythia will open in earliest spring. 
 
 Is it sandy in the yard, as along the seacoast? 
 Sunflowers and hypericums will grow; the vincas or 
 periwinkles will fairly cover themselves with bloom; 
 the lovely little portulacas will defy both sand and 
 sun; blazing star and cobea will bloom. For rocks, 
 there are hundreds of lovely plants : campanulas, the 
 exquisite moss-pink, the sweet daphne, the hardy 
 cactuses, and so on. For heavy clay many hardy 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 35 
 
 plants are available : the lilacs, the altheas, the colum- 
 bine, the gas plant, the lovely forget-me-not. There 
 are annuals of merit also for clay, including sweet 
 peas and zinnias. 
 
 10. A Natural Plan for the Larger Areas. All that 
 has been said of the dooryard applies to the larger 
 grounds, and more, for here may be planted the 
 shrubs of more robust growth, as well as smaller 
 trees. I can suggest no better way to improve and 
 plan a suburban lot, a small country home, the farm- 
 house flower garden, than to propose careful con- 
 sideration of the plants and trees native to the 
 neighborhood. In a certain city, a well-planted yard 
 on a prominent street shows for three midsummer 
 weeks a superb rose-mallow in bloom, always attract- 
 ing attention; yet, within two miles of the spot, two 
 acres of the same plant bloom almost unseen, and 
 tens of thousands of ''commuters" see — or don't see 
 — hundreds of acres softly aglow with the same rose- 
 mallow as they cross the Hackensack marshes daily ! 
 How much better to individualize these plants of 
 the neighborhood, sure to do well, than to work only 
 with the monotony of geranium, coleus, canna, and 
 verbena! A few trips to the woods and meadows 
 nearest the home — and I have purposely spoken of 
 beautiful but common flowers seen near to the 
 greatest congestion of urban population in the 
 United States, having also seen many lovely wild 
 things in bloom close to the smoke of Chicago — will 
 give suggestions worth while. 
 
 There are nurserymen who specialize in the hardy 
 
36 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 wild flowers, and from whom may be had plants of 
 better transplanting quality than can be ''collected" 
 from the woods. Moreover, I want here to record 
 my deprecation of the ravishing of the nearby bits 
 of wild nature yet remaining. It is unfair and selfish 
 to take from the woods and meadows anything that, 
 if left, will make them more beautiful for those who 
 come after you. A skillful transplanter can at times 
 thin out a long-time-growing clump of columbine or 
 wild phlox so that its beauty will shortly be en- 
 hanced; but to ruthlessly take up all of anything is 
 most improper and unfair. As I have said, there are 
 nurserymen who grow better plants, which you can 
 have delivered to your door for a small sum. 
 
 11. Plant for Succession of Bloom and Interest. 
 The proper home garden should show something 
 interesting every day from snow to snow, from crocus 
 to chrysanthemum. Often there is a fine burst of 
 spring bloom, followed by a lack of flowers in the 
 summer months. This need not be, for, with care in 
 selection, something attractive can be had all the 
 growing season. Even with purely hardy plants this 
 may be arranged, and it is quite easy if some of the 
 good annuals are also included. A few suggestions 
 follow; they should be considered in connection with 
 the remarks as to location and condition found in 
 Section 9. 
 
 12. For Spring Bloom. This list is made pur- 
 posely sparse, as in every locality the spring pro- 
 vides a profusion of flowers. 
 
 Bulbs, planted the autumn before, hardy, and may 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 37 
 
 be left in the ground; other plants may follow them 
 as foliage dies away: Snowdrops, crocus, scilla, 
 early and late tulips, hyacinths of many kinds (may 
 freeze if unprotected in the far North), daffodils, and 
 other narcissi; and for shady places trilliums, dog's- 
 tooth violets, lily-of-the-valley. 
 
 Hardy, Low-growing Plants, set the autumn before, 
 if possible: Moss pink, columbines, sweet williams, 
 clove pinks, dwarf and German iris; and for shade, 
 blue phlox, spring beauty, bluets, Virginia cowslip, 
 toothwort, moccasin flowers, Dutchman's breeches, 
 hepatica, bloodroot; many ferns; English daisy, 
 hardy primroses, periwinkle. 
 
 Shrubs and Larger Plants: Forsythia, Deutzia 
 gracilis, early spireas, peonies, bleeding-heart, ori- 
 ental poppies, lychnis, German and Siberian iris, 
 many lilacs, spice-bush, many mock oranges, many 
 roses, snowballs and other viburnums, dogwoods, 
 weigelas, bush honeysuckles, elders, the smaller 
 magnolias; also, good but less hardy, tamarix, 
 Japan quince, jasminum. Azalea mollis and A. 
 amoena. 
 
 Trees, especially small trees suited for lawns: 
 Double-flowering apples, wild crab, Chinese crab, 
 Siberian crab, magnolias, white dogwood, hawthorns, 
 yellow-wood, red-bud, Japan tree lilac, koelreuteria. 
 
 13. For Midsummer and Early Fall. This is the 
 time when bloom is likely to be scarce, and the plant- 
 ing ought to be carefully worked out. 
 
 Bulbs, not hardy over winter, planted early and 
 in several successive plantings (except the hardy 
 
Fig. 17. Auratum lily; blooms in midsummer 
 
 (38) 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 39 
 
 lilies, which should go into the ground the autumn 
 previous) : Gladioli, tigridias, and tuberoses ; many 
 fine hardy lilies (must be planted without manure, 
 using peat or leaf -mold). Dahlias are superb till 
 frost (tuberous roots, planted in spring). 
 
