dress the comer and thus obviate the necessity of a group of shrubs. Some vines 

 will climb very high; but all have very definite limits in this respect. Vines for 

 fronts, like other plants, should be selected mainly for their foliage. Occasionally 

 more simple and unpretentious houses take-kindly to a flowering vine over the 

 door. 



Too great a variety of vegetation produces a spotty rather than a harmoriious 

 entire effect. In plaiming the front yard, it is with regard to the whole picture 

 of the house as seen from the street that one should be concerned. Don't mistake 

 the front yard for the garden! If in doubt as to how many kinds of bushes to 

 use, use but one kind, relying upon the ■ natural variation in both the habit 

 and the color value of shrubs of the same species. Dress your front yard on 

 principles of simplicity. 



Thus, considering the function of the front yard to be mainly that of furnishing 

 a proper setting for the house front, one might conclude that no more space should 

 be allowed than will suffice for a shallow lawn, especially in view of the fact that 

 a deeper lawn may make the narrow lot appear even narrower than it is. There 

 should be, however, some recognition of the building line and other prevailing 

 customs of the street. On the same street, strikingly different schemes.though 

 in themselves attractive and meritorious, do not look well. After all, clever 

 manipulation of simple features and styles requires considerable skill on the 

 part of the planner, and in the end the "landscaping" of small front yards is 

 more a matter of taste and judgment than of expenditiu-e and efiort. 



Plans for back yards should be started with a full realization of the fact that a 

 limited space cannot be made to accomodate features appropriate only for a 

 larger area. A city back yard cannot be made a half-acre suburban garden in 

 miniature. Starting with a simple plan, the next care should be to have all de- 

 tails serviceable and adapted to the situation. Walks should not be narrow to 

 the extent of appearing insignificant; where grass will not grow, a suitable pave- 

 ment is better; and plants that do not thrive should be omitted, as a healthy 

 weed is more beautiful than a sickly flower. The situation is not an easy one with 

 which to cope, but, nevertheless, the back-yard garden must look successful in 

 order to look beautiful, and this is entirely possible, though only by means of a 

 common-sense plan. 



The improvement of the back yard begins with the fence. Apparently there 

 has never been any question of the need of fencing back yards. The American 

 substitute for the old-world wall was a step backward. Wooden fences, especially 

 of the high, tight-board variety, are never handsome, now-a-days not even cheap; 

 they are usually out of repair, easily climbable, and, in the long run, most expen- 

 sive. Where a solid barrier is desirable, a light masonry wall of some kind proves, 

 in the end, the most economical, and, furthermore, it is the best looking. Vines 

 growing on these walls need never be disturbed. It is easily possible to perforate 

 such walls to permit better circulation of air. The wrought-iron fence is always a 

 possibility and may look well if of very simple, straightforward design. The 

 fence of heavy woven wire is the cheapest substitute for a permanent and sub- 

 stantial fence. This must be very carefully hung to look well, and of a small 

 mesh if it is to prevent climbing. But with a heavy growth of vines upon it, 

 such a fence becomes practically a solid barrier though still permitting a free 

 circulation of air, and this, in very small areas, is an important factor, not only 



