44 THE NOETH DAKOTA FARMSTEAD 



SCREENING THE BACKYARD 



Hide the back or service yard by planting a hedge of tall grow- 

 ing shrubs around it. The kitchen and probably the wash room and 

 milk room should open on this yard. A few shade trees in the vicinity 

 of the wash room will be greatly appreciated by the men while waiting 

 for meals during the summer. A small open grove to one side and 

 to the rear of the house, where a gcod view of the road may be had 



Figure 41 Shrubbery cluster in hollow of road showing use of flowers. 



and convenient to the garden will serve as a shady place for cleaning 

 vegetables, for open air gatherings and as a place for children 

 to play. An untrimmed or natural hedge should be planted between 

 the back yard and the barn yard so as to make the two distinct. 

 However, it is undesirable to have too many trees between the house 

 and barn as they obstruct the view. Do not have many trees close 

 enough to the house to shade it and make it dark and damp. 



ARRANGEMENT AND SELECTION OF ORNAMENTAL PLANTS. 



Avoid monotony in the planting of the farmstead. Use dif- 

 ferent kinds of trees growing to different heights and shapes and 

 having various colored flowers and leaves. Use shrubs very freely. They 

 afford greater variations in kind and season of blossoming, in 

 character of their leaves and height and character of growth. 



In front and among the shrubs can be scattered a number of hardy 

 perennial flowering plants. These are flowering plants whose tops 