 Hardy Herbs, Shrubs and Plants, planted early 
 in same season: Japanese iris, hollyhocks, perennial 
 sunflowers, golden glow and other rudbeckias, 
 monardas, cardinal flower (in wet places), American 
 rhododendrons (in shady places, not in Hmestone 
 soil), late spireas, achilleas, tansy, perennial phlox, 
 caryopteris, hemerocallis, funkias, later Canterbury 
 bells and larkspurs, fire-pink, rose-mallow, water- 
 lilies and lotuses (for the aquatic garden), boneset, 
 Joe-pye, black cohosh, dwarf horse-chestnut, core- 
 opsis, aconite, purple loosestrife, sumacs, white elder. 
 
 Annuals, grown from seed the same season: 
 Alyssum, candytuft, summer chrysanthemums, core- 
 opsis, marigolds, coxcombs, portulaca, annual sun- 
 flowers, ten-weeks stocks, four-o'clocks, verbenas, 
 clarkia, zinnias, garden asters, Shirley poppies, 
 Drummond phlox, dwarf nasturtiums, dianthus 
 (perennials and biennials). 
 
 Large trees that bloom or are otherwise especially 
 attractive: Sweet chestnut, tulip or liriodendron, 
 basswood, locust, catalpas, maples, liquidambar. 
 
 14. For Late Fall, until Cut off by Frost, and for 
 Winter. Including some fine plants, to round out the 
 season; there are many others. 
 
 Plants: Various hydrangeas, various goldenrods, 
 many fine hardy asters, boltonias, hardy chrysan- 
 
40 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 themums (some of the Japanese varieties become 
 hardy) . 
 
 Plants and Trees Attractive in fall by reason of 
 showy fruits are exceedingly useful, and have not 
 been availed of to any great extent; most of them 
 furnish also handsome bloom earlier in the season: 
 All the dogwoods, including kinds with red, black 
 and blue berries and red bark; snowberry and Indian 
 currant; all the viburnums (these are superb both 
 in flower and fruit, and some have foliage that colors 
 brilliantly) ; both American and European mountain 
 ashes; witch-hazel blooms about freezing-time; 
 foliage and fruit of Thunberg's and the common 
 barberry, black alder, red-berried alder. 
 
 Particularly consider the Japanese or Thunberg's 
 Barberry (Berberis Thunbergii) as a shrub useful 
 in many places, and individually beautiful all the 
 time. It will grow in almost dense shade as well as 
 in full sun; it ' 'breaks" in early spring into dainty 
 leaves, followed by pleasing yellow flowers, quickly 
 maturing into bright red berries; the midsummer 
 foliage is of richly varied deep greens, and it early 
 begins to assume brilliant fall tones, which hold 
 in crimson and scarlet until heavy freezing; the 
 scarlet fruit persists all winter, and it is exceedingly 
 beautiful when encased in sleet or partly covered 
 with soft snow; at all times the shrub is of gracefully 
 arching form, and it requires no trimming. 
 
 15. These Lists are Incomplete. They are intended 
 to start home-improvers in various parts of America 
 to noting for themselves the trees, shrubs, vines, and 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 41 
 
 plants that are doing best and covering the longest 
 seasons of usefulness in their own neighborhoods. 
 If this inquiry is made, it will undoubtedly result 
 in much successful home-ground planting out of the 
 ordinary, and both permanent and pleasing. It 
 should be remembered that many herbs and shrubs 
 can be easily transplanted from nearby woods and 
 fields, and these are often fully as attractive as the 
 garden kinds. Some nurserymen make a specialty 
 of the ^Vild" plants, as I have said, and others show 
 assortments of ornamental plants for special pur- 
 poses that are usually worthy. It may be generally 
 depended upon that the nurserymen advertising in 
 the garden periodicals are the more enterprising, and 
 are more likely to have a varied assortment. Some 
 of the older nurseries have as yet paid but scant 
 attention to ornamental trees and shrubs, resting 
 their offerings upon a few "standards" that are 
 already overplanted. The varied exposures and 
 opportunities of the United States are worth better 
 planting than can happen when the choice is 
 restricted to Norway maple, cut-leaved birch, ori- 
 ental plane, two or three deutzias and spireas, the 
 overdone hydrangea "p. g.," golden glow, Norway 
 spruce, and the glaring Colorado blue spruce. Let us 
 branch out into the glory of a flora that includes 
 literally thousands of fine trees, plants, and shrubs 
 to choose from, ''for every place and purpose," as 
 one enterprising nurseryman puts it. 
 
 16. Hardy Herbaceous Perennials. Especial men- 
 tion must be made of the plants that are generally 
 
42 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 hardy, being ''perennial" — as living over from year 
 to year with little or no protection in winter, and 
 ''herbaceous" — dying down to the ground in winter. 
 
 Fig. 18. A good border of mostly hardy herbaceous 
 perennials. 
 
