CHAPTER XVIII 



THE NEW SUBURBAN GARDEN 



THE evolution of the suburban garden has been slow, 

 largely because it has been done by a class of small 

 means and few opportunities of seeing good gardening 

 suited to its needs. 



The average suburban gardener has had to go for 

 practical hints to the public parks, and these places have 

 either dragged along at a snail's pace in the rear of garden 

 improvement, or developed a flamboyant and bewilder- 

 ing style out of all proportion to the needs of the vast 

 majority of the people who frequent them. In these 

 circumstances it is no cause for surprise that the subur- 

 banist has accomplished so little, indeed, the wonder is 

 that he has done so much. 



Lovers of flowers who dwell in the suburbs of large 

 towns generally adopt a very hackneyed plan of laying 

 out their little gardens, and work on a strictly limited 

 supply of material. The reasons are not far to seek. In 

 the first place, the gardens are generally very small and 

 of rectangular form ; and of all plots a small square or 

 oblong is perhaps the most difficult to lay out tastefully. 

 In the second place, the fear that many beautiful plants 

 may not thrive in the confinement and possibly impure 

 air of a small walled or fenced suburban garden causes a 

 disinclination for experiments and encourages retention 

 of old plants. 



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