PRACTICAL BOOK OF GARDEN ARCHITECTURE 



not claim the same privilege in regard to our open- 

 air living rooms. 



The reason why high wall enclosures have fallen 

 into disfavor in suburban sections is because of lack 

 of consideration for our neighbors. It is unwise to 

 carry the wall idea to extremes and erect barriers 

 about the front gardens which are unsightly and 

 objectionable. The owner of a beautiful country 

 estate with entrance-ways and front lawns far off 

 from neighboring gardens, may feel privileged to 

 enclose any portion with screens of hedges, shrub- 

 bery and walls of brick or stone; in the suburban 

 section, or the village street, however, the residents 

 should observe the prevailing desire for decorative 

 street parking. The broad sweep of open lawn, 

 the low hedges, and iron fence enclosures, or Colonial 

 types of stately wooden fences, when necessary to 

 shut out garden prowlers, may all find favor, and 

 with shrubbery and flower planting will blend har- 

 moniously with adjoining lawns and gardens. But 

 beyond the spaces devoted to what is now popularly 

 termed " street parking," the side and back yards 

 should be reserved for family privacy. Even the 

 smallest place may have its outdoor living room en- 

 closed by high walls. No other form of enclosure 

 will give such durable pleasure, and no other feature 

 can be made more decorative than the high wall 



30 