 (These plants are by this term "herbaceous" dis- 
 tinguished from other plants which are called 
 "shrubs" because they have a persisting woody 
 frame that lives partially or wholly from year to 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 43 
 
 year, losing foliage in winter if called also ' 'decidu- 
 ous" — the lilac, for instance — or keeping foliage if 
 ^'evergreen," as does the laurel or the rhododendron.) 
 Hardy herbaceous plants have been mentioned 
 freely in these pages, but it is well to separately call 
 attention to their value for home planting. They are 
 usually easy to grow, easy to transplant, and inex- 
 pensive to purchase; without them, a home planting 
 
 Fig. 19. A rich herbaceous planting along a stone walk. 
 
 would suffer in the loss of the peonies, the delphin- 
 iums, the phloxes, rudbeckias, funkias, and scores of 
 other favorites. Very many of the wild plants that 
 are loved for beauty are herbaceous — as the asters, 
 mertensias, and goldenrods. It is well to note par- 
 ticularly the significance of this herbaceous feature, 
 because the overlooking of what the little ''root" in 
 April may become in August is likely to cause con- 
 fusion. For instance, the pleasing "day lily," or 
 
44 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 funkia, can easily be planted in a foot of space in 
 spring, but its handsome foliage may cover a circle 
 of a yard's diameter by midsummer. 
 
 Fig. 20. A fine herbaceous planting along a grass 
 walk in the garden 
 
 It is wise for the home planter who reads these 
 pages to secure for his further enlightenment the 
 catalogues of nurserymen who specialize in the hardy 
 herbaceous perennials, for there are many of them 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 45 
 
 not commonly grown that will prove particularly 
 useful in the varied and individualistic planting I am 
 preaching of in these pages. Hardy herbaceous 
 perennials are the most easily managed and inex- 
 pensive colors on the palette of the home artist who 
 is planting growing pictures. 
 
 Figures 18, 19, and 20 are illustrations of the effects 
 attainable in the use of hardy herbaceous perennials 
 in combination with trees and shrubs, and with such 
 ''in between" subjects as the German iris, which is 
 partially evergreen, it is practicable to have bloom 
 all the growing season from some one of the plants 
 included in this most useful class. 
 
 17. Tropical and Tender Plants. It has been well 
 said that only the very rich can afford to adorn the 
 home grounds with palms and the like; yet one sees 
 most frequently about humbler homes plants of 
 ephemeral character — cannas, coleus, geraniums, 
 palms, tender ferns, etc. Scarcely a score of species 
 are included in the usual round of easily grown and as 
 easily killed plants offered for home adornment by 
 the florists; yet I have named at least a hundred 
 hardy plants and vines that give greater beauty f I'om 
 time to time, and increase in strength from year to 
 year. True, these hardy plants do not bloom con- 
 tinually; but that is one of their merits; for it means 
 a changing feast of flowers in the well-planted home 
 yard, and this without the elaborate and continual 
 attention required to keep in order the ordinary 
 "beds" that are the same from July until frost. An 
 occasional palm or fern as a pet plant, to be taken 
 
40 PLANTING TKE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 into the living-room over winter; some of the easy- 
 blooming tender plants for the window-box; helio- 
 tropes and mignonette and sweet alyssum for fra- 
 grance in the home — these can be cared for to advan- 
 tage. The main reliance, however, should be on hardy 
 plants and vines, needing less recurring annual 
 expense, and providing individuality utterly lacking 
 in the florist's planting. I have in mind, as an in- 
 stance, a certain street in a mid-Pennsylvania city 
 where it is the excellent habit to adorn the front 
 porch of each house with a flower-box of some length, 
 or to plant one border fronting the said porch, or to 
 do both. Now the idea is altogether commendable; 
 but it does seem as if imagination or knowledge must 
 be lacking when all the boxes and all the beds or 
 borders have red geraniums, periwinkles, and "dusty 
 millers!" Fortunately, there is a pleasing variety 
 in the house architecture, so that the monotony is 
 somewhat broken, despite the effort of the florist to 
 make the entire street look hke a row of toy tin 
 soldiers ! Not a fuchsia,, not a heliotrope, even among 
 the tender plants; and entire overlooking of the 
 hardy plants that would have made individual 
 pictures at each home instead of ''chromos!" Yet 
 not fifty miles away the mountains are full of laurel, 
 rhododendrons, ferns, viburnums, and the like, 
 and the little streams around this city are gay all 
 summer with spirea and monarda, with bonset and 
 Joe-pye weed and the asters. 
 
 18. Annual Flowers. By these I mean the pansies, 
 balsams, salvias, marigolds, four-o'clocks, garden 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 47 
 
 asters, zinnias, cockscombs, and scores of other 
 beautiful flowers that give bloom the same season 
 the seed is sown. They fill in the gaps while the 
 hardy plants are growing, and have merits of their 
 own. A half-dollar's worth of seed will do wonders. 
 There are quick-growing annuals that are fine to 
 serve as screens for unsightly spots that cannot be 
 removed. Sunflowers, castor beans, cosmos will soon 
 shade the ash-barrel. Shirley poppies will give a 
 great burst of June bloom, and, if kept picked, will 
 continue for many weeks. The showy and sturdy 
 African marigolds can be bloomed right into the 
 teeth of Jack Frost, and the sweet tobacco, or 
 nicotiana, will give both bloom and fragrance from 
 midsummer to the very end of the season, self-seed- 
 ing then for another season. 
 
 Annuals are indispensable in a home garden. 
 With a sunny kitchen window to help, the earlier 
 asters, the salvia, and the petunias — and many 
 others — can be advanced for weeks by sowing ahead 
 of outside warmth. Some of the finest flowers of the 
 dianthus or carnation family may thus be brought 
 into sure bloom in one season. 
 
 The seedsmen's catalogues — some of them, at 
 least — give carefully studied suggestions for the 
 varied uses and locations of annuals, with details as 
 to their heights, color effects, and like essentials. Or 
 the gardening books I have referred to, particularly 
 Bailey's '^Manual of Gardening," afford safe guides 
 to the inexperienced. 
 
