January, 1910 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



207 



Mount Vernon remains as a masterpiece of planning with its broad open lawn approach 



flanked by trees 



Here is a portion of the more cultivated garden, where formality was admitted to give 

 balance. It spells comfort 



fruits and herbs for medicine and savory 

 taking precedence over merely pretty Roses 

 and Gillyflowers. They, however, were 

 never forgotten. The sketch shows the 

 typical arrangement. 



It will be seen that the layout was con- 

 venient. There was economy of space. 

 It was orderly without lifeless T-square and 

 triangle precision. Each unit — house, stable, 

 yards and gardens — was located in careful 

 relation to the others. None dominated, 

 leaving awkward areas too small or too 

 large properly to fulfil their functions as so 

 often happens to-day when the house is 

 built before the rest is planned. The house 

 is perhaps the most important feature, but 

 it is far from being the whole place, as 

 architects are apt to consider it. 



Another noteworthy point is the insigni- 

 ficance of lawn areas. The broad lawn, 

 to-day considered so important that one 

 after another feature is cramped or omitted 

 to make room for it, was not inherited from 

 our New England forebears. There was 

 clipped turf between house and street. 

 The small rear yard was grassed or paved 

 with rough flagstones. 



Lawns did appear in the grander designs 

 of the South, however. Few people realize 

 the splendor of the early Virginia schemes. 

 Fortunately, several very fine examples are 

 still extant, notably Mt. Vernon, Monti- 

 cello, and Hickory Hill. Conditions were 

 similar to those of country estates to-day. 

 Houses, stables, lawns, and gardens were 

 large, using the services of corps of servants. 

 But here not less than in New England the 

 whole arrangement was studied before 

 building the house, which was located with 

 careful reference to the accessibility and 

 exposure of gardens, minor buildings and a 

 proper approach. The schemes were fre- 

 quently symmetrical but never stiff. 



An American is not tied to native pre- 

 cedents, however, as the architectural styles 

 of all places and periods have been borrowed. 

 Why not the landscape architecture? It is 

 true that we have so-called "English," 

 "Italian," and "French" gardens. But the 

 adaptations are rarely made with the 



fidelity to the original type shown in the 

 architecture. This is a pity. An Italian 

 palace, be it in Rome, Italy, or Rome, New 

 York, loses much of its effectivemess shorn 

 of proper setting. The reasons for "period 

 gardens" are identical with those for 

 "period architecture" and "period rooms.*' 

 If you go in for one you should go in for the 

 others. 



Orchard 





Street 



Typical arrangement of the American home plot in which 

 will be noted a "feeling" of balance and harmony yet with- 

 out formality, and geometrical repetition 



As a matter of happy fact, on the other 

 hand we have developed with peculiar 

 felicity an American style of domestic 

 landscape architecture and architecture. 

 In both cases, irregular informal pictur- 

 esqueness is the keynote. Spaciousness and 

 symplicity with a maximum of convenience 

 are conspicuous qualities. In the ground 

 few changes are made from the original 

 topography. Approach roads curve to find 

 the better grade, or skirt a rocky ledge; 

 wide lawns roll away from the house. 

 Servants' quarters and buildings are con- 

 venient but subordinate; gardens and 

 terraces make life pleasant. This may 

 sound very like a description of English 

 "informal landscape gardening." In like 

 manner a description of the typical American 

 country house would sound like a mere 

 variation from the English. But they are 

 both truly American, although this is not 

 the place to explain why. 



A further study of our modern landscape 

 architecture reveals an appreciation of ex- 

 isting natural beauty and a certain artistic 

 eagerness to find in this local charm the 

 motive for the whole design. It is conscious 

 effort to exploit what is good and to remove 

 or remodel what is unsightly. No matter 

 how rustic (abominable word!) it is never 

 a copy of nature, but a man-made work of 

 art, created by elimination as well as addi- 

 tion. There are two main elements of such 

 landscape compositions. One is the beauty 

 of ground and water forms such as a distant 

 sweeping hillside or intimate ravine, brooks 

 and ponds. The second is the varied 

 charm of vegetation from the unspoiled 

 sturdiness of a mountain oak to that per- 

 fection of sophisticated topiary work, the 

 clipped grass lawn. Ground forms and 

 vegetation are combined with endless 

 changes, each one to form a landscape 

 picture. 



Now all landscape architecture, whether 

 formal or picturesque, costs. It takes 

 common sense and studied artistry to make 

 the first necessary general plan. Even 

 when one knows exactly the desired result, 

 it is wise to hire experts to help in the 



