BEAUTIFICATION OF WASTE PLACES 



S. M. MEEHAN, 



EDITOR FLORAL LIFE, GERMANTOWN, PHILADELPHIA. 



IT is my intention to at once dispel any 

 impression you may have that I am 

 going into the mysteries of landscape 

 gardening, to name a lot of rules you should 

 follow, and give other specific advice, or that 

 I intend naming lists of desirable plants, de- 

 scribing their merits. Such things are de- 

 tails that should be worked out to fit the 

 individual needs. But rather I wish to re- 

 veal some common opportunities by which 

 we may brighten our lives through the me- 

 dium of Dame Nature and as students of 

 ornamental plant life. 



There is no question but that all country 

 and suburban places have their waste places, 

 waste because they have either had all the 

 beauty crowded out of them or have been 

 utterly neglected. 



LOVELY SURROUNDINGS. 



A dwelling place should be made a home 

 in every sense of the word. The grounds 

 immediately surrounding the house and be- 

 yond should be made attractive and lovely 

 to those who live right on the spot. But 

 then we must think of others too. We want 

 to please, our visitors, friends and neighbors, 

 and in fact every one that passes by. It is 

 rightly a matter for personal pride that our 

 surroundings be made to speak our appre- 

 ciation for the beauties of nature. There- 

 fore shall we be careful to view whatever 

 plans we may make from the two points. 



Have you ever stopped to consider how 

 badly proportioned our average country 

 places are, having in mind those where farm- 

 ing, fruit growing or similar rural work is 

 carried on? Fortunate indeed is the 50 or 

 100 acre place that has half an acre of home 



grounds about the house. Even there the 

 chickens and other animals are frequently 

 allowed to hold possession to the destruction 

 of any pretty gardening plans. 



In comparison with the owner of city pro- 

 perty, what a much better opportunity has 

 the countryman and fruit grower with an 

 abundance of low-priced land to have a 

 beautiful garden home with a little expense 

 and accompanied by greater personal inter- 

 est. 



LAWN AND FLOWER GARDEN. 



But few country homes exist where from 

 one to five acres could not be set aside for 

 lawn and flower gardens. " It would not 

 pay," I hear some one say. Perhaps the 

 balance in dollars and cents would be a little 

 less, but is the pleasure and comfort to count 

 for nothing? If the financial results are to 

 be considered above everything else, and the 

 loss of that much ground is serious, then the 

 owner must be working the remainder of his 

 property on very close margin, and his 

 methods need investigating. 



A good expanse of lawn may be consid- 

 ered one of the chief aims, because when that 

 is set apart it offers many opportunities for 

 development in detail and striking effects. 

 Above all, set out with the determination it 

 is to be a good lawn of good grass. To be 

 half-hearted in home-making is to create 

 waste places, and those we have no use for. 



Decide to have, if possible, a flower gar- 

 den, not simply flower beds and borders 

 around the grounds, but something of an en- 

 closure into which one may pass and feel 

 that he is in a different atmosphere — where 

 flowers are on every side inviting admira- 