 19. Use Vines Freely. Nothing should prevcmt 
 
'1. A telegraph pole dressed in clematis becomes 
 less unsightly than if bare 
 
 (48) 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 49 
 
 the free use in home planting of the superb vines, 
 both hardy and tender, available at little cost in the 
 United States. To the graces of the standard shrub 
 the vine adds the ability to creep or to climb, thus 
 covering objects with a mantle of greenery, and 
 usually of bloom. (See Figure 21 for an example of 
 the way in which a clematis mitigated the bare ugli- 
 ness of a telegraph pole.) Morover, certain vines that 
 attach themselves to walls afford, in addition, an 
 important protection and an insulation from heat 
 and cold. This whole subject of the use of vines is so 
 important that I will treat it under separate head- 
 ings, for greater definiteness. 
 
 20. Vines to Cover Walls. In this class are con- 
 sidered only the hardy vines that by curious aerial 
 rootlets attach themselves firmly to walls of brick, 
 stone, stucco, or wood — less efficiently to the latter, 
 and less desirably because of the assumed necessity 
 arising from time to time for repainting. 
 
 In the north, such vines include several sorts 
 called either Ampelopsis or Parthenocissus by botan- 
 ists. Of these the best known and most largely used 
 is the "Boston ivy," or Ampelopsis tricuspidata, 
 formerly known in trade as A . Veitchii. Of close and 
 rapid growth, and with a certain admirable regularity 
 of foliage as it g^ins age and strength, this hardy vine 
 is not only beautiful but protective. 
 
 A silly idea has been started on its course (by 
 some brother of the man who thinks street shade- 
 trees need frequent beheading under the guise of 
 ''trimming," or by some sister of the woman who 
 
50 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 makes her children drink sassafras tea in the spring 
 to thin their blood), to the effect that vines injure 
 walls. They hold dampness, they breed malaria, 
 they are ''mihealthy," and probably — just as 
 probably — cause corns on the feet ! It needs but the 
 exercise of unobserving eyes, and the use of a little 
 brain power, to show the entire fallacy of such bosh. 
 Notice in a heavy summer rainstorm the action of 
 the close-setting, shiny leaves of the Boston ivy; see 
 them flatten to the wall, forming a smooth surface 
 from which even a dashing rain is turned aside. Just 
 so do they act in keeping off the hot sun and the 
 chill wind, until frost has removed them in a shower 
 of crimson glory; and then, as the vines age and their 
 air-roots extend, these also shield the wall against the 
 elements. I have proved for myself the protective 
 action of this vine 'by tearing away a close network 
 of its tendrils from the wall of the building in which 
 these words are printed, to find fresh brick-work 
 underneath, as compared with weatherbeaten ma- 
 sonry outside the vine's reach. 
 
 Similarly, I have personally seen how a tremen- 
 dous wistaria which does not cling of itself (see Figure 
 22), that had grown to the eaves and then up a roof 
 valley of my boyhood's home, had actually preserved 
 from decay the shingles it covered, while outside its 
 reach the sun and rain had made these same shingles 
 mere porous blotters. And I have never seen, nor has 
 anyone been able to tell me actual details of, injury 
 to any wall-surface by reason of a vine covering. 
 Let the vine-slander perish ! 
 
Fig. 22. Wistaria to cover an entrance 
 (51) 
 
52 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 There is one possibility of annoyance. If the 
 tendrils of any vine are permitted to enter portions 
 of a window-opening that are movable, the vine will 
 tic it tight. If wistaria shoots are permitted thus to 
 enter, they will later on, by the unsuspectedly great 
 power of gradual growth, burst apart any small 
 opening. The remedy is easy; just keep back in- 
 trusive shoots by cutting them off about once a 
 year. 
 
 As to painting the home that is vine-covered: 
 Don't paint it, at least under the vines. It is wholly 
 unnecessary for protection, and it is sure to destroy 
 the beauty of your vine blanket. The painters, in 
 unthinking vandalism, will tear away the vines, and 
 will actually paint right over the remaining rootlets, 
 not actually covering the wall with pigment. It is a 
 simple matter to insist on having them paint up to 
 the vines, but not over them. It is not so simple to 
 cause painters to realize that splashes of oily paint 
 are death to vine stems. Indeed, house workmen as 
 a whole are vandalistic in their habits in relation to 
 growing things, and the home-owner who has worked 
 hard to use God's greenery of vines and plants for 
 making his house into a home will suffer tortures 
 when he sees how carelessly the workmen have acted. 
 There is a sure and easy remedy; make it a written 
 part of your arrangement with carpenter, plumber, 
 bricklayer, painter, that the plants must not be 
 injured, under a definite money penalty for damages. 
 Don't I know? I have now a certainty that the car- 
 penters will not throw boards over my ferns and wild 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 53 
 
 flowers about the home; because I have made such 
 carelessness costly to them. 
 
 But now let us look briefly at other hardy cling- 
 ing vines. The Virginia creeper is a rampant grower, 
 
 , and fine for very large surfaces. Sometimes the 
 lovely trumpet creeper {Tecoma or Bignonia radi- 
 cans) will cling. Of slower but sure growth is the 
 evergreen Evonymus radicans, of which the broad- 
 leaved variety vegetus is better and much more 
 vigorous. When this vine gets age, it shows a marvel- 
 
 I ous covering of scarlet berries in fall. There is a 
 
 I rare and lovely climbing hydrangea {Hydrangea 
 petiolaris, formerly called by the awful name of 
 Schizophragma hydrangeoides) , which will cling, 
 
 , when it properly starts, and which has not only 
 
 I broad leaves but superb flowers. 
 
