THE LIVABLE HOUSE 



Its Garden 



CHAPTER ONE 



The G r r x d s as a \^' h o l e 



©^•^'-l.® NGL7SH people have a pleasant \\av of referrincj to 

 •^ H '^ the entire o;rounds about a house as "the o-arden, in- 



^^ n ^. :^ 



©^•4'''^® eluding in the term not only the portions actually 

 given over to flowers and vegetables, of which we are 

 accustomed to think as "garden," but lawns and brooks and al- 

 most any area which cannot be dignified by such a term as "park,'' 

 "wood," "meadow," or "vineyard"; and bv making the word 

 plural and speaking of "the gardens" they are able to include 

 these as well. It is a verv pleasing use of the word; if one has 

 only a back yard containing a few shrubs and a flower border, one 

 likes to think of it as something more than a back yard, and to 

 dignify it by the title of garden is to lift it at once out of the com- 

 pany of clothes poles and garbage receptacles and turn it into an 

 attractive and inviting spot. 



The term "garden" for purposes of this book is going to adopt 

 the attributes of its English cousins, and include everything be- 

 tween the doorstep and the property line. 



[I] 



