PRACTICAL BOOK OF GARDEN ARCHITECTURE 



the garden space is limited, and the contracted ter- 

 race is very steep, there is no excuse for building 

 straight, steep flights of rustic stairs that are as 

 uncomfortable as they are inappropriate. Wherever 

 comparatively steep arrangements are a necessity, 

 the subject of easy tread and practical borders must 

 be carefully studied. 



Formal balustrades should not be built even for 

 the steeper stairways when the surroundings are 

 rustic in effect. A single upper railing, supported at 

 regular intervals, and covered with open-mesh wire 

 to encourage the growth of vines, will be less expen- 

 sive, and more beautiful, because 1 more appropriate. 

 A railing of rustic branches also may be used for 

 supporting the vines and forming a, picturesque 

 boundary of green. Where a lint -of big rocks bor- 

 ders the steps built into the terraces, a bed of trailers 

 should be arranged next to the stone-work, as grass 

 sod is inclined to become untidy because of the diffi- 

 culty of keeping it well trimmed where it joins the 

 rocky border. 



Broad easy treads and short risers are desirable 

 in any form of rustic stairways for out of doors. 

 Experienced garden architects claim that the stairs 

 that give the greatest satisfaction in easy climbing 

 have from four- to five-inch risers and from fifteen- 

 to eighteen-inch width in treads. For any form of 



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