TREATMENT OF HOME GROUNDS. 67 



than three or four feet high do not interrupt the sweep of the eye 

 over a surface, and that objects which rise to the height of the eye 

 or above it do form such an interruption. Therefore no matter 

 what the character of a given space may be, whether formal or 

 informal, whether garden, courtyard, lawn, glade or woodland, 

 the eye-height is a very critical height in the objects which occur 

 in that space. 



Objects which occur at this critical height and which do not 

 form parts of the boundaries of a main unit must be used very 

 sparingly and with much skill and discretion or they will destroy 

 the unity of the space. Lower objects may or may not improve 

 the character of the main unit, but at least they do not actually 

 pre^■ent one from seeing it as a whole, and they may generally be 

 so arranged as to form or suggest the boundaries of a series of sub- 

 ordinate units which one recognizes as parts of the main unit. 

 People very generally fail to ask themselves, as they should when 

 they plant an insignificant looking wisp of a shrub from a nursery, 

 "Does this kind of shrub grow high enough to prevent us from 

 looking over it when fully grown and if so will a barrier to the view 

 at this point be desirable or undesirable?" 



The main subdivisions of the house grounds may be few or they 

 may be many, but in nearly all cases it is desirable to distinguish 

 more or less clearly at least three functional divisions. 



The first of these is the entrance or public portion, devoted to the 

 ingress and egress of the family and their visitors, to the expression 

 of hospitality and of regard for the enjoyment which may be given 

 by the place to passing strangers and to all who are not taken into 

 the bosom of the family. In terms of the normal suburban lot 

 this is the front door yard. The proportion of the place devoted 

 to these ciuasi-public functions may be large or small but some 

 recognition of them there ought to be. 



The second is the family or living portion of the place. This 

 may be merged with the first and far too often is thoughtlessly so 

 combined. In a village community where everybody is friends 

 with everybody else, or in cases where people are lonely and eagerly 

 welcome the sight of every passing stranger, or where no true family 

 life exists at all, a family may really find it more agreeable to com- 

 bine the entrance portion and the living portion of their place in 



