PLACE THAT IS STARTED 105 



is made in the midst of a half-completed task 

 or at the beginning of the work. So the first 

 thing to be done with the place already par- 

 tially established is to determine just where a 

 start may be made — in other words, just which 

 steps have been irrevocably taken, and how 

 many may be retraced, if it seems wise to re- 

 trace, in order to reach the one farthest back 

 from which to inaugurate the work. Assuredly 

 the plan and the position of the house are fixed, 

 beyond all possibility of change, which elimi- 

 nates the first step of all. The dwelling's ex- 

 posure is thus settled and the convenient dis- 

 position of the ground about it, according to 

 the location of the doors and windows, its ser- 

 vice, and its social portion has probably been 

 made, or accepted as it has made itself. 



The garden design, however, which is hardly 

 a design at all, is not unalterable; neither are 

 the grades; nor as a matter of fact are any of 

 the other attributes or features which follow in 

 orderly sequence, from the initial step of plan- 

 ning and choosing the position of the house. 

 Walks may be changed and arbors and all the 

 things of this sort; plants may be moved, even 

 very large ones, if the work is carefully and 

 properly done. Really the only step which is 

 not retraceable then is the very first, unless 



