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The Amateur's Book of
PLANNING YOUR GARDEN
The Amateur's Book of the Garden Series
Under the General Editorship of
LEONARD BARRON
The Amateur's Book of
The Vegetable Garden
Planning Your Garden
Lawn-Making
House Plants
The Flower Garden
The Dahlla.
Gardening Lnder Glass
This suggestion for a small garden, looking east,
embodies the author's ideas of having several points
of interest. The placing of the walk to the north side
and its change of direction at the dial takes full
advantage of the conditions.
The Amateur's Book of the Garden Series
PLANNING YOUR
GARDEN
W.^Sr ROGERS
£
ILLUSTRATED
BY
THE AUTHOR
GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
192 3
COPYRIGHT, 1911, 1923, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION
INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
AT
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. T
First Edition
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
There are several justifications for the ap-
pearance of a book on Garden Planning. One
is the meagre treatment the subject has here-
tofore received as compared with the more
mechanical phases of garden making — plant-
ing, cultivating, etc. Another is the vital,
though often unappreciated, importance of the
subject, especially in this day of countryward,
outdoorward tendencies. The significance of
the cash valuation of the work of the land-
scape architect when contrasted with that of
the gardener is not often grasped.
This volume, however, is designed for those
who are not inclined to make use of the servi-
ces of a professional garden designer. Either
excessive cost or intense personal interest in
the development of the home grounds may
effect this result. In either case he who plans
his own garden will do well to familiarize him-
self with the principles, methods, and probable
results as set forth herein.
V
VI PUBLISHER S PREFACE
The ultimate ideas of art, taste, judgment, and
harmony are not local but universal and this
volume carries to the reader both the author's
originality of treatment and the conventionality
of theories well founded in long experience.
CONTENTS
I. Introductory 3
II. The Factors in Detail 9
III. The Garden Picture 28
IV. The Rectilinear Principle .... 45
V. The Elements of the Garden Plan . 51
VI. Making Beds and Borders .... 70
VII. Construction of Walks and Drives . 87
VIII. Grass as a Foundation 108
IX. How to Plan a Garden 127
X. Sloping Gardens 141
XI. The Rock Garden 152
XII. The Rose Garden 173
XIII. Water in the Garden 183
XIV. The Vegetable Garden 197
XV. Glass 207
XVI. Fences and Hedges 212
XVII. Tile and Other Artificial Edgings . 229
XVIII. Garden Plans 236
XIX. Planting 263
XX. Further Considerations in Garden
Making 279
XXI. Evolution of an Ideal Lot .... 291
ILLUSTRATIONS
Perspective View of Garden .... Frontispiece
FIGURE PAGE
1. Diagrams Illustrating Aspect 21
2. Houses on Plots of Irregular Shape . . 25
3. Garden Styles Compared 48
4. Expansion of Path 54
5. Expansion of Path 59
6. Expansion of Path 60
7. Path Junction 61
8. Curves in Paths 62
9. The Grouping of Beds 65
10. Correct Form for Group of Beds ... 68
11. Trenching 73
12. Drainage for Beds and Borders .... 76
13. Shapes of Beds 80
14. Shapes of Beds 81
15. Relation Between Beds in a Group ... 83
16. Entrance to Drive 89
17. The Carriage-turn 90
18. Path Foundation 95
19. Design for Brick Path 98
20. Section of Brick Path 100
21. Design for Composite Path 102
22. Design FOR Stone Path 106
23. Design for Stone Path 106
24. Level and Straight-edge 116
25. Tennis Court 117
ix
X ILLUSTRATIONS
PICnXX PAGE
26. Croquet Court 118
27. Acute Angles IN Grass 121
28. Beds in Relation to Grass Shapes . . . 123
29. Typical Garden Plan 131
30. The Method OF Off-sets 131
31. Arrangement OF Trees 136
32. Terracing — Sectional View 142
33. Terracing — Sectional View 142
34. Terracing — Sectional View 143
35. Steps in Paths 144
36. Dealing with a Transverse Slope . . . 145
37. Dealing with a Transverse Slope . . . 146
38. Steps 149
39. Spreading Steps 150
40. Earthwork in the Rock Garden .... 160
41. RocKWORK Section 161
42. Rocks in Relation to Soil 162
43. Arrangement of Rock Masses .... 163
44. Arrangements of Rock Masses .... 165
45. Arrangements of Peat in the Rock Garden 166
46. Rose Beds in Grass 176
47. Rose Beds in Gravel 176
48. A Long Rose Garden 178
49. Planting Roses 180
50. A Water Garden 185
51. A Water Garden 187
52. Soak-away Drain 189
53. Ponds 190
54. Tub for Water Plants 195
55- Borders Through the Vegetable Plot . 198
56. Position for Vegetable Plots 204
ILLUSTRATIONS XI
riGimE PAGE
57. Wooden Fencing 214
58. Stretching Wire Fencing 217
59. Open Wooden Fencing 218
60. Larch Fencing 220
61. Construction OF Trellis Screen .... 221
62. Sections of Hedge 225
63. Hedge Tops 226
64. Planting Box Edging 227
65. Edging Tile 230
66. Brick Edgings 232
d^. The Plinth Brick as an Edging .... 233
68. Stone Edgings — Sections 234
. Garden Plans 239-262
69
lOI
102. Arrangement of Herbaceous Border . . 270
103.)
104. >• Progressive Plans for a Typical Lot . 295-297
105. )
PLANNING YOUR GARDEN
PLANNING YOUR GARDEN
CHAPTER I
Introductory
The planning of a garden involves attention
to many considerations connected with the
character and position of the site and its sur-
roundings, as well as to those questions in which
both horticulture and good taste play important
parts.
Each particular site presents a problem in
itself, and the art of the garden maker must be
exercised first in studying the factors, and then
in permitting them to guide him to a good re-
sult. What these factors are will appear
when I come to details. It is sufficient at the
outset to state that they include such inherent
conditions as soil, position, aspect, and envi-
ronment.
Though garden making in a large measure
3
4 GARDEN PLANNING
is controlled by principles based upon art,
purely artistic considerations can only serve
the designer when they are subordinated to
the practical needs of horticulture.
As in other branches of applied art utility
claims first consideration, so in garden making
the conditions which make for the welfare of
the flowers, and the comfort and convenience
of those who use the garden, must always
receive attention.
This does not imply that successful flower
culture is the be-all and end-all of gardening,
for that would be to ignore the beauty of the
garden picture. It is possible, as I shall show,
to give due weight to the picturesque, without
in the slightest measure discounting the value
of the garden from a horticultural standpoint.
On the other hand, only too frequently the
mistake is made of supposing that well-filled
beds and borders, abundant blossom, and neatly
kept grass and walks are the sole desiderata
of gardening. If that were so, it were better
to grow one's flowers as the market gardener
grows his cabbages — in rows. Mere profu-
sion of bloom will not condone any ill-planned
garden. The gardening enthusiast is too apt
INTRODUCTORY 5
to permit his pride in the flowers to blind him
to the value of a garden picture. He sees the
individual but not the crowd. It were better
he should adopt the standpoint of the landscape
gardener, who thinks less of plants as plants
than as elements in a composition, in the way
of a painter of pictures.
The garden, however small, is amenable to
treatment on truly artistic principles, and the
first thing to recognize is that it must be homo-
geneous. It should appeal to the eye as a whole
before it claims attention in detail. Every-
thing in the garden must be interdependent,
and the general picture must be distinguished
by balance, unity of effect, and a studied har-
mony of line and mass.
If common-sense principles, based upon full
knowledge and recognition of the governing
factors of the problem, be allowed to control
the design, the result will not only make for
beauty, but gardening, in the sense of success-
ful flower culture, will be agreeable and plain
sailing.
There must be no exaggeration of special
features, no discordant note to worry the eye,
no forcing of effects. The size of the garden
6 GARDEN PLANNING
hardly enters into the question. It is just as
easy, and just as difficult, to plan a large garden
as a small one. The same general principles
apply in both cases. It is largely a question
of scale.
Gardens which are made haphazard are
rarely successful, yet the majority of small
gardens have been so made. The inference is
obvious. How often do we not see, from the
vantage point of some suburban railroad journey,
garden after garden in monotonous succession,
all planned to a common type. Some may be
neat and well kept, others neglected, but the
outlines are the same in all, probably conceived
and made by the speculative builder's fore-
man, whose knowledge and skill can hardly
be expected to rank high in this department
of his work.
When the gardener himself has taken the
pains to model his garden to suit his own
views of what it should be, the result is more
often than not marred by mistakes which arise
from hastiness and an inadequate knowledge
of, or attention to, essentials. Possibly the
commonest error is to ignore aspect, planning
for symmetry, which is hardly ever consistent
INTRODUCTORY 7
with the best arrangement for flower growing
in a plot of limited size. Another mistake
is to over-elaborate, thereby destroying sim-
plicity and breadth of effect.
I do not intend to enumerate here all the
shortcomings of the modern suburban garden. I
hope to make them sufficiently apparent when
I enter into a more detailed statement of the
principles which I believe should govern the
planning of such gardens. Skilful planning,
particularly when applied to gardens of limited
size, includes economy of space, or, in other
words, making the most of the space available.
And this is only possible by giving proper
consideration to aspect.
The craze for symmetry prevails too strongly
in modern garden planning. Grass and gravel
are allowed to usurp positions best adapted
to flower culture, whilst long stretches of bor-
der in perpetual shade hold a few starved plants,
whose sorry condition proclaims the futility
of expecting nature to heed our notions of
equal-sidedness.
Sunshine, the life and soul of the vegetable
kingdom, and the very first necessity for the
flower, must have full access to our beds and
8 GARDEN PLANNING
borders, and this is only to be contrived by-
placing them where the sunlight can reach
them. Therefore it is a necessary preliminary
to the planning of a small garden to observe
which parts of it enjoy full sunshine and which
parts lurk in perpetual shadow. The north
side of the house or of a garden wall, in northern
latitudes, receives no sunlight, and permanent
shadows may be cast by trees and buildings
on neighbouring premises. These shadows
are as rocks to the careful navigator, things
to be given a wide berth, unless circumstances
(as in the case of redundant trees) permit of
our bodily removing their cause.
CHAPTER II
The Factors in Detail
The question of site is a highly important
one from the gardener's standpoint. In acquir-
ing a home so many considerations carry weight
with the purchaser that it is not always pos-
sible for him to be» over-fastidious about
the garden; though, if he have the choice be-
tween two or more houses, in other respects
equally desirable, he will naturally decide upon
that one which has the best garden site. If
the house has been previously occupied he
will find the garden already made, after a
fashion; if not, the same may hold good. On
the other hand he may find a stretch of virgin
soil awaiting his good pleasure to give it shape.
Whatever may have been done before he takes
possession should not deter him from starting
de novo., with the object of securing the best
possible arrangement of the outlines before he
commences to plant it.
9
lO GARDEN PLANNING
In considering the desirability of a garden
site under these circumstances the main thing
is to see that the plot receives a fair measure
of sunshine. With a house facing south, it
is not possible to avoid a considerable shadow
from the house itself, but intelligent planning
will meet this case. A garden surrounded
by a high wall also will have the disadvantage
of the wall shadows on the southern boundaries.
Naturally such questions arise most often
in connection with town and suburban gardens
where houses and gardens adjoin. In the
open country different considerations may pre-
sent themselves. Most generally the country
plot has no lack of sunshine.
But other disabilities may exist, amongst
which the absence of shelter may be the most
important one. The tenant, therefore, should
see how the site lies, both in relation to the
prevailing winds and to the cold winds of
winter and spring.
Gales from the west and south-west are often
very destructive to trees and plants by rea-
son of their force alone. On the other hand,
the cold winds from the north, north-east,
and east do damage by their low temperature
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL II
and dryness, ''cutting" and destroying young
growth, and retarding the progress of plant
life generally. The ideal site for a country
plot, therefore, is one which is open to
the south and preferably sloping slightly in
that direction, partly sheltered by higher
ground or trees to the west and south-west,
and wholly sheltered to the north and north-
east. Such sites are not easy to find, and in
most cases the tenant has to be content with
something short of what he would wish; but, as
I shall show, he may do much by artificial means
to make good the shortcomings of the site.
Another point more likely to crop up in
the country is the question of the dryness of
the soil, which is intimately connected with
its temperature, and thus affects the welfare
of the flowers. The warmth of a site, other
things being equal, is influenced by the nature
of the soil.
The following table, compiled by Schiibler,
shows the relative heat-absorbing capacities
of various soils, assuming lOO as the standard:
Sand with some lime . . . lOO
Pure sand 95-6
Light clay 76.9
12 GARDEN PLANNING
Heavy clay 71.1
Brick-earth 68.4
Chalk 61.8
Humus 49-0
The coldness of a damp site is due to the
absorption of heat resulting from evaporation.
When the prospective garden owner is able to
purchase rather than merely to rent the prop-
erty the question of the garden site may well
receive more earnest consideration.
Individual tastes differ greatly on the ques-
tion of what is or is not a valuable site. One
person may desire seclusion, and on that
account may prefer his small domain circum-
scribed by natural limits to the view;
another may value the panoramic prospect to
be obtained from an eminence, finding the
pleasures of his garden enhanced by the land-
scape beyond.
Other considerations may have weight, but
in all cases the proximity of an eyesore in the
immediate surroundings is to be avoided.
Ugly buildings, waste land scattered with
rubbish, small property inhabited by unde-
sirable people, a cemetery, factory, or gas
works should disqualify an otherwise desirable
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL 1 3
site, unless it were feasible to screen those
objects by artificial means.
Thus far I have dealt with questions exter-
nal to the site. The next thing is to examine
the land with a view to discovering its intrin-
sic fitness for its purpose as a garden.
A house perched upon a hilltop, or in the
centre of a treeless field, has a bleak, forbid-
ding aspect, which it may take many years to
redeem. It is therefore a great gain if the
plot includes some well-grown trees, which
may be utilized for shelter, and which will
at once confer a certain distinction on the site.
The presence of old hedgerows and bushes
should also be welcomed, as it is often possible
to utilize them in the garden scheme.
The contour of the ground is an important
point. Sites, particularly if of limited extent,
which embrace considerable slopes are dis-
appointing, and present difficulties to the
gardener which he had best avoid. On the
other hand, variety of contour is a gain, oflFer-
ing suggestions for picturesque treatment and
giving character to the garden picture. A
uniform slope, if slight and in a southerly direc-
tion, is preferable to a dead level, as it ensures
14 GARDEN PLANNING
natural drainage; but when a tennis lawn is a
sine qua non it is desirable that some portion
of the ground should be level, or have only
a moderate slope; otherwise much expense
will be entailed in excavating and banking up,
and the artificial contours thus created will
become unduly obtrusive. Happy the gar-
dener who is content to forego this feature,
which rarely harmonizes with the other ele-
ments of the garden plan, and more often than
not usurps space that otherwise could be
utilized with advantage to the garden picture.
In further considering the desirability of a
given site it is well to try to fix provisionally
the position for the house, which in most cases
will be suggested by the lay of the ground
and by its aspect; and, having done so, to
endeavour to form a mental picture of the
main elements of the garden, giving due weight
to the natural features of the ground and its
surroundings as factors in the arrangement.
By doing so it is possible to judge just how
far it is likely to meet one's ideal.
In a comparatively small plot the process
will be a simple one. In a large plot the matter
may involve more difficulty, as alternative
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL 1 5
positions for the house will suggest themselves
and call for consideration. No decision should
be made until the possibilities of the site
have been thoroughly tested from every stand-
point.
The question of the house site is so closely
linked up with the treatment of the garden
that I strongly advise this preliminary survey
before purchasing the plot.
Soil — Reference has already been made
to the relative heat-absorbing qualities of
various soils. In forming a judgment on the
suitability of a particular site for gardening
purposes it is essential to ascertain the nature,
not only of the surface or top soil, but of
the subsoil. This can only be done by having
a trench dug, say, at least four feet deep. If
the plot is of considerable extent, a series of
trenches should be opened out at various
points, because soils, and subsoils particularly,
may vary even within the comparatively
restricted limits of a garden site.
The surface soil is not always very closely
related to the subsoil, so that even those accus-
tomed to forming a judgment on the subject
may be misled by a superficial examination.
l6 GARDEN PLANNING
A good criterion of the relative warmth of
soils is available in winter when snow has
fallen. That ground from which the snow
soonest disappears is obviously the warmest.
Information on this particular point generally
may be obtained from local people well ac-
quainted with the site.
A stiff clay subsoil is to be avoided, as it is
not amenable to effective drainage. Sand,
gravel, and light loams are preferable to clay
soils, but where clay and sand are found in
admixture, as in some of the clay loam types
the condition would not preclude good garden-
ing; indeed, the rose grower would find a soil
of this description one of the best for his
particular purpose.
The dryness of a site depends mainly upon
the facility with which the rain-water can
percolate through the soil, and the distance
from the surface of the subsoil Water. Clay
is relatively impervious to water; consequently,
when a layer of this material is found near
the surface, the surface soil will be either
water-logged or baked to dryness, according
to weather and rainfall.
A gravelly soil of considerable depth on a
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL 1 7
gentle slope, all things considered, Is the best,
as such a soil Is drained naturally. If topped
with good loam, with not too liberal an ad-
mixture of stones, it is an ideal one for the
gardener.
A coarse gravel subsoil is not objectionable,
provided the surface soil has sufficient depth
to admit of proper tillage. It Is not unusual,
however, to find gravel overlaid with the
merest film of loam, in which case the land
would be unsuitable for general gardening
purposes, unless the purchaser were prepared
to spend money in importing material for his
flower beds and borders.
Soils overlying rocky formations must be
judged by their quality and depth. When
the surface soil Is shallow, and the rock imper-
vious to water, they suffer from the same dis-
abilities as stiff clay land.
The presence of stones in the surface soil,
generally associated with a gravelly subsoil,
but not uncommonly with stony clays, is no
great detriment; but if they are in sufficient
quantity to hamper the gardener he would
have to resort to picking or screening to reduce
their number. On sloping ground the stones
iS GARDEN PLANNING
will be found In greater quantity at the lower
levels, particularly" if the land has been in
cultivation.
Light, sandy soils suffer from drought, and
involve labour and expense in heavy manuring.
Much may be done by the gardener to improve
a naturally undesirable soil. Light soils may
be treated with clay or muck, and clay
soils with sand, ashes, and other light, porous
materials. By these additions the nature
of the surface layer may be modified and
rendered more amenable to tillage; but no
treatment of the surface will meet the case if
the subsoil is unsuitable. These operations
necessarily imply outlay, which in a large
garden may be a heavy one. It is therefore
advisable, when the purchaser has a choice
of sites, to select one on which the soil is neither
too heavy nor too light.
Another point in the selection of a site is to
avoid made ground the composition of which
may be anything from gas lime to meat tins.
A site of this kind would afford many un-
pleasant surprises to the gardener, and might
be perfectly hopeless for horticulture. Made
ground which has long remained undisturbed —
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL IQ
and it is not often offered for sale when newly
made — is generally so thickly covered with
surface growth that its character is not super-
ficially apparent. Here again the trial trench
suggests itself as a wise precaution.
Peat land does not constitute a good site,
because the existence of peat implies water-
logging. Drainage, however, may be effectual
in converting it into a good garden, always pro-
vided that the nature of the subsoil permits
of draining it thoroughly.
Land which has recently been in cultivation,
either as arable or garden ground, is in most
cases preferable to pasture; because it has a
greater depth of surface soil, and constant
working and manuring have brought it to the
best consistency for the gardener's purpose.
On the other hand, pasture has certain ad-
vantages. There may be some additional
labour needed to bring the soil into working
condition, but against that it may be possible
to preserve part of the pasture as grass, and
thus avoid the necessity for turfing or sowing.
Aspect — In gardens of small size the ques-
tion of aspect is perhaps the most important
factor for the gardener to consider, because
20 GARDEN PLANNING
the size of his garden will be measured, not so
much by length and breadth as by the amount
of space which receives full sunlight. Aspect
also is the key to the successful planning of
the small garden, as I shall show when I come
to treat the garden design in detail.
/ shall have to refer repeatedly to the aspect
of a site by the points of the compass^ and to
prevent possible confusion I had better here state
that I shall J in every case, employ the term to
express that point to zvhich the ^^ house fronf^ is
directed.
The sun in our latitude passes from east
to west by a sweep to the south. Thus the
north side of houses, trees, and other fixed
objects receive absolutely no sunshine, whilst
the east and west sides receive sun only in
the morning and evening respectively.
These are cardinal facts to be borne in mind
by all who undertake to plan a garden of re-
stricted size.
I can best illustrate the relative values of
aspect by a series of diagrams, the study of
which should serve to make the matter clear.
In these three figures I have shown the
shadow traces of the house and garden walls,
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL
21
distinguishing full shadow from partial shadow
by the depth of shading.
A southern aspect implies that flower culture
Fig. I. — Diagrams illustrating aspect
will be discounted in the space immediately
to the rear of the house. But if the gardener
has a fancy for good flower effects in the
fore-court, or front lawn, he should select a
southern aspect. An eastern or western aspect
22 GARDEN PLANNING
will give a shady strip on the north side of the
house, which may be good or bad according to
circumstances. It is best that the shady
side should be that on which the kitchen
and its offices are situated, thus admitting of
flower growing at the side of the house upon
which the living rooms look out.
These shadow diagrams represent a mean of
what would actually be found. The altitude
of the sun varies according to season, as well
as time of day, and thus the shadow of a wall
running east and west will be narrowest at
noon in midsummer and widest in the morning
and afternoon in midwinter. The shadow of
the house will vary in like manner for the
same reason.
In open country sites, where considerations
of privacy do not carry so much weight, walls
and fences need not be so high, and their
shadows, therefore, would be practically negli-
gible. At the same time, the shadow question
must not be overlooked, as trees and other
fixed objects may exist on the site or in its
immediate vicinity.
The House in Relation to the Site — When
the purchaser of a building plot decides upon
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL 23
the position for his house, he rarely gives
thought to the question of how the garden will
be affected. He assumes that it may be mod-
elled to fit in with the house. It is better to
take both factors into consideration when
placing the house upon its site, because they are
closely correlated. In these days of narrow
frontages there is little latitude in a direction
transverse to the length of the plot, and, if
economy of garden space is to be considered,
the purchaser must give careful thought to
the placing of his house, so that he may not
be hampered when he comes to make his
garden. This question will be governed largely
by aspect, but to some extent by the tastes of
the gardener.
A fore-court is always desirable, if only to
ensure that the road dust does not find access
to the house. In a thoroughfare used by auto-
mobiles it is a necessity. It is also useful for
securing a measure of privacy. With a north-
ern aspect the house shadow will preclude
any ambitious gardening display in the fore-
court, and there is no need to allot more space
to it than may be required to secure the two
objects just mentioned.
24 GARDEN PLANNING
On the other hand, with a southern aspect
the fore-court should not be stinted in space,
for it cannot be questioned that flowers about
the house front not only enhance the good
appearance of the house, but constitute a valu-
able charm in the outlook from the front
porch and windows,
A detached house should not be set centrally
in the width of the plot, because that would
divide the garden space on either side into two
equal portions not equally well conditioned
for flower culture. It is better to place it so
that the widest space is on the sunny side.
When the ground falls toward the road-
way it may be desirable to place the house
on the higher ground at the back of the plot,
thus bringing the principal garden space to
the front.
All these points call for careful consideration
before a decision is made, as upon that deci-
sion will depend the subsequent success or
non-success of the garden.
Houses set askew — i. e., obliquely to the
garden boundaries — on small plots rarely
look well, and the arrangement creates no little
difficulty when the task of designing the garden
ERTY USURY
C. StaU ColUnt
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL
25
has to be undertaken. I am strongly opposed
to any conditions which necessitate the use
of triangular areas as elements in the garden
Fig. 2. — Houses on plots of irregular shape
design, because such shapes invariably suggest
formality, and have other disadvantages.
When the plot is bounded by converging
lines it is usually best to set the house with
its sides parallel with that boundary which
most nearly makes a right angle with the road
line; but in some cases it may be best to set
the house front parallel with the roadway,
ignoring the side boundaries.
26 GARDEN PLANNING
In plots of more Irregular shape the question
must be settled according to circumstances.
From the foregoing It will be seen how inti-
mately the position of the house in relation
to the shape and size of the plot is bound up
with the garden plan.
It is not unusual for house builders to defer
consideration of the garden until the architect
and builder have completed their work. The
garden designer is then called In, and has to
make the best of those spaces which are left
to him. A wiser course is to bring architect
and garden designer together in the first In-
stance, so that they may exchange notes, and
each work out his plan in accordance with
such decisions as they may mutually agree
upon. Such a course Is eminently to the advan-
tage of the owner of the site, who thereby
secures a consistent design for house and
garden. A thorough understanding between
the two craftsmen lightens the task of both,
and precludes an Incongruous result.
A further point Is the question of outlay to
be made on the garden. This is usually as-
sumed to be so small an item in the total
outlay that it is left out of consideration
THE FACTORS IN DETAIL 27
altogether. The result is that the house
builder discovers that the expense of building,
with the inevitable "extras," has mounted up
to such a sum that he must perforce economize
on the garden. Then It Is that, with mistaken
views as to the economy of the transaction,
he calls In the help of a local nurseryman
to "lay out" his garden, and in the long
run pays a larger bill than he would have
incurred had he secured the services of a
competent designer, at the same time securing
an indifferent result. The nurseryman who
works out his own plan, charges what he
likes, whereas. If a properly prepared plan Is
available, the house owner may obtain competi-
tive prices from two or more nurserymen, and
make a contract for the work on the best
terms.
The cost of a good design Is a trifling
sum on the total outlay, and it invariably
justifies itself. A fair allotment of money to
the garden at the beginning is ten per cent of
the total.
CHAPTER III
The Garden Picture
The design of a garden should take its
general character from the local conditions and
environment. In the first instance, it must be
adapted to the special requirements of the
gardener. If he is his own designer, he will,
of course, always have these requirements
in mind; if another makes the design, the
gardener cannot be too clear in specifying his
exact requirements.
The natural conditions of the ground must
be well studied. The contours, slope, and
aspect of the plot are the first factors to be
considered, and these will offer the first sug-
gestions for its treatment. The shape of its
boundaries will be important, and equally
so the position and shape of the house.
The aim of the designer should be to bring
all these factors into a consistent and pleasing
combination, in which the garden and house
28
THE GARDEN PICTURE 29
are in entire harmony with each other. Here
it will be well to warn the designer new to
the work against planning for mere effect on
paper. The lines of the plan, representing as
they do the projection of the design on the
horizontal plane only, have little meaning if
they are not intimately correlated with some
effect in the third dimension. A garden at
all stages of its development should be a
thing of height as well as of length and
breadth. It is only by studying the effect
in the vertical plane that a successful and
artistic result is realizable. The plan is a
skeleton affair, merely defining the spaces
to be devoted to borders, beds, grass, and
gravel.
The designing of a garden is a process akin
to the artist's conception and execution of a
picture. It is governed by principles identical
with those understood by the painter as "com-
position," which may be defined as a general
balance of effect obtained without the use of
a too marked symmetry in the principal
features of the design.
To ensure practical realization of this effect,
therefore, the designer must ever bear in mind
30 GARDEN PLANNING
the plants — flowers, trees, and shrubs —
with which his outlines will be filled in.
It may be noted also that he has it within
his option to supplement these natural factors
by others of an artificial kind, such as summer
houses, arches, pergolas, and other minor
structures which have a well-recognized place
in the garden.
I cannot too strongly urge the importance
of eliminating symmetry from the general
garden picture; not only because it precludes
a picturesque efi"ect, but for the practical
reason that it is rarely consistent with a design
which gives due weight to the all-important
factor, aspect.
Many complaints of undue formality have
their basis in the existence of a meaningless
symmetry. In observing these injunctions
against symmetry it must not be understood
that they apply with the same force to details.
On the contrary, the treatment of certain
parts of the garden may be governed with
advantage by considerations of symmetry.
For instance, in introducing a group of beds
for effect on the lawn, a one-sided arrange-
ment would be opposed to good practice,
THE GARDEN PICTURE 3 1
particularly if associated with a grass plot of
regular shape.
Just what constitutes formality, as usually
understood, it may be well here to discuss. It
may arise from several causes. Unquestion-
ably the most common one is symmetry
in the general lines of the design. Another
cause may be injudicious planting, particularly
when the gardener has not adopted means of
building up a well-considered picture in the
vertical plane. Such mistakes only need to
be recognized to be corrected. Trees planted
sentinel-wise, at equal distances from a central
feature, will produce a formal effect. They
would be better arranged so that no two sub-
tend the same angle in the line of sight (see
Fig. 31). The repetition of some conspicuous
feature at regular intervals also makes for
formality, an error not infrequently made in
planting with conifers and other evergreens.
Complexity in detail may suggest formality,
by proclaiming too insistently the artificial
character of the garden. Still another cause
is neglect to preserve a proper scale in the
various details. It might be concluded that
the use of straight lines and right angles would
32 GARDEN PLANNING
lead inevitably to a formal result. Such is
not the case. On the contrary, in small gar-
dens the use of straight lines, in combination
with a studied simplicity of treatment, is the
most efficient means of securing an informal
result, because it enables the designer to har-
monize his plan with the shape of the garden
boundaries.
