SUBURBAN GARDENING 



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be outlined in box or anything else one chooses; but the design 

 should be symmetrical. Here the formality stops, and within 

 the beds the planting may be what one pleases tall hollyhocks 

 and larkspurs, if the suburbanite stays in his house all sum- 

 mer; but if it is used in winter, then the beds are best out- 

 lined in box, with tree-box or slender, pyramidal evergreens 

 to accent important points in the little garden. They will 

 not interfere with the summer display, and will give an air 

 of comfort and well-being in winter. If the owner has suffi- 

 cient moral courage, he will put up one of the beautiful old 

 fences that are in keeping with his house. 



Sometimes it happens that the house stands above the 

 street-level. Now, a house of a staid and dignified type does 

 not care to perch, as a bungalow might; it should have a broad 

 and ample site whereon it may sit comfortably. Therefore, 

 instead of having a gradual slope, it is better to make a ter- 

 race of sufficient depth to be becoming to the house, guarded 

 by a balustrade which, like the fence, will be in keeping with 

 the architecture of the house. Such a terrace lends itself very 

 readily to decorative gardening, and clipped evergreens or 

 pots of bay-trees on each side of the short flight of steps will 

 give the house a finished appearance. 



At the opposite end of the architectural scale is the cot- 

 tage, which, in an ill-fitting environment, is capable of quite 

 as much suffering as a Colonial house, although the cause of 

 its misery is different. Now, a cottage is by nature of a fem- 

 inine disposition: it craves accessories; it should be vine- 

 embowered and rose-wreathed; in verse it nestles rather shyly 

 amid its garlanding greenery. When an architect designs one, 

 he fondly depicts it framed by tall and protecting trees, its 

 porches and porticos embraced by abundant vines, and shrubs 

 nestling at its feet: all of which are to the cottage as appro- 



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