Six Outstanding Points 



luct of a new social order. It is impossible to lay 

 down neat rules for the planning and planting of a 

 limited garden space, but there are six outstanding 

 points which need to be borne steadily in mind. In 

 planning it is important (i) to ensure that every part 

 of the garden shall bear a definite relation to the house 

 which it serves ; (2) that the design shall be essentially 

 simple i.e., that the space shall not be frittered away 

 by multiplied features ; and (3) that the lines of these 

 parts shall be so laid down that the whole shall achieve 

 a definite shapeliness. The three points in planting 

 are subordinate to the fact that the owner of a little 

 garden can rarely devote either much money or con- 

 siderable labour to its tending. He, nevertheless, 

 should seek to secure (i) a sufficient rotation of flowers 

 to ensure gaiety in the garden during spring and sum- 

 mer and early autumn ; (2) as rich a pleasure in colour 

 and scent as may be contrived with small expenditure ; 

 and (3) some practical return for his labour in vege- 

 tables and fruit. The very ease with which a garden 

 may be altered for the better may prove a snare. What 

 is easy to do is often left undone. The owner of a 

 little plot, knowing well that his first mistakes can be 

 blotted out in a year or two, rarely considers at the 

 outset that the allied problems of planning and plant- 

 ing must be considered as a whole. Blunders thus 

 made are apt never to get corrected. Many of them 

 would be avoided if it were generally appreciated that 

 the whole garden scheme should be considered from 

 the first in its relation to the house. However small 

 the available space may be, it must be provided with 

 certain elements grass plots, flower-beds, paths, and 



