A Place Planted for Winter Comfort—By Homer Hodgkins, 
100x150 LOT CONTAINING THE BEST RED-BERRIED AND RED-BARKED SHRUBS, BRIGHT 
-PLANTING PLAN FOR: A 
New 
York 
EVERGREENS, A WINTER PLAY-GROUND FOR CHILDREN AND INTERESTING THINGS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR 
(pee flood of magazine articles on 
“spring gardens,” gardens for Sep- 
“tember effect, etc., may be entertaining 
‘enough for millionaires who have three or 
“four residences, but, ignoble as the confession 
emay be, I never expect to own more than 
one house, and I fear I shall have to live in 
it the year round! The plain truth is I 
can’t afford a bigger lot than 100 x 150 feet 
and even if I could I wouldn’t have it be- 
cause I don’t want to keep a man, and my 
own patience gives out after doing a certain 
number of chores. An hour a day in the 
garden is delightful. After that—it’s too 
much like work. 
Now, the one great criticism about Amer- 
ican home grounds is that they are neither 
comfortable nor beautiful in winter. Every- 
body takes it for granted that it must be so, 
but I am perfectly sure that every yard 
50 x1o0o or larger can be made attractive 
365 days in the year and particularly that 
it can be filled with suggestions of warmth 
and cheer all winter. The way I propose 
to get all this is by having: 
1. A windbreak to keep my house warm 
and save coal. 
2. An outdoor playground for my children 
in winter. 
3. Some lovely specimen trees of light- 
colored cheery evergreens, instead of the 
dark, depressing kinds you see everywhere. 
4. Red-berried shrubs whose berries. will 
last all winter or at least till long after 
Christmas. 
5. Red-barked shrubs whose twigs will 
make a cheery contrast with the snow. 
6. Deciduous trees and shrubs that have 
special winter attractions, but will give us 
flowers all the rest of the year. 
7. A snug little greenhouse (costing say 
$1,000), where we can snap our fingers at 
sleet storms and grow our favorite flowers 
in the teeth of winter. 
HOW TO ATTAIN THEM 
Now there are only two ways of getting 
all these good things. The first is to know it 
all yourself—which is clearly impossible, for 
no power under heaven could persuade me 
to lumber up my brain with all the stuff 
those botanical waterspouts have to know. 
The second way is to catch a young land- 
scape gardener who has the training and 
the ideas, and is mighty glad to keep the pot 
boiling while he waits for the world’s fairs, 
national capitals, parks, and great estates 
to materialize. 
So I caught one—a young lady—and laid 
down the law like this: 
I want the rooms we use most to have the 
sun all day long and the views from those 
rooms have got to be attractive 365 days 
in the year. 
Idlike a genuine little landscape picture— 
one that will satisfy all the canons of your art. 
I won’t have a single bedding plant or 
any other costly, temporary things on the 
place. Everything must be hardy and 
reasonably long-lived. 
I must have a vegetable garden large 
enough to raise our favorite vegetables. 
I want the whole thing cheaper than any- 
one ever had it before. 
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The plants for the 100x150 ft. garden will cost about $350. 
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This was ‘‘piling it on” with a vengeance 
and I expected my young friend to beat a 
graceful retreat. But she was “game.” 
“Its a mighty stiff proposition,” she said. 
“The firm I studied with would demand a 
$1,000 retainer at once. But Ill give you 
everything you want, and I won’t have to vio- 
late my ideals either!” 
SO SOT 
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Deciduous trees are indicated by the plain 
circle; evergreens by the decorated circle; an irregular waved line marks shrubbery overhanging lawn; the 
dot and dash sinuous line marks the edge of a cultivated bed. For the meanings of the numbers and letters 
see the planting list opposite. “‘View lines” from the windows indicate the garden pictures 
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