On the other hand, the use of curved lines
may only serve to render too conspicuous
the rigid outlines of these boundaries. I shall
deal with this part of the subject in more detail
in the next chapter.
I must here emphasize the value of variety
— variety in outline and variety in shape — as
opposed to too frequent repetition of similar
shapes, and variety in planting so as to secure
a good effect in the vertical plane.
Such variety must be carefully thought out,
and made to give character to the garden as
a whole. This does not imply over-elaboration,
about which I have already warned the reader,
nor is it opposed to simplicity of treatment.
It is just the avoidance of undue repetition
of lines and shapes.
Another factor in the attainment of the
THE GARDEN PICTURE 33
picturesque is what I may term "reticence."
It is not well to aim at giving too comprehen-
sive a view of the garden from any one point.
The planning should be so contrived that the
various garden features are seen one at a time
as it is traversed from end to end. This may
be arranged by judicious screening, for which
trees, shrubs, arches, trellises, and other objects
may be employed. Much may be done in the
planting to attain this very desirable quality.
A long herbaceous border, filled with flowers
carefully graded in height, the tall ones all
standing at the back and the short ones in
front, presents a rather monotonous vista.
Its charm is greatly enhanced if the process
is partly reversed, so that here and there a
bold clump of flower or foliage is allowed to
push forward, thereby screening what lies
beyond; and incidentally this arrangement
has value in affording shelter to the smaller
and more tender plants lying between their
robuster companions.
Nothing is more delightful than to pass
along such a border, finding something new and
unexpected every few yards.
Again, the garden may be divided up into
34 GARDEN PLANNING
separate compartments, each to come into full
view only when It is entered. Passing down
between well-filled borders, we may thread a
pergola clustered with flowering climbers, to
reach an old-fashioned garden which, in turn,
leads to a shady grass plot, or, by another
flower-flanked path, to the vegetable garden.
Each section of the garden is complete in
itself yet wedded to its neighbour, each a
separate factor in the complete picture, and
all united in a consistent and harmonious
whole.
The task of the designer does not stop at
this point. He has other factors to consider.
It is essential that the picture should not be
merely a group of closed-in compartments.
He must contrive a series of vistas, which,
whilst giving pleasant peeps from certain
points, convey a sense of space. In other
words, the treatment must include that artistic
quality known as "breadth." This is to be
attained in part by the opening up of vistas,
and in part by simplicity of character in the
principal details of the design. /
One frequently hears the term "a natural
garden." I may here state that a natural
THE GARDEN PICTURE 35
garden within the limits of four square boundary-
walls, in the sense of a garden which shall
deceive the spectator into believing that he
is looking at a piece of pure nature, is unattain-
able. Nor is it desirable that we should
strive to make such a garden. Yet Nature
cannot be left out of the question. The
gardener provides the home and the occupant
and there his work ends. He must rely upon
the hand of Nature to fill in the outlines, which
she can do far better than he can tell her.
It should ever be remembered that the
highest art is that which conceals art. The
effects which we create in our gardens, there-
fore, must be so contrived as not to reveal
too patently the means by which they are
produced. By the observance of this principle
we get the nearest approach to a natural garden,
inasmuch as the examples of nature's work
then impress us more strikingly than the work
of the garden designer — and this is as it
should be.
I must now refer to a further quality which
it is important to introduce into the garden,
viz., repose. Repose is closely correlated with
breadth of treatment, but it also involves a
36 GARDEN PLANNING
proper proportioning of the main elements of
the design, the borders, grass, and walks.
As regards the walks, it is only necessary
to see that they exist for a definite purpose
(not merely because the designer thinks they
help the outlines on his paper plan) and that
they do not sprawl aimlessly about the plot,
cutting it up into awkward shapes.
Grass, more than any other feature, helps
to secure a feeling of repose. As far as possible
it should exist in a single stretch, or at least
it should not consist of a number of scattered
pieces.
Apart from questions of tennis and croquet,
the grass is a valuable background to the
flowers; a place where the feet may escape the
"crunch " of gravel, and one may find perhaps a
corner bathed in shadow, from which to look
out upon one aspect of the garden picture,
or to enjoy one's thoughts or thoughts of
another between the covers of a book.
Let the grass, therefore, take its proper
place, and be duly proportioned to the rest.
And so with the beds and borders. It is little
short of vandalism to fret the lawn into a
lace-work of fantastically fashioned beds, in
THE GARDEN PICTURE 37
which geometry is invoked to provide the
gardener with inspiration. Nature does not
grow her flower groups within the rigid limits
of five-pointed stars, crescents, and crosses.
Beds in grass are sometimes admirable features
in the general scheme, if modelled on simple
shapes. The more elaborate the form of the
bed the more time and labour will be expended
in preserving its geometry, and the less enjoy-
ment will be derived from the flowers. The
maker of stars and crescents, moreover,
should realize that an acute angle is an awk-
ward one to which to adapt his flowers, and
that to preserve the outlines of such beds it
is necessary to fill them with puny plants,
which, by constant pinching, are prevented
from developing their natural charm of form
and character. The result is that the bed is
exalted above the flower, and the whole device
becomes a mere formal patch of colour, ex-
citing no more worthy emotion than an admira-
tion for the gardener's patience and skill with
the turf trimmer. Better to adopt a simple
circle, square, or rectangle and to be not
too particular if the flowers spread on to the
grass, so long as they grow under natural
38 GARDEN PLANNING
conditions and yield their harvest of blossom.
The outlines they create under such treatment
blend softly with the turf, and are far more
sightly than the hard edges fresh from the
trimming tool.
I have already made it clear that the garden
design must grow out of the garden itself,
and this is only another way of saying that
the garden must harmonize with its site and
surroundings. There may be some conspicuous
natural feature on the site which would furnish
a theme for the designer — a knoll, a drop in
level, or the presence of a natural pond or
stream. Whatever it be, it may be utilized
as a basis on which to build up the other details.
The house also may provide the theme, and
then the garden must be designed to harmonize
with its outlines and character.
A house permitted to stand up bleak and
naked from an expanse of gravel or turf will
always wear an aspect of aloofness from the
garden. The first care of the designer, there-
fore, should be to fill in the angles where the
house rises above the ground, either by the
use of shrubs, or by placing borders against
the house wall, as circumstances may dictate.
THE GARDEN PICTURE 39
Preconceived ideas, acquired before the site
has been thoroughly surveyed, should not
be allowed to influence the designer. Your
neighbour's garden may be a model of good
taste and successful horticulture, but, slavishly
copied on another site, may be a dismal failure.
The picturesque character of a garden may
be marred as much by sins of commission as
by sins of omission. There are gardens in
which no expense has been spared to ensure
a splendid succession of bloom, utterly ruined
by the introduction of garish and incongruous
accessories. The smaller the plot, the stronger
apparently the temptation to import these
eyesores. The garden maker cannot be too
watchful against the use of inharmonious
features. Such accessories as summer houses,
arches, pergolas, dials, and garden seats should
be designed to suit the garden, and their
details and mode of construction should be
simple and unostentatious. Paint should be
sparingly used, if at all, and its colour should
be chosen so as not to compete with the flowers.
I have seen a wide expanse of trellis painted
canary yellow, which for crudity and ill-taste
would be hard to match, yet the perpetrator
40 GARDEN PLANNING
was content to grow nasturtiums upon it,
quite unconscious of having outraged the
canons of art.
The so-called "rustic" work is rarely in
good taste. If the summer house is to be
decorated, what better means can be found
than allowing some pretty creeper to scramble
over it, softening its outline and loading it
with bloom .^
Terra-cotta, china, and cast-iron vases should
be used with caution. They are generally out
of scale in a small garden, and never quite
satisfactory unless associated with a terrace
wall, or some similar structure. In most
cases their place could be taken by stout
oaken tubs, with advantages on the score of
appearance.
The gardener must* be hoplessly depraved
if he admit such objects as minerals, mechanical
models, and sea-shells into his garden. If he
possesses any of these curiosities let him find
a place for them apart in a special museum.
Given discretion in excluding the inartistic
and incongruous, there may be still room for
mistakes in the use of garden accessories.
They may be selected so as not to be in proper
THE GARDEN PICTURE 4I
scale with the garden, or with that part of
the garden in which they are to be installed.
In these matters the designer's instincts must
guide him to the attainment of what is correct.
Good proportion is largely a matter of intuition,
though a sense of fitness may come from
knowledge and good sense. Let the garden
maker decide as far as possible by the help
of both. The golden rules are:
Use before ornament.
Simplicity.
Appropriateness.
Sound construction.
Scale. .
As every garden picture must have a focus,
or, in other words, a point of interest to which
the eye will naturally direct itself before it
can properly appreciate the general effect,
I attach much value to the summer house as
a suitable device for the purpose. It makes
a very natural terminal to the principal path,
and is therefore "led up to^' in such a way as
to enhance its usefulness for this purpose.
Again, the pointed roof is admirably adapted
for constituting the apex or summit of the
garden picture. This particularly applies to
42 GARDEN PLANNING
new gardens, before it Is possible to utilize
the trees as conspicuous elements in the picture.
A well-constructed summer house, weather-
proof, and placed so that its open side is in
shade, is a most desirable addition to any-
garden, however small, both as a picturesque
feature in the design and as a useful retreat
in hot or rainy weather.
Of other garden accessories I shall have
occasion to treat in their proper place.
Though I am writing in the main in the in-
terest of flower lovers, I shall make reference
to the kitchen garden, and here I may point
out that it is often feasible to so wed it to the
flower ground that it materially helps the
garden picture. In small gardens, where the
owner desires to reserve a plot for vegetables,
the apparent size of the garden is reduced if
the vegetable ground is screened off. On the
other hand, if left in full view, it contrasts
too conspicuously with the flower ground.
It is best to take both factors into considera-
tion when making the garden design, and, by
means which I shall describe in detail later
on, to blend flower and kitchen garden into
harmony. In this way the garden vistas may
THE GARDEN PICTURE 43
be lengthened without curtailing the vegetable
space, and even the tenants of the latter may
be made in some measure to contribute to the
garden picture, particularly if fruit is grown.
There are certain practical considerations
in town and suburban gardens which demand
that the vegetables should be grown in that
part of the plot most remote from the house.
If fruit trees be planted in the kitchen plot,
the blossom in its season is valuable at a time
when the flower garden is but little advanced
toward its summer display.
There is only one other point to emphasize,
and that has reference to garden management
rather than to garden making. Yet it is
worth noting. I refer to what some gardeners
call "tidiness." The striving after a neat,
trim, and well-kept garden is apt to lead the
gardener into a ruthless trimming and pinching
of plants. It is one of the things which can
be too well done. The truly artistic garden
is one in which the plant has full scope to de-
velop its character. It wants elbow-room,
and has no respect for artificial boundaries. It
Is a sin to curb and mutilate the plant because,
forsooth, it pushes out its foliage across the
44 GARDEN PLANNING
path. Rather let it enjoy its liberty. The
occasional plant which has more than repaid
your care by exceeding its neighbour in vigour
of growth deserves encouragement. Let it
sprawl in reason. It will soften the edge
of your border and redeem the straightness
of its line. I would even designedly place
certain plants so that they may behave in
this manner.
And, lastly, beware of the too liberal prun-
ing of trees and shrubs. Nature is always right.
She gives a character to each one of her crea-
tions, which is its birthright. To trim all trees
to a uniform shape, like the wooden models in
a child's Noah's Ark, is to destroy their indi-
viduality and charm, and to introduce the
very essence of formality into the garden.
CHAPTER IV
The Rectilinear Principle
I NOW propose to enter more intimately
Into the practical details of garden design-
ing. The suburban garden is usually a rectangle.
Its four boundaries are straight lines, and its
area is so restricted that these boundaries
are only too obvious to the person standing
within them.
The house is square at its angles, squarely
placed within the garden boundaries, and
rightly so. Thus the problem of designing
the details of the garden Is encompassed by
conditions which demand special consideration.
We cannot Ignore the fact that the skeleton
on which we have to build our garden plan
is a thing of straight lines and right angles.
The problem, therefore, for the garden designer
is to evolve a style of planning that will best
harmonize with these elements, which by no
ingenuity of contrivance can be suppressed.
45
46 GARDEN PLANNING
The treatment I advocate is based upon the
use of straight lines, and experience has shown
that it is the only successful method of solving
the problem. I have termed it the "rectilinear
principle." It might, at first sight, appear to
imply the very essence of formality, but, under
careful scrutiny, this objection disappears.
Let us consider the alternative: this would
involve the use of curves or irregular lines,
which would at once establish a new factor
in the problem. The curves might be laid
down with the utmost skill with a view to
obtaining a unity inter se, but they would
individually and collectively remain in perma-
nent discord with the rectilinear boundaries,
emphasizing their squareness.
It should be understood that the problem
under consideration is the planning of a garden
of moderate size, to which type of garden alone
I should apply the rectilinear treatment.
On garden plots of larger size, even if
bounded by straight lines, the case is different.
Usually means may be adopted in such cases
to sufficiently mask the fences or walls, which,
owing to the larger area of the plot, would
never be obtrusive.
THE RECTILINEAR PRINCIPLE 47
I claim no novelty for the rectilinear system.
In some form or other it has been in use by
garden planners since the days of the ancient
Egyptians, but not always applied in a way
to secure the best possible results. Modern
gardeners, having acquired a horror of formal
effect, have sought to avoid it by the introduc-
tion of winding paths and sinuous edges to
their borders. My object is to show that
these devices do not achieve their purpose,
but rather defeat it.
The question of formality in a small garden
must be tackled in another way.
The use of straight lines does not preclude
variety and the other factors which make for
picturesque effect. But when allied to an
obvious symmetry it does engender formality.
Therefore I exclude from the rectilinear system
any arrangement which gives equal-sidedness
to the garden.
These points will be better appreciated
by reference to Fig. 3.
At A is shown the type of garden only too
common. I may call it the rectangular sym-
metrical style. It has crystallized into a
permanent feature in many city lots. Its faults
48
GARDEN PLANNING
are many and obvious. It is not correlated
with aspect, and therefore does not make the
most of the space. Such a garden would
handicap the flower grower. Its symmetry
is too pronounced to be capable of being
masked in the planting. Its circuit path is
ABC
Fig. 3. — Garden styles compared
a waste of gravel and a waste of space. It has
no distinction, and it would elude the gardener
THE RECTILINEAR PRINCIPLE 49
who sought to make it picturesque in the
fullest sense.
B is the garden which hopes to avoid for-
mality by the use of curves, but fails in its
mission because its lines are out of harmony
with its boundaries.
C is a simple application of the rectilinear
principle, based upon a careful consideration
of aspect. In the last example it will be
seen that the principal borders enjoy full sun,
that the main lines are parallel with the
boundary fences, and therefore appear as a
natural suggestion from those boundaries;
that the path has a definite purpose — to take
the traffic where the attraction of the flowers
leads it — and that it begins and ends some-
where. The grass is confined to a single area,
and includes no shapes which would be difficult
to attack with a mower. The keynote is
simplicity, which implies dignity and harmony.
Such a garden could be planted with the best
results in securing a really artistic general
effect.
It may be remarked, to prevent misappre-
hension, that this design is capable of con-
siderable modification to suit circumstances.
50 GARDEN PLANNING
It is adapted in this case to a north-east aspect.
For other aspects the positions of the borders
would be altered, and other details would need
modification.
Apart from the more important advantages
already mentioned it is clear that it has
others of minor moment, yet desirable from
the gardener's point of view. The edging of
straight borders is always more easily managed
than that of curved ones. Stone or concrete
edges take truer lines, and are more easily kept
in place. The trimming of grass edges can
always be controlled by a stretched cord.
A straight path is the shortest route between
any two points.
In the next following chapters I shall show
in more detail how the rectilinear system
may be applied to the making of a really
picturesque garden.
CHAPTER V
The Elements of the Garden Plan
There are three main factors In the garden
plan — the beds, the walks, and the grass.
In the evolution of the garden design the
beds (in which term I include borders) should
receive first consideration. They may well
occupy more space than is usually allowed
them. The narrow strips of border so often
seen skirting the fences of suburban gardens
are practically useless for flower culture. A
width of six feet is not too much for the
principal border, and it should, if possible,
be in full sun. If the main path defines its
near boundary, another border parallel to it
may be made on the other side of the path
but narrower, say four feet wide. This dis-
parity in width is designed to secure variety
and to eliminate one - sidedness. Two such
borders, the wide one planted with shrubs and
herbaceous plants, the narrow one with surface-
51
52 GARDEN PLANNING
growing flowers, become complementary, and
ofl'er opportunity for many charming effects,
and for the creation of a fine vista. The narrow
border would on one side abut on the grass
plot, and short transverse extensions of it
might be carried into the grass area to break
its inner line and to extend the flower space
laterally. Such offshoots from a long border
become partial screens, helping to secure
that quality which I have already referred
to as "reticence."
It is by no means necessary that every border
should be served by a path. On the con-
trary, variety of effect is assisted by intro-
ducing a border between the grass and the
boundary fence, say on the side of the garden
opposite to the main walk. These points I
shall further elucidate when I come to consider
special examples. The main point I wish to
emphasize at this stage is that the borders,
in which the gardener aims at securing his
principal flower display, should be in full sun,
and served by the principal path. I also
desire to make it clear that these borders must
be the dominating factor in the design, for
it is not too much to say that they constitute
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 53
the garden in the truest sense of the word.
The path is for utility, the grass for repose, and
both must ever be subordinate to the beds
and borders. Hence we cannot give too careful
thought to the latter.
Just how the further elaboration of the
scheme is contrived after the positions of the
principal borders have been determined will
depend upon circumstances and the fancy of
the garden maker. If the garden is of con-
siderable length it may be advisable to divert
the path before it has traversed the full extent
of the plot. How this may be done without
sacrificing the welfare of the flowers, and with
best results to the garden picture, will appear
hereafter. I mention it here as one of the
legitimate devices for securing a desirable
quality in the plan. The introduction of
detached beds also Is a matter In which the
taste of the designer must be his most trust-
worthy guide.
An expedient I have often employed is to
allow the path to expand into a square at some
point of its length, and to install a square bed
in its centre. This is a very convenient
device when it is required to effect a slight
54 GARDEN PLANNING
deviation in the path without altering its
direction, as the path may enter the square
at one corner, and leave it by the diagonally
opposite corner. (Fig. 4.) Beds
in grass, when set near its
boundary, should be allowed
a verge of at least eighteen
inches, to prevent difficulties
in mowing. The use of circles
and parts of circles, as well as
of figures in which the angles
are equal and not less than
a right angle — the hexagon,
for example — is not opposed
to the rectilinear system of
treatment. They become mere
details, in no special way related to the lead-
ing lines of the garden plan.
Though the principal borders should usurp
the best position in the garden, there is no
reason why the gardener should not make a
border in the shade, where he may grow such
plants as thrive best under that condition.
The foot of a southern boundary fence is well
suited for a shady border, because it is warm
as well as shady. Ferns, lily-of-the-valley,
Fig. 4. — Expansion
of path
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 55
and Solomon's Seal would thrive In such a
border, as well as a multitude of other plants.
When the house does not stand squarely
within its boundaries, or when the garden
boundaries are straight but not rectangular, as
in a plot which tapers in the direction of its
length, the problem requires some special consid-
eration; but usually means may be devised to
bring the garden details into harmony with
these disconcerting factors, as a perusal of
some of the plans in Chapter XVIII will show.
I have said that the paths exist for utility.
That is so in a large measure, but they have a
further value, in linking together the other
elements of the garden. Moreover, a path is
an objective invitation to walk through the
garden and enjoy its beauties. A garden
without a path would hardly satisfy the eye.
On the other hand, nothing is so wasteful of
space, or so irritating to the eye, as a multitude
of paths cutting up the garden into small
compartments and destroying the breadth
of the picture.
There are two principal points in every path,
or should be — the beginning and the end.
Paths which start nowhere and end at a blank
56 GARDEN PLANNING
wall suggest purposelessness. It may be taken
as an axiom that the principal path should
commence at some point conveniently near,
and preferably facing, the door by which the
house inmates enter their garden. Its direction
should be through the flowers, and it should
have a natural termination, or final destination.
The best terminal to a garden path in my
opinion is the summer house, and when that
feature is non-existent, an arbour, or some other
erection, should serve the purpose. Failing
that, the path might terminate in a square
expansion, in which a seat, sundial, or other
appropriate object might be placed. It would
be better to end it at a tool house or garage,
or even at a potting-shed, than to allow it
to stop suddenly nowhere.
All deviations in the direction of the path
should be made at right angles. Diagonal
paths are not permissible. They never look
well in a small garden.
The value of a path is mainly in proportion
to its utility. After rain or heavy dew the
garden would be uninviting without a path.
It also preserves the turf from traffic, which
would soon wear it to bareness. This sums
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 57
Up the path's usefulness. That it has also a
certain value in the general picture I have
already conceded. I have seen it laid down
in handbooks on gardening that the smaller
ihe garden the more the need for the "wind-
ing path," which, it is claimed, adds to the
"apparent length of the garden." I cannot
conceive that any such result could follow in a
garden the boundaries of which are visible
on every side. The winding path in a small
plot serves only to cut up the space into irreg-
ularly shaped areas, the treatment of which
will tax the skill of the planner to deal with
successfully, whilst the additional amount of
gravel surface is so much deducted from what
might be made productive flower ground.
The width of the path must bear some re-
lation to the scale of the garden. In com-
paratively small plots, economy of space sug-
gests that it should be the minimum compatible
with its purpose. I do not favour a less width
than three feet for a principal path under
any circumstances.
In larger gardens greater width may be
permitted, as there is a certain distinction and
dignity in a broad walk when all else is in
58 GARDEN PLANNING
proportion. In a half-acre plot a width of five
feet might be desirable.
The practical details of path making will
be treated in a separate chapter, but I may
here refer to the path material, more particu-
larly as regards its colour and texture. Red
gravel, coarse sand, bricks, and tiles are
warm in tone, contrasting well with the grass
and harmonizing with the flowers and their
foliage. Granite chips, cinders, tarred gravel,
blue stone, and cement are cold and unin-
viting, and should only be used when other
materials are unobtainable.
Red gravel (of the right kind, which binds
well), bricks, tiles, tarred gravel, and cement
make paths with a close, hard surface. Sand
or pebbles, stone chips, cinders, and blue stone
never bind thoroughly, and therefore make
paths with a loose surface, which, apart
from the unpleasant feeling underfoot, Im-
plies that much loose material will adhere
to the boots and be carried on to the
grass, with disastrous results to the knives of
the mower.
Though paths, as a rule, should be made of
equal width throughout, it is sometimes
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 59
advisable when they are of any great length,
and particularly if straight, to introduce at
^
Fig. s. — Expansion of path
6o GARDEN PLANNING
some suitable point an expansion in width to
break the line.
This should be done in one of the ways in-
dicated in the illustration (Fig. 5). These
expansions may be utilized to accommodate
garden seats, sundials, vases or tubs, trees
Fig. 6. — Expansion of path
or beds, so as not to appear quite purposeless.
Expansions of the kind indicated are well
placed at points where a secondary path breaks
EtEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 6l
off from the principal one; also at the terminal
of a path, as already mentioned.
In winding paths they would take a form
more in harmony with the lines of the path,
as the examples illustrated in Fig. 6 show.
Although the rectilinear system, as adapted
to small gardens, demands that path offshoots
should be made to leave the path at right
angles, the same does not apply to curved
paths, in which all by-paths must leave the
main path at a more or less acute angle, the
curves of both being laid down to form a
pleasing combination of lines, thus:
Thedictumof
a distinguished
landscape gar-
dener on this
question may
be taken as an
axiom. Rep- Fig. 7.— Path junction
ton, as quoted
by Mawson, says: "When two walks diverge
from each other they should not appear as if
they were intended to join again, but rather
as if each led to points far apart."
The use of curved paths, though inadmissible
62
GARDEN PLANNING
in small plots, Is quite legitimate and even
desirable in plots of larger size, and I may
therefore offer some guidance for laying
them out.
Curves should be set out in good, bold sweeps.
Grace of line is only to be obtained by a prac-
tised eye guided by an intuitive sense of what
is pleasing, so that the best achievements
in this direction are usually the result of skill,
knowledge, and artistic instinct. A hint may
be given as to what should be avoided.
Thus the curve A in the illustration (Fig. 8) is-
better than B.
Mr. Mawson
inhisadmirable
book, "The Art
and Craft of
Garden Mak-
ing," says of
garden walks: "They should be arranged
in such a way that the beauties of the place
may be exhibited, not by a series of wriggles,
but in a simple straightforward manner."
As a rule, these curves are best not modelled
on a geometrical basis, — i. e., one in which parts
of circles do duty as their components. It is
Fig. 8. — Curves in paths
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 63
better that they should have that flowing
character of which we find the counterpart
in nature in the graceful lines of a bending
sedge or the curved stem of a flower spike.
Thus the planner should rely on freehand rather
than the compasses.
In laying down such a curved path the novice
is too apt to overlook the spaces to right and
left. He should ever bear in mind that his
walks subdivide the garden space, and on the
course they take will depend the shape of the
areas they bound or enclose. Thus in the case
of a path skirting the garden boundary the
amount and shape of the space between it and
the boundary fence must be considered. For
instance, it would be bad practice to leave a
strip too wide for a border but too narrow to
carry a border with grass in front of it.
I now pass on to the third element in the
garden plan — the grass. From the fore-
going it will be seen how closely correlated it
is with the other factors.
In small gardens it is best to confine the
grass to a single area, though circumstances
may arise to make it desirable to depart from
this rule. In such event the second grass
64 GARDEN PLANNING
space should be subordinate to the principal
one, and if possible reserved for a separate
purpose. To bisect the garden into two equal
areas of grass is at once to introduce symmetry.
The artist well knows how fatal it is to a good
pictorial effect to allot equal spaces to sky
and landscape. The two cases are parallel.
In gardens of the size I am now considering
the idea of a " lawn " for games is rarely realiz-
able for want of space, and the grass plot,
therefore, should be treated with other pur-
poses in view. Its functions are more closely
related to the flowers and general picture.
It affords welcome relief to the eye, and by
contrast enhances the value of the colour effect
obtainable with the flowers. Moreover, its
surface presents a cool, soft, and welcome
tread, and a place to "laze" upon and enjoy
the garden vistas.
It is that part of the garden in which we
may plant a few trees for shade, without fear
that their shadows and hungry roots will
work havoc with the flowers. The grass plot
should never be isolated by surrounding it on
all sides with gravel, as too often is done in
the type of garden illustrated in Fig. 3A, the
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 65
garden with a circuit path so beloved by
suburban dwellers. Let one or more of the
sides join a border, where grass and flowers
would come into juxtaposition. Even let
the border thrust out an extension into the
grass in the manner suggested in the early
(^
0^0
B
(?
Fig. 9. — The grouping of beds
part of this chapter. But beware of fretting
your principal grass plot into a thing of ragged
outline by overdoing this procedure, and do
not pierce it with a multitude of little beds.
Remember also that the simpler in shape your
grass plot, the less difficulty you will experience
in mowing it and keeping it trim and neat.
66 GARDEN PLANNING
Beds in grass are best grouped at one or two
points, and the components of the group should
be shaped so as to produce unity of effect. Com-
pare the two examples illustrated on page 65
(A correctly grouped, B incorrectly grouped).
It is generally better that the outlines of
the group should preserve a parallelism with
those of the grass plot, as this ensures a more
harmonious effect.
From what I have written about the im-
portance of making aspect the guiding factor
in garden design, it is clear that the gardener
should contrive, as far as possible, that the
principal shadows in his garden should fall
upon the grass, where they will be welcome as
shade, and will not preclude the growth of good
turf. Small detached grass spaces, if unavoid-
able, may be made interesting by planting
them with bulbs, thereby securing a charming
feature in spring and early summer. Another
plan is to utilize the space for a sunken rock
garden, and yet another is to make a cen-
tral group of beds upon it, which in the case
of a square space becomes an attractive
secondary focus.
An important point is to give proper access
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN d']
to all grass spaces. This implies that the
borders should not bar the way which appears
to be the most natural one of reaching the
grass. Neglect of this consideration may tempt
those who use the garden to skip over the
borders, with consequences to the plants which
I need not particularize. It is well to provide
means of access to the grass at all points from
which it is likely to be approached, by bringing
it up to the path at those points. This is
done by curtailing the border some three or
four feet at its end, or by breaking through it
at some point in its length. Many examples
illustrating this suggestion will be found in
the plans.
^When a grass plot is used solely as a back-
ground for a group of beds, ample verge should
be left at the edges, and, whatever the shape
of the beds, the spaces between bed and bed
should be of sufficient width to ensure no
difficulty in mowing.
In dealing with grass spaces of irregular
outline, such as would occur where the paths
are winding, the placing of the beds should take
into account the outline of the grass space.
For instance, a square group of beds set in a
68
GARDEN PLANNING
curved promontory would produce a discordant
note. Better to adapt the shape of the group
to the space in which it is set.