 1 The so-called hardy or English ivy (Hedera Helix) 
 is a splendid, evergreen, clinging vine where it is 
 hardy; and the only way to know is to try. It will 
 grow in shade, and, even if it freezes back, the young 
 growth is lovely — if it has vigorous roots in good 
 
 I ground to push it along. 
 
 ' Just here a word of caution. The home planter 
 who sets vines wants them to grow. The house 
 workmen who built were not concerned about vines; 
 
 I wherefore it is usual to find the space within two or 
 
 : three feet of the walls carefully unfertilized with 
 brickbats, stone spalls, tin refuse, and anything and 
 everything but arable soil. Also, to protect the wall, 
 there is always and properly the overhang of the 
 eaveS; and frequently a 'Vater-table" to further 
 
54 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 direct water away from the foundations. Now if the 
 l)lanter is really interested in having his vines or 
 other plants grow close to his home walls, he must 
 provide for them good soil and enough water to per- 
 mit the plants to use it. Some vines, especially the 
 Boston ivy, will find water afar off, if it is there; but 
 two feet of rich soil, and a little depression into 
 which storm drainage may readily run, will assure 
 earlier good results. If bricks are taken up to give 
 space for vines, do not be stingy with the open 
 space. There ought to be a diameter of at least two 
 feet to the opening, which can be screened with heavy 
 two-inch-mesh galvanized wire netting if traffic 
 across the place is essential. Yet, as I have earlier 
 said, a vine can start in the space of three bricks. 
 (See Figure 25.) 
 
 21. Vines for Trellises, Arbors, Pergolas, etc. Of 
 these there is a vast variety. The house-side — and 
 it is good practice, especially for a painted wooden 
 house — may use this class of non-clinging climbers 
 if a suitable trellis is provided. This can be made of 
 wire or wood ; and, if the latter, cypress, well painted 
 will last longer than ordinary galvanized steel wire. 
 
 All the climbing roses come into use in this class, 
 including the so-called ramblers, and the newer and 
 finer hybrids, like Climbing American Beauty, 
 Purity, American Pillar, Dr. Van Fleet, and so on. 
 Select sorts of which there is assurance that the 
 foliage is not easily subject to mildew. 
 
 Certain of the climbing roses are especially pleas- 
 ing to cover old trees. Dawson and Excelsa, for 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 55 
 
 example, will go up twenty feet or more, providing 
 a fine foliage cover and one marvelous burst of bloom. 
 A telegraph pole that offends the home front can 
 readily be made pleasing with a vine. Just a little 
 support will sustain Clematis paniculata for such a 
 purpose. (See Figure 21.) 
 
 Clematis pa7iiculafa, C. tangutica (yellow flowers 
 and lovely following seed-pods), sometimes C. Jack- 
 mani (purple flowers; hard to grow, but fine!), 
 C. flammula, Virginiana, coccinea, crispa — all have 
 a proper place and use. Matrimony vine and Akebia 
 quinata are both vigorous and handsome, and will 
 do well in a small area. For broader effects, several 
 wistarias, the trumpet creeper before mentioned, the 
 superb actinidia, the Dutchman's pipe, and the 
 bittersweet are all applicable. 
 
 Of general-purpose vines, the honeysuckles are 
 perhaps best of all. The form familiar in the middle 
 states is the Japanese honeysuckle, or its variety 
 Halleana, with or without gold-mottled or striped 
 foliage. This fine plant, though in some sections a 
 roadside weed, is not a native of America, coming, 
 indeed, from China and Japan. It will do any reason- 
 able thing that can be expected of a climber, from 
 trailing over a rough bank to hold the soil, to making 
 lovely a dead tree or an unsightly fence. Other 
 honeysuckles are the woodbine, or Belgian form, and 
 the native scentless scarlet trumpet, or so-called 
 "evergreen" variety. All are good. 
 
 Annual vines, grown in one season from seed, and 
 perishing with frost, are very serviceable. No words 
 
66 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 of admiration need be written of the much-loved 
 sweet pea. The cucumber vine {Echinocystis lobata) 
 is of tremendous vigor, and will cover a rubbish pile 
 or a fence almost while you look. Scarlet runner 
 bean (good also for food), morning-glories (hard* to 
 get rid of, later) balloon vine, cobsea, Japanese hop, 
 and many others, can be had for little cost and in a 
 hurry. 
 
 22. Trailing Vines. These have a special value 
 for covering walls where there is earth at the top so 
 that they may hang over; and for clothing steep 
 banks are better than grass. It is far easier and better 
 to hold a steep slope with a honeysuckle cover, 
 needing shearing say once a year, than to fight to 
 establish and sweat to maintain grass in the same 
 place. The Japanese honeysuckle will grow and root 
 ahead in ground that will not produce a good sward. 
 
 The Wichuraiana rose is lovely for the same use, 
 but it is not always hardy. Some of its hybrids are 
 much more hardy; for instance, Alberic Barbier, 
 which has glossy, dark green foliage and creamy 
 white flowers. Any rose which manifests a dispo- 
 sition to creep rather than climb is available for this 
 use. The Boston ivy and the Virginia creeper will 
 also creep rapidly, and some of the clematises are 
 useful. Around a stone entrance-step the fine peri- 
 winkle or '^myrtle" {Vinca minor) will provide a 
 beautiful evergreen cover, with lovely blue bloom in 
 spring. This same excellent trailer is good for a 
 half -shaded bank; but, if the bank be dry, plant it 
 in little pockets, shaped to catch the moisture. 
 
