GARDEN ACCESSORIES 91 



impression. If any garden accessory sends you 

 away with the thought "So-and-so has a fine 

 statue — or pool or garden house — in his gar- 

 den," instead of, "So-and-so's garden is attrac- 

 tive with that statue — or pool or garden house 

 — where it is," be sure that the object in ques- 

 tion is either ill chosen or ill placed. 



But further than now and then an arbor or 

 summer house it seems difficult for us to pro- 

 gress, in all except the great gardens designed 

 and executed professionally — and wearing an air 

 too often of professionalism. And of course an 

 arbor or a summer house is something of an 

 achievement, in limited space; so more often 

 than not we do without even these. Perhaps it 

 is just as well that we do until we have learned 

 to use them, for certainly they are senseless 

 creations unless they are used. So, for that 

 matter, is a garden, too; the remedy lies not in 

 foregoing to make a garden, however, but in 

 learning to use it. 



The great American front-porch habit is 

 largely responsible for our neglect of the real 

 outdoors, I believe, but a certain spirit of snatch- 

 ing at our idling rather than taking it deliber- 

 ately may be at the bottom of this. xAnd then, 

 of course, our outdoor retreats have never been 

 made with the intention of actually using them, 