The two methods are here illustrated for the
sake of comparison, and a glance at the figures
[Z7/-n\Z]
«oB<'
Fig. lo. — Girrect form for groups of beds
will sufficiently convince the reader as to which
method is most likely to please the eye.
There is no need to make the grass level if
the ground has a natural slope, provided,
ELEMENTS OF THE GARDEN PLAN 69
of course, "King Tennis" does not rule. On
the contrary, sloping ground greatly assists
drainage, and ensures that puddles shall not
lodge on the surface, which, on heavy ground,
would Inevitably occur on a dead-level plot.
CHAPTER VI
Making Beds and Borders
Being Intended solely for the purpose of
accommodating living plants, beds and borders
should be made so that they will furnish every-
thing that a plant demands of the soil. This
implies not only that the soil shall be of such
a nature as to supply abundant food for the
roots, but that it shall be of sufficient depth
and of proper consistency, and that it shall
contain no undesirable constituents.
Soils are as we find them, and not always
as we would have them, so that the gardener
who, by force of circumstances, has to till an
intractable soil, must adopt artificial means
to bring it into a better condition. Reference
has already been made to the subject in
Chapter II.
Let us assume that the gardener is breaking
virgin ground, say a piece of old pasture. He
has staked out the main lines of his garden plan,
70
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS Jl
and Is about to make his beds and borders.
The soil consists of a top-spit of brown loam
overlying a clayey subsoil. If the latter is a
stiff clay, and insufficient surface soil overlies
it, the gardener may have to face the necessity
of importing additional material. But let
us assume that the consistency of the subsoil
is not so hopeless as the above assumption
would imply. Then the proper procedure
is to bring soil and subsoil into intimate ad-
mixture, so that one may temper the other,
and to do so to such a depth as the ordinary
requirements of horticulture demand. In most
circumstances this may be taken as two feet
or thereabout. This is best done by the
operation known as "trenching," now to be
explained.
It may be well here to state that trenching
is a term applied strictly to spade work which
has for its object deep tillage, as distinguished
from "digging," by which the surface layer
of the soil only is turned over.
Trenching is best done in the late fall months
when the weather is yet open. It is conducted
in various ways according to the results re-
quired and to the previous condition of the
72 GARDEN PLANNING
ground. In "full-trenching" the process has
the effect of reversing the relative positions
of the upper and lower layers of soil, so that
that which was situated, say, two feet below
the surface comes to the top, and the top layer
goes to the lower level.
So complete a reversal may be admirable
treatment for ground which has long been in
tillage, and therefore already broken up to
the trenching depth, but it would be inad-
visable in the case of new ground such as we
are considering, the subsoil of which had
not seen the light perhaps for centuries. On
such ground the subsoil would be compacted
and wanting entirely in the constituents
which furnish food for plants. It is clear,
therefore, that if full-trenching were adopted
the gardener would have a very poor surface
layer in which to grow his flowers.
A better plan would be to " half-trench,"
which consists in removing the surface soil
in sections, then breaking up the subsoil with
a fork, and subsequently replacing the surface
soil. But there is still a better method for
the garden maker, designed to effect the more
or less complete mixing of the soil and subsoil
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS 73
to the desired depth. As that is the principal
object he should have in view, this last method
is the one for him to adopt. The operation
is conducted as follows:
The ground is opened up to the full depth
by a trench cut across the border, as shown
Fig. II. — Trenching
by the full line in the illustration, which
represents the trench in cross-section. The
soil removed may at once be carried to a
position near the far end of the border. The
gardener then proceeds to fill up the trench at
A with soil taken alternately from B and C,
D and E, and so on till he reaches the end of
the border, when the space left must be filled
in with the soil that has been taken there for
the purpose.
If the land is old pasture, care should be taken
to bury the turfs, so they may in due time rot
74 GARDEN PLANNING
and thereby contribute their quota to enriching
the soil.
Although the primary object of trenching
is to produce a workable soil of sufficient
depth, incidentally assisting drainage and
effecting aeration, it aifords a good opportunity
for enriching the soil by incorporating with it
a proportion of manure. In the making of
beds and borders in a new garden this oppor-
tunity should not be neglected. Therefore
the gardener should have at hand a heap of
good manure, and as the work proceeds he
should add it to the soil at a regular rate, until
the whole contents of the border has been
treated. This must be done in a manner
which ensures that the manure be well dis-
tributed in depth, not merely added to the
surface layer, so that when the plants send down
their roots they will find a reserve of food
awaiting them.
Once made in this way, the border will not
need trenching again for some years. The an-
nual digging and manuring will serve to keep
it in efficient condition for a period dependent
upon the demands made upon it.
It should be remembered that when we have
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS 75
planted, and the plants have become estab-
lished in the borders, it is not possible to resort
to trenching again without removing all the
plants; hence the necessity for doing the work
thoroughly in the first instance.
With beds and groups of beds of compact
shape, trenching as just described is hardly
practicable. The better method is first to
remove the top-spit over the whole surface
of the bed, heaping it close at hand; then to
do the same with the lower layer, making a
separate heap of it; after which the bottom
should be forked over and the soil thrown back,
mixing well together that from the two separate
heaps. A due proportion of manure should
be added, as in ordinary trenching.
Thus far these directions apply to soils which
are naturally well fitted for the gardener. With
too light or too heavy soils some tempering
material must be added, and this is best done
when the beds and borders are being formed.
On heavy clay soils we may use sand, fine
gravel, ashes, and vegetable matter. It is
an excellent plan, not often adopted, I fear,
to make the lowest layer of brick rubbish, with
cinders overlying.
76 GARDEN PLANNING
This ensures good drainage. At least two
feet of soil should be put above the drainage
layer. The cost and trouble may be more^
but the results will repay the gardener.
Fig. 12. — Drainage for beds and borders
Borders prepared in this way do not suffer
from water-logging even during wet winters.
In hot summer weather they neither bake nor
become dry for any great distance down. If
the trenching is done in the autumn, the winter
frosts will help to break up the clay lumps,
reducing them to a consistency more nearly
approaching loam. The important point in
the treatment of clay land is to secure a suffi-
cient admixture of loose porous material to
destroy the tenacity of the clay and to permit
of moisture freely finding its way down through
the mass of soil. A certain proportion of
vegetable matter is a gain, as it has manurial
value. Hence the gardener may cast into his
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS 77
trench turfs, weeds, and garden and house
refuse, which In due time will rot and supply
humus.
On light soils, which usually owe their light-
ness to an undue amount of sand, or may
consist almost entirely of sand, we may add
stiff loam and clay to give it greater body and
a more retentive character. As such soils
are usually deficient in humus, vegetable
matter also may be added with advantage.
Whether the treatment is designed to render
a heavy soil lighter or a light one heavier, the
aim of the garden maker should be to secure a
well-drained bed or border, the soil of which,
to a depth of at least two feet, Is of a workable
consistency and not likely to suffer from ex-
tremes of weather, either in the direction of
drought or continued wet.
Such a soil will admit air as easily as it
admits moisture, and air performs a very im-
portant function In "sweetening" and purify-
ing the soil, by hastening those processes of
decomposition which are always taking place.
In soils of the heaviest kind it may be
necessary to introduce subsoil drainage by
means of agricultural tile, or rubble drains
78 GARDEN PLANNING
laid at regular intervals, but the gardener
would be wise to avoid land which could be
rendered workable only by such means.
Drainage in that case would have to be car-
ried out over the whole of the ground and not
merely beneath the borders.
On stony land the operation of trenching
affords a good opportunity for removing an
excess of stones. I do not recommend screen-
ing, unless a very coarse screen is employed,
because a certain proportion of stones is an
advantage to the soil, helping to keep it loose
and workable. It is therefore generally ad-
visable to throw out the larger stones only.
There cannot be two opinions about the
wisdom of deep working, and it only needs to
be tried and the results noted to impress the
most sceptical gardener of its value.
I now pass on to a consideration of the form
and disposition of beds as picturesque ele-
ments in the garden. I need add nothing to
what I have already said about borders, be-
cause their position generally determines their
form, and aspect decides their position. I used
the term "bed" to distinguish a detached
compartment for flower growing. Beds are
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS 79
most often formed in turf. Sometimes, how-
ever, they are given a background of
gravel, particularly when a formal effect is
desired.
Whatever the background, the form of bed,
as regards its outline, is important, and it
is essential that we should not outrage good
taste by indulging in anything of eccentric
character. I have already pointed out the
disadvantages from a practical standpoint
of such shapes as crescents, stars, and other
figures having acute angles. Did not these
practical objections count, I should still
decry these shapes because of their obvious
artificiality. The outlines by which we bound
our flower beds should not be of a character
to fix the eye and divert our attention from
the flowers. Another objection to these bi-
zarre shapes is the great aggregate length of
their boundaries in comparison with the space
they enclose. This disproportion means that
the actual length of edging to be kept trimmed
and cared for is much greater than is necessary,
and where beds of this kind exist in numbers
the extra labour is not negligible.
To take a concrete case, the boundary length
8o GARDEN PLANNING
of a five-pointed star, as shown in the illus-
tration, compares with that of a circle of the
same diameter as five to three.
A circle, it is well known, encloses the largest
amount of space in relation to its circumference,
and is therefore the figure which has the
smallest length of boundary. The octagon,
hexagon, and pentagon come next in economy
of boundary, and the square and rectangle
Fig. 13. — Shapes of beds
follow. If the gardener goes beyond these
simple shapes he will necessarily become
lavish of edging. I do not mean to say that
he is on that account to confine himself to
those shapes alone. We must have variety
in form and scope for fancy. It is well, how-
ever, to have our eyes open to the consequences
of indulging in sprawling and attenuated
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS
8l
forms, which are prodigal of margin but
enclose comparatively little flower space.
Of the forms of bed in general use, and
admissible on practical and artistic grounds,
I give some examples, omitting the circle,
square, and rectangle as sufficiently indicated
by their names.
OC3
Fig. 14 — Shapes of beds
It is obvious that some of these are suitable
only as components of a group, by reason of
their unsymmetrical character.
Beds are placed either singly or in groups.
In the former case it is well to select a shape
which bears some relation to the outlines of
82 GARDEN PLANNING
the grass on which it is placed, if it comes suf-
ficiently near those outlines for it to matter.
A square bed set in an oval grass plot would
not harmonize so well with its outline as a
circular or oval bed, as I have already pointed
out in connection with groups of beds. So
in a square or rectangular plot of limited dimen-
sions a square or rectangular bed would best
please the eye.
In designing a group of beds it is not sufficient
to throw together several components bearing
no relation to each other in shape. On the
contrary, there should be a rigid harmony
in shape between the components. This is
best secured by giving attention to the strips
of sward or gravel which separate them, and
a good rule is to make these strips of
equal width throughout their length, so that
the sides of adjacent beds are parallel with
each other.
This is made clear in the next illustration.
Practical considerations in connection with
mowing make it desirable that this strip of sward
should not be too narrow, say not less than
eighteen inches. In groups of beds in gravel,
the separating strips become possible paths,
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS
83
and their minimum width may therefore be
fixed at two feet.
Examples of groups of flower beds will be
found in plenty in the garden plans in a
later chapter.
As regards the size of a bed, or of the corn-
Fig. 15. — Relation between beds in a group
ponents of a group, no precise limits can be
laid down. A bed may consist of a square
measuring two feet each way, if intended to
accommodate a pillar rose. On the other hand,
very large beds are sometimes introduced, when
they are in scale with their surroundings and
84 GARDEN PLANNING
a bold effect is aimed at. In most cases, how-
ever, nothing is gained by making a bed of
greater area than is represented by a circle
of twelve feet diameter.
In groups of beds it is well to have a central
component which dominates the group. But
too great disparity in size between it and those
about it is not desirable.
When a series of groups is to be made, as,
for instance, along the grass bordering a drive,
the same design should not be repeated in-
definitely. It is better to repeat it, if at all, at
considerable intervals, employing other designs
in between. The same applies to a series of
single beds, though monotony is not so notice-
able in that case, particularly if the form
employed is a simple one. For instance, a
series of equal and similar rectangular beds
bordering a long straight stretch of grass may
be quite inoffensive, but even in that case it
would be better to break the line at equal dis-
tances by making a wider interval between
adjacent beds at every third or fourth bed,
thus introducing a simple kind of grouping,
which always looks better than a regular series
like the cars of a freight train.
MAKING BEDS AND BORDERS 85
The gardener has always to consider the
trouble Involved in maintaining the shapes
of his beds, and this should make him cautious
about indulging in figures the geometry of
which is not very obvious. With rectangular
beds the stretched cord is always a sure guide
for the turf trimmer, and with circular beds,
or those bounded by straight lines and parts
of a circle, the radius cord attached to a stake
at the centre of curvature is a simple expedient
for controlling the shape. It is otherwise
with "fancy" shapes, when the eye alone can
be called upon to keep things right.
Opinions differ on the question of camber
in the surface of the soil, if we may judge by
examples, some preferring to keep the surface
flat, and others to heap it up until the bed takes
on the semblance of a gigantic pincushion.
Safety lies in the happy medium. Some
camber is desirable as a means for throwing
off the water during heavy showers, and it
improves the appearance of the flowers,
particularly when they are all of a height, as
in bedding practice. Excessive camber tends
to drain off the moisture from the crown
of the bed.
86 GARDEN PLANNING
Beds In gravel, if edged with box, should be
kept nearly flat on the surface, otherwise the
moisture which gravitates to their margins
would tend to carry soil out upon the gravel
surface.
CHAPTER VII
Construction of Walks and Drives
The first essential in a garden path is that
it should present a firm surface, durable under
the ordinary conditions of the traffic it has to
bear, which, be it remembered, includes not
only foot traffic, but the passage of roller,
mower, and garden barrow.
It must also be well drained, so that after
showers its surface does not hold puddles or
long remain wet.
There is no detail in the garden which con-
tributes more materially to its general good
appearance and to the comfort of its users
than a well-made and well-kept path.
Drives designed for carriage traffic may also
be referred to in this chapter, as practically
the same principles of construction apply to
them, though if much used by wheeled vehicles
and not merely for show, the surface material
must be such as will not cut up in daily use;
87
«« GARDEN PLANNING
in fact, their making should involve the ordi-
nary principles of road construction.
In laying down the line of a drive, if any
departure is made from the straight, the curves
should make wide sweeps. Abrupt turns in
carriage drives are apt to lead to unlooked-for
surprises on dark nights.
The minimum width for a carriage drive may
be taken as ten feet.
There are two points in a drive which call
for special attention on the part of the designer,
viz., the entrance and the terminal. If the
drive enters the plot at right angles, it is well
to set the gates back from the road, so as to
make space for vehicles to turn, and this is
especially necessary when the drive leaves a
narrow thoroughfare. It is usually done by
making the railings or boundary hedge curve
inward toward the gates, or curved wing walls
may be erected enclosing a space approximating
a semicircle.
When the drive enters the plot at an angle
it should break away from the thoroughfare
by a curve which meets the latter at a tangent,
or if from a curved thoroughfare, the two curves
should flow gracefully into each other; in other
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES 89
words, they should have a common tangent
line.
It is not unusual to find the course of a drive
so laid down that its length is unnecessarily
great, the idea being that it impresses the visi-
tor. This is a waste of material and of space.
Fig. 16. — Entrance to drive
On level ground a straight drive leading to
the house by the shortest route is generally
the best. Curved drives, however, are not
objectionable provided their lines run in bold
sweeps, and they may afford an opportunity
for screening the house when privacy is
desirable.
On sloping ground the course of the drive
90
GARDEN PLANNING
must be determined with a view to ensuring
an easy gradient, and in such case it may-
be necessary to use curves freely.
Fig. 17. — The carriage-turn
Where the drive reaches the house entrance
an expansion should be made to permit of
vehicles turning, and it should be wide enough
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES 9I
to allow them to turn on a sufficiently large
radius to prevent damage to the road surface.
The form of the "carriage-turn" is immaterial
if it is large enough; but if space is restricted
it is better to adopt the circle, or some figure
approximating it.
In the case of a semicircular drive having
separate entrance and exit gates, the carriage-
turn is unnecessary, but may be retained in
some form as a concession to the eye, which
naturally looks for a free space opposite the
house door.
The coming of the motor car has introduced
a new and insistent problem in driveway en-
trances to suburban plots — in the open country
estate the only extra modifications lie in the
necessity of greater, gentler curves. The factors
to be considered in the smaller place have been
well presented in Country Life^ October 1922,
thus: Width between automobile tires, direc-
tion the runway takes relative to lines of street
curb, width of parking space between sidewalk
and curb, elevation of sidewalk above curb, rela-
tive slopes in walk and curb, elevation of sidewalk
above curb, relative slopes in walk and curb, gen-
eral character of ground as respects lines and
92 GARDEN PLANNING
grades, and textural finish suited to conditions.
The average distance between centres of tires
is four feet nine inches. Add to this one foot six
inches to allow nine inches outside of each tire,
and the result, six feet three inches, is a service-
able width for the automobile runway. Six feet
six inches is quite commonly used and is a good
width under nearly all circumstances, unless
curbs be built on the outside, when the overall
width will be increased by about eight inches.
It is assumed that each runway is eighteen
inches wide with a grass plot between. They
are sometimes built twelve inches and twenty-
four inches, the former being too narrow and the
latter unnecessarily wide.
The ramp should in no case have a width less
that the overall width of the runway. It is
better, when ramp and runways do not join but
are separated by a sidewalk, to have the narrow
part or throat of the ramp equal to or bur slight-
ly wider than the width of the runways. This
will give the effect of continuity of the side lines.
The width of the opening along the street curb
will vary according to local conditions. From
observations and measurements to determine
what a driver will do when turning off the street
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES 93
on to the ramp it is figured that eight feet six
inches should be the minimum clearance allow-
able and that ten to twelve feet is preferable.
In laying out a ramp it is well to be liberal so
far as service is concerned at the same time
heeding the dictates of esthetics which demand
the least possible display of cement.
For ordinary cases and pleasing to the eye,
the opening width of twelve feet is sufficient for
an approach from either direction, and the
throat opening, made equal to the overall width
of the runway, gives the correct appearance
when viewed from the front. The side Hnes of
the ramp come into the Hne of the walk at a
right angle. For the most pleasing results this
is essential in normal cases. The ramp curbs
should be made to articulate on easy curves with
the street curb. A bad joint or a sharp angle
where the two come together is certain to spoil
the appearance of the work. The track of the
car as it approaches and enters the grounds is
on a curve, and it is only rational to curve the
side lines of the ramp.
If the runways are eighteen inches wide, any
driver can keep on them while backing out, and
curbs are not needed as a guide.
94 GARDEN PLANNING
Gravel Paths — Much depends upon the
quality of the gravel. There are gravels which
are little better than shingle, being almost or
entirely devoid of binding material. Gravels
of this kind will never make a firm path, and
a path of loose pebbles is objectionable on
account of the liability of the smaller stones
to be carried on to the grass.
After staking out the course of the path, the
soil must be excavated to a depth of twelve
inches, or until a firm bottom is reached, and
taken bodily away. The trench must then be
filled in with rubble, brick rubbish, or other
light material, to provide drainage and to en-
sure a firm foundation.
Over this may be put a layer of shingle or
coarse gravel screenings, say three inches thick,
which should be formed with the rake to a
curved surface or camber in cross-section. The
gravel may then be evenly distributed over
the surface to a depth of from two to three
inches, care being taken to keep the line of its
crown straight in the direction of the path's
length, but preserving the camber of the layer
beneath. After liberal watering the roller
should be put to work. The free use of water at
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES 95
this Stage is important to success, as it ensures
the subsequent consolidation of the gravel
and prevents its adhering to the roller. The
correct amount of water may be determined
by noting the action of the roller, which should
carry before it a wave of creamy liquid, a mix-
Fig. i8.— Path foundation
ture of water with the binding constituent of
the gravel. The roller should be a moderately
heavy one. After the path has been brought
to a fair surface it should be left unused for
at least twenty-four hours, and if no rain falls
during that interval so much the better.
Cinder Paths — These are dismal things in
the flower garden, though they have a sphere
of usefulness in the vegetable plot. They also
may be made as directed for gravel paths.
Tar Paths — When well made these are very
durable, but their colour is against them,
and in hot weather they are apt to become soft
on the surface; the same apphes to asphalt.
I have, however, seen tar paths the stony
96 GARDEN PLANNING
constituent of which was a gray material,
probably limestone, not altogether unsightly
after the surface layer of tar had disappeared.
Tar and other paths made of impervious
material should not be flanked by impervious
tiles, or water will collect at their sides.
Cement Paths — These are unsympathetic
in colour and Hable to crack under the influence
of frost. To guard against cracking a good
proportion of sand should be used in mixture,
and the path should be laid on a concrete basis
at least six inches thick. Cement may be
coloured with iron oxide (red ochre) to give it
a warmer and more genial hue.
Brick Paths — Next to gravel the brick path
holds first place: indeed, in my opinion, it is
preferable to a gravel path in most circum-
stances, its only drawback being its want of
flexibility, which unfits it for use in curved
fines. Its advantages are the ease with which
it may be kept free from weeds, its durability,
good colour, and the opportunity it off"ers for
artistic eff"ect. In gardening, the old order of
things dies hard, and gardeners are shy of adopt-
ing anything savouring of novelty. Yet the
brick path is not altogether a thing of to-day.
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES 97
It may be met with in many old gardens, its
cheery red surface worn into hollows, but ever
dry owing to the porous nature of its material.
From this observation we may take a hint,
and, if we decide upon a brick path, be careful
to obtain bricks of a kind which are not imper-
vious to water. They may readily be tested
by plunging one into a pail of water and noting
the speed with which the surface water disap-
pears after it has been lifted out again. In
point of cost, brick paths do not compare un-
favourably with gravel, but much depends upon
the price of each material ruling in the district.
A rubble foundation is prepared as for a
gravel path, and dressed over with finer ma-
terial, over which is put a layer of finely
screened gravel or builder's sand, which must
be raked to a level surface. The good appear-
ance of brick paths would be marred if any
perceptible camber were given to the surface,
but on dead-level ground there may be half
an inch difference of level between the sides
and centre of a three-foot path.
The bricks should be laid flat upon the sand
without mortar or cement, pressed down firmly
and into close contact, and kept in true line
GARDEN PLANNING
98
by the use of a stretched cord. It is best to
commence by laying the marginal bricks on
one side from end to end, and to select the
side which comes against
turf, as that helps to keep
the bricks in place.
All bricks are more or
less curved in the burning.
The concave side is easily
detected by glancing along
the edge, and should be
laid downward, otherwise
the bricks will acquire a
tendency to rock and be-
come loose.
Having laid the path
margin on one side, and
made sure thatitis straight
and true from end to end,
the centre may be built up
to it, but before proceed-
ing with this some idea
must be formed of how
the bricks are to be disposed. They may be
laid in parallel lines, breaking joints, which is
the simplest plan, and produces a neat if not
=1— L-L-LTi-i::
Fig. 19. — Design lor
brick path
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES 99
ambitious effect, or a pattern may be worked
out on some such lines as indicated in the
illustration. In this it will be seen that whole
bricks are used throughout. It is not desir-
able to adopt a pattern which involves
much cutting of bricks, because of the
difficulty of making neat joints with the cut
ends.
If the centre part is well laid the other
marginal line of bricks will lie neatly along its
free side and complete the path.
In bedding the bricks upon their seating
the sand may be added to or removed, as oc-
casion requires, to bring the upper surface of
the bricks to the general level. The principal
precaution needed is to bed each brick firmly,
so that no subsequent subsidence of individual
bricks can occur.
If preferred, the marginal bricks may
be laid on edge, to stand, say, about two
inches above the level of the centre, but
that practice is not conducive to efficient
drainage.
I have pointed out that the brick path can
dispense with edging tiles, but to make it serve
the purpose of the tile edging it must be
100 GARDEN PLANNING
brought into proper relation with the ground
on either side.
That is best done by adopting the rule of
making the level of the path at its edges the
same as that of the turf (when it skirts a grass
plot), and an inch and a half higher than the
edge of the border when it comes against the
soil. This is shown in the sectional illustration.
The weight of
^^^^HP^** the bricks keeps
them in place, but
Fig. 20.- Section of brick path ^^ is well to Com-
pact the soil of
the border where it comes against the path by
ramming, to ensure that the bricks on that side
do not get out of place. In the case of very
light soils I have found it desirable to push a
few slates down into the soil at the outer mar-
gin of the path, burying them as far as the soil
level. If this is done at every fourth brick,
and at a joint, the whole is made fairly secure.
Grouting with cement would perhaps be a safer
expedient, but I have not found it necessary.
On sloping ground, where the slope crosses
the path, the latter may continue the natural
slope of the ground, and it should be made
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES lOI
quite flat* on the surface, so that water may
drain off at the lower margin.
When the bricks have been laid the joints
may be filled up with loose sand, watered to
carry it down, and again filled up to a level
with the surface.
Whatever ideas the gardener may have about
pattern-making, he should not allow his fancy
to run away with him. Over-elaboration of
pattern in so utilitarian a feature as a garden
path would be too assertive. The simpler
the design the better, though undue repetition
is not desirable.
Bearing in mind the fact that bricks meas-
ure four inches in width, it is evident that
the path width must be a multiple of that
dimension, a fact to be remembered when the
width of the path is being settled.
Composite Paths — In this category I Include
all paths In which bricks or tiles are used in
combination with concrete, stone mosaics,
cobble stones, and other like materials. I
shall first refer to those In which bricks are
*To avoid misapprehension I may say that I use the
words "flat" and "level" in their strictly separate
senses. An inclined path may be flat but is not level. A
level path is flat of necessity.
I02
GARDEN PLANNING
used for the framework. The preparation
of the foundation is the same as for an all-
brick path, except that sand will only be needed
where the bricks come.
The general idea of
a path of this charac-
ter may be gathered
from the illustration.
It will be seen that
the brickwork forms
the basis of a pattern,
which is completed by
filling the spaces be-
tween its members
with another mate-
rial. I have found
road macadam an ex-
cellent one, and I use
it as follows: having
made a mortar of
builder's sand and
Portland cement, half
and half, I fill in the
spaces one at a time,
a half- of fine gravel,
and then to the path level with mortar-
Fig. 21. — Design for a
composite path
first with an inch and
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES IO3
Whilst the latter is soft I insert the macadam
cubes, fitting them closely into contact and
pressing them down, but leaving their upper
sides slightly higher than the bricks. When
the space is filled I go over it with a board and
a mallet, beating down the cubes until they
are all level with the bricks. The exuding
mortar is transferred to the next space, and
that one similarly treated until the whole
path is finished. After allowing an hour
for the mortar to partly set, the path surface
may be washed over with a stiff brush and
clean water, to remove the mortar which clings
to the top of the stone cubes. In twelve hours
the path will be set and as firm as a rock,
the mortar used for the mosaic work
taking hold of the bricks and tying the whole
together.
A plan less satisfactory on the score of
appearance is to fill in the spaces with cement
concrete, finishing with a rendering of cement.
Cobble stones make an excellent filling, and
give quite an old-world appearance to a path.
They should be laid on end in dry sand, levelled
by the use of the board and mallet, and then
grouted with liquid cement poured amongst
I04 GARDEN PLANNING
them from a pail until it rises above the middle
of the pebbles.
Another mode of filling is to use coarse
rubble blocks, setting them in mortar with the
aid of a builder's trowel.
Similar paths may be made by substituting
tiles for bricks. The expense is greater and
more skill is required in the setting, which
must be done on a bed of mortar. I do not
think that anything is to be said in favour of
tiles instead of bricks. They are less porous,
and therefore do not dry so quickly. They
are also more liable to be dislodged and broken.
Tile Paths — All-tile paths used to be in favour
in some suburban fore-courts, and frequently
offended by reason of the violent contrasts
in the colour of the tiles. A path of hard red
tiles in large squares, or of oven tiles, is not
displeasing, but is not economical where paths
are long.
Another disadvantage of the tile path is
that the edging tile cannot be dispensed with.
Stone Paths — Flagstones are occasionally
met with in old gardens. I do not favour
them for many reasons. One is that one
cannot help associating them with the flagged
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES IO5
pavements of town; another that their colour
is too cold to the critical eye; yet another
that they wear unequally and soon become
"dished," giving rise to the inevitable puddle.
I have seen some good paths made of stone
waste, and if the gardener has the opportunity
of obtaining this material cheaply, and it is
of the right kind — i. e., not too friable — it
will make an interesting path.
A good plan is to use it in a patchwork pattern
of the kind our lady friends call "crazy," for
which purpose all sharp angles should be
removed from the pieces. I give an illustra-
tion that will carry a suggestion for a stone-
waste path based upon Japanese practice.
If the separate stones are well bedded, with
precautions to prevent rocking, no cementing
medium is needed. In fact, the joints may be
designedly allowed to gape to permit the grass
to spring out of them, which will give an uncon-
ventional but not unpleasing effect to a path
crossing a lawn.
Red sandstone is an excellent material,
and white stone is admissible, as it soon loses
its glare, and tones down under the influence
of weather and vegetable growth.
