8 THE GARDEN BEAUTIFUL 



you wish such are mere incidentals the material 

 with which you build and finish the picture. Begin 

 with fundamentals. Lightly sketch where paths are 

 needed, and have none you do not need. Provide 

 for comfort, interest, even instruction. Will you 

 have an arbor, one or more garden seats, a gazing 

 globe, and where? Are you interested in sundials? 

 If so, have one by all means, for there is no place on 

 earth where the sun shines more than in California, 

 and therefore we may make more use of them than 

 other and less fortunate peoples. Our mild and 

 equable climate allows us to get about the garden 

 with pleasure nearly every day throughout the year. 

 Have some sort of a water garden, even if no more 

 than a half-barrel submerged to a level with the 

 garden plane; for in a semiarid land having few 

 natural streams, ponds, or lakes, an aquatic feature, 

 however tiny, cannot fail to attract and interest and 

 lend strength and balance to the landscape. Uncon- 

 sciously we derive a certain amount of comfort from 

 proximity to water, for of all natural elements it is 

 the one most necessary to the preservation of life 

 and health, therefore its simple presence is sooth- 

 ing and satisfying. 



WHAT TO AVOID 



Do not group garden accessories and conveniences 

 too closely about the house, for every house has at 

 least one porch built for use. Therefore place seats, 

 arbors, etc., as far from the residence as is conven- 

 ient, for then you avoid any suggestion of competi- 

 tion. 



Likewise, and for similar reasons, place ponds, 

 pools and rock gardens quite remote. The house, its 

 interior and immediate surroundings, have, or 

 should have, charms peculiarly their own, and each 



