AN UNUSUAL WOODS GARDEN 



owners declare them to be the finest team in Dela- 

 ware County. After viewing the picturesque quar- 

 ters for housing the oxen and noting the part they 

 play in a decorative feature of the woodland (while 

 also accomplishing occasional feats of usefulness), 

 the appreciative garden craftsman must admit that 

 this old-time country acquisition provides an addi- 

 tional charm for the woods garden, which could he 

 secured so effectively in no other manner. 



On the right of the drive on entering the woods 

 road is a broad lake fed by a natural spring; the 

 water reflects the native growths wild flowers and 

 bog plants along its margins, with the aquatics nat- 

 ural to the locality ornamenting its surface. Any 

 attempt at artificial water gardening would have 

 completely spoiled the effect, but the natural woods 

 lake holds a charm of its own, and where the stream 

 which feeds it passes beneath the roadway a simple 

 and artistic bridge of rustic work has been con- 

 structed. 



To the right of the lake is ' < The Abbey , > ' fittingly 

 named from its picturesque seclusion among the 

 trees, and presenting an ideal spot for retirement 

 and meditation. This one feature of the garden 

 woodland is a study in itself, in showing what may 

 be done in transforming the rusticity of ancestral 

 spring houses or discarded ice-houses on the home 



13 193 