I06 GARDEN PLANNING
FiK. 22. — Design for stone path Fig. 23. — Design for stone path
CONSTRUCTION OF WALKS AND DRIVES IO7
The gardener with command of this class
of material might use it in the form of stepping-
stones, as the Japanese do, but the effect so
obtained must not be overdone. Its legitimate
place is on the grass.
Note — In the use of a non-binding material
like blue stone it is well to screen out all
fine stuff which otherwise would adhere to
the boots in wet weather and be carried into
the house. Shells form an almost hopeless
material for the garden. Their innate friability
precludes the separation of large from small,
and renders them the most persistent material
I know of for finding Its way Indoors.
CHAPTER VIII
Grass as a Foundation
There is something delightfully soothing
in a well-kept stretch of verdant turf. It is
nature's embodiment of the sense of repose,
the mantle with which she covers the crudities
of man's handiwork, the best background for
our flowers, and, in most cases, the criterion
by which we may judge the capabilities of the
gardener. If turf we must have, let us have it
green and fresh and innocent of spot or blem-
ish. Secondary as it is to the flowers, yet it
must receive the best attention we can give it.
The picture loses much of its charm if the frame
is unworthy of it.
We may obtain our grass in any of three
ways: we may import turfs, sow seed, or be
content with the old pasture grass as we find
it. Just which we decide upon will be governed
by circumstances.
Old pasture is not always a success, particularly
108
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION IO9
Upon heavy land. It may be growing upon
too thin a soil, and we should find it water-
logged in winter and scorched in summer.
Moreover, it may be full of undesirable weeds,
and infested with insects ready to migrate to
our beds and borders. On the other hand,
we may be lucky in lighting upon some rich
meadowland in which the conditions are favour-
able to the growth of good turf, and where
thistles and other noxious weeds are conspicu-
ous by their absence. In such case we may
"leave well alone," and rejoice that we are
saved the trouble and expense of further opera-
tions. Should we be driven back upon one
of the other two expedients, we must make our
choice according to the local conditions.
Which is the more economical in cost, turf
or seed? This problem we may work out for
ourselves when we know the cost of turf In
our district. We may be able to get it for the
labour cost of cutting it, and, if It Is near at
hand, the total cost may be small. But we
may have to pay for our turfs at current rates^
which will vary according to the locality and
the proximity to an available source of supply.
About thirty-six hundred and thirty turfs would
no GARDEN PLANNING
be required to cover a quarter of an acre, and
here we are faced with a large outlay for material
alone.
The same piece of ground could be sown with
one to one and one half bushels of grass seed cost-
ing about $5 per bushel, which is very slight
outlay for material. Then the labour of turf
laying would greatly exceed the labour of sowing.
The principal advantage of using turfs is
that we obtain a close, matured grass surface
more quickly than we can do by sowing. On
the other hand, there is always the risk that
our turf may contain an undue proportion of
weeds, though on this head a careful examina-
tion of it in bulk should enable us to form an
opinion.
Though the spring is considered the best
time for turfing, it may be done at any time if
sufficient and proper precautions are taken.
Sowing can only be done with the certainty
of a good result in the spring and autumn.
This consideration may carry weight with
gardeners who are anxious to secure an early
appearance of completeness in a new garden.
Whether turfing or sowing be practised,
it is equally necessary to prepare properly the
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION III
ground. If levelling has to be undertaken in
the interests of tennis and croquet, that is the
first operation, and with it should be com-
bined draining, if the nature of the ground
demands it.
In the levelling process the top-spit contain-
ing the most valuable part of the soil must
be first laid aside, to be subsequently distrib-
uted over the levelled surface. This done,
and the levelling completed, the undisturbed
subsoil at that part of the ground which has
been lowered must be forked over to a depth
of eight inches. The whole surface may then
be treated with decayed farmyard manure
well forked in, and the top-spit redistributed
upon it to form a layer eight inches thick.
If the original layer of soil is Insufficient,
now is the time to supplement it by an
additional supply imported from outside, or
obtained as a by-product from some other
part of the garden. Planks should be used
where the barrow is in operation; otherwise
ruts will be caused that are not easy to
obliterate.
Screening may be practised if the surface
layer is stony. It is essential when sowing
112 GARDEN PLANNING
grass seed, but of less moment where turfs
are used.
The operation of laying the turfs is a simple
one once the ground is brought to a good sur-
face, but it should not be done immediately
after the preparation of the ground. Time
should be allowed for subsidence, particularly
if any part of the ground has been banked
up above the natural surface. If rain super-
venes so much the better, as it will hasten
the subsidence, disclose inequalities, and ren-
der the soil in a better condition to weld with
the new turf.
The turfs should be laid in close contact
over the whole surface, gaps at the joints being
filled up with fine soil as the work proceeds.
Inequalities in the ground may be made good
as they come under the workman's observation,
with the same material. After all is laid, the
surface must be gone over with the beater,
and all upstanding places treated with It
until they accord with the general level. If
no rain immediately follows, the turfs may be
submitted to a good watering, after which the
beater should be used again, and any hollows
and gaping joints should be filled up with soil.
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION II3
After a day or two's rest, the roller should be
brought Into operation to further compact
the surface and reduce Inequalities. After
that, the usual operations of mowing and
rolling may be performed as occa.«ion calls
for them. It is well to look for early indications
of weeds on newly turfed ground, and to
promptly eradicate all that appear.
Before sowing is attempted the ground must
be well compacted by treading or rolling until
it will no longer take footprints. It should
be then lightly raked over to provide lodgment
for the seed. The operation of sowing is best
conducted on a calm day, and the best time
of year for the purpose Is from the middle of
March till the end of April. Autumn sowing
should not be later than the middle of Septem-
ber. Some authorities are in favour of autumn
sowing, for the reason that the soil is warm and
the dews heavy.
The quantity of seed should not be less than
one quart of recleaned seed to three hundred
square feet. It Is better to err on the side of
too much than of too little. A bushel of
lawn grass seed as usually understood in the
trade weighs twenty pounds. Obtain the
114 GARDEN PLANNING
seed from a reliable firm and follow closely
their printed instructions. Old seed purchased
from local sources, even if bearing a well-
known name, may be disappointing, and grass
seed sold in bulk at small country stores may
contain an undesirable percentage of other
seeds or chaff.
Sow broadcast, taking care to leave no bare
places; cover at once with a sprinkling of fine
dry soil and roll. If the surface soil is damp
it will pick UD on the roller, and bring the seeds
with it.
Birds must be kept away by stretching black
cotton or garden netting over the ground, or
by covering it well with pea brush or other
similar bushy material which may be at hand.
The grass plants should make their appear-
ance within twenty-one days. If rain has
followed the sowing it may be earlier.
When they have obtained a height of from
three to three and one half inches the ground
may be rolled, and the next day the mower
should be passed over it, taking the precaution
to set the knife so that It does not cut close to
the ground. It must be in the best condition
for cutting, or it will drag up the young grass
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION II5
plants instead of taking off their tops. After
this, at intervals, the usual routine of roiling
and mowing may be followed, not omitting
watering if the weather proves dry.
Should plantains — the weeds which come
most often to mock the lawn maker — appear,
they may be effectually dealt with by placing
a pinch of dry table salt on the crown of each
plant. This kills them in a day or two.
Sown grass is materially assisted if treated
early with an approved fertilizer, of which the
seedsman may be trusted to recommend one
suitable.
If moss makes its appearance, it implies
that the soil is out of condition, either owing
to the need for drainage, or to the absence of
food for the grass plants. In most cases the
application of a fertilizer, by stimulating the
vigour of the grass plants, will cause the moss
to disappear. Moss in itself is in no sense
harmful, but is always an indication of a poor
soil.
Tennis and Croquet Lawns — These, of course,
should not only be dead level, but should
have faultlessly flat surfaces, and I may here
give a few directions for levelling.
Il6 GARDEN PLANNING
If possible, a position should be selected
where the ground is naturally approximately-
level. When this is not feasible, it becomes
.1 "^^ I »iw»nini-^*»w&
Fig. 24. — Level and straight-edge
necessary to transfer soil from the higher to
the lower parts of the ground. The operator
should provide himself with a long straight-
edge (say, seven feet long) and a spirit-level,
as well as a supply of stout wooden pegs.
He must first get the foundation approximately
level, using the straight-edge on the surface,
or sighting from tall pegs driven into the ground
carrying cross-pieces fixed horizontally by
means of the level. He should then drive in
pegs over the whole surface six feet apart,
and standing so much above the foundation
as will allow for the amount of surface soil to
be subsequently distributed over it. Taking
a central peg as a datum, he should work out-
ward, adjusting each peg in turn by means
► 4^
36ft.
_L_
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION II7
of the straight-edge and level until the tops
of all are at the same level. It only then re-
mains to fill in the soil to the tops of the pegs,
or slightly over, to
allow for subsidence
and compacting by
rolling. The pegs
may be removed at
any time afterward.
The tennis court
has a net size of
seventy - eight feet -
by thirty-six feet,
or nine feet less in
width for the single
game.
Additional width
must be allowed for
the poles and for
the players, there-
fore a total clear
space of
Tennis court
Fig. 25.
one hundred feet by fifty feet is
not too great an allowance, and may be taken
as the minimum compatible with the comfort
and convenience of the players.
The full-sized croquet ground, according
Ii8
GARDEN PLANNING
to the revised rules of the Croquet Association,
should measure thirty-five yards by twenty-
eight yards, or in feet one hundred and five
13-
f [^
p
— —
•
^
*—
-
•
-
^
. t^
-. Y 1
Fig. 26. — Croquet court
by eighty-four, which space must be all clear
turf.
In considering the position of a tennis or
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION II9
croquet lawn the designer has the choice of
two courses. He may allot it a space to
itself, enclosing it by a hedge or screen of trees
or shrubs, and thus put it out of sight as some-
thing not altogether in harmony with the
decorative scheme of the garden, or he may
let it frankly proclaim itself as an obvious
feature and component part of the garden
design. There is something to be said for
both plans. In a garden of straight lines the
rectangle of turf set aside for tennis or croquet
would not be so conspicuous a feature as in a
type of garden In which a naturalesque effect
was aimed at, and winding walks were ele-
ments in the design.
There is no need to make hard and fast
boundaries to the tennis or croquet lawn. It
may be constituted upon any convenient and
sufficiently roomy stretch of level turf where
the game and horticulture are not likely to
come into conflict.
Tennis lawns made upon ground which
carries a marked slope are not always sightly
features, reminding one of the idea one forms
of the "hanging gardens" of Babylon. Such
lawns may be considered indispensable, and
I20 GARDEN PLANNING
if they have to be made at the expense of
much excavating and banking up, means should
be found to conceal their artificial outlines
by means of shrubs, trees, or other suitable
screening.
The Bozvling Green — Revived interest in
bowls has induced some owners to install a
private bowling green on their ground. The
regulation size is forty yards square, but less
width is admissible if space is restricted. It
is usual to sink the green below the general
surface, and it must be truly level. The
sloping banks and the space adjacent to them
should be turfed, the former as a check to the
bowls, and the latter to provide a vantage
ground for spectators.
The Grass Plot — I have already intimated
the importance of studying breadth of effect
in the garden. Nothing tends to destroy
this character so much as the injudicious
chopping up of the grass space.
The shape of the grass plot is determined
in a large measure by the other elements of
the plan. Yet there are opportunities for the
gardener to go astray if he does not realize the
principle for which I am contending. Take,
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION 121
for instance, a garden the boundaries of which
converge. The planner may find, when he
has taken sufficient space for his borders and
paths, that his grass runs out to a mere wedge.
In such event he would do well to take off the
acute angle by adding the space either to
border or path. Again, in the making of
borders and beds it is surprisingly easy to
produce awkward shapes in the grass 'details,
particularly when working with curved lines.
A good rule, therefore, is to permit no acute
angles, narrow isth-
muses, tapering verges,
or crescent horns in
grass. (See Fig. 27.)
In the rectilinear
treatment of small
gardens these difficul-
ties will hardly arise,
but they may do so in
cases where the garden
plot is a converging
one. When the garden F»g- 27.— Acute angles in grass
is of sufficient size to call for treatment in
curves, the shaping of the grass demands
more careful consideration, the main object
122 GARDEN PLANNING
being to avoid anything that will detract
from the breadth of effect, of which the
items just enumerated are those most likely to
beset the inexperienced designer.
The practice of loading the grass with an
archipelago of small beds, cutting it up into a
fretwork design, is to be condemned for the
s^me reason.
The placing of beds on grass calls for restraint
and discretion on the part of the gardener.
The artist "feels" where a bed or group of
beds could be placed with advantage to the
garden picture, because he has an eye trained
to proportion. Those who lack such training
must first realize their deficiency, and then
seek for guidance by studying elementary
principles, of which that applying to breadth
of effect, already sufficiently explained in these
pages, is one of the most important.
The accompanying illustration (Fig. 28)
shows the correct way to correlate the bed
with the grass when the former has to fill a
projecting space.
It is certainly better to err on the side of
having too few than too many detached beds.
It will be useful here to accept my injunction
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION
123
about the grass verge, under which term
may be included the strips which separate bed
from bed in a group. These should always have
parallel sides and
a minimum width
of eighteen inches.
Two feet is better
if space permits.
When a garden
plot is situated
onslopingground,
if the slope is
slight only, it is
better to let the
garden follow it
than to attempt
levelling, provided that no considerable space
is to be reserved for tennis or croquet.
On ground of irregular contours the irregu-
larities may call for modification, or they
may be entirely desirable as affording oppor-
tunity for variety in the general treatment of
the garden, according to the particular views
of the garden owner. Whenever the character
of the ground is such as to leave certain spaces
in the form of hollows, these hollows should
Fig. 28. — Beds in relation to grass
124 GARDEN PLANNING
be filled in or drained; otherwise they will
become pools in wet weather. As with lines,
so with surfaces : the curves should flow without
break, so that we cannot detect where one
runs into the other.
Grass slopes should be used sparingly, be-
cause they involve extra labour in the mowing
and are apt to suffer in time of drought. When
necessitated by the nature of the ground, as
in a hillside garden, they should not be steeper
than one in two, or both these disadvantages
will be intensified.
Another point to be considered in the making
of a grass plot is its level relative to the adja-
cent paths. It is not unusual to find paths
sunk so much below the grass level that the
soil is exposed beneath the turf. This allows
soil to break away, or be washed out by the
rain, to the detriment of the path. It also
involves additional labour in trimming the
grass edges. There is no need to allow more
elevation to the turf than is sufficient to ensure
the mower clearing the gravel when used on
the edge of the grass, and if this rule is followed
there is no danger of gravel straying on to the
grass. From two to three inches is quite
GRASS AS A FOUNDATION 1 25
enough. In practice, the question is most
likely to present itself in connection with path
making, when the gravel surface would have
to be regulated to ensure the above result.
When it is a case of grass in juxtaposition
to soil, as in the making of beds, the rule does
not call for such stringent observation, but to
satisfy the eye the grass edge should not stand
higher than three inches above the soil. If
much less there is the danger of soil and stones
working on to the grass.
Grass Paths and Edgings — Though grass
is unsuited for paths, there are cases in which
it may be used, as, for instance, when an
alternative path of gravel exists. I have
seen the grass path installed with excellent effect
in the kitchen garden, where it gives quite a
distinctive and finished appearance to that
department. In the case to which I allude
the ground had quite recently been meadow-
land, and the vegetable beds had just been
cut in the turf, allowing main paths five feet
wide, with narrower connecting paths of half
that width. I cannot commend it as econom-
ical of space, but where there is ample
room this use of grass has its advantages on
126 GARDEN PLANNING
the score of appearance, and is highly preferable
to the usual cinder path, which requires that
an edging be provided.
The grass path also may have its utility in
the flower garden, though it usually comes into
existence by some adventitious circumstance
rather than by design. A border skirting grass
may have opposed to it a long bed, and the
gardener may decide to connect the two by a
pergola. This at once turns the intervening
grass strip into a path, and a very charming
one, where the walker may find a tunnel of
greenery, his feet on verdant turf, a canopy
of blossom overhead. Grass edgings are used
in both flower and kitchen gardens, and I
have already referred to them by the term
"verge." Each gardener will decide for him-
self whether the space at his disposal admits
of such a feature, and whether the eff^ect to be
obtained from it is commensurate with the
labour Involved in keeping it trimmed. If
he has any doubts in the matter he should
forego the verge, because, uncared for, it is
an unsightly and wasteful feature.
CHAPTER IX
How TO Plan a Garden
It is well for the gardener to start with an
open mind. He should look for suggestions
from the site, not omitting to take into account
its immediate environment. The best gar-
dens are personal: they take their character
from their makers.
I am sometimes asked "What style of
garden would you suggest for my plot?"
and I am tempted to reply, "The common-
sense style." The exact treatment for a
given plot is not to be laid down by rule. The
gardener may not recognize the possibilities
of the site at first glance, but he will do so
when he has carefully studied it. In Chapter
IV I showed the utility of straight lines in
an oblong plot of limited size. I do not wish
to magnify the difficulties of planning, and I
may say at the outset that the more knotty
problems arise most often in connection with
127
128 GARDEN PLANNING
plots of irregular shapes or contours, or
plots unfavourably conditioned as regards
aspect and surroundings. The treatment of
a small rectangular garden plot may be a very
simple matter, provided due weight is given
to aspect. Yet even the smallest plot involves
alternative modes of planning, and then the
gardener must give his casting vote for that
one which, after satisfying the requirements
of horticulture and the conditions which make
for artistic quality, best accords with his
personal views.
The first point to consider is the appor-
tionment of the various sections of the garden:
How much space do I require for vege-
table ground .f*
Do I want a tennis or croquet lawn.?
Have I to provide a playground for
children?
Must I limit my flower space to what I
can properly manage in my spare time?
These — and possibly other — questions
will occur to the planner, and he should answer
them definitely before he starts to plan. In
doing so he will naturally commence to evolve
HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN 1 29
some kind of skeleton idea of what he would
like his garden to be. His next step should
be to lay down on paper a plan of his garden
site to scale, say one eighth of an inch to a
foot, and mark on it the house, indicating
the position of the doors back and front, or
at the sides, as the case may be. He should
then add an arrow to show the north point,
to remind him, in the course of his work, of the
direction in which the maximum amount of
sunlight will fall. The gate by which the
premises are entered from the roadway must
be marked in its proper position. This much
accomplished, the gardener will have before
him in bird's-eye view the main factors that
should control his planning.
If he has decided to grow vegetables, he
may at once rule off on the paper as much
space as he wishes to devote to that purpose.
Usually this will be situated at that part of
the garden remote from the house, and there
are excellent practical reasons for it occupying
that position. The division should be at
right angles to the garden's length in a garden
with parallel sides, even though the end fence
or wall is oblique. Irregularity in the shape
130 GARDEN PLANNING
of the vegetable plot Is immaterial, and the
right-angled division squares things for the
flower garden.
Leaving the vegetable ground for the present,
the next thing is to locate the principal border,
and If the aspect is east or west, there should
be no hesitation in giving it a place against
the north fence, where it will receive full sun.
The planner may therefore rule a line parallel
with this fence six feet distant from it,
adding a second parallel line at, say, three
feet beyond to define the principal path. If
space permits, a third line may be added, at
four feet beyond the second, to mark off a
second border, the near side of which will be
the grass. Reference to the Illustration (Fig.
29) will make these operations clear. The
path is now represented by a narrow ribbon
with no terminal at either end. We may now
consider the approach to and destination of
the path. The near end must be coordinated
with the house door, as explained In an earlier
chapter, and this could be done by marking
oif a stretch of gravel immediately behind the
house, from which the path may start its
journey. Such a device is convenient when the
HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN I3I
Fig. 29. — Typical garden plan Fig. 30. — The method of offsets
132 GARDEN PLANNING
aspect is that assumed in the example, but
with a north aspect the space about the rear
of the house would be too valuable to waste as
gravel, and another device would have to be
employed. I need not describe every possible
mode of doing this, as many examples will
be illustrated in the plans which follow. As
for the path's objective, I have already offered
suggestions in an earlier chapter.
Though it is a good rule to make paths go
direct to their destinations, an exception is
permissible and even desirable in a long gar-
den, where a single straight path would prove
a monotonous feature. I therefore favour
some device which breaks the line, such as
may be contrived by cranking the path or
by introducing an expansion into its length.
The cranked path gives opportunity for
allowing the principal border to terminate
in a transverse extension, by which the vista
is improved, and a screening effect obtained.
We will assume that our path sets out from
the gravel space immediately behind the house,
threads through our borders, and terminates
in, say, a summer house. The treatment
of the space to the south of it may now be
HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN I33
taken in hand, and In deciding how much to
allot to the border we must be guided by our
sense of proportion and by the value we set
upon our grass plot. If space permits we
may add a narrow border along the southern
fence line.
I have now traced what I may call the
evolution of a small rectangular garden. The
treatment has been simple, as the case de-
manded. As a plan, the design ensures a proper
coordination of the garden with aspect, and
so much variety as may be obtained within
so limited a space without over-elaboration.
It need hardly be mentioned that this par-
ticular treatment would not hold good for a
plot with a different aspect, and for that
reason It should not be copied unless the
aspect Is approximately the same as indicated
in this example.
The gardener has now to build up his picture
skyward. This Involves the use of such
natural objects as trees, shrubs, and flowers,
and of such artificial adjuncts as arches, per-
golas, summer houses, arbours, and the like.
Before he decides upon the placing of these
things he should sally forth to the site, plan
134 GARDEN PLANNING
in hand, and take his stand, say, near the house
door, or in some central position from which
he may hope in time to obtain a general view
of his garden picture. There he may exercise
his mind by building in imagination upon his
ground plan, seeking to place such features
as he may decide to introduce into the garden.
He will obtain suggestions from already exist-
ing objects. For instance, the presence of a
well-grown tree on neighbouring premises may
help the picture, enabling him to dispense
with the planting of trees on his own. On
the other hand, he may observe some un-
sightly object which it will be necessary to
endeavour to screen from view.
Bearing in mind what I have already written
about "composition" in the artist's sense of
the term, he must avoid symmetry in masses,
and seek for balance of effect by other means.
If he has decided upon a garden-house, let
him have it built with a simple, pointed roof,
and restrain his impulses in the direction of
destroying its outlines with a maze of rustic
work. Its pyramid form is useful in giving
a certain punctuation to the skyline. He
may even decorate it with a weather-cock,
HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN 1 35
which would be quite appropriate and useful
in the picture. I do not demand that the
garden-house shall stand out naked amidst
its surroundings; it will be better associated
with trees and shrubs. It is not desirable to
have a uniformity in height in these artificial
structures. If arches or a pergola are intro-
duced into the scheme, do not let them soar
up to the level of the weather-cock on your
garden-house.
Trees are always useful in attaining that
necessary height in the garden picture for
which the designer must work. They must
be placed so that their shadows do not intrude
upon the flower borders, and, as I have already
stated, their arrangement must be innocent
of symmetry.
Let no two be at the same distance from
your standpoint, and select them of different
kinds and sizes. Grouping is preferable to
scattering, or placing the trees in "serried
rows."
By carefully weighing these various points,
with the plan before you, it will not be difficult
to arrive at a provisional arrangement of the
accessories we have been discussing. You
136
GARDEN PLANNING
may next jot down on the plan where you
think an arch, tree, or pergola will be of value,
and you will then have all but completed your
labour — on paper.
Lastly, such smaller accessories as sundials^
y
Fig. 31. — Arrangement of trees
vases, and rockwork can be located, and in-
dicated to scale on the drawing.
All this time we have left the vegetable
plot alone, after cutting it off from the flower
territory, and we must now revert to it. Some
gardeners may prefer to treat it as a thing
HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN 1 37
apart, to be concealed at all costs. Gardens,
however, are so small in these days of dear
land that we cannot afford to neglect the
possibilities of the vegetable plot in the general
garden effect. Therefore we should see how far
we can use it to increase the apparent space
at our disposal. A good way of effecting this
result is to contrive that a flower border, or
borders, continue from the flower garden
into and through the vegetable plot, thereby
extending the garden vista to the extreme limit
of the ground.
In certain circumstances it may be advisable,
for the sake of obtaining a particular effect,
to adopt a division between the kitchen and
flower garden which is not a straight line.
It may be a bold curve or a cranked line.
The division may be definitely marked by a
fence or hedge, or less conspicuously indicated
by an informal line of shrubs. Much depends
upon the disposition of the other factors and
the gardener's views as to the desirability or
not of allowing his vegetable productions to
claim attention. I would not for a moment
contend that the kitchen garden is unsightly.
On the contrary, its bold masses of green may
138 GARDEN PLANNING
be valuable as background, and by no means
unbeautiful in themselves. Still there are
times when the tenants of the vegetable plot
do not look their best — as, for instance, when
Brussels sprouts tower lankily skyward, and
peas are yellowing and sinking into disorder.
The planning of gardens of larger size than
the typical example just treated involves the
same general principles, though the details and
style of treatment may be different. It is
mainly a question of scale, though the inclusion
of additional features facilitated by the larger
area of ground available may tend to complicate
the problem. Still the mode of procedure
should be along lines similar to those already
described, and the planner must ever be alive
to the importance of studying aspect and of
building up a picture in three dimensions.
Gardens of irregular outline may in-
volve some early difficulties in planning,
but they are generally amenable to treat-
ment on common-sense principles, and not
infrequently such gardens are, by their unusual
shape, eminently adapted for obtaining pic-
turesque effects. Examples of such gardens
will be found in a later chapter, reference to
HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN 1 39
which will afford the reader more guidance
than further written description.
When, by reason of the nature of the ground,
its extent, or the special predilections of the
gardener, the main lines of the garden are to
be treated in curves, the key to the best result
is not always so easy to find. To those who
may have difficulty in thinking in curves, I
may suggest that they first lay down the
main lines of the plan in straight lines, after-
ward translating them into sinuous ones. This
may be of some help, but it will not remove
all the difficulties, and it is not easy to give
rules to cover the whole ground.
It may be taken as bad practice, however,
to associate curves with straight lines, as, for
example, to oppose a straight grass edge to a
curved border, leaving a path of varying width
between. I am not sure that the practice of
running a border, whose near line is a series
of curves, along a straight fence is to be com-
mended, though it is often done. Its best
excuse is that the shrubs and taller plants
in part conceal the foot of the fence and render
its straightness less conspicuous.
In the laying down of curves geometry helps
140 GARDEN PLANNING
US but little. The eye is the better guide,
and a length of rope an excellent help when
marking out the ground. The rope may be
laid along the proposed route of a curved path,
and its perspective appearance noted. If the
curve fails to satisfy the eye the rope can
be moved and rearranged until a good result
is obtained.
All curves which are parts of circles are
easily described with the help of a cord and
centre peg.
When setting out curves the course of which
has first been laid down on the plan the method
of offsets is the easiest. (See Fig. 30.)
This is sufficiently explained in the illus-
tration, where a boundary fence is the datum
line. When the curve passes over an open
space a special datum line must be laid down,
either by the use of a stretched cord or a row
of pegs sighted into line.
CHAPTER X
Sloping Gardens
Gardens upon sloping ground, if the slope
is considerable, demand special treatment,
which will vary according to circumstances.
Such gardens may be made picturesque and
interesting, but are hardly desirable acquisi-
tions to the horticultural enthusiast. This is
particularly the case if the aspect is other
than southern.
In a steeply sloping garden the aim should
be a quite informal or naturalesque treatment.
Winding walks may be carried across the slope,
turning upon themselves in an Irregular
zigzag. Here and there pockets may be
carved out of the hillside to make level
space for flower growing.
Terracing, the only effective way of securing
sufficient level space, is always a costly matter,
and when the slope is considerable it would
result in a heavy, artificial effect as seen from
142 GARDEN PLANNING
the lower levels. On the whole it is better
not to attempt too much on a steep hillside.
The first illustration indicates in sectional view
the treatment I should adopt. Trees and shrubs
may be used with good
effect to mask the
slopes and outlines of
the artificial work. The
Fig. 32. — Terracing — sectional
view
entrance drive or walk
should be carried in a direction across
the slope as far as possible, and if excavation
and banking have to be done, it may run suf-
ficiently far back on either side to provide
space for flower ground.
Fig. 33. — Terracing — sectional view
In the case of small gardens, some
simple system of terracing like that indicated
SLOPING GARDENS I43
in the second sectional view is the best
treatment.
The natural slope is shown by a dotted line
and it is evident just how much excavation
and banking is necessary. By a little care in
fixing the levels it may be contrived that the
excavated soil is just sufficient for making
the banks. This is an example of a slope
away from the house. When the garden slopes
toward the house a different method should be
followed, because the effect of looking from a
low level up a slope is that little or nothing
on the level Is seen.
Fig. 34. — Terracing — sectional view
Thus, If terracing is done with a view to
obtaining level stretches, the beds and borders
will be hidden from sight until the observer
ascends to their level. It is better, therefore,
that the terraced part should be given a slight
slope toward the house, as Fig. 34 shows.
Gardens falling away from the house are
liable to be very dry at the highest point.
144 GARDEN PLANNING
On the other hand, gardens which slope to.
ward the house throw the rain-water to the
lower level, necessitating some system of
drainage for carrying it away.
