48 COMMON SENSE GARDENS 



There is no more reason for digging a pit in the 

 ground in which to plant flowers than there is for 

 building a platform several feet high on which to 

 lay out a garden. Simplicity is above all things 

 important on a small place, simplicity both in 

 planning and planting; few furnishings but good 

 ones; not many plants but the very best varieties 

 and colours of those you use. Give play to the 

 same instincts and tastes that you would employ 

 in furnishing and decorating an important room 

 of your house. 



The habit of tacking on Italian gardens to 

 houses of nondescript style, or to those of Colonial, 

 Gothic or English-cottage design is one that is 

 apt to put the neighbourhood for a considerable 

 radius out of tune. The idea is not artistic. One 

 comes upon colonies of houses, often handsome, 

 elaborate houses built on an acre or two of land, 

 which are overburdened with gardens supposed to 

 be Italian in style, gardens that are cluttered 

 up with all sorts of continental refuse placed gen- 

 erally without meaning; antique garden furnish- 

 ings and bad reproductions purchased abroad for 

 large sums to give "colour" and "atmosphere" 



