HINTS ON RURAL SCHOOL GROUNDS. 285 



At first the weeds will come up. Do not pull them. Mow the 

 lawn as soon as there is any growth large enough to mow. Of 

 course, the lawn mower is best, but there is no use of recommend- 

 ing it for rural school yards. Then use the ordinary field 

 mower. When the sod is established, mowing the yard three or 

 four times a year will be sufficient. And here is another advant- 

 age of the open-centered yard which I have recommended, - 

 it is easily mown. It would be a fussy matter to mow a yard 

 planted after the fashion of Fig. 26 ; but one like Fig. 27, is 

 easily managed. A yard like Fig. 25 can be mown in a half hour. 



How to make the border planting. The borders should 

 be planted thick. Plow up the strip. Never plant these trees 

 and bushes in holes cut in the sod. Scatter the bushes and 

 trees promiscuously in the narrow border. In home grounds, it is 

 easy to run through these borders occasionally with a cultivator, 

 for the first year or two. 



Make the edges of this border irregular. Plant the lowest 

 bushes on the inner edge. Fig. 33 shows how a certain yard was 

 marked out for the planting. The w T hole area had been plowed, 

 rolled, harrowed and raked. Grass seed had been sown and raked 

 in. Then a line was drawn, by means of a rake handle, to represent 

 the edges of the border planting. The interior or lawn space 

 was now rolled, and th,e soft area along the borders was left for 

 the planting. Five years later, the place looked as shown in 

 Fig. 34. Imagine a schoolhouse at the end of that garden ! 



For all such things as lilacs, mock-oranges, Japan quinces, and 

 bushes that are found along the roadsides, two or three feet apart 

 is about right. Some will die anyway. Cut them back one-half 

 when they are planted. They will look thin and stiff for two or 

 three years; but after that they will crowd the spaces full, lop over 

 on the sod, and make a billow of green. Prepare the land well, 

 plant carefully ; andlet the bushes alone. 



The kinds of plants for the main planting. We now come to 

 the details, the particular kinds of plants to use. One great 

 principle will simplify the matter : the main planting should 

 be for foliage effects. That is, think first of giving the place 

 a heavy bordermass. Flowers are mere decorations. 



Select those trees and shrubs which are the commonest, because 



