Some Good and Bad Cases of Garden Design 



-By Fletcher Steele, 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



[Editors' Note. — These notes are in the 

 nature of constructive criticisms by an expert 

 garden designer, are the personal convictions 

 of the author, and are used to illustrate the 

 application of certain principles of garden 

 design. No one garden yet made is alto- 

 gether perfect. The controlling factors are 

 often unknown to the critic who deals only 

 with the actual result, and ofttimes unsur- 

 mountable difficulties compel a treatment far 

 from the ideal in mind. The lessons here 

 presented must be taken only on their face 

 value and as they relate to an ideal.] 



I. A Simple Backyard Garden 



THERE is much both to admire 

 and to criticise in this garden. 

 Let me be guided first by what is 

 admirable. 

 The best point is the comfortable, livable 

 character of the place. It is evidently 

 much used; the light bench is the only 

 witness of leisure, but leisure is probably a 

 minor pleasure here. More important 

 are the general neatness and the signs of 

 attention revealed by each plant. There 

 is no horticultural show or meticulous 

 maintenance of an expensive corps of 

 gardeners. It shows much more the simple 

 interest of a good housekeeper. 



There is little to say about the design. 

 Convenience must have dictated the lo- 

 cation of the straight path dividing the 

 lawn. Tradition or commonsense — the two 

 frequently agree — led to making the narrow 

 flower border following either side. Tra- 



dition alone explains the white paint on the 

 old-fashioned grape trellis and picket fence. 

 Interest in plants accounts for the different 

 varieties, all well cared for. Refined taste 

 and perhaps limited funds for gardening 

 outlay are responsible for the simplicity. 



One concludes that the guiding spirit 

 of the place was once paying a visit and 

 returned to find the white stone edging of 

 the path, much to her surprise. Probably 

 she almost had it taken out, but finally 

 said nothing because it would hurt some- 

 body's feelings; and besides, it served to 

 accent important lines and kept the path 

 neater han before. 



She must have been in Europe, when 

 they made the water lily pool. It is really 

 very bad. It is well located — in the centre 

 of one of the two garden lawn spaces. But 

 its shape is inexcusable — the attempt of a 

 "practical" person to be artistic, in all 

 probability. The path around it accen- 

 tuates the shape and makes it worse. Fancy 

 the lady's difficulty trying to display the 

 expected appreciation! 



She need not have left it as we see it, 

 however. If the whole thing could not be 

 made over, the path around it might have 

 been turned back to turf and the pool rim 

 painted dark gray or brown. Around it 

 she might have planted low growing iris 

 and creeping plants that would soon cover 

 the stiff ugly rim. 



There are too many plants in the water. 

 The whole surface of a pool should never 

 be covered with leaves and lily pads. The 

 interest in the individual plants is dimin- 



ished and the mirror effect of the water 

 surface is lost. Three quarters of all this 

 water growth should be removed. 



If she asked me for more advice, I would 

 suggest that she make the flower borders a 

 foot wider, and add twice as many tall 

 perennials, and cover the ground thickly 

 between them with low growing things. I 

 would tell her to make a narrow flower bed 

 along the picket fence, or else plant a few 

 more vines like Akebia quinata or Clematis 

 paniculata to about half cover it. 



Other than that I would congratulate her 

 on the charming simplicity of the place 

 and recommend that she should make all 

 further "improvements" herself. 



, II. A Garden or Uncertainty 



'"THE garden shown on next page is bad 

 because it is so indefinite in design. 

 It is neither formal nor informal, land nor 

 water, turf nor flower. It looks as though 

 it might be the result of the work of many 

 different men, each of whom was allowed 

 to work his own sweet will on the place 

 during his short stay. 



One can imagine that its history ran 

 about as follows: Originally it was a tree- 

 covered swale, probably swampy. One 

 man cut the trees; the birches grew up 

 themselves. The next man perhaps filled 

 in the swamp, leaving the water line about 

 as it was — a good thing to do usually in 

 informal work. But it was not left whole 

 heartedly informal. Turf was planted. 

 If it had been left there, there would have 



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