Fig. 23. Use of Rosa rugosa as a driveway hedge 
 (57) 
 
m PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 In the wonderful Arnold Arboretum at Jamaica 
 Plain, Mass., near Boston, where all hardy trees and 
 shrubs and vines are to be seen as in a living museum 
 or library, great use is made along walls of the wild 
 grape-vines, bittersweet, etc. By cutting these 
 back to a stump every year, new growth is secured 
 that gives a splendidly decorative effect. 
 
 To hang over walls, any of the trailing vines will 
 be effective. At Biltmore House there is a living and 
 wind-swayed evergreen curtain of English ivy worth 
 a long journey to see. Use vines freely, and with 
 common sense and kindness, and the result will be 
 pleasing. 
 
 The South has many lovely vines not available 
 in frosty states. The tender forms of tecoma, the 
 showy bougainvillea, the fine allamanda, and other 
 vines aid the home decorator. 
 
 23. Living Fences and Hedges. The very best wa3^ 
 to take away the hatefulness of a fence is to cover it 
 with something beautiful, good for the fencer and 
 the fenced to see. For a hardy hedge that is a fence 
 itself, plant California privet, Amoor River privet, 
 Japanese quince, several barberries, Rosa rugosa, 
 cockspur thorn, altheas. Of these, the Thunberg's 
 barberry is the very best, as I have previously 
 urged. If Rosa rugosa is trimmed annually, it can 
 make a wonderful hedge, or fence. (See Figure 23.) 
 Any of the evergreen honeysuckles will make a fine 
 hedge, and the deutzias and spireas are excellent, as 
 are most of the viburnums. Some of the climbing 
 annuals will cover a fence, and I am partial to the 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 50 
 
 vine of the sweet potato, also. Do not plant ever- 
 green hedges of pine and spruce, for they grow too 
 high and are hard to restrain without great expense 
 for trimming, also spreading too much horizontally. 
 (See Figure 13.) 
 
 Fig. 24. A well-trimmed privet hedge. 
 
 If you feel that you must have a formal hedge or 
 fence, and are willing to do the frequent shearing 
 necessary to keep the decided-upon form, it can be 
 said to your help that California privet will give the 
 quickest, neatest, and cheapest effect, and that in a 
 severe winter it may freeze to the ground so that 
 you start all over again. Figure 24 shows a square- 
 
60 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 trimmed privet hedge of a pleasing appearance. A 
 hedge of hemlock will stay fine if it is constantly 
 trimmed to shape, to keep bushy twigs outside — 
 I have just seen an awful mess where the trimming 
 was postponed for several years. Boxwood is the 
 most permanent of formal hedges, and also the most 
 expensive. 
 
 Living division fences or plantings to shut out 
 the stable or kitchen are often made of trees. The 
 Carolina poplar is excusable for this use, for, if 
 planted not over eighteen inches apart (better in two 
 rows, ''staggered"), and trimmed to a whip, it can 
 be made to yield a close fence of any desired height, 
 even up to twenty feet. There are obtainable for the 
 wealthy, wonderful trained beech hedges; and these 
 same gentry can buy old evergreen hedges fifteen 
 feet high which the right nurseryman will move into 
 place successfully. 
 
 24. As to Preparation of Soil. Having discussed 
 plans and plants, we may well turn to the ground in 
 which they are to be made effective. FoiTnerly there 
 was a great prolixity of directions for the mixing of 
 soils for various plants, and the English gardening 
 books give many prescriptions that would be hard 
 to fill. Many plants have a habit of growing under 
 all sorts of soil conditions; I have seen the peri- 
 winkle doing well in heavy soil, and have seen it 
 fairly riot in the Florida white sand. To get home 
 results, let us do the best we can; and that means at 
 least the thorough stirring of the soil, deep enough 
 to give the plant roots a chance. If you make it 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 61 
 
 easy for them to penetrate the ground for food and 
 moisture, they will give you evidence of that fact 
 in bloom and in growth. 
 
 There are only a few truisms about soils. Very 
 heavy, clayey soils need to be broken up and made 
 lighter. Coal-ashes will do it and sand will do it; a 
 shovel and rake must intervene. Turning in deeply 
 loose manure or rotted sods will help doubly; plant- 
 ing the various clovers — red and scarlet — will both 
 break up the soil and add ''humus," if the clovers are 
 then turned in, after growing to the height of a foot 
 or less. These heavy soils are happiness for some 
 plants; simply tame the ground to your needs. In 
 sand, it is difficult to add the lacking element of 
 clay, and easier to adapt the planting to the sand. 
 But always the ground can be fully dug and pulver- 
 ized, and that is much. Some rotted sods or manure 
 will add fertility. 
 
 25. Have a Compost Pile. About most places with 
 an area of 10,000 feet or more, it is practicable to 
 have a muck-heap, or soil factory. I have such at 
 my home; at one end are piled all the weeds, soft 
 trimmings, dead-plant remains, grass-clippings, cab- 
 bage leaves, and particularly as many fallen tree 
 leaves in the fall as can be had. Snow is piled on, and 
 the hose turned on, while the whole mass is handled 
 several times each summer. Coarse manure, not fit 
 for the garden, goes in; indeed, any vegetable matter 
 that will rot is piled here. At the other end, each 
 year I sift out the precious black leaf -mold which is 
 nearly the English peat, and which if obtainable at 
 
62 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 all in commerce will cost from $4 to $6 per cubic yard, 
 or half as much per cart-load. Nothing is burned 
 that can be rotted, and thus returned to the soil, 
 plus the precious nitrogen taken from the air. 
 
