WINTER MEETING. 445 



Make an abrupt bank sloping downwards from the street, and plant it densely 

 with luxuriant vegetation. Such planting will hide the boldness of the bank 

 from the street, affording only attractive glimpses of the ornamentation below 

 and beyond, while from the direction of the house it changes a bold, bare 

 slope into a bank of trees and shrubs. The bank may be so effectually hid- 

 den as to appear like an ordinary shrubbery or shelter belt. High trees 

 should be i^lanted along the crest next the highway, and occasional openings 

 should be left to afford glimpses of the street and views beyond. The sur- 

 face immediately in front of the residence should present the character of 

 ordinary good lawns. 



W'al/cs and Drives. — Walks and drives always disfigure lawns. They are a 

 necessary evil. Hence it is important that they should be few in number, 

 and should be so placed that, while convenient, they will obtrude upon the 

 attention as little as possible. Drives should follow close upon the bound- 

 aries, so that the body of the lawn may not be broken. It is commonly 

 necessary, however, that the walk should bisect the front grounds. In very 

 small city yards the walk should be straight or nearly so. Except in rare 

 "cases a walk should not be at all curved if the residence is as near as thirty 

 feet to the street. In all cases the curves of walks and drives should be 

 simple and direct. Sudden turns or wriggles not only add inconvenience to 

 the walk or drive, but detract from the beauty of the grounds by inviting 

 attention to themselves. Avoid crooks of all sorts. Crooked walks and 

 drives, piles of stones, rows of beer- bottles and shells about flower beds, 

 marble figures, and curious rocks along the entrance all belong to the same 

 class of ornamentation, or rather of dis-ornamentation. The borders of the 

 walks should be low and regular, an inch being high enough in most cases. 



The speaker exhibited charts of proper and improper walks and drives,^ 

 drawn from actual examples. The most faulty example was a representation 

 of the court-house grounds at Charlotte. 



Pla7iting. — Planting for city lots falls under two heads, flower planting 

 and shrubbery planting. For any planting, the first rule to learn is to keep 

 the front of the place open. Do not hide the house. Do not botch up the 

 front yard with a medley of flowers, bushes and rustic seats. Designs of all 

 sorts should be kept to one side. As a rule flower beds should be kept on the 

 sides or borders. In deep grounds a few specimens of single shrubs or 

 comely flowers may be introduced in front. Plant so as to hide the rear 

 portion of the house, both from the street and from the residences of your 

 neighbors. Hide the rear drive. In cities shrubs of medium height may be 

 used for this purpose, and irregular flower borders may be planted in front 

 of them. 



Avoid planting very high-growing trees in small places, as maples and 

 elms, unless they are set along the street. Even in that case exercise great 

 care that the trees be not set too thick. Thick planting of large growing 

 trees is a common and serious fault. If large trees exist in the yard, trim 

 them very high. If you do not like the looks of the bare trunks, cover them 

 with Virginia creeper. Never plant in city lots such large evergreens as Nor- 

 way Spruce, the pines and the like. Use the smaller arbor-vitaes, the retin- 

 osporas, some of the junipers, etc. Use sparingly of evergreens of any sort. 

 Be lavish with free-flowering, bright shrubs. Use honeysuckles, clematises, 

 weigela, mock orange, spireas, roses, and the like. 



L. B. Pierce said it might be a question whether we owed anything to 



