the several areas of the yard. Thus the lot will also necessarily be parallel to the 

 axis of the living room. Therefore, from this room and possibly also from other 

 rooms, a point in the far borders which is on the same axis as those rooms will 

 be"plainly visible from both within and just outside the house. Similarly, outlooks 

 from porches or terraces toward the side boundary and .along a line parallel with 

 the rear face of the house may also be accentuated. 



After the position for the most important terminus has been determined, 

 great care should be exercised in fixing upon others. In order to determine the 

 elements necessary for a single good view, or to plan the development of several 

 points of particular interest in the scenery of a yard, one must first understand 

 something about views, and recognize wherein the merits of views consist. Occa- 

 sionally one finds a view which particularly appeals to him. It may be a 

 scene in the country, or an artificial one arranged on the grounds of some resi- 

 dence. If one tries to reproduce a prearranged effect in his own yard, he may find 

 helpful, though perhaps abstract, suggestions in an analysis of good examples, 

 or even of pictures, of landscapes. 



When an artist sees a view which he wishes to reproduce, he is impressed 

 primarily by some particular object or by some definite aspect of it. He takes 

 little or no note of all the accompanying details, even though these may be 

 sufficiently apparent to be evident at some distance. And, if one stops to think 

 of it, this is precisely the way in which everyone sees a view. We never see all 

 its component parts, but only the plainly visible things and the objects which 

 happen to appeal to us. If an artist attempted to reproduce all the details, he would 

 find it impossible to do so. Therefore, he expresses in detail only what seems 

 important to him, and only suggests, in an indefinite way, what to him appears 

 of secondary interest. In this way, the principal object of interest is thrown into 

 prominence. The objects of lesser interest are so presented and arranged as to 

 balance the interest that focuses on the center of the picture. Of all the space 

 included within the frame of a picture, those things of which one really takes 

 note occupy but a comparatively small proportion. The indefinite surrounding part 

 of a picture not only furnishes an harmonious setting for the subject, but serves 

 as an insulating band, or zone, between the picture as a whole and the wall and 

 other nearby objects. 



In pictures, the interest is centered in the foreground, in the middle ground, 

 or in the distance; and if the chief point of interest is in the distance, the fore- 

 ground and the middle-ground details are not emphasized. In a yard there is 

 usually opportunity to use a porch, a summerhouse, or a garden seat as a nearby 

 object of interest. In this case, one is, in reality, dealing with a foreground 

 picture. A decorative effect in a far corner of a lawn becomes the terminus of 

 a view, and the appropriate neutral foreground to such a view is the lawn. 



Wherever the interest is to be centered, all that is in front of it, behind it, or 

 on either side of it should be inconspicuous. If one plans to develop a diagonal 

 line of view from the house toward a far corner of the lawn, there should be nothing 

 striking or distracting in the borders or within one's field of vision on either side. 

 In order to make good views, a generous amount of indefinite foliage must be 

 provided about the centers of interest, wherever these may be located. Therefore 

 particularly interesting single plants or groups of plants should be placed far 



