194 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



Taste and Tact in Arranging Home 

 and Other Grounds,* 



ninth paper. 



Adams Co., Neb. 

 EMUrr Popcxab Gardening: 



Dear Sib:— T send you sketch of my new 

 grounds, consisting of over eight acres, lying just 

 inside the city limits. In the spring of 1888 I 

 planted on this ground 10.000 trees, and a few the 

 following year, fully ninety five per cent of which 

 have grown. Before that it was only cultivated 

 prairie land with not a sign of a tree on it. I 

 now have over 200 Apple, 100 Pear, 100 Plum and 

 about 12.^) Cherry trees growing, besides other 

 fruits, and all varieties of forest trees and shrubs 

 that will grow here. 



In the front yard I have no trees as yet— nor in 

 the part designated "small f ruits"(left hand plan). 

 My idea was to grow the 

 trees from seedlings and 

 transplant from my own 

 lot for beautifying the 

 yard, and I have these now 

 from three to twelve feet 

 high for that purpose. At 

 the southeast (lower left) 

 corner, which faces the 

 city, the street will be cut 

 down about four feet, 

 tapering out about grade 

 to the west and north, so 

 that my building spot will 

 admit of nice terracing; 

 the fall from southeast to 

 southwest corner is about 

 five feet. I am undecided 

 whether it will look best to 

 have one four-foot or 

 three-foot six inch terrace 

 next to sidewalk, or two, 

 one say about two feet 

 next to walk, and another 

 about one foot six inches, 

 say about forty feet from 

 sidewalk, introducing 

 steps, and with the name 

 " Forest Park " in circle 

 in front corner. I make 

 this sketch and send to you 

 for suggestions. The part 

 to the rear of house is 

 planted, but nothing but 

 what could be changed, 

 the location of the house 

 cannot be changed. 



0. C. R. 



Rarely has the writer 

 found as much pleasure 

 in helping a subscriber 

 to make the most of his 

 home grounds, as in the 

 present case. This is 

 because our correspondent is so alive to 

 the possibilities of a garden, and has 

 shown so much zeal and good judgment 

 in the beginning he has made to date. Pre- 

 vious to three years ago " ' only cultivated 

 prairie land" bare of trees— to-day stocked 

 with fully 10,000 hardy growths, including 

 500 fruit trees, and not unfittingly called 

 "Forest Park." And we gather that our 

 correspondent has gone about the planting 

 of his place with the true horticulturist 

 spirit. That is, he has raised much of the 

 stock either from seed or by obtaining and 

 setting out seedlings or very young trees 

 from some nursery. Then what commenda- 

 ble ambition in gathering upon his eight 

 acres '"all varieties of forest trees and 

 shrubs" that will grow in his locality. It 

 is an example of home making deserving of 

 the highest praise. 



Having started off so well it is natural for 

 a person like this correspondent to want the 

 most pleasing arrangement possible for his 

 grounds. Fortunately he is ready to make 

 necessary changes while the trees are yet of 



•CopyrlKht, Ififlo, Popular Gardening PubllshinK Oo-- 

 Note : It is designed to render the present serial widely 

 useful through Imparting Ideas on tastefully arrang- 

 ing grounds of every kind, basing the same on actual 

 examples. To this end sketches of home plats, rural 

 cemeteries, town squares, school yards, et^-., are cor- 

 dially Invited from rejulers, with a view to our sub- 

 mitting suggestions for Improving the same. In 

 future articles, should more plans be received than 

 are needed for this purpose, such wilt be chosen, as In 

 our Judgment, will afford the best subjects for con- 

 veying Information to the largest fliimber of rejiders. 



a size to admit of easy transplanting. With 

 his own plan to date, before us (to the left), 

 let us see if certain modifications cannot be 

 suggested that will make as great an ad- 

 vance on the present state of the place, as 

 that is ahead of the bare prairie that existed 

 here but a few years ago. 



