CHAPTER I 

 INTRODUCTION 



SOME philosophers interpret all human action as a result of desire 

 to realize personal happiness. Considerable of that personal hap- 

 piness centers around the great and beautiful wish that most of us 

 cherish, to have a home or to have a better home. Is it any wonder, 

 then, that so much effort in thought and time is expended in making this 

 wish an accomplished fact? 



Naturally our first thought is for the building in which we live. It 

 is always the house first, for that means comfort and shelter. The 

 usual course is to begin by satisfying these demands. This is unfortu- 

 nate, because it often leads to a complete neglect of consideration for the 

 exterior. There is frequently no thought given to the setting of the 

 home and to the fact that there should be outdoor rooms as carefully 

 planned and furnished as those indoors. It is forgotten that as much 

 pleasure can be had from planning and developing the grounds as from 

 planning and furnishing the rooms within the house. 



But where there is cause for sorrow there is also cause for joy, for 

 more and more is this condition being righted. More and more is the 

 realization of the importance for the proper consideration of the grounds 

 being felt; and an increased number of people are getting out into their 

 grounds and spending leisure hours in that delightful contact with 

 nature, familiarizing themselves with the joyous art of gardening. 



Every properly planned place adds that much more to the cause. 

 Improvements are observed, interest is aroused, and a more extensive 

 and general desire is created. That which was considered non-essen- 

 tial is becoming to be looked on as an essential. 



The home owner who has previously thought but little of the 

 landscape development of his grounds now turns with an inquiring eye 

 to see what his neighbor has done and looks over his own place to 

 see what he can do. Is it any wonder that in this evolutionary state 

 there has been considerable experimental work done and mistakes made 

 from misguided effort? 



But this only proves that the universal wish is for the better type of 

 home which means better houses and better grounds. That your home 

 may be of this better type, and that the ideas which you may receive 



