CHAPTER V 



THE ARRANGEMENT OF COTTAGE GROUNDS 

 IN COUNTRY OR VILLAGE 



The word cottage carries with it many associations, appealing, attractive, 

 and homelike. Some persons will recall European rather than American ex- 

 amples, and even those who have not travelled abroad have been familiar, most 

 likely, since the days of their childhood, with the illustrations in Kate Green- 

 away's books and with other similar pictures of English cottages and cottage 

 gardens. The simplicity and homely beauty of the cottage homes, which are so 

 common in England, are generally known; and, in fact, among the village homes 

 of all the countries of Europe, there are many examples which are equally attract- 

 ive. Our own country is not without its quaint villages and charming cottage 

 homes; and occasionally a cottage surrounded by its old garden is yet to be found. 

 These old villages of our own continent, along the eastern coast, are all that re- 

 main today of our colonial village life. Many of these old-time buildings are 

 still standing, and .the yards of some retain their original old fences; but the gar- 

 dens are gone. There are records in plenty to show that the colonists invariably 

 brought with them from their home land, seeds and the roots of their garden 

 favorites. Their native English tradition was that of a house in a garden setting. 

 But neglect makes short work of a garden, and only such enduring things as 

 boxwood remained. Until recently, old boxwood hedges and trees were by no 

 means uncommon in the yards of old villages in New England, New Jersey, 

 Delaware, and Maryland, and they flourish still in Virginia and in the South. 

 Now-a-days there is a tremendous demand for them for the gardens of the weal thy. 

 In pre-Revolutionary days, without doubt, cottage gardens were the custom- 

 ary settings for every cottage home, just as the dignified avenues of approach, 

 the ample courtyards, and the gardens were an invariable part of every colonial 

 manor. 



Of course it was inevitable that this phase of our colonial life, its home, should 

 have to pass, along with the life itself. The century following the Revolution 

 was a period of constant change and rapid growth. Established trade with 

 Europe was disrupted, and consequently many lines of industry depending upon 

 it were affected, ports were closed, and whole villages were abandoned. But on 

 the other hand, new and greater opportunities were opened: the children and the 

 grandchildren of the early colonists turned pioneer, and moved westward, to pass 

 through a similar period of struggle with virgin country and with crude con- 

 ditions. The colonial life of America was from one hundred to one hundred and 

 fifty years old at the time of the Revolution, and in that time it was not a new 

 country, but merely a colonial life that had matured. It is, perhaps, little to be 

 wondered that in a similarly brief period of time, and one, moreover, interrupted 

 by a war most disasterous to the country's progress, that more has not been 

 accomplished in America to ward, settled living conditions and toward a general 

 desire for beauty and refinement in home surroundings. 



It is unfortunate that an appreciation of the beauty of simple and homely 



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