In treating of terracing in small gardens I
do not use the term in the sense of walled
terraces. Walls are costly and not always
sightly adjuncts, especially in a small garden.
The drop from one level to the next may be
made by means of a grassed bank, a retaining
board, or a rock-faced slope, according to
circumstances. When the slope is to the
south, the face of the bank Is well placed for
treatment as an alpine garden, and I know
of no better way of dealing with it. ^On grassed
Fig. 3S.— Steps in path
slopes shrubs may be used to conceal the
horizontal margin of the slope.
Paths which pass from one level to another
SLOPING GARDENS I45
require to be stepped, and this may be done in
many ways. Possibly the most economical
method is to fix wooden risers by nailing them
to stout pegs well driven into the soil at each
end, and to fill in the treads with gravel beaten
down and brought to a fair surface. Re-
taining boards should be fixed at the sides,
as shown in the illustration.
Gardens in which the natural slope is trans-
verse to their length do not involve the same
difficulties, and they are not usually found of
such steep gradients,- or, if they are, their small
width, compared with their length, makes the
problem of planning a simpler one. It often
becomes feasible to effect a change of levels
at the path line in some such way as appears
in this sectional view.
Fig. 36. — Dealing with a transverse slope
In this illustration it will be seen that a
raised border is made on the higher side of
146 GARDEN PLANNING
the path, supported_ hy a retaining board,
rubble wall, or by rockwork. If the lower
boundary is a fence, the water which drains
to that level will tend to rot it. It is good
practice, therefore, to make the fence open
for two or three inches above the ground sur-
face. If the boundary is a wall it may be
necessary to introduce a rubble drain along
its foot. In neither case, however, would such
an expedient be necessary unless the soil was a
heavy and impervious one. A narrow border
along the lower boundary will usu-
ally serve as sufficient drainage. ^5
Dealing with a transverse slope
When the slope is steep in a
transverse direction it may be necessary to re-
make the ground by raising the lower side with
soil taken from the higher, and if the lower
boundary is a fence this would necessitate a
bank, as it would not be feasible to allow any
depth of soil to lie in contact with the fence.
SLOPING GARDENS I47
The existence of such a bank as seen in the illus-
tration (Fig. 37) is not a very sightly feature
in any garden, and should only be adopted
when the circumstances preclude any other
arrangement, and in that event the best plan
is to plant the head of the bank with shrubs
or with a hedge.
The only other case to be mentioned is that
in which the slope is diagonal, and for that
no special guidance can be offered, because
so much will depend upon the amount of slope
and its direction considered with reference to
aspect. The aim should be to model the
surface in such a way as to secure the proper
conditions for horticulture and the convenience
of the garden user, without attempting too
much work of an artificial character. It
should always be remembered that dead-level
plateaus on a considerable slope proclaim
themselves as man's handiwork, wherefore
it is well to conceal as much of this work as
possible.
In some cases it may be desirable to effect
a compromise by not setting out to bring the
ground to a series of levels, but by merely
modifying the original slope to a series of slopes
148 GARDEN PLANNING
of less gradient. In all such problems the main
point is not to outrage Nature, but rather to
coax her in the direction in which we wish
her to go, covering up our footsteps as we
proceed in the work, so that the final result
shall not disclose too obviously what it owes
to spade work.
As steps are necessary adjuncts in sloping
gardens, I may give some further suggestions
for making them.
An alternative plan to the one already de-
scribed is that shown in the third figure in the
illustration (Fig. 38), in which the treads are
made of stout boards supported on pegs driven
Into the ground. Yet another plan is to attach
the treads to cheeks of wood, making a single
complete structure, as in the fourth figure.
When the path passes through rockwork
I always build the steps of rock pieces.
Bricks may be employed for steps, either
set in mortar or laid loose, as in the first figure.
They are better laid on edge, and it is well
to chip off the angle where the tread and riser
meet, or to use bull-nosed bricks.
Slabs of stone make good steps, and by their
weight keep in place if well bedded, without
SLOPING GARDENS
149
Fig. 38.— Steps
ISO
GARDEN PLANNING
the need for cheeks, though it is best to make
the risers of brick to prevent soil from working
out from beneath the tread. On moderate
slopes the riser ma^ be of soil left at an angle
and turfed. There is something quite un-
•tJ^
3
Fig- 39- — Spreading steps
conventional in such steps as illustrated in the
second figure.
When the slope is moderate, but long, it is
well to break the line of steps into two or more
flights, as a concession to appearances.
When the difference of level is small, a good
effect will result from spreading the steps
in one of the ways shown in Fig. 39.
I have avoided reference to architectural
features associated with steps, as, for instance,
side and wing walls, pillars, and caps. These,
SLOPING GARDENS I5I
if introduced into a small garden, should be
unpretentious, and as far as possible designed
to accord with the architecture of the house.
If capped with flat stones the pillars may carry
vases with good effect, always provided the
latter are chosen with taste and a sense of
proportion and fitness for their surroundings.
CHAPTER XI
The Rock Garden
There is no feature in the modern small
garden so badly contrived as the rock garden,
or "rockery," as it has come to be called. It
is too often but a formless heap of stone rubbish
or clinkers in which a few sickly ferns struggle
for existence. A rock garden need not be large
to be interesting, but it must be properly con-
structed and placed where the sun can reach
it. To the real flower-lover the rock garden
is a delight. There is no corner of his domain
which yields more interest. It is a garden with-
in a garden, a place where nature has all her
own way, rewarding him with quaint and beau-
tiful flowers and varied foliage from early
spring to winter frosts. It is well to under-
stand the scope and purpose of the rock gar-
den, a thing all too often overlooked. The
common plan of heaping together a mass of
stone and mineral curiosities into a grotto-
IS2
THE ROCK GARDEN I 53
like structure, and sprinkling the whole with
soil, is the outcome of a misunderstanding of
first principles. Let us look into the matter
closely, and see just why our alpine plants
should be associated with such apparently un-
congenial material as stone masses. The
answer is clear, if we inquire as to the character
of their native habitat. The casual observer
who has wandered through the Swiss uplands
will have seen a wealth of plant life, jewelled
with gorgeous blossom, clinging apparently to
the bare surface of a rock, and he will have won-
dered how the solid stone could furnish food for
so luxuriant a display. Yet if he had pushed
his investigation carefully on the spot he would
have found that every plant was rooted deeply
in some crevice filled with soil. Here, then,
is the explanation. The rock is but the flower
pot. But it serves a very important purpose
as such, holding a reserve of moisture gathered
from the sky, and yearly collecting an ad-
ditional store of soil, the fine debris of the moun-
tain-side. Thus the plant has availed itself of
natural conditions eminently adapted for its
welfare, and therefore it flourishes.
The rock garden is man's attempt to imitate
154 GARDEN PLANNING
these natural conditions, and if it fails in this,
its principal function, how can it serve its pur-
pose as a home for the plant?
The idea, not by any means uncommon with
those who have not looked closely into the
question, that there is some magic virtue in
the rock itself by which these plants obtain
food suitable for their needs, must be aban-
doned. The function of the rock pieces in
our alpine garden is twofold. They serve to
give us a suggestion of the natural environment
of the plants we wish to grow, which is good;
but, better still, they conserve the moisture in
the soil, and thus ensure that the plants have
a constant supply of it in all weathers.
This being so, it is well to select our rocks
from material which is porous, and therefore
capable of holding in its substance a certain
reserve of moisture. Yet an impervious stone
is better than none, as it reduces the area of
soil subject to evaporation.
The next point to understand is that the soil
in our rock garden must be well drained. This
may be attained by ensuring that it is of a
porous character and of sufficient depth. Drain-
age is assisted by elevating the rock garden.
THE ROCK GARDEN 1 55
or, what comes to the same thing, by sinking
Its floor below the general level.
It is not necessary to be lavish of rocks. In
a well-designed rock garden the soil should
bulk at least as largely as the rocks.
Position — The rock garden should be as
far removed from a formal environment as
possible. It is, or should be, our best attempt
to imitate a piece of nature. If it is associated
with walls, greenhouses, or other artificial
surroundings the illusion falls to pieces. It Is
better also to keep it away from the neigh-
bourhood of trees, whose roots would find their
way into the soil and exhaust it, and whose
leaves In autumn would sadly litter its surface.
Moreover, it is well to be consistent in our
mimicry, and to remember that the landscape
Is Innoct^nt of trees at the altitude where alpine
flowers thrive best.
Aspect — The above conditions being satis-
fied, the only other one of importance is that
the alpine garden should have a sunny aspect,
though this does not imply that every part
must enjoy full sun; nor would that be desirable,
since there are plants which will thrive all the
better in shade or partial shade.
156 GARDEN PLANNING
One great charm of the rock garden is its
variety, and that can best be maintained by-
providing all the conditions of aspect and ex-
posure demanded by the various plants avail-
able for our purpose.
Materials — Perhaps the best material for
the purpose is sandstone, but in most cases
the gardener has to be content with what is
most easily obtainable in his district. A
hard, close-grained sandstone, granitic rock, or
tuffa, limestone, and conglomerate will do.
Soft stones which crumble away under weather
influence are obviously unsuitable.
If natural stone is unprocurable, or its cost
prohibitive, then the gardener must make
shift with brickyard waste, but he should select
that which is porous.
Clinkers, vitrified brick fragments, dressed
stone blocks, portions of decayed statuary,
lumps of alabaster, minerals, and sea-shells
should never be seen in the alpine garden.
Tree stumps also should be avoided, as they
harbour fungi to the detriment of the plants.
The stone pieces should not be too small nor
too uniform in size. Good bold pieces up to
the largest size the gardener can conveniently
THE ROCK GARDEN 1 57
handle should be procured, and by preference
they should be quadrangular, though only very
roughly so.
Professional constructors sometimes use an
artificial stone made on the spot, by plastering
a coloured cement over a basis of rough brick-
work. I have seen some very clever work of
this kind, indistinguishable from a natural
out-crop of rock, and, for all I know to the con-
trary, it may serve excellently. But unless
done by skilled hands accustomed to imitating
the form and stratification of the natural rock,
it would be a failure. I have seen it suggested
that good imitation rocks may be made by
coating brickyard waste with Portland cement.
The objection to these processes is the liability
of the artificial surface to be flaked off by frost
or rough usage, thereby exposing the fraud.
Soil — In this particular we cannot do better
than follow nature. We have seen that in
alpine regions the crevices in the rocks become
filled with fine debris, the disintegrated par-
ticles of the rock itself, and therefore contain-
ing small stones and sand, with which, of course,
is associated humus derived from decaying
plant life. This, then, suggests an artificial
158 GARDEN PLANNING
mixture for our rock garden In which similar
ingredients find place. Such a mixture may-
be made as follows:
Good friable loam ... 6 parts
Chips of sandstone ... I part
Sand or road scrapings . . 2 parts
Leaf mould i part
To this may be added a moderate proportion
of well-decayed stable manure. The whole
should be well mixed and is then ready for use.
Although the above compost will suit the
greater number of plants usually grown in a
rock garden, it is unsuitable for bog plants and
for those which thrive best in a calcareous
soil.
To meet the needs of these it is desirable to
reserve a place where some peat may be intro-
duced for the benefit of the bog plants, and to
add a limy constituent to the compost (lime
or broken limestone) for those parts of the gar-
den in which it is intended to grow lime-loving
plants. Beyond that it is hardly feasible or
worth while to go in specializing the soil.
The prepared soil must be entirely free from
clay, and to ensure this care should be taken
to obtain the proper kind of loam.
THE ROCK GARDEN I 59
Making — Having obtained the rocks and the
soil, and having selected a suitable site for the
rock garden, the forming of its contours may
be undertaken. In most cases a path will
pass through it, but this will have to be made
last. Bearing in mind the importance of drain-
age, the gardener must first decide whether
his rockwork shall stand above the general
surface or be partly sunk below it. On heavy
clay soil the former plan is best; on a
gravel, or other kind of porous soil, the
latter. A sunk garden has the advantage
that the excavated soil is useful for building
up the banks, provided, of course, that it is
suitable as an ingredient in the compost just
described.
The gardener may next proceed to mark out
the plan, by pegging or otherwise, and then
barrow the soil into place. Now comes an im-
portant part of the operation, for the final
effect is controlled by the way in which he
arranges his heaps. He should endeavour to
avoid a formal or symmetrical distribution of
masses, which is never seen in nature, by throw-
ing them up as if their shape and height were a
matter of chance.
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GARDEN PLANNING
The illustration below gives a suggestion of
what should be aimed at. Not until he has com-
pleted the whole of the base-work should he add
the rocks, because as the work proceeds he may-
Fig. 40. — Earthwork in the rock garden
find it advisable to raise the ground here or
lower it there to improve its contours, which he
should view from various standpoints to make
sure that he has obtained a good general effect.
That much accomplished, the gardener may
commence to place his rocks by outlining with
them the foot of each slopCjthereby at the same
time defining his path. For this part of the
work he should select rocks of various sizes,
here and there introducing a bold mass to ac-
centuate some angle, thereby avoiding the
effect of an artificial edging. This edging must
be well done, with the rocks in close contact,
THE ROCK GARDEN l6l
Otherwise much soil will be subsequently washed
out on to the gravel; but no cementing medium
should be employed. Such crevices as remain
may be well rammed with compost, and will
then offer temptation to the plants to thread
them with rootlets, by which the soil will be
sufficiently held in place.
In laying down the line of the path no at-
tempt should be made to maintain equality of
width throughout. On the contrary, a much
better effect is secured if the path varies in
width. I would even advocate the placing, at
one or more spots, of an island of rockwork in
or near the centre of a specially contrived ex-
pansion of the path. (See Figs. 105, 116, 129.)
Fig. 41. — Rockwork section
The soil may next be brought forward to
stand level with the rocks at all points, thus
affording a basis on which to proceed with the
next tier, which, with those above it, must be
contrived as a number of irregular pockets
l62 GARDEN PLANNING
Standing at different levels, and not as a series
of parallel terraces, which would be an obviously
artificial arrangement. Here again bold pieces
of rock must be used at irregular intervals,
constituting miniature ramparts, over which
some pretty trailing plant will later on make a
gay show, or which a delicate arenaria may
clothe with its velvet
greenery and tiny
white stars.
Fig. 42. — Rocks in relation to soil
The rock masses should not be deeply buried.
A good rule is that on the exposed side no rock
should be deeper in the soil than one fourth of
its height, or sufficient to effectively anchor it
in place.
The rock masses should not lie higgledy-
piggledy, but there should be some kind of
relation amongst them, which is best secured
by giving all the flattened masses a slight tilt
in some particular direction, to convey the
idea of a naturally inclined stratification.
THE ROCK GARDEN 163
Rocks set on end, sugarloaf fashion, are not
infrequently seen in the gardens of amateurs,
but they should be omitted by those who aim
at the best effect. If height is desired at some
given point, a couple of bold masses may be
superimposed, led up to by other pieces, as
would occur in nature.
Fig. 43. — Arrangement of rock masses
The pockets or spaces of bare soil should
vary in size, and be irregular in shape. They
should never take the form of a series of scal-
lops. Some inclination may be allowed to the
soil, but not much, or it will certainly travel
downward with each shower of rain.
Rough steps may be introduced at a suitable
point or points, say to give access to the rock
garden from the grass plot. These steps may
be built of flat rock pieces, their crevices being
filled with soil, in which rock-foils and stone-
164 GARDEN PLANNING
crops may afterward be encouraged to grow.
If these steps be introduced, it is better to
carry them between two adjacent mounds than
to make them ascend a conspicuous elevation.
A visit to a well-made rock garden in the winter-
time will afford the gardener much practical
guidance in this kind of work. He will see
just how far it is possible to reahze a natural-
istic effect, and may gain some wrinkles in re-
gard to the disposition of his rocks.
Although in the past the real rock garden has
been a negligible quantity in American gardens,
recent years have seen a greatly increased
interest in their building. The fact that the
rock garden offers the gardener the chance of
growing a large collection of plants of small
size and low stature that would get lost in the
open border, is to many people a sufficient justi-
fication for the introduction of this feature.
There are rock gardens in which the chief
charm is their rocks, placed together so skil-
fully that they might be mistaken for a natural
out-crop. Such gardens have cost their owners
many hundreds of dollars, but they are no bet-
ter for their purpose than the more simple
type of garden I am describing. The gardener
THE ROCK GARDEN 165
must try to avoid appearances which indicate
too obviously the artificial character of the
work. For instance, a promontory formed at
a bend in the path should have a line more
nearly approaching the first than the second
figure in the accompanying illustration.
Fig. 44. — Arrangements of rock masses
An artist would instinctively produce good
contours; the less favoured individual must be
guided by these precepts, and by such examples
as he may find to imitate.
Though I do not offer it as an inducement to
indifferent work, I may remark that Nature is
ever kind to her votaries, and when the garden
has been planted she will do her best to conceal
shortcomings.
For bog plants it is well to arrange one or
more bays, in which the peat may lie in a level
surface, as peat is unstable on a slope. An
i66
GARDEN PLANNING
angle in the general structure may be cut off
by a line of small rock pieces (not a straight
line), and in that way a large pocket at the base-
level can be made, in which the peat may be
laid on a not too porous subsoil. Bog plants
demand a water-logged home. If water is
•♦■-'•M,-,:^
Fig. 45. — Arrangements of peat in the rock garden
associated with the rock garden, the place for
bog plants is at its edge, where the peat
may be allowed in actual contact with the
water.
When all the rocks are in place, and the result
when critically viewed is satisfactory, the gar-
dener should proceed to fill in all holes and
THE ROCK GARDEN 167
crevices with his compost, using a thin wooden
blade, or bricklayer's trowel, to probe them,
to ensure that the soil gets down to the lowest
levels. After the first heavy shower of rain
he should go over the structure again, replen-
ishing the soil where it has sunk in.
If of necessity he has had to use brick waste
as a substitute for rocks, his task will not have
been so easy, for it is not possible to entirely
disguise their character. Yet with a little
ingenuity he may secure a very passable result.
The large masses will consist of many bricks
cemented together in the burning, thus show-
ing a decided, if rather artificial, stratification.
These pieces he should place with their longer
joints horizontal, or at such a slight tilt as
he may decide. He may be tempted to so
place them that their component bricks stand
on end, with a view to availing himself of the
crannies between them, but that would be a
bad arrangement, as will be understood from
the foregoing considerations.
There is no need to outline the back margin
of the bank with rocks. The soil there may
just run off into the level of the ground.
When the structure of soil and rock is finished
l68 GARDEN PLANNING
the gravel floor of the rock garden may be laid
in the way directed for path making.
I need hardly warn the reader against the
use of water-worn rock pieces which have a
uniform pebble-like shape. I have seen them
used, but only with grotesque effect. On the
other hand, a few rounded pebbles introduced
along the margin of the rock structure are not
out of place, suggesting, as they do, an old
water-course, and serving to retain soil washed
down from the higher levels.
Planting — No special directions are needed for
the practical work of putting the plants into the
soil. It should be done in the same way as when
planting a bed or border, and at the same sea-
sons according to locality. The mode of con-
struction I have described ensures that there is
ample depth of soil.
Discrimination should be used in selecting
the plants for special positions. The smaller
subjects like sedum, saxifrage, and semper-
vivum will thrive when rooted in crannies,
and some on the porous surface of the rock
itself, as witness the common house-leek. A
few of these plants may be established at the
margin of the rockwork and allowed to
THE ROCK GARDEN 169
intrude upon the gravel within limits. They
will soften the hard line where rock and gravel
meet.
Plants of trailing habit should be put near
the top of a miniature precipice, over which
they will hang their flexible shoots and in due
course paint its surface with brilliant colour.
Tall plants should go mostly to the higher
levels. Give each plant elbow-room to allow
for growth and expansion, but plant fully, so
that when the plants are established there shall
be little bare soil visible. Chinks in the vertical
surfaces should not be neglected — they will
carry their share of plant life, if care be taken
to insert the roots and ram the soil well in
contact with them. Ferns will thrive in similar
places, and, preferably, they should be located
in the shady corners.
The choice of plants is a vast one, but it is
well for the novice to limit it at first to the more
hardy kinds, than which he will find none more
beautiful.
At the back of all, on the topmost level,
small flowering deciduous and evergreen shrubs
may be associated with tall perennials like
starwort and snapdragon.
lyO GARDEN PLANNING
Space and means may forbid a very ambitious
effort, and it may thus be necessary to confine
the rockwork to a single bank against the
boundary wall or fence. In that event it is
well to clothe the artificial background with
ivy or other creepers.
The rock garden should not end abruptly.
It is better to let it gradually merge into the
general surface of the ground, some detached
pieces of rock being placed on the level beyond
the raised part of the rock garden, just as we
should find in nature. Many alpine plants
will thrive perfectly well on the level, if they
are protected from the encroachment of coarser
plants. Thus these outlying rock pieces
may be enshrined in masses of phlox, aubri-
etia, or dianthus, which, unconstrained by any
rocky limits, will spread into wide cushions of
colour.
Learn to know your plants by sight and don't
label them. The appearance of a labelled rock
garden in the spring, before the plants have put
forward their foliage, is depressing, and
reminiscent of the auction room.
Wall Gardens — Nature has shown us how
she can clothe an old wall mth her treasures,
THE ROCK GARDEN I7I
and the plants thus naturally established often
display a charming habit in adapting themselves
to their artificial home. Who has not seen a
ruined wall topped with pinks, or with snap-
dragon, toadflax, and sedum, or hung with the
charming grey foHage and glistening white flowers
of cerastium? To imitate this is not difficult,
but we require the right kind of wall; not the
new, neatly pointed red brick affair, but a
thing of cracks, crevices, and crannies, such as
we find enclosing some old country garden.
Given this, the rest is easy. We have only to
rub some fine soil into the chinks and to sow the
seed of such plants as we desire, covering them
up with soil to prevent the birds abstracting
them, and in due course we shall have our
colony of alpines.
If no wall exists, then we must build one,
and in doing so we may make provision for
as much plant life as we please. The wall
may be of concrete, rubble, rough stone, or
old bricks. Of these, perhaps the best are the
last three, though with bricks, unless ample
spaces are left between them, there would be
difficulty in finding sufficient lodgment for
the plants. Stone and rubble, using irregular
172 GARDEN PLANNING
blocks, would give opportunity for earth pockets
and crevices of various sizes. There should
be no pointing, and only so much mortar used
as is necessary to secure stability. Large
spaces may be filled with the compost recom-
mended for the rock garden and then sown.
The smaller crevices may be filled with soil
mixed with the seeds. The sowing should
be done in the autumn.
CHAPTER XII
The Rose Garden
In a small garden there is nothing to be
gained by providing a separate place for the
roses; on the contrary, they may be freely
associated with the other flowers In bed and
border with the best effect.
Just why it became the practice In days
gone by to give the roses a department to
themselves is not clear, though there seems
to have been some Idea that the rose standard
did not harmonize with plants of bushy habit.
In the present day no such consideration pre-
vails, and gardeners do not hesitate to admit
the rose into every part of the garden.
We cannot have too many roses, and there
is no position where they are out of place. The
walls and fences deserve their share. The
house walls are never so beautiful as when
clothed with healthy and prolific climbers.
In the shrubbery they help to redeem the
173
174 GARDEN PLANNING
masses of monotonous green foliage. On the
lawn, as standards or pillars, they add a wel-
come note of colour, and in beds and borders
they contribute their quota to the general
effect. Even as hedges, roses have their use,
and for arches, pergolas, and festoons no more
charming climbers are available. Pegged down,
or trained over the beams of a pergola, they
make glorious masses of flower and foliage.
I have written enough to show that the
rose has no claim to be kept in a place by itself,
yet this does not imply that the rose garden
is necessarily a superfluity where ample space
exists. Indeed, there is something extremely
attractive in a well-planned rose garden. It
is a practical token of homage to the queen
of flowers, and it demonstrates that the rose,
before all other flowers, can be grown in a
place by itself without producing a monotonous
effect. This follows from its variety in form,
colour, and foliage.
A sunny site should be selected for the rose
garden, and, following ancient usage, we cannot
do better than lay it out formally. I am no
advocate of a formal garden in its severest
mood, but formality is not the product of
THE ROSE GARDEN I75
shape alone in the garden details, as I have
elsewhere shown. I can conceive of beds and
borders of informal outline treated quite for-
mally in the planting and accessories. I can-
not imagine any benefit to the roses from
planting them anyhow. We know little of
the rose in a state of nature, for our garden
roses are mostly a product of the nurseryman's
art. They are perhaps the most artificial of
all flowers.
We shall not therefore be In danger of out-
raging good taste if we make our rose garden
on formal lines, by which I mean if we plan
It on a symmetrical basis.
The most common method Is to cut the rose
beds in grass, and there Is much to be said
in favour of grass as a setting for our roses.
In evolving a design it Is well to observe certain
points now to be mentioned. The beds should
not be elaborate in outline nor too small. The
groups should show a geometrical relation be-
tween their component beds In the way I
have advised for groups of flower beds generally.
The Illustration (Fig. 46) shows typical
rose gardens as I might plan them on a grass
space, and It should be noted that the outlying
176
GARDEN PLANNING
'Ml ^
p f^i ®
u t^j^. ^
O
Fig. 46. — Rose beds in grass Fig. 47. — Rose beds in gravel
THE ROSE GARDEN 1 77
borders give a sense of enclosure and sanctity
to the whole arrangement, which may be
enhanced by planting their outer lines with
standards or pillars.
The introduction of arches at suitable points
is an excellent device for obtaining height.
The necessary shelter in exposed situations
may be contrived by the use of rose or sweet-
brier hedges, or of roses trained upon a skele-
ton fence.
It is not unusual to carry a path through
the rose garden, or to set it where two paths
intersect at right angles. The point of inter-
section is sometimes marked by a sundial or
vase. When a path or paths lead into the rose
garden, the beds may be separated by gravel,
thereby excluding grass altogether.
Such gardens are shown In the accompany-
ing illustration (Fig. 47). I have no quarrel
with that arrangement, and it may be made
dainty and trim by the use of neatly clipped
box edgings. One loses, however, the delight-
ful background an emerald turf supplies.
There is no reason why the rose garden should
take a shape having equal dimensions both
ways. It may be long and narrow, and I am not
178 GARDEN PLANNING
sure that that is not the best form, especially
when space is restricted. It can be better
brought into harmony with the adjacent parts
of the garden. As a walk, too, it is less tedious
to traverse.
Roses make considerable demands upon the
| ^ • n^ uM .iiiii i i in 111 1. 1 1 i n .. i hh ii j m i iii ^U I
I Fig. 48. — A long rose garden |
soil, and therefore rose beds and borders
should be deeply trenched in the first in-
stance, and treated liberally with manure. The
common impression that clay soil is essential
for roses is not altogether correct. They will
thrive in almost any soiL provided they are
well supplied with fertilizing matter. In light
soils the manure we give them is not retained
so long as in heavy soil, and thus, under care-
less culture, they may suffer starvation. For
this reason, if the soil is sandy and light, it is
well to add a proportion of heavier material
THE ROSE GARDEN 1 79
to give it tenacity and retentive quality, and
in manuring to use cow manure. If the garden
is made upon turf, then dig in the sods, and
add any other decaying vegetable matter you
may have available.
On heavy land it may be necessary to drain
the rose bed. This may be done by throwing
out the soil to a depth of three feet, adding
nine inches of rubble or brick rubbish, and then
filling up with soil. In such ease it is well
to bring the level of the beds well above that
of the ground. Thorough preparation of the
rose bed is the surest guarantee of future
success.
Planting should be done in the autumn,
preferably between mid-October and the end
of November, though it may be done later
if the winter be open.
The operation of plantmg cannot be too
carefully conducted. Holes ^should be dug
of ample size, with the bottom formed dome-
shaped to facilitate arranging the roots.
These should be separated and distributed
radially over the bottom of the hole. Fine
soil should then be placed over the rootlets,
moving the stem of the plant up and down
i8o
GARDEN PLANNING
to allow it to penetrate among them. The
remainder of the soil may then be added and
firmly rammed down. It should not be heaped
round the stem, but left slightly depressed
so as to facilitate watering. It would appear
that there is little to be
gained by care in spread-
ing the roots, experiments
showing that careless plant-
ing is equally favourable to
the plant. Be that as it
may, there is no doubt
that the care devoted to
arranging the roots as
widely spread as possible
at the foot of the hole
Fig. 49.-Pianti„g a rose Tcuders exccllcnt servicc in
bebw"fhrg'"un^^Lr7rci"(B" anchoriug the plant to the
Then prune at c. soil, enabling it the better
to withstand the buffeting of the wind. If no
rain follows planting, it is advisable to give
some water about a week after, and a mulch-
ing of manure may then be put around each
plant to afford protection from frost.
Roses must not be crowded together too
closely. Standards should not be less than
THE ROSE GARDEN l8l'
three feet apart, and bushes not less than one
and a half to two feet.
I question whether It is ever desirable to use
standards of greater height than three feet.
The lanky, bent specimens one sees occasion-
ally pointing skyward are truly ugly, and have
no raison d'etre.
Standards look better in groups than in
single file, though the latter arrangement
may sometimes be desirable when it is intended
to introduce a well-marked line.
