MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 35 
dred dollars, holly and juniper trees alone costing probably 
in the neighborhood of seventy dollars. 
There are very few practical requirements that would in- 
terfere with the making of similar gardens in the back yards 
of St. Louis. The ash-pit could be easily hidden by shrub- 
ak or vines in most cases, and there would be space in all 
of the gardens for the drying of clothes, especially if the cir- 
cular, removable type of clothes-pole were used. Hedges on 
the property line are possible almost everywhere, though an 
attractive fence covered with woody vines would be equally 
effective. Admitting the practicability and durability of the 
cement walk, it is believed that the more attractive walk of 
stepping-stones, flagging, or brick would in most cases suf- 
fice and probably be less expensive. 
For the best results first settle on the best design you 
can think of. Even though the beauty of living plants 
may make a garden of poor design attractive at times, it is 
quite evident that only by a combination of healthy, vigor- 
ous plants, excellent maintenance, and good design, will the 
greatest success be attained. Avoid freakish and unusual 
plant forms; there is usually far more beauty in the plants 
of normal growth. Weeping mulberries, umbrella catalpas, 
and similar types are hardly adapted to the small lot, and 
are usually in place only in the formal garden of large scale 
when used much the same as the standard roses shown in 
the plan of the rose garden. 
Though it is true that most plants should have sunny 
exposures, it has been proven in this city by actual experi- 
ence that most of the aries shrubs will thrive if planted on 
the north side, even at the base of the house. Strictly speak- 
ing, there is scarcely a part of the grounds of our typical 
house-lot that will not get the sun for a part of the day, at 
least, during the summer. 
Many home-owners are afraid to attempt goat bak gar- 
dens because of the poor condition of the soil — the brick- 
bats, stone, plaster, and tar paper inherited from the house 
contractor — but this obstacle is easily overcome. Replacing 
the soil with good loam would be best, but by no means abso- 
lutely necessary, and if the stones, bricks, etc., are removed 
from the bed in the fall, and manure, lime, and fertilizer 
spaded in, the soil will be in fair condition by spring. The 
constant spading, manuring, and proper fertilizing thereafter 
will gradually build up a good for garden purposes. 
The whole question of the home and its grounds is one 
of the important problems of city planning, not yet as press- 
ing as some others, but one which requires considerable 
