LITTLE GARDENS 



hence it is not incumbent on Mary Ann to waac 

 in among the heliotrope and mignonette — dainty 

 httle things, so suggestive of her own dainty self ! 

 Or, revolving clothes-dryers, or poles with arms 

 that project like spokes, may be erected so near 

 to the house that nothing but Mary Ann's desire 

 to gambol will project her into the flower-beds. 

 The advantages of the plan here submitted are 

 simplicity and compactness. The yard is treated 

 as a flower-bed and a lawn, rather than as a series 

 of beds and lawns. There is no lost space. The 

 lines follow those of the fences and party walls, 

 and have not a particle of originality or charac- 

 ter. Your flowers will have something of the 

 appearance of exhibits on the shelves of a mu- 

 seum. Hard, set form will, therefore, be an at- 

 tribute of this device. It can, however, be modi- 

 fied by the insertion of a central bed, the side 

 beds being curved along their faces to conform 

 to it geometrically. This breaks the severity 

 of the plan somewhat, yet it is still rigid, and 

 unless the neighbors had a good deal of green 

 that appeared above their fences you would feel 

 that you had more than your share of flowers, 

 and they the less. 



42 



