70 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



Should the point of grade at the house and at the pavement 

 be on the same level (Fig. 71), and provided the house is located 

 well back from the property Hne, the appearance will be greatly- 

 enhanced by making a depression between the house and the street. 

 To do this the elevation of the ground at one side must be below the 

 lowest point of depression. It is very apparent that a lawn graded 

 to such a profile would give a sense of distance while, on the other 

 hand, a convex line would tend to shorten the distance. 



TERRACES 



When to introduce terraces is a problem that requires careful 

 consideration. On a ground slightly undulating and where the 

 surface slopes are rather gentle, the effect is more pleasing if the 

 lawn rolls right up to the walls of the house. On more rugged 

 ground, where there is a great variation in levels between the various 

 corners of the house, a level plateau surrounding the house is better. 



The width of the terrace will depend somewhat on the size of 

 the building and the lot; ordinarily it should not be less than 

 fourteen feet; if there is to be a paved terrace or a porch, the 

 turf terrace, being of different texture, should be at least one-third 

 greater in width. It is very unsatisfactory to have a terrace of 

 greater breadth than the remaining area between the bottom of 

 the slope and the hne of the property. 



When a condition exists wherein the space is not great enough to 

 treat it as above recommended it is more advisable to have the 

 slope extend from the plateau at the house to the property line by 

 a gentle inclination (Fig. 72). The surface should slope at least 

 one-half inch to the foot, and the slope from the terrace to the sur- 

 rounding lawn grade should not be steeper than one foot to two feet, 

 while one to three is much preferable as the grass is more easily cut 

 on such a slope than on one with a sharper inclination (Fig. 73). 

 The slope should always be uniform and the line next to the house 

 should be parallel to the building, while the bottom line of the ter- 

 race may vary according to the slope of the abutting lawn. When 

 close to the house, where straight lines predominate, it is best to 

 have two lines of the terrace well defined. 



A terrace along a property line (Fig. 74) may be graded to a 

 convex surface at the top, and at the bottom it may be given a con- 

 cave surface, thus gracefully merging the steeper grades into the 

 more gentle ones at top and bottom. 



