climate like ours we must always remember how comparatively short our Ameri- 

 can summer is, and how bare and out of place they are apt to look during the 

 winter months. Indeed, in laying out suburban places or in planning houses that are 

 to be lived in the year round, we are too apt to forget the long months when the 

 basins will be frozen over, the sun-dial covered with snow, the statues boxed up, 

 and the garden beds nothing but brown patches. To any one who loves the 

 country the winter aspect of trees and shrubs will always have great charm. The 



PLAN OF "FAULKNER FARM," BROOKLINE, MASS. 



CHARLES A. PLATT, ESQ., ARCHITECT. 



network of limbs and twigs of the trees against the sky, and the soft coloring of 

 the young branches of both trees and shrubs are important elements in the 

 beauty of a natural winter scene ; but in a formal garden these same trees and 

 shrubs, when denuded of their leaves, serve only to accentuate the bareness of the 

 garden itself. There can be no doubt that, despite the summer charms of the 

 formal garden, the natural style appears better in our climate in winter, and that, 

 therefore, a formal garden will give its greatest satisfaction only when it is built 

 in connection with a house that is to be principally used in summer. 



The opportunity to introduce such elaborate fountains and combinations of 

 pools and cascades as are seen abroad does not often occur in this country; and 

 where water is used, some regard must generally be paid to the presence of the 