The disposition of the plants in a rose garden
is largely a matter of taste. With many beds
to fill, we may devote each bed to several
roses of the same colour or kind, and thus get
our colour effect in masses. On the other
hand, with a less elaborate garden, contrasting
or harmonizing colours may be associated
together in the same bed or border. The
range of colour in roses is so great and so har-
monious that one can hardly make a mistake,
except perhaps in associating the magenta-
tinted varieties with reds and pinks of purer
hue. The former, carrying as they do a note
of blue, go better side by side with whites
and yellows. The presence of too large a
l82 GARDEN PLANNING
proportion of whites is to be condemned, as
they tell more strongly in the picture than
coloured varieties.
China roses, with their dwarf habit, beautiful
foliage, and brilliant colours, should not be
overlooked. They may be used in beds by
themselves, in the front part of the borders,
or between standards where the climate allows.
Much more is to be said about roses, for which
there is not room here; and the reader specially
interested had better turn to "The Amateur's
Book of Roses and How to Grow Them. "
CHAPTER XIII
Water in the Garden
There is something so delightful in the living,
moving presence of water in the landscape
that gardeners may be excused their desire
to introduce it into their flower ground. Yet
in a garden of limited size it should be recog-
nized that the effect which appeals to us amidst
natural surroundings is practically unrealizable.
At the same time the conditions may be such
that water can be introduced without appearing
to be too artificial a feature. This applies
particularly to gardens bounded by a natural
stream or through which such a stream passes.
When the water has to be derived from the
domestic supply and contained in artificial
ponds it is a different matter. But even then
it may be possible to avoid offence provided
the gardener contents himself with simple
arrangements. Any sense of artificiality that
may arise can be counteracted by the inherent
183
184 GARDEN PLANNING
interest in luxuriant water growth and the
delightful blooms we get from such purely
aquatic plants as water-lilies and lotus.
It may, however, be stated at the outset
that the making of a water garden is a simple
matter compared with its efficient maintenance.
No gardener should lightly embark upon the
task unless he is prepared to give unremitting
attention to his water plants and to their
artificial homes. This implies frequent chang-
ing of water and cleansing of ponds.
In town and suburban gardens organic
matter, dead leaves, and other undesirable
things are wafted by the wind or fall upon the
water surface, where they remain to decay
and defile the water.
When a running stream is available, these
drawbacks operate less prejudicially, though
they are not altogether absent.
I shall first consider the case of a garden
bounded by a stream at its far end. We may
assume that the water is pure enough for our
purpose. The probability is that the gardener
would have no rights over the water, but also
that no objection would exist to his diverting
some of it through his garden. In such an
WATER IN THE GARDEN 1 85
event he might excavate a backwater, say with
an extension in the form of a bay, as shown
in the illustration (Fig. 50).
By this means he would obtain a piece of
running water (A), and a piece (B) more or
less stagnant, but
not so stagnant as to
require any special
device for changing
it. The depth need
not exceed eighteen
inches. The island
C would be useful
for treatment with
bold waterside
plants, and the mar-
gins of the back-
water and pond
could accommodate
others of less sturdy growth. Clear spaces
should be left for access to the water's edge and
to permit of the plants being seen. A small
collection of dwarf hybrid nympheas may be
established In the pond B and in the backwater,
with which might be associated our common
native pond lily. Other plants may be added If
Fig. 50. — A water garden
1 86 GARDEN PLANNING
space permits, including such interesting sub-
jects as the pickerel weed, the flowering rush,
and water buttercup. Typha and swamp mal-
low might be planted along the fence line
at B.
Irises will thrive at the margin of the water,
as well as such favourite flowers as phlox,
trollius, spirea, and a host of others. With very
little trouble in the making and common-sense
management, a piece of water of this kind could
be made a source of perennial interest. When all
is complete and the plants are established it
would only remain to keep the entrances clear
and to remove all rubbish which might find
access to the water. No deciduous trees or
shrubs should be placed near the water, for
reasons already explained.
A water system of this kind might be wedded
to a rock garden with a good effect.
In excavating the water bed the sides should
slope gently to the edge, or trouble will ensue
by the banks breaking away and fouling the
water. This also ensures that the soil is water-
logged for some distance from the water's
edge, and is therefore in a condition for sup-
porting a colony of semi-aquatic plants.
WATER IN THE GARDEN 1 87
When a stream intersects the garden, a
rather more ambitious effort is possible.
The general treatment should be such as
to considerably expand the water area, and
this may be done by adopting an arrangement
like that illustrated in Fig. 51, in which a
lily pond is made in
that part of the
garden beyond the
brook, having inlet
and outlet, thus se-
curing a water cir-
culation. Bays
should be formed on
the near side. Com-
munication across
the stream may be
by means of a
simple bridge, or F»g- si-— A water garden
stepping-stones if the water is shallow.
The gardener should resist the temptation
to give a "rustic" character to his bridge.
It should be a plain affair, well and firmly
built, as befits its purpose, and provided
with a hand-rail on either side. What has
been written in regard to making and plant-
1 88 GARDEN PLANNING
ing in the previous case applies to this one
also. As water gardening is never likely
to engage the attention of more than a minority
of gardeners I need not multiply examples.
The hints I have already given will prove suffi-
ciently instructive to those who may wish to
avail themselves of the possibilities of a stream
accessible from the garden.
I shall now refer to a type of water garden
which is frankly artificial and depends for its
water supply on the kitchen tap or the pump.
This last condition demands that we should
study economy of water, and that can best
be done by devising what I may call a cir-
culating system.
The first consideration will be the planning
of the ponds (for such they are) and in that we
must be guided by the levels in our garden and
our desires in the matter of water area.
If there is a distinct slope in the garden
surface, so much the better; it will help us
to a simple arrangement for running off the
water, as must be done from time to time
to keep our ponds clean and their tenants
in healthy condition.
The waste or overflow from the pond or
WATER IN THE GARDEN 1 89
series of ponds must be provided for, and when
the garden slopes toward the house the most
convenient way is to carry it into a gully in
'^- '^H ^: '^^■i'-^ •' ^i''^'
Fig. 52. — Soak-away drain
connection with the house drainage system.
When the slope is in a contrary direction the
best expedient is to make a "soak-away"
drain, as shown in the illustration (Fig. 52).
This is merely a pit sunk in the soil and filled
with rubble, into which the overflow pipe is
conducted.
The ponds must be constructed with an
impervious bottom, say by the use of cement
or concrete.
190 GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. 53 shows both the mode of forming
the bottom and of building up the sides, and
calls for little by way of description. If rock
or rubble sides are used, as in D, they
must be built in cement, care being taken to
make the joints watertight. The floor may
then be made with six or eight inches of con-
crete, faced with cement. The surface should
not be finished to a dead level, but should h ave
Fig- S3- — Ponds
a slight fall toward the outlet, to facilitate
running off the water.
If the pond sides are built of cement, C
must be followed, making the edges battered,
and finishing them neatly at top with a rounded
nosing, which can be done with a former of
WATER IN THE GARDEN I9I
wood like that illustrated. Fresh cement
of good quality should be used, tempered with
a third part of sharp sand.
Pipes for inlets and outlets should be inserted
when the sides of the pond are being made. If
a single pond is installed it will only be neces-
sary to carry a waste-pipe from its bottom to
the drain. This should be done in a straight
line, if possible, to facilitate unstopping in case
of obstruction. The most suitable piping
Is iron gas pipe of not less internal diameter
than one and a half inches. A plug must be
provided to close the inlet, and this may be
a simple cone of wood fitted to the bore of
the pipe.
When two or more ponds are made, they
should be connected by piping into a single
system, the waste-pipe connecting the one
nearest the drain to it.
If all ponds stand at the same level, the
connecting pipes may enter and leave at the
bottom, but if the levels are stepped, as would
be the case on sloping ground, the overflow
from each pond to the next lower one of the
series must be placed at the water-line, other-
wise the water would all flow to the lowest
192 GARDEN PLANNING
pond. This point is made clear in the dia-
grams A and B. The filling up and renewal
of the water may be done conveniently with
the garden hose.
Although I have applied the term "cir-
culating system" to the arrangements just
described, it should be understood that they
are not adapted to ensure a constant move-
ment of water, which is quite unnecesly
sary. Water-lilies will thrive in perfectly
stagnant water which has not been changed
for months, but it is neither wholesome
nor pleasant to allow the same water
to remain in the ponds indefinitely.
Hence the usefulness of some means for
running off the foul water and refilling with
fresh.
When the gardener has done his work, he
should fill the ponds, mark the water-level,
and allow them to stand for a week, noting
whether there is any leakage, which would
show itself by a drop in the surface level.
If all is satisfactory, the water may be
run off and the ponds will be ready for
planting.
The end of May is the best time for planting
WATER IN THE GARDEN I93
the hardy nympheas. The soil may be a
compost consisting of:
Pond mud 2 parts
Loam I part
Leaf-mould i part
Road scrapings . . . . i part
If the first ingredient cannot be obtained
it may be omitted and double the quantities of
loam and leaf-mould substituted.
A layer of drainage material (broken tile
or brick rubbish) should be spread upon the
pond floor, on which the compost should
be heaped to the water-level height at the
points where the plants are to be placed.
The water may then be admitted and
allowed to stand for a couple of days
to assume the temperature of the atmos-
phere. The plants may then be inserted in
their mounds, which by this time will have
settled down considerably below the water-
level.
The water may be run off and renewed at
fortnightly intervals, or even less often if it
shows no tendency to become fouled. Twice
a year the ponds must be thoroughly cleansed
to remove decayed vegetable matter, leaves
194 GARDEN PLANNING
and rubbish which are certain to accumulate
at the bottom.
The introduction of animal life is useful
in restraining undesirable vegetable growth,
water-snails particularly. Goldfish will do well
even under somewhat unfavourable conditions
of stagnation, and are equally useful for the
purpose.
The matter-of-fact gardener may question
whether all this trouble is worth while for the
purpose of growing a few water plants. I
think it is. Indeed, the sight of only three or
four good, healthy water-lilies in flower in
one's own garden is sufficiently interesting
to constitute ample recompense for some small
initial trouble and outlay, and the enthusiastic
flower-lover will not grudge the subsequent
labour of tending them.
I know one such person who grows a col-
lection of miniature nympheas in tubs sunk
in the ground with most gratifying success.
Where space is limited his example may be
followed. The best plan is to excavate a
deep hole, say twice the depth of the tub,
and to fill the bottom with rubble, so.that when
the tub is bedded upon it the rim will stand
WATER IN THE GARDEN I95
just above the level of the ground. A centre-
bit hole must be made in the bottom of the
tub and fitted with a plug long enough to give
a good hand-hold. A piece of perforated
zinc should be nailed over the hole at its under
side, to prevent coarse debris running through
and choking the drainage material below.
These expedients, simple enough to put into
practice, are all that is necessary to provide
for an occasional change of water.
Fig. 54. — Tub for water plants'
The hard circular outline of the tub is the
only objection on the score of appearance.
The best way to mask it is to pack some boggy
soil around and between the tubs, and to grow
in it small water-side plants, which, if suitably
196 GARDEN PLANNING
chosen, will spread over the rims and hide
their outline, without unduly excluding light
and air from the water plants.
If possible rain-water should be used. The
nympheas particularly are intolerant of hard
water. When introducing fresh water it should
be run in slowly if it is sensibly colder than the
atmosphere, otherwise the plants may be chilled
and checked in their growth.
It is quite easy for the supply to dribble
in from a hose, the waste plug being loosened
to permit the foul water to escape slowly at
the same time. Besides the nympheas there
are many other interesting if not as conspicu-
ously beautiful plants that may be grown
in the water garden. The calla has already
been mentioned, and is perhaps best kept
in the water garden. The lotus has a rich
tropical effect, and is best planted in a tile con-
tainer as its roots spread through the soil, into
the surrounding ground. The English arrow-
head is a bold, handsome, and desirable plant.
Typha — the reed-mace (commonly called "bull-
rush") — is easily estabhshed, and the native
yellow flag, though only semiaquatic, will thrive
in shallow water on a deep bed of soil.
CHAPTER XIV
The Vegetable Garden
The owner of a small plot, who loves his
flowers and values a completely artistic general
effect in his garden, is usually content to leave
vegetables alone. In town and suburban
gardens I think he is well advised, because the
atmospheric conditions may not be favourable
to the growth of culinary plants in that state
of cleanliness which fits them for food.
But, leaving this consideration out of the
question, it is doubtful whether the results
are commensurate with the trouble involved,
when you can buy good vegetables cheaply.
I would say nothing to deter the enthusiast
from taking up vegetable culture if his tastes
lie in that direction. It is as interesting to
some people to grow a cabbage as a chrysan-
themum.
There are gardens and gardens, and, given
a pure atmosphere and sufficient space, the
197
198 GARDEN PLANNING
vegetable garden may find its legitimate place
and usefulness. The reader who has studied
the general principles I have applied to the
designing of a flower garden will have noted
that I advocate placing the principal flower
borders near the north boundary, wherever
that may come, and that I gave good reasons
for running the principal path alongside or
between them. Generally this path starts
from the house and terminates somewhere
at the remote end of the garden. If the vege-
table ground Is to occupy its usual place at
the end of the plot, the main path may con-
tinue into and through it. On the other
Fig. 55. — Borders through a vegetable garden
hand. It may be more convenient to approach
the vegetable plot by an offshoot from the
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN I99
main path. In either case I advocate the use
of a device to which I have already referred.
This consists in continuing the flower borders
on both sides of the path through the vege-
table plot, in the way shown in the illustration.
The result is to extend the principal garden
vista In length, thus increasing the sense of
space, and, at the same time, to screen, more
or less, the part devoted to vegetables.
It is true that these borders absorb a certain
amount of space, but that must be allowed for
in fixing the dimensions of the vegetable plot.
To complete the scheme it only remains to
add a transverse hedge or other barrier at the
near end of the vegetable plot and the thing
is done. These supplementary borders, if
preferred, may be reserved for flowers intended
for cutting, and some part for raising seedlings,
striking cuttings, and other utilitarian purposes.
I have in mind a charming suburban garden
arranged in this way, in which the kitchen
plot with its borders of bold perennials, backed
by espaliers, and edged with herbs, is not the
least interesting part of the garden.
But there are many other touches the gar-
dener may give to his vegetable ground to
200 GARDEN PLANNING
bring it into harmony with the garden as a
whole. A bower-like structure can be made
to support a colony of scarlet runners, whose
coral flowers will give a piquant note of colour
to an uninteresting corner, the while it provides
the gardener with succulent food. The bold,
handsome foliage of the rhubarb, and the
rambling growth of the vegetable marrow are
good to look upon, and did they not contribute
to our table they would assuredly be grown
for their beauty alone. And what is more
graceful than the fairy foliage of the asparagus ?
Bearing these points in mind, therefore, the
gardener may make picturesque capital out
of his kitchen garden tenants if he is careful
to dispose them to advantage. I do not wish
it to be understood, however, that any steps
taken in that direction are to be in opposition
to the common-sense principles of vegetable
culture.
The gardener with a heart attuned to vege-
tables will find places for a few fruit trees,
which are always useful in the garden picture.
The abundant blossom of his cherry, apple,
and plum trees is a valuable asset at a time of
year when flowers are scarce, when the borders
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 20I
have scarcely awakened from their winter
sleep. What is more beautiful than a spray
of rose-flecked apple blossom arching the
path, or, later, the sun-kissed fruit showing
its ruddy spheres amidst the darkening foliage?
And if the flower garden is to invade the
vegetable plot, why not the converse? Fruit
trees upon the grass plot have just as much
value as the che tnut or laburnum, both for
flower and shade, and against a north wall
they will cover much uninteresting brick and
mortar, and yield their crop without detracting
from the usefulness of the border for flower-
growing.
Even the boundary hedge between flower
and vegetable plot may be made of espaliers,
or such easily trained fruit bushes as logan-
berry, wine-berry, and blackberry.
The gardener of resource will find no diffi-
culty in putting these hints into practice.
There is nothing new in them. The associa-
tion of flowers and vegetables in the kitchen
garden was common in the walled-in gardens
of a century ago; but the practice was not
introduced with quite the same objects as
those here detailed, because in those days the
202 GARDEN PLANNING
vegetable ground was a thing by itself, and
no one thought of blending it with the flower
ground.
Apart, however, from this question of har-
monizing the two main departments of the
garden, I would advance the plea for neatness,
order, and picturesque effect in the kitchen
garden. The soil should be constrained by-
edgings to keep it off the paths, and for this
purpose there is possibly no better material
than ordinary builder's bricks laid on edge.
Just inside the brick line a row of parsley
plants will make a fresh, massy, green band,
and elsewhere the other herbs may help to
outline the garden divisions and give finish
to the beds; at the same time all will be con-
veniently accessible.
Let us now look into the more practical
details of the kitchen garden design. It is
good practice to subdivide the plots into
separate beds with narrow paths between,
as shown in Fig. 55. Such beds may have
dimensions determined by the space available
and by the owner's intentions as regards the
crops to be grown.
In a small vegetable ground annexed to a
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 2O3
garden of the size under consideration, a width
of twelve feet in most cases would be a good
dimension to adopt, the length of the bed
running transversely and being determined
by the width of the ground from path to
boundary fence. The transverse paths need
not be more than eighteen inches wide, and may
be of cinder, if no better material is available.
The object is to give easy access to the bed and
to permit the use of the barrow without having
to run it over loose soil, and thus to lighten
labour.
At the same time, this orderly subdivision
of the ground improves its appearance, giving
a business-like aspect to the garden and facili-
tating systematic cropping.
A space should be reserved, preferably
screened off, for the deposition of rubbish,
and for the storage of manure, flower-pots,
stakes, and other accessories which careless
gardeners are too prone to leave about in odd
places.
The box edgings one finds in old gardens —
"as prim and square-cut as a Puritan pastor"
— are charming to look at, but they are
charged, and probably rightly so, with harbour-
204
GARDEN PLANNING
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 205
ing snails and other animals which prey upon
our culinary plants. Still I am not sure that I
would not put up with the havoc of these ma-
rauders to enjoy the solid green outlines and the
air of old-world methods these edgings suggest.
There are other modes of associating the
vegetable garden with the flower ground.
When the whole plot is wide in relation to
its length, it may be convenient to reserve
a strip of ground along one or both sides for
kitchen garden purposes, and in that event the
treatment may be based upon the design here
illustrated, the object, as before, being to retain
a certain decorative quality without detriment
to practical requirements. The method of doing
this is made sufficiently clear by the diagram.
If space and other conditions suit, there is
no objection to cutting off the kitchen from
the flower garden entirely by a separating
hedge; because in the case under consideration
there would be little gained by blending the
two, since the additional vista so obtained,
being in a transverse direction, is compara-
tively short. In selecting the site for the
kitchen garden the question of aspect must
not be overlooked, particularly as it affects
206 GARDEN PLANNING
that part of the flower garden adjacent. In
the case just considered the hedge shadow
must be reckoned with, and for that reason
the north side of a garden having an east or
west aspect would be the best position for
the kitchen garden, other things being favour-
able. With a north or south aspect the point
would not arise.
In gardens of irregular shape it is some-
times possible to cut off a triangular or awk-
wardly shaped piece for the vegetable plot,
thereby giving better form to the rest.
Examples of this mode of treatment will be
found in the plans which follow.
In the actual making of the ground the
gardener must follow the directions already
given for trenching and manuring.
If the garden is of any considerable size
a tool shed, which might be used also as a
potting-shed, is a great convenience. It may
be a very simple structure; but it is well not
to disfigure it with corrugated iron or other
unsightly material. A thatched roof of straw
or reeds would convert it into an almost pic-
turesque feature, and there is no reason why it
should not support a graceful flowering climber.
CHAPTER XV
Glass
At the risk of creating consternation in the
minds of those enthusiasts who adore their
little glass houses, I must say that I cannot
reconcile the greenhouse with the garden
beautiful. My remark, of course, applies only
to the small garden, in which I have never seen
such a structure that was not an eyesore. Its
white paint alone condemns it; but that
we can alter. Not so its rigid, spidery lines
and glinting glass panes. Yet I admit its
utility, and I can realize the pleasures that
come to the man who carefully tends its crowd
of occupants. My quarrel is with the thing
itself. If I were advising the owner of a small
garden plot on the question of installing a
greenhouse, I should say "Don't," because I
know that it is possible to have a garden gay
with interesting flowers from March to Novem-
ber without glass.
207
208 GARDEN PLANNING
On the other hand, if the gardener desired
to specialize in chrysanthemums, or some
other flower or flowers for which a greenhouse
is a necessity, I would concede the point, re-
garding it as a compromise; but I should not
expect him to achieve a very notable result
in the garden picture.
I would therefore ask the would-be gardener
to consider whether he really wants a green-
house, and if he decides in the affirmative, I
would tender him such advice as the following:
1. If possible — i.e., if the aspect is suitable —
put the greenhouse against one of the house
walls, where it will merge into the main struc-
ture, and thus lose some of its identity.
2. If that is unrealizable, place it where it
will be possible to screen it from view, so that
it does not become a conspicuous object in
the vista as seen from the house.
3. Select a simple and unpretentious design,
preferably a "lean-to" or "three-quarter-span"
pattern, and put it against a boundary fence
or wall. These patterns are infinitely pref-
erable to the high-pitched, ridge-roofed, doU's-
house pavilions designed to evoke the admira-
tion of the uninitiated.
GLASS 209
4. Paint the outside woodwork a pleasant
shade of green, not grass colour nor eau-de-nil,
but something in between.
By observing these hints he may succeed
in taking the sting out of his glass box. The
gardeners who paint their greenhouses white,
picked out with lines of peacock blue, hardly
realize the crime they commit. They are
blinded to the inconsistencies by the glpry
of the structure itself, and think not of it as
an element in the picture. For the same reason
they give it a place of honour in the centre of
the garden's width, and contrive that all roads
shall lead to it.
The humble garden frame is another matter.
It sits snugly on the ground, and does not take
on airs. Its usefulness no one can deny, and
its place is in the vegetable plot.
If, in spite of all, the gardener decides to
invest some part of his capital in "glass,"
then let him beware of the cheap, jerry-built,
stock houses which are occasionally offered
to a confiding public. They are not all bad,
but they all have the same family likeness
on paper, and the inexperienced buyer is
tempted to buy the largest he can get for the
2IO GARDEN PLANNING
sum he is prepared to spend, or the cheapest for
a given size.
The greenhouse at its best is but a skeleton
structure, if we neglect the glass, and is an
easy prey to weather influence. If framed of
wood of small scantling, or of unsound quality,
the decay comes sooner and proceeds more
rapidly. Joints give and parts warp out of
shape, "and then the deluge" in a literal
sense. Once a house becomes leaky it is almost
hopeless to attempt to make it sound again.
Better, therefore, to do without than to install
a cheap affair that will do duty only for a few
seasons.
The best guarantee of quality is price and
the reputation of the firm from which you
buy.
The term "conservatory" is generally applied
to a glass house forming a permanent annex
to the house. It has the advantage over an
unwarmed detached greenhouse of borrowing
warmth from the house in winter, and is useful
for protecting pot plants from frost. If taste-
fully kept and of sufficient size, it forms an ex-
cellent approach to the garden. One not
infrequently finds one on the north side of
GLASS 211
the house, where it gets no sun, and Is, therefore,
only fitted for sheltering a few ferns.
Builders Indulge In flights of fancy In con-
nection with the conservatory, In the form of
chevaux-de-frise, ornamental finlals, and col-
oured glass panes. They hope by these at-
tractions (?) to sell or let the house. The man
of taste, however, will prefer the structure
to be a piece of good plain woodwork glazed
with clear glass. I know of nothing more dis-
tracting than to enter a conservatory into
which the sun Is casting contrasting beams of
blue and yellow light indifferently upon flowers
and foliage. If for purposes of privacy it Is
desirable that the glass be translucent It Is
better to use white prismatic or ground glass.
Leaded glass In which the prevailing tint Is
a pale green Is not objectionable. The con-
servatory floor should be tiled and sloped to
a gutter to carry to the outside the water
spilled in spraying the plants.
A heating system is essential, and in this con-
nection it is well to take and abide by the expert
advice of the established greenhouse builders.
Much benefit will be had from a perusal of the
book "Gardening Under Glass."
CHAPTER XVI
Fences and Hedges
I have already pointed out how insistently
the boundaries of a small garden declare them-
selves. Whichever way we turn the vista is
closed by a wall or fence, and whatever expe-
dients weadoptto render these artificialfrontiers
inconspicuous — whether by growing greenery
over them or trees and shrubs against them —
we cannot entirely keep them out of sight. I
have shown, however, that by adopting a
rectilinear treatment they can be made to har-
monize with the garden lines. But that will not
help us much if the fence itself is an eyesore.
The suburban gardener very often has to
take things as he finds them, but he who builds
his house has the matter in his own hands,
and for his guidance, therefore, I may offer
some suggestions on the subject of fencing. I
must make a passing reference to walls. All
walls are much alike, but it is worth while to
FENCES AND HEDGES 213
make the wall high enough to permit of grow-
ing vines upon it when it receives full sun. A
height of six feet in most cases would be suflfi-
cient for the purpose.
As regards the fence there are two consider-
ations — appearance and durability. The
former implies both design and surface, the
latter, material.
Of the woods available, oak is unquestion-
ably the best for a fence, not only on account
of its long life under all conditions of weather,
but on the score of appearance. It should
not be painted or its charm of colour will be
destroyed. Who has not seen and admired
the pearly grays and opalescent tints of an
ancient park fence, and noted how admirably
it harmonized with the natural growth at its
foot? I know of nothing which better ac-
cords with flower and foliage than the weath-
ered surface of an old oak fence. If the pales
are cleft, so as to show the natural figure of
the wood, the efi"ect will be better and the life
of the fence longer. Under ordinary circum-
stances a height of five feet is suflicient, but
with open country around and no likelihood
of intruders less height may be desirable,
214
GARDEN PLANNING
FENCES AND HEDGES 215
particularly if there is an attractive landscape
beyond. The character of the immediate
environment should determine both the height
of the fence and its design, which may be open
or closed, or a combination of both.
The construction should be simple, because
elaborate fencework is likely to usurp attention
and to detract from the glory of the flower
ground.
The practice of allowing the posts to stand
above the top line of the fence, breaking the
skyline, is a good one.
The designs illustrated should be sufficient
guide as to the type of fence best suited to a
small garden. The closed pattern has sawn
oak posts and arris rails and cleft pales. If
shaped at the top between the posts, as shown,
its appearance is improved.
The "windowed" pattern is an adaptation
of the park fence, by the addition of raised
heads to the posts and a more substantial
top rail. The latter should be "weathered"
to throw off the rain.
The half-open fence with lattice top is just
the thing on which to train creepers.
Paled fences should always have a pHnth
2l6 GARDEN PLANNING
board to protect the lower end of the pales
from moisture, and to act as a barrier against
burrowing animals.
Oak fences should be put together with cop-
per or galvanized nails; ordinary iron nails
cause unsightly inky stains.
If the gardener cannot afford the cost of oak,
he must use pine or other boarding for his
pales, but certainly he should have oak posts
and pUnth boards, though he may omit the
latter if he stops the pales just clear of the
ground. The pales will need painting either
with a tar solution (a preparation of Stockholm
tar, not coal tar) or with good oil paint.
If oil paint is used, the colour is important.
It is difficult to select a tint which harmonizes
well with flowers and foliage. Perhaps the
best is a subdued green of a sagey tint. One
disadvantage of painted fences is that the paint
has to be renewed from time to time, and that
Involves the temporary removal of creepers
and other plants which may have been trained
over them.
Wire fences are not desirable for a permanent
purpose, but are permissible when It is wished
to mark the garden boundaries whilst a hedge
FENCES AND HEDGES 217
is coming to maturity. At the points where
the wires start and end the posts should be
stout and well strutted, to enable sufficient
tension to be put on the wire to make it taut.
The intermediate posts may be lighter, but
should be firmly planted to ensure their re-
maining upright.
Barbed wire is an invention of the enemy
and should never be admitted into the garden.
Fig. 58. — Stretching wire fencing
The ordinary galvanized iron telegraph wire
(No. 8 gauge) is the most suitable. It may be
attached to the stretching post by "screw-
eyes," which should be galvanized, or by the
2l8
GARDEN PLANNING
simple expedient of passing it through holes
made with a carpenter's gimlet and twisting
a knot in the protruding end. This should
be done in the manner illustrated. The
stretching is best managed with a block and
Fig. 59- — Open wooden fencing
tackle, but if the gardener cannot command
the use of this appliance, he may make shift
with an extemporized lever in the manner
shown.
When the wire is taut, the end should be
FENCES AND HEDGES 219
knocked up with a hammer close to the hole
and turned two or three times round a stout
nail.
Kinks and bends in the wire may be rubbed
out of it with the hammer handle whilst it
is under tension, before the final tightening.
Two good types of open fence are shown
in the next illustration, and they call for no
special description. In the all-rail pattern
the post heads are made separately and nailed
on, their purpose being to protect the end
grain of the post from the weather.
Temporary fences may be made of rough
unbarked cedar or other timber that may be
readily and cheaply procurable. The lattice
or "rustic" fence is short-lived, and in long
lengths its diagonal pattern is monotonous.