 Smell? Not at all; if properly managed there is 
 no odor, nothing in the least objectionable. A con- 
 stant summer 
 covering of lawn 
 clippings gives 
 even an agreeable 
 yellow-gray color 
 to the pile. Try 
 it! Many woods 
 plants that will 
 not grow or that 
 barely live in ordi- 
 nary garden soil 
 will flourish when 
 given half-bulk of 
 this leaf soil. Rhododendrons and laurels live on it; 
 they die in limestone garden soils. 
 
 26. Plants Do Not Like Wet Feet. Except for the 
 purely aquatic and bog plants, water standing about 
 the roots is fatal. That is one reason for thorough 
 and deep digging, and for the addition of lighter 
 material to clay soils — to afford an opportunity for 
 the surplus water to pass through. If the home 
 grounds are damp, dig deeply and see that there is 
 enough depth and opening to drain the ground of 
 superfluous moisture. Coarse lumps, small stones, 
 rough manure, all are excellent drainage materials 
 
 Fig. 25. Preparing for vine against the house. 
 A, sterile soil; B, pocket of good loam. 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 63 
 
 to secure plant comfort. Put them down, down, well 
 below the roots. Don't be afraid to go two or three 
 feet below the surface; prize roses were raised near 
 Philadelphia by a woman who prepared the ground 
 four feet deep, the bottom foot being coarse drainage 
 material. 
 
 27. Give the Plants a Start with Good Soil. Figures 
 25 and 26 illustrate this point, both as to locating a 
 tree or shrub, and as to a vine against the house. To 
 put old sods, and old bones as well, at the bottom of 
 these holes, is to provide a store of fertility in con- 
 nection with the good loam that it is best to use 
 around the trees or 
 
 plants. 
 
 28. Planting Hints. 
 Do not set the plants 
 deeper than they were 
 in the nursery, except 
 in the case of budded 
 or grafted roses, which 
 must be planted two or 
 three inches deeper, so W/// /I poor 
 
 .1 , ,1 1 , W/a M sub soil 
 
 that the lower parent 
 
 G+nplr" rlnAo y\c\\ <3.c\ Fig. 26. Providing good soil in which to 
 hWCK aoes not so plant where the land lacks fertility. 
 
 easily have chance to 
 
 send up ''suckers." (Watch for these — they will have 
 nine leaflets on a stem; cut them off below the ground.) 
 It is good practice to set all roses a little deeper than 
 the surface. Plant solidly, firming the ground by 
 tramping with the feet, or by the use of a maul. 
 This may seem a contradiction, but it isn't; we dig 
 
64 
 
 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 and pulverize the soil to break it up into small 
 particles; we firm it around the plant to keep air 
 away and to bring these particles in contact with the \ 
 roots. Cover the ground, after planting, with some 
 loose material, as leaves, sawdust, bagging, sand, to 
 keep the sun's rays from too soon and too strongly 
 
 acting upon the 
 roots. 
 
 29. Nearly All 
 Plants and Trees 
 Need Trimming 
 When Planted. This 
 is to restore the 
 balance between 
 root and top. See 
 Figure 27 to know 
 why, and also to 
 know that a larger 
 proportion of neces- 
 sary roots is ob- 
 tained with small, 
 thrifty trees than 
 
 Fig. 27. Three-year-old tree in the nur- -tu^ith Iq ro-pr nnp« 
 
 sery; dotted lines show how roots are cut in ^ . ^ icii^ci uiic». 
 
 digging. Upper figure a one-year-old tree; Trim Carefullv, CUt- 
 
 nearly all the roots are saved. . . 
 
 tmg out crossmg 
 and opposite twigs; cut close to a bud; use a sharp 
 knife. Trim any torn ends of roots, also; root growth 
 frequently starts from these trimmed ends. Do not 
 allow the roots to become dry while you are prepar- 
 ing the ground or planting; they are just as unhappy 
 in the air as a fish. Keep the roots in moist ground, or 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 65 
 
 in a puddle of thin mud, until the moment of plant- 
 ing. Plants whose roots have never dried out grow 
 sooner and faster than those that have been hurt 
 by the air and the sun acting on the parts rjature 
 wants covered. Particularly is it important that ever- 
 green roots are kept moist, for, if they once dry out, 
 the resinous sap congeals and cannot be again made 
 to circulate. In buying evergreens, it is better to 
 purchase, even at a higher cost, plants shipped with 
 a ball of earth confined about the roots by burlap. 
 
 30. About Watering. On the whole, it is best not 
 to water plants, if they have been carefully set in 
 good soil, that soil thoroughly soaked after planting, 
 and provided with a "mulch" to keep off the sun's 
 rays for a while. Daily sprinkling of the ground is a 
 positive detriment; a weekly soaking, thoroughly 
 done, is useful in a very dry time. The best way to 
 provide water is to keep in the soil what is there for 
 the plant's use by constant and thorough cultivation. 
 I know a skillful grower of dahlias who yearly sets 
 out over fifty acres of those beautiful but water- 
 hungry plants on New Jersey sand. He can't water, 
 anyway, but he doesn't want to; he does keep the 
 ground always so actively stirred or cultivated as 
 to be dusty, and the dust is a good preventive of 
 evaporation from the soil. Hard ground drips water 
 upward into the air; weeds and grass pour it upward. 
 Therefore cultivate, rather than water, under 
 ordinary conditions. 
 
