THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



England with the modern suburb. The old street with its fences 

 is more beautiful. Moreover, the fenced-in yards have a certain 

 hospitable fascination that bare, obvious lawns cannot rival. They 

 seem to tell us that within lives an old-fashioned American family 

 in comfort and dignity. 



The best place for the garden proper and outdoor living quarters 

 of the home is usually behind the house which separates it from 

 the street. Hedges, walls or trellises shut it off from the neigh- 

 bors and from the service quarters such as laundry yard and gar- 

 age of the same grounds. 



If the area is very small, perhaps the owner cannot avoid throw- 

 ing together the little lawn and laundry yard. In that case the 

 first care must be put on extreme neatness and "good housekeep- 

 ing" out of doors together with every encouragement for luxuri- 

 ant growth of the few flowers, vines and shrubs that can be given 

 place in the effort to screen out what is ugly, and give privacy 

 and sightliness. 



Where there is a little, but not much more room, it will probably 

 be wise to combine lawn and flower garden. Usually in that case 

 there will be an open grass plot surrounded by beds of flowers 

 and shrubs. When there is room, the lawn and garden will be 

 separated from each other. The lawn will be kept green and in 

 part shady. The garden will be sunny and gay in comparison. 



A porch and the living rooms of the house should look onto lawn 

 and garden. Too often they are located on a noisy, dirty street 

 while the best exposure on the quiet garden is used for kitchen 

 and pantries. This is not common sense. There is no reason 

 why the kitchen cannot be put on the street side as the more 

 clever house-builders and architects are beginning to realize. 



Moreover, when building it is obvious that the nearer the house 

 is set at one side or one end of the lot, the more room there will be 

 on the other side for private lawns and gardens. It is almost in- 

 variably a mistake to put the house in the middle of the lot well 

 back from the street. On the service side, only enough room 

 should be left for the practical uses of service drive and yard. 

 Anything more is wasteful, not economical, use of the land. 



There can be no rule about the character of the design when it 

 comes to decoration. Many men like many things. One good 



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