DESIGNING A GARDEN 29 



their need. That a desire to do something 

 more definite than has been done is manifest- 

 ing itself proves this evolutionary process to 

 be in action, shows that we are making pro- 

 gress. Having at last learned something about 

 building, so that our houses are improving, 

 we are beginning to be ready to learn some- 

 thing about the finer art of gardening — as man 

 has ever done. 



Already I have said that radical departures 

 are necessary in order to arrive at the most that 

 may be done with the small-town home. Until 

 this fact is recognized and acted upon, the end- 

 less lawns of these places will remain — fresh and 

 green and much better than some less agreeable 

 treatment might be, to be sure — yet tamely un- 

 interesting. That they are uninteresting, when 

 all is said and done, is most certainly demon- 

 strated by the refreshment which even the most 

 phlegmatic experience when, of a sudden, a real 

 garden comes into view in place of the few 

 shrubs and greensward so common. However 

 unsuccessful such a garden may be from the 

 artistic standpoint, it has interest, hence it pro- 

 motes real enthusiasm. It is to such treatment, 

 therefore, rather than to the conventional scat- 

 tered planting of a few trees and shrubs, that I 

 am going to direct attention, and with it I am 



