244 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1916 





INSIDE 



THE 



GARDEN HOME 



JAMES COLLIER MARSHALL 

 "T ' ■— 



Fireside Planning 



Mr. James Collier Marshall, Director of the Decorating Service of The Garden Magazine Advertising Dept., will solve your problems of home 

 decoration — color schemes, hangings, floor coverings, art objects and interior arrangements, making purchases at the most favorable prices. 

 This service is free to our readers. Address inquiries to "Inside the Garden Home," The Garden Magazine, 1 1 West 32nd Street, New York. 



■*"*■*! 



THE home lover who finds as much enjoyment in 

 his garden as in his house, and who spends many 

 pleasant winter hours before his fireside plan- 

 ning the arrangement and decoration of this outside 



setting of his life, will be interested in a confidence of a 



well-known architect who is said never to count costs, 



to the effect that his most enjoyed recreation is found 



"in working out garden decorative schemes of highest 



artistic merit at the lowest cost." 



A point he makes clear, however, and one that will be 



verified by any observant shopper, is that there are to be 



found many very good looking decorative articles if one 



but knows what he wants and keeps a sharp watch. 



It is necessary to know exactly what one wants. 

 In selecting these decorations one must 



not lose sight of the fact that not only they 



but the whole garden plan should conform 



to the type of house they surround. 



Another point to be dwelt on particularly 



is that no space is too trivial to be utilized 



yet a warning must be sounded against over- 

 decoration. This is very important since 



many a splendid opportunity has been lost 



through over-decoration and even through a 



too profuse planting around these articles. 

 Note in the many interesting pictures of 



gardens how frequently an otherwise charm- 

 ing and excellently placed sundial will be 



spoiled by the planting of flowers about its 



base that obscures and breaks the slender 



grace of the pedestal. Not only is its beauty 



lost, but by very contrast the flowers them- 

 selves seem ragged and forlorn. Then, too, 



how out of place these lovely friends seem 



around a fountain. Green sward is a much 



more appropriate and, excuse the word, a 



more neat setting than any other. 



There may be some question to this state- 

 ment, but it must be remembered that the 



use of decorative ornaments makes the gar- 

 den formal, and an informal planting of 



the flowers about these ornaments distinctly 



jars on one's sense of fitness. 



It will be found that there is no better 



setting for fountains than a velvet sward. 



Flowers are too uneven for the classic lines 



of the basin, and gravel is far too harsh. 



By all means let it be grass even if there be only room enough for a few feet of it. 

 Indeed, grass is the greatest ally we have in garden decoration in that it is the medium 



to great perspective, and for this 

 reason we must not abuse it. Pots and 

 urns to hold growing plants and flowers 

 have no business on the grass; proper 

 places for them will be found on the 

 stairs, on loggia and garden walls, and 

 on the formal brick or stone walks. 

 Wherever it seems best to use an orna- 

 ment for the sake of contrast and artistic 



Chaste beauty of line is made more gracious by the hospitality 

 offered in this excellent garden seat of a white painted cypress 







§ I .1 .1 i 



A veritable triumph is this arrangement of stone composition, broken brick and wood 



plus much artistry. It is doubly satisfactory and interesting because it is the background 



of a 30 ft. garden in New York City. The fountain costs only $125.00 



spacing let it be some formal decorative piece being 

 careful to prepare for it a special setting of foliage. 

 The wooden seat shown here is admirably placed 

 against foliage at the end of transverse walk in a small 

 formal garden, being balanced on the opposite side by a 

 similarly shaped bench, with a table arrangement for 

 tea which is also delightfully shaded with foliage. 



An exception to this rule of keeping the lawn free from 

 cluttering decorative objects will be found in the bird 

 bath which, through its humanitarian qualities, de- 

 serves its own particular place. The one illustrated is 

 remarkable for the classic simplicity of its lines, as well 

 as for its very low price. Here the feathered brother- 

 hood may bathe and rest awhile in the shadows beneath 

 the wide spread lip of bath. 



Bird baths and fountains are to-day im- 

 portant ornaments in a garden. None is 

 found too small for them, and certainly this 

 idea is admirably borne out in the charming 

 pilaster fountain and bath in the trellis 

 arbor shown here. This fascinating ar- 

 rangement is the crowning triumph in a 

 30 foot back yard garden in New York City. 

 Note the aperture in the trellis which will 

 always lend perspective; see the interesting 

 floor that is a mosaic of broken rough brick; 

 observe the deep concrete boxes that hold 

 plenty of earth for the vines which, when 

 mature, will make a veritable bower for the 

 beautiful Pan whose piping will never cease 

 to beguile the passerby. Eventually a 

 plain bench will be placed on either side of 

 the fountain, thereby offering hospitality as 

 well as adding beauty to the picture. Trel- 

 lised arbors, screens, and fences can be given 

 a classic beauty that will fit in anywhere, 

 and, indeed, the all desirable perspective is 

 gained more easily through this method than 

 any other and at a very low cost. 



There is much to be said about the use of 

 wooden furnishings in the garden. Natur- 

 ally, it does not last as long as the stone, or 

 composition pieces, but it is very durable 

 and lovely and often lasts a lifetime. 



Rustic furniture will always stand on its 

 own merit, but like everything it has its 

 place and one would hardly choose it for a 

 formal garden. But can you picture anything more alluring on a blazing hot after- 

 noon than a comfortable old hickory rocking chair, such as the one shown here on 

 the green sward under the wide spread shade of a giant tree. How much better it 

 seems than a wooden bench or a wicker chair tho' both of these have their own places. 

 Apropos of simple wood furnishings, the old custom of using wooden tubs for grow- 

 ing shrubs and trees is now being re- 

 vived. The very mention of such 

 tubs reminds one of the many fascin- 

 ating types of these articles one sees 

 in Continental Europe, and indeed 

 in our own South. Who, that has 



A splendid Roman jar, such as this, 13" tall by What more interesting or sensible bird bath can one wish than this one 24" wide by 4" deep Moorish laciness is expressed in this pottery vessel 

 Hi" wide, in stone composition comes at, $6.00 at $7.00, and what a boon to the feathered brotherhood that, 14" long with 6 pedestals sells at $3.00 