Its appearance is much improved by adding
a top rail of halved timber flat side down.
A better type is that next illustrated, the
posts being of unbarked cedar, and the side
and top rails of the same halved. Ordinary
iron cut nails may be used with advantage,
as their "rusting-in" makes them hold all the
better.
In setting out a fence care should be taken
220
GARDEN PLANNING
to keep a straight line from point to point,
by using a stretched cord as a guide for fixing
the posts. The tops of the posts should be
Fig. 60. — Larch fencing
adjusted in line by sighting, two T pieces being
fixed as levels to work from, one at each end
of the stretch. The spacing of the posts will
depend upon the design and character of the
fence and the length of timber purchased for
the rails, but ten feet is the maximum advisable,
and less is better.
Of iron fencing there are patterns for all
purposes, and I need not speak of them.
Trellis — Trellis naturally falls into this sec-
tion, and some words of guidance in its proper
use may be useful. Ready-made trellis is so
cheap that it does not pay to make it at home
when the ordinary diamond pattern is wanted.
FENCES AND HEDGES
221
In erecting a screen of trellis a well-framed
support should be provided, as there is very
little strength or stiffness in the trellis itself.
The rule should be to support all the edges
by allowing them to butt against the centre
of the frame, securing them by fillets nailed
thereto.
The practice of leaving a raw edge at the
top is slovenly, and leads to the premature
decay of the trellis. All trellises should be
painted with two or three coats of good oil
colour, well worked into the angles at the
Fig. 6r. — Construction of trellis screen
crossings, for it is there that the rain finds
its way in and starts the process of decay.
222 GARDEN PLANNING
The diagonal pattern has come to be so com-
mon that most gardeners accept it without
question, but where much treUis is used it
looks better arranged with the laths vertical
and horizontal.
If the gardener is handy with his tools, and
blessed with sufficient leisure, he may try his
hand on "woven trellis," using cleft oak laths
and working on the plan illustrated in Fig. 57.
He must design his squares of sufficient size
to admit of bending the laths without difficulty,
and he should pin them at their crossings with
oak pegs. A trellis of this kind will not re-
quire to be painted, and it has a character of
its own which raises it far above the machine-
made article.
I need hardly add that the interlacing may
be omitted and the laths joined up in the
ordinary way, using either oak pegs or galvan-
ized nails.
Hedges — We may consider hedges as liv-
ing fences. They not only serve to mark the
garden boundary and the subdivisions of the
garden, but they materially assist us in the
garden picture. I know of no better back-
ground for a wide herbaceous border than a
FENCES AND HEDGES 223
well-grown hedge, provided no wall is available.
Hedges, however, occupy more width than
fences, and we must allow for this in our plan-
ning. Also there must be allowance for lateral
growth beyond the width to which we intend
to train the hedge, because we cannot trim
at frequent intervals. Also something addi-
tional should be allowed to keep the flowers
outside the radius of the roots of the hedge
plants.
As wind-screens hedges are superior to fences
because they allow air to filter through, and
thus reduce the velocity of that which passes
over them.
Of hedge plants commonly in use nothing
beats privet. When properly cared for it is
very effective as a screen, and it grows rapidly.
Moreover, it thrives in almost every kind of
soil, and is happy alike in shade or sunshine,
and does not ordinarily suffer from cold or rough
winds.
Thorn is of less rapid growth but makes
a thoroughly business-like hedge, and, ow-
ing to its spines, cattle rarely attempt to
break through it. If well trained from the
first so as to make the bottom full and close,
224 GARDEN PLANNING
it will exclude even the "harmless (?), neces-
sary cat."
Of evergreens, hemlock, box and arbor-vitse
are all admirable, but slow in growth. The
hardy orange {Citrus trifoliata) makes a dense,
impenetrable hedge and is evergreen in the
South but sheds its leaves in the North.
There is no reason why we should not make
hedges of many of the beautiful flowering
shrubs, save only the question of cost. Lilac,
ribes, deutzia, snowberry, philadelphus, med-
lar, diervilla, flowering quince, rose, sweet-
brier, blackthorn, viburnum, elder, berberis,
althea, and spirea are all suitable and attrac-
tive subjects, and in the light, warm soils in
the South fuchsia and hydrangea may be
added to the list. I see no objection to a mixed
hedge, in which several of the above subjects
are associated together. There are pictur-
esque possibilities in such a hedge that are
worth exploiting.
Sweetbrier makes a charming hedge and
stands exposure well, but it is unsuited to town
gardens, where its viscous foliage would collect
and retain the sooty constituents of the atmos-
phere. In planting a hedge the ground should
FENCES AND HEDGES 225
be trenched and manured and the plants
carefully lined up. The spacing will vary with
the subject, and the nurseryman will always
advise on this point. The training of a hedge
involves periodical trim-
ming. In the first instance
this should be directed to
encouraging the lower
growth, without which the
hedge can never be an
efficient barrier, and might
develop into an eyesore, ^'s- 62.— Sections of hedge
The best method is to trim to a wedge shape,
tapering from bottom to top on both sides
equally, and to leave the top quite sharp.
The width at bottom, for a hedge which is
eventually to be restricted to five feet in height,
need not exceed two feet. The tops of the
plants should not be touched until they reach
the prescribed height.
Fig. 62 A shows the section to be worked to
in the first instance. When the bottom is well
filled in with growth, and the plants have
obtained the maximum height, or have sprung
above it, the top may be cut to a uniform height,
and dressed flat as in Fig. 62 B, or rounded
226
GARDEN PLANNING
if preferred. Subsequently the sides may be
trimmed vertically.
In long lines of hedging it is desirable to
break the top line by allowing the hedge
plants at intervals to grow above the general
Fig. 63. — Hedge tops
level, trimming them into some definite form,
as shown in the illustration below.
Gaps in the hedge, to accommodate through-
paths, may be bridged over by training the
adjacent plants into an arch, for which a tem-
porary support would be required.
The gardener should never forget that his
hedge makes considerable demands on the
soil, and he must therefore not expect that
flowers will thrive in close proximity to it,
wherefore he should allow sufficient width
in all borders which skirt a line of hedging.
Box Edgings — These are miniature hedges.
The objection that they encourage and harbour
FENCES AND HEDGES 227
insect pests may be dismissed by the practical
man, who will avail himself of the fact to
search out the intruders and destroy them.
The best dwarf form is Buxus sempervirens
var. suffruticosa. It should be planted in April
or May. A narrow, clean-cut trench of tri-
angular section should be got out, and the box
plants inserted in a close line, the soil being
drawn up against them with a board held in
the right hand, whilst the left forearm holds
the plants in line.
Box edging should not be allowed to grow
to a greater height than six Inches, and the
clipping should be done with
care so as to preserve the
height uniform, and to main-
tain a clean line, whether it Y\g. 64. — Planting box
is straight or curved. The edging
best time for cHppIng is at the end of
May or during the first week in June.
The best shape in cross-section is square-
topped with battered or vertical sides, though
If it pleases the eye of the gardener the top
angles may be rounded.
Ivy Edgings — These have a bold, handsome
appearance, but are not suitable for gardens
228 GARDEN PLANNING
of restricted size, and in town gardens they are
apt to become coated with soot, nor are they
reliable in the North as they winter-kill. Where
space admits, however, and the temperature
is safe, excellent effects may be obtained with
ivy. It is only necessary to insert the plants
and to peg them down to the soil, which in
time they will cover with abundant growth.
An annual clipping in April or May will soon
produce a neat effect.
Other Edgings — Many other plants are in use
for edgings, such as the ground myrtle, euony-
mus, and pachysandra, etc., but as they present;
no special difficulty in management, and have
no special features to commend them, I need
only refer to them by name, as a reminder to
the gardener who is casting about for some-
thing different.
The Verge — This makes an admirable edg-
ing where space permits, and where it is not
subject to unfavourable conditions, such as the
drip of trees. To ensure the best effect it
should be trimmed with mathematical accuracy.
As the mowing and trimming involve consider-
able labour it will not commend itself to the
gardener of limited leisure.
CHAPTER XVII
Tile and Other Artificial Edgings
These nave a wider application than the
living plant edgings just noticed, and they are
a necessity in a well-kept garden. When turf
and soil or turf and gravel come into juxta-
position the clean-cut edge of the turf consti-
tutes a good enough edging. The case is
different where soil and gravel meet. The
qualities which should distinguish a good
edging are durability (both as regards resis-
tance to weather influence and accidental
fracture); flexibility, to permit it to be laid
in a good curve if necessary; stability, to enable
it to keep in place; and, lastly, moderate cost.
Tile Edgings — These may be just plain
roofing tiles, or special edging tiles with a
"fancy" margin, of which many patterns,
good, bad, and indifi'erent, are offered for sale.
Of the former I have little to say beyond point-
ing out that they are usually too thin to resist
229
230 GARDEN PLANNING
the wear and tear of every-day usage, and the
porous kinds are subject to fracture by frost.
Special edging tiles are made of the following
materials:
Porous brickware (red).
Hard brickware (red).
Stoneware (brown).
Blue brickware (slaty blue).
The first is undesirable on account of its
brittleness and liability to fracture by frost,
and the last on account of its unpleasant colour,
though it has the advantage of toughness and
strength. Between the other two materials
there is little to choose. Both are durable and
unobjectionable in colour, and the gardener
may decide as he thinks best. If price is a
consideration, he would find the hard brick-
ware the least expensive, though prices may
vary according to district.
When it comes to selecting the
a pattern he cannot be too circum-
spect, and he had best confine
Fig. 65.— Edg- himself to simple designs. In my
ing tile opinion the tile edging is not a
feature it is desirable to emphasize with
ARTIFICIAL EDGINGS 23 1
decoration. The plain scallop edge is the least
offensive. (See Fig. 65.)
Even that is apt to suffer in use, and will show
unpleasant gaps where some of the projections
have been broken off by a chance blow of the
spade.
Perhaps the strongest pattern is the so-called
"cable" design, but to that there is the ob-
jection that it is a barefaced imitation of
something which it never quite succeeds in
simulating, and which in the reality would be
a most inappropriate thing as a permanent
feature in the garden. Moreover, these tiles
are unsightly when laid in curves.
Generally speaking, the edging tile is some-
thing one had better do without, and as a
substitute for it which has the advantage of
greater substance, durability, and stability,
combined with lower cost, I commend:
Brick Edgings — The common builder's red
brick, as I have already mentioned, makes
an excellent edging, and is capable of being
used in various ways. Laid flat, its top sur-
face level with the gravel, it becomes the margin
of the path and at the same time an efficient
barrier to the soil of the border. Used in this
232 GARDEN PLANNING
way it may be associated with a box edging, as
indicated in the illustration (A). Otherwise it
may be set on edge to stand about half its
width above the gravel and soil as in B. There
is little to choose between these two modes of
using it. Another and less familiar method is
to employ it in the form of a concealed edging
in the way shown at C. This makes a very neat
Fig. 66. — Brick edgings
and unobtrusive edging, not easily damaged.
When it is carried round curves it should
be laid endwise to the line, using half-bricks.
This form of edging is also useful as a division
between turf and gravel, as it precludes the
need for much labour in trimming the turf
edge, and at the same time absolutely pre-
serves the original line.
In purchasing bricks for edgings the gardener
should see that he gets hard, well-burnt ones,
either wire-cut or pressed. Moulded bricks
ARTIFICIAL EDGINGS 233
have a hollow on one side, which makes them
unsuitable.
There is, however, a kind of brick which is
preferable to the ordinary rectangular brick,
if cost is not an important consideration. It
is the "plinth" brick.
It has one of its edges
bevelled, as shown in the
illustration, and makes
quite an ideal edging.
Its price averages about Fig. 67.-The plinth brkk ,
fifteen dollars a thou- ^'^^'"^
sand, which brings it materially higher in cost
than the common brick, but still cheaper than
the edging tile.
Stone Edgings — In districts where stone is
plentiful and cheap, it may be used as an
edging, and it has the advantage of being
obtainable in long lengths. It may also be
worked in any section desired, or we may use
it roughly dressed. The illustration on page
234 indicates some simple and suitable sections.
Sometimes the gardener is in a position to
buy cheaply old stone paving, which may be
adapted as an edging with good effect.
Slate has been suggested for edgings, and in
234 GARDEN PLANNING
districts where it is cheap, if used in pieces at
least one inch thick, it is durable and efficient;
but its colour is unpleasing, and I cannot com-
mend it for the flower garden on that account.
For the vegetable ground it is quite admirable.
Fig. 68. — Stone edgings (sections)
The least expensive kind of edging is the
common flint, and on the score of appearance
and stability it leaves little to be desired. It
should be bedded deeply, and the flints should
be large ones. The practice common in some
districts of whitening flint edgings gives them
too much prominence, and on that account I
do not favour it.
When a bed or border is to be raised above
the general level the edging may be built up
of flints or brickbats.
There is no special virtue in the flint, apart
from its abundance and ubiquity. In districts
where other natural stone is common it may be
used in rough pieces in the same way as flints,
with equally good effect.
ARTIFICIAL EDGINGS 235
Wood Edgings — The last form of artificial
edging that I shall notice is the board edging.
It has its usefulness as a temporary expedient
when we wish to make our gravel paths before
we lay the permanent edging, and it is some-
times used in kitchen gardens. Its appearance
is never good, and the presence of wood in the
soil is at all times to be condemned, because
it encourages the growth of fungous life.
Unprepared wood is hardly good for more
than two seasons. If required to last longer
it must be dressed with a tar solution or creo-
soted.
The best way to secure wood edgings is to
nail them to stout square pegs driven firmly
into the soil.
In putting down edgings of every kind they
should never be allowed to stand to a greater
height out of ground than is necessary to form
a barrier against rolling earth clods.
CHAPTER XVIII
Garden Plans
In the following examples of small sub-
urban plot gardens, mostly consisting of plans
actually executed, I have applied the principles
set forth in the foregoing pages. Each plan
is drawn to scale, and accompanied by a
scale of feet, and for clearness I have included
only such details as are needed to indicate
-the general scheme of the garden. These
examples may be closely followed whenever
the conditions are the same as shown in the
plans. It should be understood that for a
given set of factors there are many possible
arrangements, all equally good, so that per-
sonal taste and inclination may be allowed
considerable scope, so long as the main prin-
ciples of planning are observed. Considera-
tions of economy may dictate the omission
or modification of certain details, which the
gardener will decide for himself. My primary
236
GARDEN PLANS 237
object in presenting these plans is to elucidate
the subject of garden design in a concrete form.
If they should prove of use in individual cases,
so much the better. It should be noted that
each plan is made for a special aspect, and
that it will only hold good for an aspect not
greatly differing from that shown by the arrow
with which the plan is marked. But, given
the same aspect, the plan would serve for plots
of similar proportions and dimensions, and
with care to preserve due scale between de-
tails, for plots of larger or smaller size. Thus
the plan (Fig. 78) might be appHed to a plot
of twice the length shown, by lengthening the
central grass space and its associated borders,
and leaving the features at such end the same
as shown on the plan.
In all these examples the following points
have been observed:
1. Grass is confined to compact areas, with
means of access to them at more than one point.
2. Trees are placed so as not to cast shadows
on the borders.
3. Principal borders are in full sun.
4. The summer house entrance is in shade
or partial shade.
238 GARDEN PLANNING
5. Symmetry in the main features of the
plan is ignored.
6. Path space is reduced to a minimum, so
far as is consistent with achieving a pictur-
esque effect.
7. When grass space is divided, the two
areas are not of equal size.
8. The vista from the summer house is
made as interesting as possible.
9. No curves or angles other than right
angles are introduced into the garden lines,
except only where they may serve some useful
purpose, as in Figs. 84 and loi.
I have adopted the following conventional
indications in all the plans:
Beds and borders Full black
Grass Shaded
House Hatched
Paths, drives, and vegetable spaces Unshaded
Arches, thus
Pergolas, thus
Glass, thus
GARDEN PLANS
239
Fig. 69. —Size, 26 feet by 20 feet. Aspect, SE. The path at its near end
communicates with the kitchen yard, and at its far end terminates at an
arbour. The space at the angle ot the path might carry a tub or sundial. The
north-west boundary fence might be raised with trellis to give increased surface
for growing climbing plants.
Fig. 70. — Size, 42 feet by 20 feet. Aspect, nearly due E. The path ter-
minates at a summer house and gives access to a small yard, in which a tool-
shed is shown.
Note: In this and succeeding plans, the upper caption pertains to the left-
hand diagram; the lower caption to the right-hand diagram.
240 GARDEN PLANNING
Fie- ?!• , — Size, 45 feet 6 inches by 20
feet. Aspect, N. The back entrance
gate is screened by the summer house,
and the yard offers accommodation for
garden requisites, and contains a small
tool-shed. The e.xpansion in the path
might, carry a vase or tub.
Fig. 72.- — Size, 6s feet 6 inches by
g2 feet. Aspect, approximately NE.
About one third of the plot is devoted to vegetables and screened ofi by a
hedge and a summer house.
GARDEN PLANS
241
Fig. 73. —Size, 69 feet by 15 feet Aspect, approximately S Half the
spaM is given to vegetable ground, a glass house being placed at the division.
The eastern border continues through the kitchen plot.
Fig. 74- —Size, s8 feet by 20 feet. Aspect, E. Thewhole of this plot is laid
out ts flower ground. The southern border against the fence is shady, and
should be planted with shade-loving subjects.
242 GARDEN PLANNING
. Fig. 75- ,— Size, 64 feet by 22 feet. Aspect, N. This aspect admits of
flower display close to the house-back. A sundial is shown in the gravel space
facing the back entrance, and a flower vase in the square expansion of the
path. The small detached grass area might be planted with trees to make a
shady corner, and bulbs might be planted in the grass.
Fig. 76. —Size, 67 feet by 25 feet. Aspect, NW. About one third of the
plot Is screened off for use as vegetable ground, and borders are carried
through it.
GARDEN PLANS
243
e
o
Fig. 77.-— Size, 87 feet by 30 feet. Aspect, NNE. A feature is made of
a formal group of beds facing the summer house, a sundial occupying the
centre of the group. The path terminates in an alpine garden, which com-
municates by steps with a detached grass space, planted for shade. The di-
viding hedge gives a sense of enclosure to the formal garden, and privacy to
th» space beyond.
Fig. 78. — Size, 116 feet by 40 feet. Aspect, SW. The summer house,
trees, and shrubs screen the diagonal piece of fence. The end space is de-
voted to a sunken alpine garden. A low rubble wall retains the borders to north
and south-west. A raised circular bed occupies the centre. The roofed space
at the house-back is a veranda, from which a pleasant vista down the plot if
obtained.
244^
GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. 79- —Size, 60 feet by 26 feet, expanding at end to 44 feet. Aspect,
NE. THis is not an uncommon shape for suburban plots, and it lends itself
to a pleasing arrangement, the pocket at the end coming as a surprise.
GARDEN
PLANS
"■
1
.HL
h -T-tA-t^.
*j 1r5* +^
^•-^Wm
H5
Fig. 80. — Size, 126
feet by 27 feet, average
Aspect, E. A small vege-
table ground is shown at
the end, divided oflE by a
cranked line of hedging
This gives oppoitunity
for setting a formal gi^oup
of beds in the rectangular
space adjoining the sum-
mer house. This space
would make a good rose
garden. An alpine gar-
(den breaks off from the
main path, and commu-
nicates by steps with a
shady corner at the south-
west.
246
GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. 81. — Size, 68 feet 6 inches by 29 feet, average. Aspect, SW. The
details are sufficiently indicated in the plan.
GARDEN PLANS
247
Fig. 82. —Size, 146 feet by 49 feet, average. Aspect, SE." A yard witli
outbuildings separates the flower garden into two almost equal spaces. The
front grass area might be reserved for croquet. A small vegetable ground
occupies the extreme end of the plot.
248
GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. 83. —Size, 148 feet by 54 feet, average. Aspect, NW. A curved
roadway, causes a diverging shape. The details of the plan will sufficiently
explain themselves.
GARDEN PLANS
249
Fig.| 84. ,— Size, 113 feet by 36 feet, average. Aspect, SW. In this case
the garden boundaries are of unusual shape, but they do not preclude a good
arrangement— in fact, this may be made a picturesque and interesting garden
<f the suggestion contained in the plan be carried out.
250
Fig. 85.; — Size, 156 feet by 60 feet. Aspect, E. A simple rectangular pl<»
with detached house, built on orchard ground. Fruit trees were retained in
the positions shown, and made an interesting feature. In this and other ex-
amples it should be noted that a trellis screen is introduced to give privacy t0
the kitchen quarters
GARDEN PLANS
251
Fig. 86. — Size, 95 feet byyo feet, average. Aspect, E. A slightly diverging
plot devcfted entirely to flower garden.
252
GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. 87. .—Size, 129 feet by O4 feet. Aspect, E. A comer plot with sepa-
rate entrance to the kitchen quarters. In this case the house is placed as far
as possible from both thoroughfares. The features include a summer house, a
sundial, rock garden, pergola, and group of rose beds.
GARDEN PLANS
253
Fig. 88. — Size, 94.feet by 78 feet, averiige. Aspect, W. The house is set
parallel with north and west fence lines. The slope to the north-east neces-
sitates terracing on two sides of the house. The terrace wall at its highest part
is concealed by the rockwork of the alpine garden. Fruit trees are planted in
the south-east comer. The whole makes a compact and interesting garden.
254
GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. 89. — Size, 116 feet by 87 feet. Aspect, nearly W. The enclosed
formal garden south of the house is an interesting feature as seen from the
drawing room window. The circular bed and borders on the principal grass
space are intended for roses. A dial is placed in the expansion of the path to
the east. A kitchen garden is included.
GARDEN PLANS
Fig. 90. — Size, 1 24 feet by 92 feet, average. Aspect, E. A slightly converg-
ing plot, one half laid out as flower ground, the remainder as fruit and
vegetable garden.
Note : In none of the foregoing plans has any provision been made for a tennis
tawn. In most cases the space is insufficient, without destroying the value of
the garden as a picturesque flower ground. With plots of larger size the grass
space might be utilized for tennis by keeping it free of trees.
Figs. 91 to 97 inclusive show examples of
fore-courts or gardens situated between the
house and the thoroughfare, in some cases being
256 GARDEN PLANNING
supplementary to the principal garden, and In
others constituting the principal garden space.
Fig. 91. — Size, 20 feet by 19 feet. Aspect, S. This plan shows the simple
treatment I advocate for a small fore-court. It provides ample flower space
and is more effective when well planted than if the design were more complex.
Fig. 92. — Size, 20 feet by 18 feet 6 inches. Aspect, W. A groui) of flower-
ing shrubs occupies a'central position on the grass. The position of the
entrance gate permits of borders on either side of the path.
Fig. 93- — Size, 40 feet by 40 feet. Aspect, W. The group
gravel makes a pleasing and distinctive feature.
Fig. 94. — Size, 19 feet by 30 feet. Aspect, E. An arts
gives ample border space, and admits of a group of small beds on t
of beds on the
iia^jci-L, a:.. .Till arrangement which
of a group of small beds on the trass.
GARDEN PLANS
Fig. 95- — Size, SI feet by 50 feet.
Aspect, nearly W. A fore-court larger
than the average, treated with no regard
to symmetry.
■
Fig. 96. — Size, 73 feet by 15 feet. Aspect, S. A not uncommon type of
front garden, arranged so as to obtain variety in detail, and a screening effect
for the sake of privacy.
258
GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. 97. — Size, 59 feet by 32 feet. Aspect, S. A front garden of ample
width, admitting of treatment for picturesque effect. With a good screen of
trees or shrubs along the front boundary this garden would not be unduly
overlooked. It should be noted that the side yard is masked by trees and
the summer house by transverse borders. A sundial might be placed in thi
central expansion of the path.
GARDEN PLANS 259
The following four examples of existing gar-
dens, planned by the author, will give the
reader some idea of how to treat spaces of
larger area than those already illustrated.
Fig. 98. — A plot of about one acre. The house had been built before
the garden was designed, and made to face due south. Thus it was necessary
to work in contradiction to one of the rules laid do\TO in this book . Fortunately,
the circumstances permitted of obtaining a good result. The diagonally run-
ning broad walk constitutes quite a valuable feature. The separation of the
kitchen garden into three separate plots was by the owner's wish, and for the
purpose of making the lawn on the north side, whence a pleasant oudooK over
an adjoining golf course was too-valudble to be sacriaceci or marred by a fore-
ground of vegetables. The formal group of beds in tne south-west comer is a
rose garden.
26o GARDEN PLANNING
The planning has followed the general
principles already expounded, though with a
certain latitude permitted by the circumstances,
and with concessions to the expressed wishes of
the owners, in some of the details.
Fig. 99. — This was a plot of irregular shape, through which ran an old
hedgerow with several standing elm trees, three or four of which were pre-
served. The line of this hedgerow followed the sloping path between the steps
to the east of it. Note the vista through the kitchen garden, with its back-
ground of fruit trees.
GARDEN PLANS
261
Fi«, 100. —In this example certain details of the garden were determined
before tEe design was made, notably the enclosed space south of the house,
which is cut off from the fore-court by the tradesmen's passage.
262
GARDEN PLANNING
Fig. loi. A town site, in which the owner wished to make a feature of the
alpine garden, to which considerable space has been given. On the other
hand, the space devoted to vegetables was to be small and out of sight. The
basement areas precluded borders along the house walls. It being a comer
site, it was necessary to screen the garden from passers-by along the east
boundary. This was done by a substantial trellis in the position indicated on
the plan.
CHAPTER XIX
Planting
The practical aspect of planting is for the
working gardener. It consists of placing the
plants in the soil in such a way that they at
once find conditions suitable for growth, both
as regards nourishment and external environ-
ment. This implies a knowledge of the re-
quirements of each kind of plant. It is not
sufficient to dig a hole and thrust in the roots.
The hole should be of the right depth and of
ample size to accommodate the roots when
spread out over its bottom, and the soil thrown
in should be carefully compacted around the
roots by pressure. These details, however,
do not enter into the question of garden design.
Nevertheless the garden maker has a very
real concern in the planting operations, because
it is in the placing of the plants that his garden
picture may achieve its highest development,
or be utterly marred.
263
264 GARDEN PLANNING
Flowers — In planting a bed or border it is
necessary to consider the flowers in respect to —
1. Colour.
2. Habit.
3. Period of bloom.
4. Succession.
I. The most striking characteristic of the
flower undoubtedly is colour, and the success
of any piece of planting will depend to a large
extent upon the skill and good taste with
which the colours are managed. In the days
when the old-fashioned flowers were deposed
to make room for that unfortunate quartet,
scarlet geranium, scarlet sage, canna, and coleus,
the canons of good taste were lost sight of in
the new-born enthusiasm for vivid contrast
in primary colours. The vogue for these
flowers has now somewhat declined, but the
trail of it still lingers in many gardens, and
gardeners continue to plant as if the acme
of good effect depended upon the accom-
plishment of a series of garish contrasts in the
most brilliant gamut of colour at com-
mand. It is a question whether we should
ever attempt to associate vividly contrasting
colours, for if the mass of each colour is not
PLANTING 265
large, they will cancel each other at anything
but short range.
The finest colour effects are to be sought
rather in harmonies, which offer a much wider
opportunity for broad, rich, and conspicuously
telling display, both for close inspection and
for distant effect.
The construction of harmonious colour
schemes is not so much a matter of rule as of
feeling, and a sense for colour is by no means
universal. On the contrary, it is a somewhat
rare gift, and it is not surprising, therefore,
that a goodly proportion of gardeners make
mistakes. Fortunately, however, most people
who are not colour blind can recognize a good
colour effect when they see it, though they may
be powerless to originate one.
The treatment of a bed or border must to
some extent be governed by circumstances,
and by the number of different colours avail-
able. It is not desirable that every square
foot of soil should cry aloud at the top of its
voice. Here we may make a subtle harmony
of subdued tints, the beauty of which will
appeal only to the near spectator: there we
may strive for a more insistent note of
266 GARDEN PLANNING
colour, with a view to producing a vivid note
in the general picture.
It is with the warm tints that one can con-
trive the greatest wealth of colour effect.
Rose, crimson, scarlet, orange, and yellow
associate harmoniously and reinforce each
other. Lilac, lavender, mauve, purple, and
violet form another group equally suitable
for a rich concordance, or to contrast in the
mass with yellow. Whites are generally best
associated with the paler colours, such as
pinks, mauve, or primrose yellow. The pure
blues which we get In the gentian and delphi-
nium are best kept away from the mauve and
purple blooms. They are always difficult to
deal with in a harmonized scheme, and perhaps
had best be reserved for the few vivid contrasts
with which we may punctuate here and there
our colour picture. The rich scarlet which we
have in the lychnis and Oriental poppy will
furnish the other element of such a contrast.
A combination of gentian blue with a pale
green foliage plant, like the common pyreth-
rum, is a somewhat daring but generally pleas-
ing contrast. The reddish mauves also com-
bine well with this coloured foliage.
