179G LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



'■I':m-s ot .laniins." Piatt, "Italian Gardens." TrisRs, 

 "Italian dardons." Loudon, "'Pin- \'illa (lardenor." 

 EUpood, "Italian tiardons." .Jane iV Koss, "Klorcntino 

 Villas." Handin aiid others, "European and .lapanese 

 Ganlcns." Kemp, "Landscape (iardeninf;." TrifiKs, 

 "Formal Ganlens in EnRJand anil Scotland." Edith 

 Wharton. "Italian VilUus and 'Plicir Gardens." Guy 

 Lowell, "American Ganlens." "Gardens Gld and New" 

 (Country Life Publishing Go.). Loudon, "Encyelo- 

 pi»ilia of Gardening." Kouqider, "Del'-Vrl desJardins." 

 "The Gcntury Book of Gardening" (Coimtry Life Lib.). 

 Andre. "lArt des .lardins." FEnnucno Vitale. 



The landscape treatment of small grotmds. 



The art of landscape gardening is to many persons a 

 subject that belongs only to landed estates or to great 

 public parks. By them it is not expected to serve with 

 its principles or its practice their modest suburban or 

 city-lot-si/,0 home grounds, although in the same way, 

 if upon a smaller scale, they .seek tasteful, jn'actical, 

 interesting arrangi'uicnt and emb(>llishment. The 

 home grounds is a problem not unworthy the finest 

 art or the most expert landscape designer. Small 

 places everywhere are becoming more and more charm- 

 ing as architects meet a growing demand for better 

 houses, and their settings become more and more 

 apjiropriate and pleasing, as ow^lers, gardeners, and 

 nurserymen apply the achievements of landscape gar- 

 dening which they have ob.served. Many small pLaces 

 evince a beauty ami effectiveness surpassed by larger 

 ones only in extent ; but for the most part they fall short 

 of their possibilities and attain to a degree of artistic 

 value limited to the mere beauty of the plants set out. 

 That one place can surpass another of equal building- 

 lot proportions and comparative amount of planting 

 would lead to the conclusion that, for the designing of 

 small grounds, there may be underlying principles 

 practi.sed in some cases, neglected in others. Achieve- 

 ments of good design are evident; methods, seldom. 



Spaciousness does not make, but may enhance, 

 beauty in grounds; but mere space .suffices to lend 

 independence, more or less seclusion and privacy, char- 

 acter and dignity. Hence the small place, more than 

 the large one, must depend for its individual effective- 

 ness and setting upon the general beauty of its neigh- 

 borhood, — its environment; upon well-placed commu- 

 nity plantings, and upon the skilful management of a 

 principle of design called unity, — the tying together 

 or harmonizing of all features of the scene in view at one 

 time. Realizing this, it should ever be the paramount 

 aim of a conununity or i)latters of real-estate subdivi- 

 sions to retain all of the natural features and land- 

 scape character possible by preserving old trees, ledges, 

 rivulets, good views and good building-sites unmolested, 



and also, so far as possible, to obliterate neighborhood 

 eyesores. When land is laid out and hou.ses constructed 

 or at li'ast restricted, by the same company, the great- 

 est opi)ortunity is alTorded to realize the utmost of 

 landscajjc and community attractiveness. To artistic 

 groujiing of buildings, to directing courses and appear- 

 ance of streets, to preservation and adajitation of 

 natural scenery for common enjoyment, should land- 

 scape ganlening, as well as engineering and architec- 

 ture, lend its best effort. Such development reflects 

 directly upon very limited lot areas and affords a 

 charm of environment ini])0ssible of attaimnent other- 

 wise, — except by merest chance. Fortunate the dweller 

 in the modern garden suburb! 



Within the lot, in order to utilize to landscape 

 advantage every inch of space, ground study should 

 begin with house-ijlanning and should be determined in 

 much the same way. This saves later regret and 

 expense and many times improves house designs as 

 well as preserves beauty in setting. In large estates 

 the landscape study usually precedes; in small lots, it is 

 oftenest the last matter tliought of and generally left 

 largely to the local grailer to work out. All of our 

 houses, as a result, become ranged in line, drilled face 

 to the front street, commonly designed, equally spaced, 

 uniformly graded flat, totally ignoring the hints offered 

 in native trees or uneven ground for intlividual charac- 

 ter, or of homelilve seclusion possible in the back yard. 



In placing houses on uneven ground, great oppor- 

 timity is presented to gain distinctive character and 

 interest or even practical advantages not offered by 

 the more popular level site. Close to the house differ- 

 ences in grades may properly be sho\vn by terracing, 

 but it is not well that in every instance the natural 

 beauty of uneven site be sacrificed by cutting and filling 

 in order to create plane surfaces. In the grounds apart 

 from the house, especially, does uneven land prove a 

 fertile source of suggestion for landscape treatment. 

 A low spot may become readily enough a pool; banks, 

 rock or aljiine gardens; elevations, ]ilace for planting 

 and seat; 0[)en hollows, flower- or vegetable-gardens. 

 How such hints may be adapted and worked together 

 into a harmonious and livable scheme, is a landscape- 

 gardening plan. Plans made from these hints to fit 

 the ground are not usually so attractive on paper as 

 those made quite regardless of site suggestions. For 

 pure individual charm in home grounds, one likes a 

 natural site and orderly design combined. To accom- 

 plish this is a problem. 



Solutions of such problems are illustrated by the home- 

 grounds plans here presented. Standing trees, uneven 

 land, a large house, a lot of 125 feet frontage were the 

 conditions met in the design of Fig. 2092. In order to 

 preserve a large oak to spread its high head above the 

 house roof, a retaining wall was required to hold back the 





wmmmMimmmmwm 



208<>. A pretentious formal design. 



V-.^^M 17'j;;. 



