LITTLE GARDENS 



In the square-topped hedge or row, the effect 

 is different. We feel it with the eye as part in a 

 plan of garden architecture, its firm, level lines 

 are restful, it substitutes itself for a wall; hence, 

 it takes its form, it thickens, moreover, with 

 trimming, so as to serve all the better as parti- 

 tion. Topiary, or tree sculpture, is especially 

 ridiculous in small spaces. It is not formalism: 

 it Is grotesquery. Have none of it. 



In sum, I would say that in the treatment of 

 a city yard be moderately formal — that is, sym- 

 metrical — in a formal place; give to trees their 

 natural form, lopping only straggling and ob- 

 structive growths; hide the fence with vegeta- 

 tion; group the flowers by sizes and colors; 

 strive for broad, massive effects; avoid the fin- 

 ical and higgledy-piggledy; raise grass; use orna- 

 ment with frugality and caution, but have a 

 focus of interest, which need not be a geometric 

 center. 



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