MIDWINTER GARDENS 



neighbor; clothed with a hedge, either close or 

 loose, and generously kept below the passer's 

 line of sight. And, second, that from the house- 

 holder's p>oint of view, looking streetward from 

 his garden's inner depth, its fence, when un- 

 planted, is a blank interruption to his whole 

 fair scheme of meandering foliage and bloom 

 which on the other three sides frames in the 

 lawn ; as though the garden were a lovely stage 

 scene with the fence for footlights, and some 

 one had left the footlights unlit. 



A lovely stage scene, we say, without a hint 

 of the stage's unreality; for the side and rear 

 fences and walls, being frankly unornamental, 

 call for more careful management than the 

 front and are often charmingly treated. (Page 

 174.) (See, for an example of a side fence with 

 front half of wire and rear half of boards, page 

 174, and for solid walls, pages 180 and 184.) 

 Where they separate neighbors' front lawns they 

 may be low and open, but back of the building- 

 line, being oftenest tight and generally more than 

 head-high, they are sure to be draped with such 

 climbing floral fineries as honeysuckles, ivies, 



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