ORNAMENTAL TREE PLANTING. 435 



by high walls and fences topped with broken glass and sharpened 

 spikes or by the impenetrable hedges, people of late have gone to 

 the other extreme and thrown everything open to view, and con- 

 demn all fences as evident tokens of selfishness and caste. While 

 this is better than the old way, still it goes too far when it de- 

 prives the owner entirely of the privacy he is entitled to, for but 

 few of us care to live altogether under the public eye. A happy 

 medium can be reached, I think, by throwing open the front 

 portion of the grounds, if in a city or village where trespassers, 

 either quadrupeds or bipeds, are ruled out, and even co-operating 

 with neighbors in the harmonious planting and improvement of 

 the adjacent lawns. The rear portions of the properties, how- 

 ever, should be screened off from observers, by trelHses, hedges, 

 or irregular shrub borders, to serve as an outside room to the 

 house proper, for it is a most pleasant discovery of these latter 

 days that it is good for all, old and young, male and female, to live 

 and pursue their daily tasks as far as possible in the open air. 

 Here also may be located the formal garden, if there be one, for 

 it loses its most attractive feature if it does not afford full pri- 

 vacy to the visitor. 



Here also the owner may experiment or ride his horticul- 

 tural or other hobby, if he is so fortunate as to possess one, to 

 his heart's content, without fear of ridicule or unfriendly criti- 

 cisms. 



Fashions change in gardening as in other pursuits, and, luck- 

 ily, most changes of late have been for the better. A generation 

 ago beds of brilliant geraniums decked the lawns ; then we had 

 the ribbon beds of colors, etc. Castor beans, cannas and caladi- 

 ums still persist, but the present tendency is to the greater use of 

 hardy perennials, of which we have so many and- such fine vari- 

 eties, giving beautiful effects when well arranged, and also per- 

 manent beds, avoiding the expense of annual renewals. I will 

 admit a liking for the sturdy geraniums, so persistent in the face 

 of unfavorable conditions, but perhaps this is the result of early 

 associations; also for the cannas, caladiums and castor beans, if 

 properly placed, but this is not in the middle of a lawn area, 

 which should be kept unbroken. These plantings pertain rather 

 to the vicinity of the buildings or other plantings, and often these 

 larger plants, especially of the perennials, may be used with strik- 

 ing effect along the borders of the shrubberies or even among 

 them. A clump of golden glow, larkspur, tiger or other tall lilies 



