E^ai'Cti, 1916. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Planning the Home Lot 



F. E. Buck, B.S.A., Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



69 



AT some time or another • every 

 person tliinks of the possibility 

 of owning a home. Many peo- 

 ple, inoreover, actually plan and build 

 their own liouses. A real home con- 

 sists of ths house and its surroundings. 

 It soon becomes evident tha'; if it is 

 without external attractions it loses 

 much of that charm v/hich makes so 

 many homes of the older countries so 

 dear to memory. '!'he modern house is 

 often a great improvement on older 

 types, both from the standpoint oi 

 architecture and convenience, but it 

 frequently lacks in charm and simple 

 artistic beauty because its surroundings 

 are poor. 



To miss making a house and lot into 

 a "home" is to miss a chance to in- 

 crease the cash value of the property. 

 The pleasures obtainable only from a 

 delightful home are also missed. Homes 

 attractive, pleasing, convenient, profit- 

 able and "homelike" are twentieth 

 century homes. 



When to Start. 



Real home making may be com- 

 menced at any period of the year. The 

 winter, for instance, affords a fine op- 

 portunity to make simple plans and 

 outline a jjolicy for the coming season. 

 A simple plan on paper, drawn to scale, 

 is not essential, but it will help. It 

 holds one to the practicable and saves 

 subsequent disappointment and mis- 

 takes. 



Minimum Requirements. 



The minimum lequirements of sim- 

 ple yet attractive homes are, in most 

 cases, three or four in number, for in- 

 stance : 



1. In most cases, a good lawn. 



2. Some simple shrubs and flowers. 



3. Two or three trees. 



4. An aiea for vegetables. 



Many other features might be sug- 

 gested, but everything will depend on 

 the situation, location and size of the 

 lot. The accompanying plan is one 

 suggested for a home where the own- 

 er's time Ls limited. Its planting ar- 

 rangement will involve the very mini- 

 mum amount of labor and expense in 

 its upkeep. 



How to Proceed. 



The first consideration in most cases 

 is a good lawn. Around every house a 

 good lawn is like a good carpet in a 

 room. It should be well made and well 

 kept. It should not be cut into by 

 walks more than possible, and flowers 

 are more e.isily tended and will pro- 

 duce far better effects when placed in 

 borders at its boundaries rather than 

 in prominent beds in central places 

 where they rob the lawn of much 

 of its charm. A lawn broken up 



by .flower beds generally looks smaller 

 than it actually is. In exceptional 

 cases a flower bed on the lawn is help- 

 ful and artistically pleasing. Informa- 

 tion on making and caring for the 

 lawn may be obtained on application 

 from the Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa. 



The second consideration is that of 

 the permanent features on the lawn, 

 such as shrubs and trees. Flowering 

 shrubs cannot be too highly recom- 

 mended. They are useful around all 

 types of houses and public buildings. 

 Their beauty is unquestioned, and they 

 are the true furnishings of the ' ' out-of- 

 doors living room." They are most 

 useful and effectively placed when 

 planted In groups of three or four, 

 close to the house, as shown on the 

 plan. In such positions they help to 

 make the house and grounds a har- 

 monious whole. Other good positions 

 for shrubs are by boundary fences and 

 in the coi'ners of the lot. As single 

 specimens such shrubs as the hydran- 

 gea, the smoke tree and others of 

 similar habits always look well planted 

 in some permanent but suitable posi- 

 tion in the foreground of the lawn 

 area. 



Flowers. 



The two large classes of flowers 

 known in gardening terms as annuals 

 and herbaceous perennials will give 

 bloom, when selected with this end in 

 view, for six months of the year. For 



flower borders down the side of the 

 house, or at the boundaries of the lot 

 close to a hedge or fence, the peren- 

 nial flowers will be found more satis- 

 factory. The heights and habits of 

 such plants must be known in order 

 to arrange them successfully, and in- 

 formation on this point may be obtain- 

 ed from the Cential Farm at Ottawa. 



The "annuals," however, contain so 

 many of the very best flowers that 

 some of these flowers should be grown 

 also. Every garden should have in it 

 some of the old favorites like sweet 

 peas, china asters, mignonette, nastur- 

 tiums, and others. Often a part of the 

 lot at the rear of the house may be 

 given up for such flowers. They are 

 splendid for cutting for table decora- 

 tions. A small vegetable garden, when 

 there is room for it, will add much to 

 the interesting features of the lot. 

 Shade and Ornamental Trees. 



A lot which is large enough to accom- 

 modate a good shade tree or two is 

 most desirable. Generally, however, it 

 is wiser not to attempt to plant large 

 shade trees on the average size city lot. 

 The smaller size ornamental trees like 

 the Mountain Ash, Flowering Crab Ap- 

 ples, Siberian Pea Tree, or some suit- 

 able evergreen tree are more suitable, 

 and will generally provide enough 

 shade. Shade trees as street trees are 

 most desirable, bat the roots of such 

 trees, where planted on the lot itself, 

 rob other plants of too much food and 



An fiffoctlvp bed of llBht blue Iri.s In Uie garden of Mr. L^-nch Staunton. Hamilttm, Ont 



