Stark Bro's Landscape Architects and Ornamental Nurserymen Louisiana, Mo. 



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Establishing the Lawn 



The lawn is one of the most important parts 

 of any successfully planted property and it 

 should be maintained in proper condition. 

 Before sowing any grass seed make sure that 

 the ground is properly drained (sometimes it 

 is necessary to put in tiled drainage although 

 surface drainage is generally sufficient). The 

 soil should be first plowed (or spaded). On a 

 lar^e percentage of lawns lime should be 

 added. After you have spaded or plowed the 

 soil, scatter lime over the surface of the 



convenient location of the garden in reference 

 to the house is very important. We have 

 already explained the necessity for using 

 shrub plantings to screen off the garden from 

 the public portion of the grounds. For the 

 same reason the planting between the garden 

 and the entrance driveway should be so 

 planned that visitors can not see the garden. 



The Garden 



In the garden the design of the beds and 

 other features of the formal work is of equal 

 importance as compared with the horticul- 



Let Stark Bro's plant your home grounds like this and develop them so you will reap the fullest 

 enjoyment. Our Experts choose plants adapted to your soil and climate. Stark 

 ornamentals are planted successfully from coast to coast. 



ground. The best kind of lime to use is 

 either the ordinary ground limestone (Cal- 

 cium Carbonate) or air-slaked lime these 

 are the easiest and most agreeable forms to 

 handle. The lime should be scattered over 

 the ground so the general appearance of the 

 ground will be white. A safe rule to follow 

 would be to use about one-half ton on a 

 square area with 100 ft. sides. It is a good 

 plan to roll and ake the surface so as to get 

 it even and smooth. Seed can be sown either 

 in the early Fall or Spring. Very often it is 

 recommended to sow the grass seed in the late 

 winter or early Spring when the last snow is 

 on the ground. 



For a square area with 100 ft. sides sow 

 about a bushel. The sowing of the grass seed 

 should be done on a quiet day so it can be dis- 

 tributed evenly. You can sow the seed by 

 hand, then lightly rake the seed. Protect the 

 young seed from any trespassers. The best 

 permanent lawn is grown from Kentucky Blue 

 Grass, but it does not become established 

 quickly. For quick results a- mixture of the 

 following will be satisfactory: Kentucky 

 Blue Grass, Red Top and English Rye in the 

 proportions of 4-2-1. For shady locations 

 the following combination would give satis- 

 factory results: Kentucky Blue Grass, 

 Wood Meadow Grass, Various-leaved Fescue 

 and Crested Dog's-tail used at the rate of 

 2-2-1-1 in order above named. 



Manure should be applied in the Fall or 

 very early Spring. However, manure has the 

 disadvantage of carrying more or less weed 

 seed which may become established in the 

 lawn, but you can keep weeds cut out. 



The Private Grounds 



No matter whether we call the private 

 grounds by the name of garden, out-of-doors 

 living room or backyard, it should be made 

 attractive and liveable a place where all the 

 family will be glad to linger after the day's 

 work is done. The private grounds may 

 consist of simply a lawn enclosed by shrub- 

 bery borders and possibly a perennial planting 

 in front of the larger shrubs. However, in 

 most cases the private portion of the grounds 

 consists largely of the flower and rose garden. 

 The garden should be closely connected with 

 the house, as it is just a second living room, 

 which is used in the Spring and Summer 

 even more largely than the living room 

 indoors. Therefore, it will be seen that a 



tural or plant material features of the garden. 

 In laying out the formal garden it is well to 

 bear in mind that as near as possible the 

 garden should be on an even level or a 

 regular, even slope. If the ground is too 

 steep to secure this result a series of terraces 

 can be used. In the formal garden we must 

 keep away from the irregular, naturalistic 

 lines. In other words, the design of the 

 garden is regular and architectural in spirit. 

 The garden is generally laid out so that the 

 entire plan can be seen at a glance. The 

 design of the garden is more a matter of 

 regular shaped beds and walks instead of an 

 irregular, naturalistic planting. The walks 

 and beds of the garden are made up of a series 

 of straight lines or arcs of circles. There 

 are no irregular winding paths. In the 

 formal garden the plant materials are used 

 to emphasize the architectural and formal 

 lines in addition to the horticultural beauty 

 of the plant itself. The garden should be 

 located so that the central walk or axis will 

 be on a direct line with the main view from 

 the house. Very often a doorway leading 

 out from the 



living room of 



the house will 



form the chief 



viewpoint and 



the main walk 



or axis of the 



garden should 



be on a direct 



line with the 



doorway. The 



axis of the gar- 

 den has been 



called the 



"backbone" of 



the design. On 



this main axis 



a garden should 



be balanced 



each side the 



same size and 



value as the 



opposite side. 



Study the plan 



of the garden 



on page 3. 



Note how the 



main axis is 



centered on the 



entrance from 



the house. 



The Garden of Flowers 



When we speak of the garden, we have in 

 mind the flower or pleasure garden. There 

 is, of course, a second meaning to the use of 

 the term "garden," namely, the service or 

 vegetable garden. For full explanation of 

 Service and Vegetable Garden see page 14. 

 In this chapter we will confine ourselves 

 entirely to treatment of the pleasure or flower 

 garden. 



Formal in Treatment 



Although we have stated in previous pages 

 that the planting which is most adaptable 

 to American homes and the American climate 

 is the Naturalistic style, nevertheless the 

 Formal style enters in to the planning of the 

 flower garden to a certain degree. 



The design of arrangement of the beds is 

 formal in outline this is due largely to the 

 fact that if the beds are laid out in even, 

 regular shapes they can be much more easily 

 cared for and will give more satisfactory 

 results. Also, the garden should be formal, 

 because it is, in a sense, a transition between 

 the formal lines of architecture in the house 

 and the surrounding naturalistic planting. 

 The formal garden is a sort of a half-way 

 point between the architectural house and 

 the irregular, naturalistic planting of the 

 surrounding property. 



Garden Objects 



The formal garden is also characterized 

 by garden objects or architectural features, 

 such as seats, summer or garden houses, per- 

 golas, sundials, statuary, etc., also water mir- 

 rors, which are nothing but regular shaped 

 pools of water which are used with good effect 

 in the formal garden they can be planted 

 with water lillies or kept clear of plants and 

 thus used as a natural reflecting mirror. 



In planting the garden you should decide 

 on what your exact requirements are. You 

 should know to what use you are going to put 

 the garden when you expect to enjoy and use 

 it the most. If you are going to be away 

 from home during a certain portion of the 

 year, you want to use flowers and roses which 

 will bloom before you plan to leave and also 

 to include plants which will be in their glory 

 when you return to your home. 



Different Types of Gardens 



There are several types of gardens, in so 

 far as the character of plants to be used is 

 concerned. 



First, we have the flower 'garden, which 

 is made up solely of annual and perennial 

 plants. These plants either die down to the 

 ground or are entirely killed out by the 

 Winter. . . ; . 



Second, is the rose garden, in which many 

 different types of roses are 1 .used. For 

 full details of Roses see The Rose Garden, 

 page 26. 



Combination Garden 



However, both the flower and rose garden 

 have their good points and probably the 

 logical garden for most home grounds is a 

 "Combination Flower and Rose Garden." 



[13] 



Right in the Heart of the City 



Your back yard can be trans- 

 formed into a garden spot 

 like this. 



