Book of Gardens 



SS 



ARBORS, SUMMER-HOUSES and TRELLISES 



J Discussioti of the General Principles Which Underlie Their Use — The Questions of Style, 

 Location and Proper Emphasis in the Landscape Scheme 



FIRST come, first served, and so 

 to first thoughts, which are usu- 

 ally indicative of something. The)' 

 are especially significant when they 

 have to do with outdoors. So what 

 is the first thought when one speaks 

 of an arbor? 



With the word there comes a sense 

 of leafy shade on a summer day, of 

 vagrant winds, sweet with all out- 

 doors, of insect noises, of flickering 

 wings and the importance of bug 

 hunting and nest tending and what- 

 not; and above all else, freedom from 

 the everlasting impositions of con- 

 ventionality as represented by a 



^■Mig^!BK"W"TWJ!»-. 



Where an individual plant 

 needs support a trellis may 

 serve a good purpose. But 

 a random scattering of de- 

 tached trellises shoidd be 

 avoided in every case. Uni- 

 ty of design there must be 



Another use of trellis is 

 found in the residence of J. 

 R. Potter, Esq., Great 

 Neck, L. I. Here it incloses 

 a pleasant outdoor living 

 room under trees. Paul 

 Hertwig was the architect 



house. Pan and his court lurk some- 

 times near, if not within, the shadow 

 of an arbor, but they never approach 

 a house. 



There must be nothing about an 

 arbor to dispel this sense of freedom, 

 nothing — continuing the fancy — 

 that will alarm the timidest faun or 

 nymph, or make them fearful of im- 

 prisonment. Yet it must be a shelter 

 and afford seclusion from the sun 

 and heat; and even possibly from a 

 little summer shovi^er, though cer- 

 tainly not roofed to withstand real 

 rain. Where rain cannot go, dryads 

 and satyrs never will! 



Then it must be so open that birds 

 and bees and breezes may come and 

 go at will; and it must be so com- 

 pletely in harmony with nature all 

 around that both bees and birds will 

 frequent i{ as freely as they do the 

 trees. Within these specifications it 

 may take any form and be made of 

 any material one wishes; and it may 

 be situated wherever the natural 

 landscape, or a preconceived picture, 

 may determine. But it must always 

 follow the architectural lead of the 

 house. 



The true arbor is never roofed to with- 

 stand a real rain. Its very nature de- 

 mands that it be open for free passage of 

 bird or bee or breeze 



A sense of leafy shade on a sunny day_, 

 of freedom from the imposed convention- 

 ality of a house, should characterize the 

 well planned arbor 



