OBJECT LESSONS IN CITY PARKS. 



the public can rely with safety upon the 

 experience of the park systems of our 

 larger cities in the making of macadam 

 roadways. In localities in Michigan 

 where field stone is found, there is rea- 

 son to hope that in the near future, 

 means will be provided by which per- 

 manent and lasting macadam roadways 

 will be built. 



The main drives around the park 

 must be of this permanent nature. No 

 matter what the landscape is, the public 

 demands it and no violence is done to 

 landscape effects, if the drive skirts wild 

 and romantic scenes. In such places 

 no improvement outside of the roadway 

 should be made, thus giving opportu- 

 nities to all to come in direct contact 

 with nature. Turf roads or mere trails 

 may lead off the main driveway to more 

 thorough contact with the wildness or 

 to reach a desirable picturesque spot. 



In laying out the drives and walks 

 caution must be exercised in making 

 the curves. Do not let it appear that a 

 curve is made because the curve itself 

 is desired. If the ground is open, let 

 the curve be a long sweep following the 

 lay of land to make easy ascent or 

 descent to the hills, but through the 

 woods the curves may be shorter ; even 

 abrupt. The bend should be sufficient 

 to hide the road ahead of the curve. 

 It is human nature to wish to see be- 

 yond the next turn and by proper land- 

 scaping one can be led on and on, each 

 turn opening up new pictures, adding 

 zest for more ; but let the traveller see 

 the drive beyond the bend, the road 

 looks too far and he gives up and re- 

 turns. 



I have in mind a walk that follows 

 along the bank of a stream, as it runs 

 through an open lawn. The walk is 

 constantly changing its course and it is 

 possible to see every curve in its sixty 

 rods of length and its termination from 



the starting point. In fact, it fairly 

 seems a wriggle as the eye follows it 

 along. I never saw anyone walking on 

 this path, but were it more or less hid- 

 den by shrubbery, I think it would be 

 extensively used, as the scenery is 

 beautiful ; but, as it is now, it all can be 

 seen at a glance, so a closer inspection 

 is not invited. 



Paths should be arranged sufficiently 

 direct so that cutting across the lawn is 

 unnecessary, and the surface should be 

 such that there is no tendency to walk 

 on the lawn A plantation of shrubs is 

 more effective than the sign *' No path 

 here," and a thorough sweeping up of 

 the loose stones on the walk is better 

 than the sign on the adjacent lawn 

 " Keep off the Grass." 



l^st spring the Detroit Park Board 

 tried an experiment of removing the 

 " Keep off the Grass " signs from every 

 lawn on the park system. No serious 

 damage followed and the benefit was in- 

 estimable. When you consider that 

 there are twenty-two small parks scat- 

 tered throughout the heart of the city 

 and are the lungs of thousands of peo- 

 ple, it can be realized that the experi- 

 ment was a momentous one. 



The plantations of flowers and shrubs 

 that go to make up the beauty of a 

 park should have a character. They 

 should be so arranged that their effect 

 is combined in one grand whole. 

 There may be planted in one locaHty 

 plants that blossom at the same time, 

 and when they are at their best their 

 beauty will attract the sight-seer to that 

 place. A fortnight later it will be 

 another collection and so on throughout 

 the season. It may be a pansy bed, a 

 collection of peonies, a mass of spiraea 

 Van Houtti and viburnums, lilacs, 

 roses, phlox, petunias, hybiscus, hydran- 

 geas, golden rods, rudbeckias and sun- 

 flowers, and ending up the season with 



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