15 



has itself made some mistakes, and has also found some pleasant surprises in the 

 gardens of amateurs. 



As a garden in the side yard may function as a barrier between the front and the 

 rear yards, so also may any long gardenlike feature serve between the rear lawn 

 and the area devoted to service. If a gardenlike feature is used, it should be one 

 that requires little or no more width than a border planting, lest the area of the 

 lawn should thereby be unfortunately reduced. A long straight walk between 

 shrubs and trees, or beneath them after they have grown taller, is interesting. A 

 collection of such shrubs as lilacs may well be used to border such a walk, and, in 

 other cases, tall-growing shrubs may be trained to form a covered arch, thus 

 affording a shaded approach to the more distant parts of the yard and at the same 

 time being in itself an interesting feature. Grass walks with flower borders on 

 one side are attractive, but the care of so many flowers is a factor to be considered, 

 and especially if there is, in addition, another place for flowers in the garden. 

 If the yard is unusually deep, the garden may be located far in the rear with 

 a long, shaded walk leading thither. 



A garden placed so far from the house should be directly connected with the 

 house by some conventional passageway, or perhaps by a less formal walk, 

 according to the style of the garden, such as a straight walk. A distant garden 

 need not be so formal as a garden immediately ad joining the living room. In fact, 

 in so remote a situation one is freer to experiment with plants and with effects 

 to be obtained by plants, and may even try different designs. If the setting is 

 suitable for a garden of native plants or for plants growing in or about water, even 

 naturalistic effects may be attempted; and, while time and effort may be required 

 to produce a naturalistic setting, in a sufficiently large space it may prove both 

 appropriate and pleasing. Sometimes ugly buildings on adjoining lots necessitate 

 heavy planting along the boundaries, and within these it is occasionally possible 

 to develop woodland effects or naturalistic gardens. When thus they serve a . 

 double purpose, one is less inclined to begrudge the space occupied by heavy bor- 

 ders. It is highly desirable to make the most of small yards, and if any feature can 

 be made to perform more than one service the interest obtainable within the same 

 space may be increased. All this is but a part of careful and clever planning. 

 Walks, partly hidden and partly in the open, that lead one about the confines of a 

 yard add considerably to the interest of a pleasure ground. They afford a certain 

 intricacy and variety which contribute considerably to the apparent size of an 

 area. A winding path, which leads deviously from the house to outlying garden 

 spots, summer houses, or arbors, displaying the yard from different points of 

 view, may succeed in transforming a small yard into one apparently as large as that 

 of an ample suburban home, and may also afford equal privacy and retirement. 



To appear at its best, a lawn should produce the effect of amplitude. Further- 

 more an expression of informality is usually more consistent and pleasing. The lawn 

 area of many yards, even after the most economical planning, will be found none too 

 large, and further care will be necessary in order to obtain the greatest amplitude 

 and the best general effect. Curvilinear outlines for borders should have a logical 

 reason for their existence. The entire lawn should have a pleasing form, and its 

 outlines should bear some relation to the adjoining features and subdivisions of the 

 yard. The border curves should not be petty in scale, nor should the recesses along 

 the boundary be so small as to be unfortunately narrowed or entirely closed when 

 the growing plants reach maturity. Usually it is best to allow the borders greater 



