170 COMMON SENSE GARDENS 



beautiful wild trees such as Oaks, and cry out dis- 

 cordantly in semi-formal arrangements. At the 

 present time one finds them around jerry-built 

 houses of hideous architecture and gaudy colour- 

 ing. And in such surroundings they are more at 

 home. 



The old, rather loosely jointed stone walls that 

 are common in New York and New England are 

 very picturesque, and if your place is enclosed by 

 one you should retain it by all means. A stone 

 mason will set it to rights in a short time, level it 

 up, fill in the holes, straighten the large stones and 

 rehabilitate it generally, at a small expense. 

 Good capstones should be laid to keep the other 

 stones in place, and Honeysuckles, Roses or Vir- 

 ginia Creeper planted to run over them. You 

 will find that the effect cannot be improved. 



If you decide to have a wall build a dry one, 

 that is, one that is laid up without mortar. Do 

 not let the mason construct it in too smooth a 

 manner, but try to get the effect of an old wall. 

 The Italian stone masons are very expert at this 

 work (and nearly every Italian is a stone mason) 

 and if there are any old walls on your place, or 