In our plan of these grounds shown to the 

 right, it has been aimed first to introduce 

 pleasing approaches to the house and the 

 grounds from the streets: second, to show 

 some gracefully curving roadways through- 

 out the plantation, for opening up its beau- 

 ties to its furthest limits, and lastly, to 

 suggest such variations in the planting as 

 will give the many fine growths a hand- 

 somer setting, for facilitating their inspec- 



Plan of the newly planted grounds of a Nebraska Subscriber. Extent, about eight acres. 



tion by the owner and visitors, and to 

 impart an air of unity and harmony through- 

 out consistent with so fine a collection as is 

 comprised in "Forest Park." It is clear 

 that this place with scarely any greater out> 

 lay involved in additional construction and 

 keeping, than would be needed if the main 

 drives were kept up on straight lines, may 

 easily be treated as a simple, handsome 

 forest park throughout. The character and 

 the extent of the planting suits this idea 

 very well, why should not also the arrange- 

 ment. 



To otir mind, this is in the main to be 

 accomplishsd by substituting for the present 

 straight lines one long circuitous drive, as 

 shown in our plan of the place. The effect 

 will be to strengthen the idea of unity in 

 the grounds and making all parts; the arbor- 

 etum at the front, the fruit plats further 

 back, the Chestnut grove beyond the bold 

 curve in the drive to the right, and the 

 Walnut grove to the extreme end easily ac- 

 cessible, whether one drives or walks. 



The next improvement we suggest is the 

 letting of "daylight" into the arboretum 

 and the groves. If our enterprising reader 

 desires to get the most beauty and enjoy- 

 ment out of the seventy-five varieties now 

 in the arboretum, let him arrange them 

 mainly in groups and masses, each so sur- 

 rounded with an open grass-covered space as 

 to give them a pleasing setting. Not only 



will this afford immeasurably more pleasure 

 to whoever seeks to inspect the grounds 

 closely, but the gain for general effect 

 throughout will be even vastly greater. 



Imagine for a moment the beauty of a vista 

 extendingfromthehou.se or verandah down 

 over the arboretum lawn, as shown by the 

 right-hand view, and the same, or rather its 

 absence in the left-hand one. The gain would 

 be equally apparent to the eyes of persons 

 passing along the drives at various points. 



That which is true of the arboretum in the 

 respects named, applies with corresponding 

 force, but in a lessened degree, with the 

 similar course suggested for treating the 

 Walnut and Chestnut groves at the end. 

 Here the openings shown along the drive 

 and elsewhere occupy 

 but little space, it is true, 

 but that space, as such, 

 is worth vastly more for 

 producing delight than 

 it could be if occupied 

 with trees. 



In the orchard but 

 little change is suggest- 

 ed beyond the carrying 

 of the bold, sweeping 

 drive across several 

 parts, and yielding a 

 portion of the Apple 

 orchard to the purpose 

 of a Chestnut grove. 



Coming to the portion 

 immediately around the 

 house, we do not feel 

 very enthuiastic to 

 recommend the terrac- 

 ing which our reader 

 says the character of the 

 slope to the street will 

 easily admit of. This is 

 because we have so 

 seldom seen terraces and 

 slopes in front yards of 

 this depth, that were as 

 pleasing and restful to 

 the eye as the same area 

 would have been had it 

 been finished more nat- 

 urally. One is apt to 

 tire of terracing in time, 

 as they will not do of a 

 garden more naturally 

 treated . The severe 

 drouths this country is 

 frequently subjected to, is also something of 

 an ob.iection the to use of terraces and slopes. 

 We therefore suggest for here a simple 

 rounded slope in both directions from the 

 dwelling to the street, and one easy winding 

 path from the highway to the front of the 

 house, and another from the side entrance 

 leading to the house and connecting with 

 the front walk. The front path by being 

 carried on the slope shown, would be of 

 easy grade without the use of steps, hence 

 more satisfactory than if such were em- 

 ployed, as would be necessary by the terrac- 

 ing plan. The slopes rising from the side of 

 the path should be embellished with shrubs 

 and flowers as indicated, thus making a 

 very pleasant garden walk between the 

 street and the house. 



The side approaches have been reduced 

 from two to one with, to our mind, several 

 obvious gains. The general effect is thus 

 more park-like, while it is an advantage to 

 the appearance of the house,'that a widened 

 stretch of lawn lays toward the street in 

 this direction. 



The Raising of Hardy Perennials 

 from Seed. 



MART D. WELCOME, YARMOUTH CO., ME. 



To purchase hardy perennial plants is ex- 

 pensive. Why not raise them from seeds? 

 Everyone who has a plot sufliciently large 

 to set apart for this purpose, can do so with 



