Make Your War Garden Attractive 



LEONIDAS WILLING RAMSEY 



Landscape Architect, Iowa 



THE VEGETABLE PLOT HAS COME TO STAY— WHY NOT MAKE IT A REAL PART OF THE GARDEN PICTURE 



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DURING the last spring and 

 summer every available 

 space was turned into a 

 vegetable garden in order 

 to battle the higher cost of living 

 caused by the war, with the result 

 that the increase in production is 

 estimated to be as high as 250 per 

 cent. It is hardly possible that the 

 cost of living will ever be as low as 

 it has been in the past, which makes 

 it advisable that we consider the 

 vegetable garden a permanent part of 

 our home grounds. But at the same 

 time we should realize that be- 

 cause we have a vegetable garden 

 there is no reason that we should 

 allow the rear yard to be arranged 

 in an unsightly manner; for, with a 

 little care, the place may present as 

 attractive an appearance as was the 

 case before the vegetable garden was added. 

 We too often associate the vegetable garden 

 with the tin can alley and the garbage dump 

 and we fail to realize that it may easily be 

 made an integral part of the home grounds 

 from which we can receive that satisfaction 

 which comes when a utilitarian problem is 

 handled efficiently and attractively. 



Many of us had never owned a vegetable 

 garden before this last season and had rather 

 considered work in the garden as a very un- 

 interesting form of labor. We were surprised 

 to find the pleasure which may be derived 

 from working in the garden and in seeing 

 plants develop from the time of their germi^ 

 nation. Then, too we have found that 

 vegetables raised by our own hands seem to 

 taste better than those purchased at the 

 market and that the advantage of having 

 fresh' parsley and the like for garnishing pur- 

 poses is a matter of no little consideration. 



GARDENING has been found as fasci- 

 nating as other forms of exercise and as 

 a matter of material for conversation has taken 

 its place along with golf, base-ball, war, 

 politics, weather and religion. Of course, 

 there have been disappointments, but when 



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next season comes around we will have 

 the experience of one season's work and will 

 know a little better how to tackle the prob- 

 lems which beset us at the outset. Probably 

 the greatest mistake made was in having the 

 garden larger than could properly be cared for. 

 A small vegetable garden worked properly will 

 yield more than a larger garden worked care- 

 lessly. 



In parts of Europe where every available 

 space is made to produce its share, there are 

 more attractive small homes and more unity 

 of design than in our own country. Should 

 we not plan our own gardens to be as attrac- 

 tive as possible, for then we would enjoy the 

 work in them all the more, and be more apt 

 thus to make a continued success of them? 

 Some time ago the writer visited a little 

 garden which was owned and tilled by a man 

 who spent his days in hard labor; and yet, 

 his garden was arranged so attractively, that 

 one could not help but realize that in it he 

 found peace and contentment. Why should 

 we not have attractive little nooks and shelter 

 houses in the garden as well as in any other 

 part of the place, for surely we spend more 

 time there than any other part of the home 

 grounds? 



Planning the Vegetable Garden 



THE vegetable garden should be arranged 

 along formal lines rather than otherwise; 

 for the fact that rows running north and 

 south are best for plant growth and that a 

 geometrical arrangement is best from a 

 standpoint of efficiency, confine our efforts to 

 an arrangement far removed from the least 

 bit of informality. 



The walks are the backbone of the ground 

 plan, and if carefully handled an interesting 

 design may be developed. Care should be 

 exercised, however, that the design be as 

 simple as possible, for a design of a very 

 intricate nature should be employed only when 

 there is an abundance of help to care for the 

 garden. 



Probably the cheapest and the best path 

 to be used in the vegetable garden is the 

 natural grass, with edgings which would add 

 crispness to the design. Although concrete 

 walks are often used they are a bit chilly in 

 appearance even for the vegetable garden. 

 They have the advantage, however, that they 

 are easily cleaned and are used properly when 

 the walks connecting directly with the 

 vegetable garden are of concrete. Macadam 

 ] and gravel walks have a pleasing natural tone 



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but they become sticky when damp- 

 ened and the garden cannot be 

 watered as freely as otherwise. 



Brick walks are perhaps even 

 better than the natural grass if one 

 is willing to go to the additional ex- 

 pense, for the effect gained would 

 warrant the expenditure. They are 

 easily cleaned and a brick may be 

 selected which has a warmth of 

 color that cannot be secured through 

 any other medium. 



THERE should be some dominant 

 note in the garden which may be 

 secured by the use of architectural 

 features or the interpolation of 

 flowers in the dominating parterre. 

 Bird baths, seats and sundials 

 may be used as accents in the 

 garden as well as any other part 

 of the grounds. Sundials have a charm 

 which is indispensable and no large place is 

 complete without one. There is a senti- 

 mental attachment which makes the sundial 

 a welcome part of any garden, and the legend 

 which they carry may turn a morning of 

 work into one of pleasant thoughts. Bird 

 baths are being used more and more and no 

 more suitable location could be found than in 

 the vegetable garden — there the birds which 

 busy themselves in destroying the insects in 

 the garden may come to drink and their 

 presence will afford much company during 

 the working hours. Seats should be located 

 here and there in the garden in order that it 

 may prove inviting and livable. 



As cut flowers should be raised under 

 vegetable garden conditions, there is no place 

 more appropriate than along the paths in the 

 vegetable garden and around the archi- 

 tectural features which are placed therein. 



Location for the Vegetable Garden 



ALTHOUGH the prime consideration in 

 locating the vegetable garden is that a 

 site be selected where there is an ample amount 

 of sun and where the soil is suitable for a 

 garden, there are many other points to be 

 given consideration commensurate with their 

 importance. The garden should be located 

 as an integral part of the whole scheme of 

 the home grounds and should be planned in 

 connection with the garage and other service 

 buildings if the place is a large one. Any 



— difference i n 

 grade may 

 often be taken 

 advantage of in 

 locating the 

 vegetable gar- 

 den. The gar- 

 den should be 

 handy to the 

 kitchen and yet 

 not too close to 

 the house. 



It is needless 

 to say that the 

 garden should 

 be screened 

 from the view of 

 the public and 

 even the neigh- 

 bors, when such 

 an arrangement 

 is possible, 

 whether the 



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