 But there occur long periods of dry weather, under 
 a hot summer sun, when the newly set plants are 
 
66 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 hardly able to transpire from the soil enough mois- 
 ture to meet the evaporative demands. As I have 
 said, a weekly soaking is useful, very useful, in such 
 a time. Make it a real soaking — I have poured ten 
 gallons of water around one evergreen tree only four 
 feet high, and have seen the ground take it all in. 
 A sprinkling would have been useless. 
 
 Go slow with the favorite and indiscriminate use 
 of the garden hose, squirting water around forcibly 
 where it is of little use, and missing dry places. Take 
 off the nozzle, turn down the water so that it runs 
 from the hose-end without splashing power, and then 
 get this under branches to the roots into ground 
 previously loosened. Keep it running until the 
 ground is wet a foot deep; then quit until it is again 
 moderately dry on top. 
 
 There are excellent general sprinklers for real 
 watering like rain waters. The Campbell sprinkler 
 will cover with fine, misty rain a fifty-foot-diameter 
 circle, and it ought to run at least a half -hour in one 
 setting to do real good. The Skinner '^Lawn-Mist" 
 will make water dust over a space of twelve feet by 
 six feet, and moisten without packing, if left long 
 enough in one place. Some others of the commercial 
 sprinklers are good; most are good for nothing. 
 
 31. To Make a Lawn. The charm of green grass 
 about the home is admitted, and grass surely grows 
 easily. To have it under that form of control which 
 makes the result a good lawn, large or small, re- 
 quires a little care. To begin with, there must be 
 good soil, and of uniform depth, if the result is to be 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 67 
 
 even and satisfactory. To have small portions of very 
 good or very poor soil makes unsightly spots. If the 
 home lawn is uneven, and if it has in it more grass 
 than weeds, the sod should be lifted and the ground 
 put in proper order. This is not very difficult ; cut the 
 sod in strips about fifteen inches wide and four or 
 five feet long by striking through with a sharp spade, 
 held vertically, using a line to keep straight. Then, 
 
 Fig. 28. Method of rolling up old sod and regrading 
 a poor slope 
 
 with some one to help, cut under the grass at one end 
 of the strip, to form a sod about three inches thick, 
 or less, thus including most of the roots, and turn 
 up the loosened end, rolling it with the grass inside, 
 as you would roll up a thick rug. Figure 28 shows 
 the idea, and also how to re-grade a poor slope or an 
 uneven surface. 
 
 With the sod removed, prepare the subsoil by 
 thorough digging, to an even depth, working in a 
 dressing of well-rotted manure if obtainable, or if 
 not, some one of the many commercial lawn fertil- 
 izers. Whatever else you do, be sure thoroughly to 
 mix the whole upper part of the ground to an even 
 depth of fully twelve inches. If there are bad spots, 
 remove the earth entirely from such, and substitute 
 soil as good as the average. Dig, spade, rake, pul- 
 
Fig. 29. The greenery of planting in four years 
 (68) 
 
PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 69 
 
 verize — make it even all through, and then roll it 
 smooth before relaying the sods. 
 
 In relaying the rolls of sod, join the edges smoothly 
 — an old table-knife is a good tool to use. Fill in all 
 crevices with good soil; pound the sods down with 
 the flat of your spade — you cannot have them too 
 solid. When all is smooth and even, water it thor- 
 oughly, soaking to the roots, and then sprinkle or sow 
 pure lawn grass seed, especially in any crevices you 
 have filled. The kind of seed will vary with the 
 locality and circumstances — blue grass is almost 
 universally useful, but the seedsman will give you 
 a special mixture of grass seed suited for shady 
 spots. 
 
 32. To Sow a Lawn. Exactly the same prepara- 
 tion should be made as that described in Section 31, 
 when it is proposed to make a new lawn. Dig, 
 fertilize, pulverize, rake smooth, sow evenly and 
 carefully; sow plentifully; roll as soon as the new 
 grass has had one cutting; fix up bare spots with 
 more seed. A good lawn can be well started in three 
 or four months, under favorable circumstances. 
 April and May, and September, are the best months 
 in the latitude of New York. The idea is to sow 
 while active growth is proceeding, and not in the 
 heat of summer, or just before winter's advent. 
 
 33. Plant Something. If you can't do as these or 
 better hints suggest, plant anyhow, doing the best 
 for the plants that circumstances will permit. It is 
 better to have planted and had failures, rather than 
 not to have planted at all, in the opinion of Dr. 
 
70 PLANTING THE HOME GROUNDS 
 
 Bailey, of Cornell, who is a wise planter, a great 
 authority, and, most of all, actually human. The 
 effort of planting is beneficial, and it is almost certain 
 that a reward will be seen. Do not expect wonders 
 at once; but any growth at one's own hands is 
 wonderful, in the best sense. Plant for the home, 
 and plant to make the town better-looking. Plant 
 for your own eyes, and plant to help keep the land 
 fertile — for that is one effect of more planting. But 
 plant, plant, as carefully as may be ; plant anyway ! 
 The lovely greenery of Figure 29 resulted in four 
 years from bare ground, and it was beautiful even 
 the first year. Try it ! 
 
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