PLANTING r 267
It is hardly possible to enumerate all the
combinations of colour, even when only two
elements are used. Those who have an eye
for a good colour effect will experiment for
themselves, and continually find new and
charming harmonies and contrasts. For those
who cannot trust their colour sense I have
compiled a short list of examples which may
be relied upon to yield good results if used
in a suitable environment.
Coloi
Hardy Flower Examples
White and Mauve .^_^
White and Yellow
White and Pink
White and Pale Blue
Scarlet and Blue
Scarlet and Crimson
Deep Blue and Pale Blue
Crimson and Rose
Mauve and Yellow
Crimson and Yellow
Purple and Yellow---.
White herbaceous phlox
Mauve violas
Iceland poppies of both colours
White violas
Herbaceous phlox
Iberis sempervirens
Campanula Carpatica
Lychnis Chalcedonica
Delphinium
Geum
Pyre thrum
Delphiniums of both shades
Sweet-william
Herbaceous phlox
Galega officinalis
Anthemis tinctoria
Aster
Solidago
Snapdragons of both colours
Crocus
Daffodil
268 GARDEN PLANNING
Gray foliage should be associated with vivid
colours such as crimson, scarlet, and pure blue;
brown or purple foliage with yellow and orange.
Magenta crimsons and bluish pinks should
not be placed in juxtaposition to pure crimsons
or scarlets.
Rose-pink and rosy mauve harmonize with
silvery gray, and we may have this combina-
tion in one plant as in Stachys lanata. As
might be expected, nature rarely makes a
mistake, so that a plant's own foliage is gener-
ally in harmony with its flowers, or furnishes
a good background contrast for them.
How little the subject of colour is under-
stood, even by those who ofi"er guidance in
the matter, is shown by the wide differences
of view that writers have adopted. One
authority, whose opinions one would imagine
were the outcome of some defect of vision,
says, "Nor have I any preference for one
colour over another; but I have very decided
notions that the various colours should be so
completely commingled that one would be
puzzled to determine what tint predominates
in the entire arrangement." This surely is most
precise advice on how not to achieve a good
PLANTING 269
colour scheme, and well describes the common
but Ineffective method of arranging a mixed
bed or border, in which everything kills every-
thing else.
It should be an axiom in garden practice
to contrast or harmonize colour In masses.
An instructive experiment tried some years
since, for determining the best method of
painting gun-carriages so as to render them
inconspicuous at a distance, consisted in using
red, blue, and yellow paint In spots, a kind of
stippling of the surface with the primary colours
In equal proportions. The result entirely real-
ized its originator's Intentions. The coloured
spots were mutually destructive, and the
resultant tint a neutral gray. This is quite
In accordance with theory, and I mention It
here because It demonstrates how entirely
mistaken is the writer whose dictum I have
just quoted.
Were I planting a bed with flowers of two
contrasting colours I should adopt the simple
plan of using a broad edging of one colour with
a central mass of the other. A bed of white
/^ pinks, edged with mauve violas, or of purple blue
Cantefbufy bells, edged with yellow violas, or
GARDEN PLANNING
/ \
Fig. 102. — AT'
rangemeht of her-
baceous border
with the yellowish-green foliage of
the pyrethrum,would entirely satis-
fy my sense of a good colour effect.
When it comes to planting a long
herbaceous border, the same prin-
ciples apply. Indiscriminate mix-
ture of colours, as already seen, is
the least effective mode of plant-
ing, and formal parallel rows are
almost equally ineffective. The
best way is to use large masses of
each colour, and with them to
construct a consecutive harmony,
which we may regard as a kind of
floral spectrum in which colour
succeeds colour, each harmoniously
related to its neighbour on either
side. These colour masses should
not be in simple compartments di-
vided by transverse lines, but of
irregular shape, as shown in the
illustration.
The sequence of colours may be
varied within limits, always pro-
'. vided the rules of harmony be ob-
served. Here are two typical series:
PLANTING 271
(i) Purple, mauve, white, pale yellow, bright
yellow, orange, scarlet, crimson, rose, pink,
white, pale blue, full blue.
(2) Deep red, scarlet, orange, yellow, pale
yellow, white, pale blue, deep blue.
The same order may be repeated, adopting
different proportions for the masses if the
border is a long one, or the scheme may be
varied by changing the sequence of colours.
In some cases a more limited scheme may be
advisable, in which one or more colours are
suppressed, white being an element which may
be omitted without detriment to a good result.
White is so telling at any time that it should
always be used with restraint. Yellow also
is a colour that may be overdone.
The foliage of the plants which we use in
these colour arrangements may or may not
affect the results, either by reinforcing the
colour values, or by toning them down. Gen-
erally speaking, however, it takes a subordi-
nate place, and may well be neglected. Chev-
reuil, the famous Director of the Gobelins Dye
Works, who wrote "The Laws of Contrast of
Colour," says: "An objection might be ad-
dressed to me that the green of the leaves
272 GARDEN PLANNING
which serves as a ground to the flowers destroys
the efl"ect of their contrast, but it is not so;
and to be convinced of it, it is sufficient to fix
upon a screen of green silk two kinds of flowers
(of contrasting colour) and to look at them
from a distance of about ten paces; for when
the eye is fixed upon two well-defined objects
simultaneously, surrounding objects produce
but feeble impressions."
I believe that in the garden picture we hardly
appreciate the colour effect of the foliage of
our plants, not only because of the retiring
character of most greens, but because they
merge into the other larger masses of green
— the grass, trees, and shrubs — and thus
become part of the general background.
There are, however, the gray and yellow
greens which, by reason of their contrast with
the others, are not negligible, and on that
account they may become useful as colour
factors in certain schemes.
The student of colour in the garden may con-
sult Chevreuil with advantage. He has an-
alyzed colour sensation in a masterly way,
devoting a special section of his book to horti-
culture, and though his conclusions were
PLANTING 273
formulated half a century ago, they still hold
good in their scientific and artistic applications.
2. The habit of the plant is the next point
to be considered, and it is by no means an unim-
portant one. By habit I mean not only shape,
size, and general appearance, but also those
special characters which distinguish one plant
from another. It may consist in mode of
branching, texture of foliage, form of flower
head, colour of foliage, denseness or sparseness
of blossom, or time of flowering in relation to
leaf production (some plants, it is well known,
put forth their flowers before their leaves, as
the daphne, forsythia, etc.). It is only when
we know these details that we are in a position
to use the plant to best advantage. I have
already pointed out how important it is that
our garden plants should be allowed freedom
of growth to develop their individual characters.
Character in the plant is one of its greatest
charms to those who regard it not merely as
a means for producing blossom. In referring
to "freedom of growth" I do not wish it to be
understood that I condemn those necessary
pruning operations which make for the welfare
of the plant. I refer solely to the growing of
274 GARDEN PLANNING
plants in a way to develop their special habit,
instead of pinching and cutting them into
some conventional form foreign to their nature.
To make the point clear I may instance a
herbaceous border in which the best general
effect is produced when there is no rigid sys-
tem of grading the plants in height. Though
the rule should be to put the taller and more
robust plants to the back, it is essential to the
best results from a picturesque point of view
that this rule should be broken occasionally,
by here and there reversing it. One or more
bold clumps of flower brought to the front at
irregular intervals gives a character to the
border that would be unobtainable in any
other way.
The gardener who prides himself on a tidy
garden may resent the intrusion of a massy
clump upon his path or grass edge, and will
keep It within bounds by Ill-judged mutila-
tion, till the poor intruder becomes a maimed
wreck. It Is by this kind of gardening that
plants are shorn of their beauty, and the
border Is made a stiff and formal detail.
The next point Is to see that each plant has
sufficient elbow-room to develop without
PLANTING 275
hindrance from its neighbours. This does not
imply a starved bed or border, only that,
armed with the knowledge of the habit of each
plant, the gardener allots it just sufficient
room to grow centrifugally without check from
its companions. Thus the taller plants may
be separated by others of more moderate
growth, and the former will have space above
to expand their foliage unhindered.
Again, with a knowledge of plant habit we
may associate bushy plants with those which
tend to legginess — to use a term well known
to the gardening fraternity — and thereby
conceal the uninteresting view of a sheaf of
bare stalks. Plants which throw up long
narrow spikes of flower may keep company
with others having a tufted habit, to their
mutual advantage in the general effect. Those
with silvery, glaucous, or bronze foliage may
be placed where they will reinforce others
whose flowers are best set off by contrast with
these special kinds of foliage. Shrubs and
plants which flower in advance of their leaves
may be supported by evergreen or early-
leafing plants. Again, we may use the bold-
foliaged plant for association with those
276 GARDEN PLANNING
of Sparse and inconspicuous habit. The final
result of care in these particulars will be a
natural, informal effect, in which every individ-
ual plant appears to be, and is, at home in
its surroundings, and in consequence is bfest
conditioned for producing its maximum contri-
bution to the aggregate picture. If, as I have
instanced, some vigorous plant pushes forward
beyond the boundary, or some pretty trailer
ignores the edging, it is a gain to the gardener
and no fault of the planting. He should suffer
such accidents, in reason. He may even con-
spire to bring them about, for the special
purpose of importing informality into the
garden.
In the back row, variety of height is desirable,
even when all are tall, for the plants will sil-
houette against the background, and an even
row, like soldiers on parade, would be monot-
onous.
In beds and groups of beds the same princi-
ples apply, but not quite in the same degree.
We may group the tall plants in the centre
and reserve the margin for others of smaller
and more uniform size. Though we may plan
on geometrical lines, we should, like the painter,
PLANTING ,277
endeavour to soften them. Our plants will
do that for us if only we allow them.
3. It is only by making ourselves acquainted
with the flowering period of our plants that
we can be sure that those we bring together
for the purpose of constructing a contrast or
colour harmony will be in bloom at the same
time. Not only should they start approxi-
mately simultaneously, but their periods of
bloom should, as far as possible, coincide in
length, because the effect will be measured in
duration by the period of the flower which
lasts the shortest time. By judicious selection
it is possible to contrive that there shall be few
failures from this source.
4. Succession is the very keynote of good
gardening, for we cannot afford to shorten
the period during which flowers are possible,
nor can we tolerate empty spaces in our borders.
By consulting a seedsman's list the garden
maker may select his plants and so dispose
them that, as the spring-blooming kinds fail,
others will succeed for the summer months
to be followed in their turn by the autumn-
blooming kinds. This system of succession,
well arranged, will give us flowers from Febru-
278 GARDEN PLANNING
ary to mid-November, thus covering the maxi-
mum period during which we are likely to be
able to enjoy our gardens. It demands some
nicety of method, particularly when the bor-
ders are laid out for a broad colour effect, im-
plying that each separate colour group must
contain plants of which some will always be in
flower. In other words, the distribution of
early, middle, and late-flowering plants must
be over the whole space and in intimate asso-
ciation.
My references have been confined to hardy
plants, because they alone come within the
purview of the garden designer. The effects
to be obtained from annuals and bedding-out
plants belong to the routine of garden manage-
ment, but the same principles apply as regards
colour, habit, period, and succession.
CHAPTER XX
Further Considerations in
Garden Making
The impress of art should be as much in
evidence in the minor details of the garden as
in the more important and more obvious ones.
Carelessness in small matters may go a long
way to undo the results of thought and skill
devoted to the main features.
In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured
to formulate simple rules for the guidance of
the garden designer. I have not only stated
the "how" but also the "why," believing
that thereby my' advice will carry more weight
and be the better understood and remembered.
Although the construction of a garden plan
on paper is a necessary preliminary to the
practical operations on the site, it will only
carry the garden maker a certain way toward
the desired result. Much of the detail will
have to be filled in on the ground. It is in the
-79
286 GARDEN PLANNING
finishing touches that he may add distinction
to the picture, and he should, therefore, study
his work as it proceeds, looking for opportunities
for minor embellishments and effects in detail.
I do not mean that he should seek for an over-
elaborated result, but he should be alive to
possibilities, and should neglect none of the
various openings which may present themselves
for artistic work in a small way.
I have already dealt with colour in the plant-
ing of beds and borders, but there are other
places in which the garden maker may intro-
duce charming effects. One of the most gor-
geous pieces of colour work I have ever seen
was the result of planting Virginia creeper at
the foot of a clump of small firs in the fore-
court of a country residence. In a short time
it had clambered up amongst the dark foliage,
and had festooned it with graceful sprays. In
summer the foliage told as light green against
dark, but the effect in autumn, when every leaf
was vivid carmine, was indescribably beautiful.
I remember also a similar effect in a Scottish
garden, in which a flame nasturtium {Tropcsolum
speciosum) had taken possession of a large
straggling elder tree, and wreathed it about
GARDEN MAKING 281
with masses of scarlet. The result in that
case was a happy accident, but none the less
worthy of being noted and subsequently re-
peated with deliberate intent. This nasturtium
cannot be found in America, but the trumpet
vine offers a near substitute.
Reds always come so well against a mass of
dark foliage that we can never make a mistake
in contriving effects like those just described.
There are colour effects of contrast and colour
effects of harmony, and we may employ either
or both according to circumstances.
An irregular belt of the beautiful palmate-
leaved Japanese maples on the near side of a
mass of shrubs makes a glorious expanse of
quiet but sufficiently conspicuous colour, if
the component plants be selected for variety
of tint and texture.
The favourite box elder {Acer negundo), and
its gold-leaved variety, if often repeated, pro-
duce a cheap and commonplace effect, but a
single specimen, well placed, strikes a charming
note of colour. A like effect Is obtainable with
the common golden elder, which should be
cut to the ground every year to preserve its
bushy habit.
282 GARDEN PLANNING
The flowering trees afford us abundant op-
portunity for constructing colour masses in
the vertical plane, but their colour must be
seen against a solid background of green foliage
to yield its best effects. This applies particu-
larly to trees with loose, open foliage like the
thorn, almond, and laburnum. Subjects like
the horse chestnut are sufficiently dense in
foliage to constitute their own background.
I have already referred to the planting of
bulbs in grass. Some surpassingly beautiful
effects may be contrived in the less formal
parts of the garden by the judicious use of
bulbs in this way. The daffodil, crocus, scllla,
and snowflake are suitable for the purpose.
They should be arranged in large groups of
one colour, not commingled as is so often done.
In a half-shady corner, particularly where
there are banks, the polyanthus or lily-of-the-
valley, may be naturalized, and will prove a
delightful feature in spring.
Though subtropical gardening is a costly
and troublesome hobby, a semi-tropical effect
may be secured on a small scale by selecting
suitable plants. Given a position not too
closely related with formal surroundings. It
GARDEN MAKING 283
is worth while to attempt such an effect, using
only hardy plants. Success will depend upon
the skill with which the materials are em-
ployed. I should prefer a sheltered position,
and I should plant such trees as staghorn
sumach, Ailanthus, Aralia spiiiosa, and Salts-
buria adiantifolia. There should be a col-
lection of hardy bamboos, yuccas, reeds
(particularly Arundo conspicua and A. donax),
pampas grass, and bold-foliaged plants like
acanthus, polygonum, rhubarb, and rod-
gersia. I would introduce kniphofia for its
colour value. Of smaller plants I should
select those which afford a suggestion of exotic
form — funkia, Bocconia cordata, crown im-
perial, Solomon's seal, coltsfoot, verbascum,
ferns, and many others which I need not
enumerate.
The beauty of a pseudo-tropical garden
made on these lines would consist in the variety
and special character of the foliage, and
everything being hardy, it would not involve
a tithe of the trouble and expense of a sub-
tropical garden.
The graceful habit and beauty of flower of our
hardy climbers make them valuable material
284 GARDEN PLANNING
for the gardener. For the pergola, walls and
fences, arches, and for special effects amongst
trees and shrubs, they are indispensable. As
subjects for the house walls they have their
best opportunity for full development, because
of the height and extent of the wall surfaces.
With so many charming examples of climber-
covered houses around us it is remarkable
that the gardener so often overlooks the possi-
bilities of creating a beautiful picture on the
house walls. The oft-repeated fallacy that
growth of this kind causes damp walls has
already been refuted. It doubtless accounts
for the studied neglect of this part of the garden
picture. In my opinion nothing helps to bring
the house into harmony with its garden sur-
roundings so effectually as the treatment of
its walls with creepers, particularly those which
tend toward a full and informal habit, clus-
tering in rounded masses as they ascend and
benignly concealing the angles and straight
lines of the brickwork. There should be
creepers to flower at all seasons and for every
aspect. Of purely foliage ones I should not be
lavish, particularly of such subjects as Boston
ivy {Ampelopsis tricuspidata) ^ which hugs the
GARDEN MAKING 285
walls in a thin sheet of uniform surface. But
of the climbing roses, clematis, jasmines, honey-
suckle, and wistaria we cannot be too prodigal.
I have already referred to the necessity for
not overdoing the whites in the garden. White
tells more strongly than any colour, and scat-
tered whites have a tendency to degrade the
colours with which they are associated. But
white may be used in a way to produce an
admirable effect if it be the right kind of white.
It is essential that it be used in the mass, and I
know of no more beautiful feature for a garden
than a dense group of Lilium candidum, its
pure white petals softened and modified by
the yellow anthers and their reflections.
There are certain plants and shrubs which
have a special claim to be treated as
"specimens," affording us a means of adding
interest to a lawn. One of the best of these is
the yucca, which is hardy and evergreen, and
throws up a fine, bold spike of creamy flowers.
It should be placed where it will be sheltered
from cold winds, and preferably in association
with other shrubs.
The pampas grass is another equally valuable
plant, too familiar to need description. It is
286 GARDEN PLANNING
best placed in an isolated position where it will
have space to throw out its graceful, arching
foliage, and if possible it should have a foliage
background for the creamy plumes it produces
so freely.
Terrace walls, whether the brick or masonry
kinds so dear to the architect, or the rough
rubble walls which with advantage may take
their place, should never be allowed to be bare.
The former may be clothed with creepers, the
latter with alpines. Shady corners, and spaces
unsuitable for flower-growing, may be planted
with ferns, which thrive best in shade if they
have protection from cold winds.
An interesting feature in an English garden
was called an "Orchid Dell" by the owner. It
was a hollow on a chalky hillside, which had
been excavated at some earlier period, and,
before taken in hand, had supported a straggling
growth of hazel. Soil had gravitated to the
bottom, and had become overgrown with fine
grass. Native ferns were planted freely about
the hazel stems. A rough spiral path was
carried from the floor to the brink of the dell,
threading its way through the thicket. In the
grass, native orchids were planted, and the con-
GARDEN MAKING 287
ditions proved favourable to their welfare. The
common bluebell, wild anemone, and primrose
of the woods were added, being confined mainly
to the steep banks. The effect in spring was
beautiful, the flowers losing nothing by being
in partial shade. The dell was entered through
a natural arch of traveller's joy — the wild
clematis. I mention this as an instance of
what may be done to beautify what by many
would be regarded as a piece of waste ground
suitable only as a dumping place for garden
rubbish. An almost exact counterpart is
possible on most of the garden spots of
America.
In spite of our best efforts to make the garden
beautiful at every point. It will happen at times,
unfortunately, that ugly objects intrude into
the picture. A stable building, pottlng-shed,
garage, or other structure, necessary but un-
beautiful, offends the eye, and it should be
the gardener's care to conceal it. Much may
be done by planting trees and shrubs, but they
take time to grow to sufficient size, and whilst
the natural screen is In progress of development
It Is well to erect a temporary one of trellis,
training some quick-growing climbers upon it.
288 GARDEN PLANNING
In certain cases there may be insufficient room
for the natural screen, and then the trellis
should be a permanent structure, built sub-
stantially of stout materials.
I might enumerate a vast number of sugges-
tions and expedients for creating beauty in the
garden details, but I could not hope to exhaust
the subject within the limits of this chapter.
Each garden provides its own particular set
of problems, and the main point for the garden
maker is to be alive to opportunities for in-
teresting work and to avail himself of them to
the utmost. Though I have emphasized the
importance of studying the general effect,
and of treatment adapted for securing a broad,
well-composed, and interesting picture, I re-
gard it as equally important that the details
should be as carefully studied. A garden is
seen in two ways — as a pleasant place afford-
ing a sense of space, repose, and variety of
form and colour, and as something to examine
in detail for its interest of flower and plant.
In time the outlines of the garden become so
familiar to the owner that they only feebly im-
press him, but not so the beds, borders, and
other parts of the garden devoted to flower
GARDEN MAKING 289
display. The latter are ever changing with
the seasons and growth of the plants, and thus
are places of perennial interest. This, I think,
Is sufficient reason for attention to the smaller
garden problems, and I regard such problems,
so far as they Involve constructive work — in
which I Include planting — as coming within
the province of the garden designer. Whether
his efforts are directed to the removal or con-
cealment of some eyesore, or to the creation
of some pleasing effect in colour, or to provid-
ing a means of growing some specially interest-
ing kind of plant, the result will be of value to
the garden as "finish," that quality which
will stamp his work with the character of
thoroughness.
A reserve plot Is a useful adjunct to any
garden. It may be placed wherever a con^
venlent spot is available, but most often it is
associated with a kitchen garden, which is
perhaps the best practice. It is just a place
for raising and pricking out seedlings, but if
space permits It may be made to serve the
further purpose of growing flowers for cutting.
Most garden owners are only too delighted to
offer plants to their friends, and the reserve
290 GARDEN PLANNING
garden is the place from which they may
distribute surplus stuff without making gaps
in the beds. It also conduces to economy,
for nearly all the hardy perennials may be
easily raised from seed in the reserve garden,
and it is a source of much interest so to
raise them.
CHAPTER XXI
The Evolution of an Ideal Lot
While it may be quite true that there is but
one ideal plan for any given place it is also
equally true that the development of that
particular plan may be by gradual growth — a
fact that is often overlooked. Given a proper
general plan to start with the details may be
elaborated step by step, always adding, never
tearing down, and so giving progressive oc-
cupation for the gardener for several years
ahead. This has been splendidly illustrated
in an article in the Garden Magazine with the
accompanying progressive plans, by Mr. C.
Stanton, all of which are here reproduced.
Taking the typical suburban division, it is
pointed out that the land surrounding the
dwelHng is divided into three parts — the service
portion, the "front lawn," and the living area.
The service portion including the drives, walks,
291
292 GARDEN PLANNING
the garage, the clothes-yard, etc. (all those parts
which are necessary to the proper functioning of
the estate, but which we do not expect will add
much to its beauty), should be determined first
of all, as these things are fundamental to the
comfort of the occupants and affect the every-day
activities. This area is to be kept as compact as
possible to save space, and so that it may be
readily shut from view of the living area. In
the accompanying plan, it has been placed on
the shady side of the house, in order that it may
be hidden from the rest of the estate, and so that
people in the garden and on the piazza will not
be bothered by the noises of the kitchen, etc.,
and by delivery wagons coming to the house.
This arrangement allows about as much land
on the southern side of the house, the "sunny"
side that we wish to develop, as it is possible to
have.
The front lawn area is that portion of the
property that your fellow townspeople see as
they walk by on the street. This has been
made only large enough to provide a setting for
the house, and to bring it far enough away from
the street with its dust and noise. While this
part is comparatively simple to develop, there
THE EVOLUTION OF AN IDEAL LOT 293
are enough ways of doing it to allow for plenty
of originality in the design.
It is in the planning of our own private
living area, however, that there are unlimited
opportunities to show individual skill. First
we must try to secure a certain amount of
privacy, without shutting out any fine views
that we may be fortunate enough to have. The
plan shows the places where the screens are to
come that will hide most of the undesirable
views. It is, of course, impossible to shut an
objectionable piece of landscape from sight of
all points of the property, so we strive to hide
it from the points that will be the most used.
These would be the piazzas, any terraces, the
places where we intend to put seats, etc. On
the specimen plan (page 295) the spots that
command the fine views in the distance have
been marked so that we will not by any chance
block them out. The privacy can be secured
by the use of hedges, trees, shrubs, walls, fences,
etc., and we can take our choice. Whatever
is used must be kept in harmony with the house.
The great trouble with walls and hedges is that
when they are tall enough to hide the inside
from prying eyes, they are liable to be so tall
294 GARDEN PLANNING
that they will obstruct our good views. For
the average place nothing can equal the
"mixed border" of trees, shrubs, and perennials
as a screen, when it is properly designed; as it
allows such a great latitude in the choice of
material.
Methods of carrying out the rough outline
are shown (Figs. 103 to 105). In (Fig. 104) tall
trees supply the shade and act as screens; and
a shrub border is for privacy. The good views
have all been saved, and several of them
" framed. " Two trees shade the house, and three
(preferably elms) the front lawn and the side-
walk. The shrub border used in this plan has
its outhne composed of long, sweeping curves,
which allow it to be wider in some places than in
others, and give a chance to frame "surprises"
in some of the bays into which one cannot see
until directly opposite them. One should be
careful in planning a border of this sort not to
make it so large that it cramps the rest of the
garden. On small lots it is better to have the
outhne of the bed a straight line, and depend on
the variety of material used to give the best
effects.
The house is made to harmonize with its sur-
Fig. 103
Stage I — ^The General Beginning
Two progressive elaborations are shown on the following pages
295
Fig. 104
Stage II — Simple massing of screen planting and beginning of
garden features. (The view lines are kept open)
296
Fig. 105
Stag£ III. — A garden of features developed upon the lines of
the plan shown on page 299
297
298 GARDEN PLANNING
roundings by plantings near its base. These are
usually grouped at the corners for the best
effects, and may be placed so that they directly
touch the house or there may be room left be-
tween for a path, or for the air to circulate. Do
not plan too many small beds for the foundation
planting, but rather let one or two larger ones
do the work. This is one of the many cases
where it is better to err on the side of under-
doing rather than overdoing. A Japan bar-
berry hedge is used to keep animals and people
from walking on the front lawn.
In this plan the flower garden consists of a
small informal border of perennials, enclosed
on three sides by shrubs. It has been placed
so that it will get the sunshine during the greater
part of the day; and as it is fairly near the house,
one can enjoy its beauty from there or from the
small raised terrace opposite. This terrace, by
the way, would be a good place to make a
"surprise" of a bed of hardy ferns, as they could
be banked in around the seat there, and should
grow well in the shade. In locating the garden,
note this point: it should not be placed where
its bright colors will distract the eye from any
charming bit of scenery beyond, but rather
THE EVOLUTION OF AN IDEAL LOT 299
placed where it will attract the eye to itself in-
stead of letting it wander to some unsightly
object beyond the boundary and which you are
powerless to hide.
Another method (Fig. 105) of carrying out the
general idea has the service portion and the front
wall lawn area much the same, except that a low
wall replaces the barberry hedge along the street
front; the shade trees are arranged a little dif-
ferently; and the large corner bed of the founda-
tion planting has been placed away from the
house to allow for a walk between, and to bring
it far enough out into the lawn to make it serve
as a screen for the Hving area. One would not
want the grocer's boy to get into the habit of
using the turnstile in the corner, but it would be
very handy to anybody hurrying out in that
direction.
A feature is made of the hemlock hedge, and
a grove of the same material. A stepping-stone
walk between the hedge and a bed of flowering
shrubs gives a chance for various surprises
(fancy ferns, wild flowers, possibly a seat, or a
bird-bath), and leads one out to the terrace in
the rear where there is a good seat. Here one
may either admire the view in the rear, or the
300 GARDEN PLANNING
sunken garden straight ahead. The garden
is enclosed on two sides by a wall, on the third
by a hedge, and on the fourth by the retaining
wall of the terrace. By such means is variety
obtained in our garden enclosures. Looking
from the house, the good view in the rear is en-
hanced by the groups of cedars, and by the two
deciduous trees on the terrace.
Some cardinal principles involved are thus
itemized:
1. Keep the drive as short as possible, except
where doing so will bring it too much into
prominence in the scenery.
2. For the small place plan a straight drive;
but where the length is more than one hundred
feet it is usually better to make it curved. These
curves should not be abrupt, but very gradual
and easy. When making curves, it is the rule
to have some apparent reason for them, such
as a group of trees or shrubs, or a knoll.
3. Keep the lawns open! Especially avoid
planting one shrub, or making a flower bed, or a
"half-barrel" in the centre of the lawn.
4. Any flower bed is better if it is enclosed.
For this purpose we may choose either a wall, a
well-designed fence, a hedge, shrubs, or com-
THE EVOLUTION OF AN IDEAL LOT 3OI
binations of these. The small informal border
of flowers may be enclosed on three sides if it is
set into one of the bays of the shrub border.
5. Usually the vegetable garden would be
placed in the service portion of the place, but il
it is well kept and can be subdued to its propel
relation, there is no reason why it cannot open
off the living area. It is a real delight to many
gardeners to have a chance to look over a well-
kept vegetable garden. Fruit trees, especially
apple and pear, may be used in the living area,
serving the dual purpose of supplying fruit and
shade; but, if they be so used, take care that the
fruit is kept picked up fpom the lawn.
6. Do not so plant that a small place is en-
tirely surrounded or it will be hot and stuffy in sum-
mer, and will appear much smaller than it need.
7. Remember that the more "surprises" one
can develop on an estate the larger it will seem.
8. In designing the foundation planting, do
not plan to hide the entire base of the house,
as gUmpses of the stone work are necessary to
give the impression of strength and stability
that are not attainable when the house seems
to sit upon a mass of waving greenery; and do
not rely on young forest trees that grow big.
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