12 



THE "ILLINOIS WAY" OF BEAUTIFYING THE FARM 



33. Before Planting against the Foundations 



See how bare a new house always looks! It is because the foundation is not hidden. 

 There is nothing to soften the hardness of brick and stone nothing to connect architecture 

 and Nature. A farmhouse cannot look at home without foundation planting. 



soft maples, and those "vegetable exclamation marks" the 

 Lombardy poplars. But this is like gingerbread ornamenta- 

 tion and flashy paint on a house all for show, and without 

 any appropriateness to the country. The better way is to keep 

 the center of the lawn open. (See Fig. 52.) Moreover, the 

 open lawn costs less to maintain, since you can mow it by 

 horse-power, or, at any rate, without forever dodging around 

 trees and bushes. The most artistic things are those which 

 cost the least to maintain in the long run. 



The worst bargain you can make is to get a "cheap" lawn, 

 for it means yearly worry and expense. It is a popular fal- 

 lacy that the cheapest way to cover ground is to sow it with 

 grass. Shrubs will cover the same area at less cost in the 

 long run, since they are cheaper to maintain. The only true 

 economy in lawn-making is to spare no expense in plowing, 

 preparing, and feeding the soil once for all at the start, instead 

 of spending a lot of money every year of your life for fertilizers 

 and weed-killers. The making of a lawn is usually the most. 



34. After Planting against the Foundations 



Ten dollars will usually supply all the permanent plants needed for this purpose, and $10 

 spent on foundation planting will go farther than $50 scattered over the lawn. (Mr. 

 Moeller, Dccatur.) 



expensive item of ornamental planting, but if it is well done 

 it gives the deepest satisfaction of all, for nothing else does so 

 much to make a farmhouse look happy. The lawn is the can- 

 vas on which the home picture is painted. "Lawns and How 

 to Grow Them," by Barren, is a book that may save you 

 its cost many times on fertilizers, labor, and seeds. You can 

 get a free bulletin on lawns by writing to the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for Farmers' 

 Bulletin 195. 



BORDERS ARE BETTER THAN BEDS 



The best way to decorate your lawn is to have irregular 

 borders of trees and shrubbery at the sides, not flower-beds in 

 the middle. A flower-bed will give you the smallest return 

 from your effort because it is a mud-bank half the year; because 

 the expense must be renewed every season; because it makes the 

 lawn look smaller; and because you have to attend to it during 



35. The Most Popular Shrub for Foundation Planting 



Van Houtte's spirea, famous for its arching stems, lined with flat clusters of white 

 flowers in May. Height about 5 feet. This is the best of the spireas, and should not be con- 

 fused with the bridal wreath, which is a double variety of S. prunifolia. Have one group of 

 Van Houtte's spirea, but do not surround your house with it, as many do. Moreover, the 

 spireas get seedy after blooming, and have no winter value. It is better to have year-round 

 beauty and interest. (H. J. Sconce, Sidell, III.) 



36. The Best Shrub for Foundation Planting 



The Japanese barberry (Berberis Thunbergii) is perfect for a country that cannot have 

 rhododendrons. Its arching stems are beautiful even when leafless. The foliage turns 

 scarlet in autumn and the red berries are attractive all winter. Nearly all other shrubs are 

 bare at the base, but the Japanese barberry hides the ground completely. It grows slowly 

 and usually attains j feet, but may finally reach 5 or 6 feet. Everybody plants these two 

 bushes. If you want something different, there are fifty shrubs native to Illinois. 



