Planning Adjoining Lots as One— By c. L. Mell 



North 

 CI , Dakota 



NOT A COMMUNITY OR PARK IDEA, BUT A PRACTICAL SOLUTION OF TREATING SMALL LOTS THAT GIVES 

 SCOPE FOR BROAD TREATMENT AND YET EACH PART RETAINS THE INDIVIDUALITY OF ITS OWNER 



THE trouble with the regulation "city 

 lot," from the garden amateur's point 

 of view, is that it is too small, too much 

 hemmed in and deprived of both air and 

 sunshine. This may be obviated by treat- 

 ing all the yards as one park, but that 

 too often fails to please because individ- 

 uality is killed, and all places look alike. 



But adjoining lots may be 

 so planned and planted that 

 the effect produced will be 

 that of one larger unit, har- 

 monious in all its details, 

 and yet give the individual 

 space to air his own ideas 

 without either owner sac- 

 rificing to the other his 

 personal gardening tastes. 

 The chief factor in a scheme 

 of this kind, of course, is 

 the personal equation as far 

 as that expresses itself in 

 neighborliness. A few feet 

 of ground must be given up 

 and the planting modified 

 to a slight extent so as to 

 conform to the general / £} \\ f v 

 scheme, but that is all ' 

 required. Privacy is in no 

 wise lost. The expense is 

 not increased, for no greater 

 outlay involves upon each 

 than would be spent indi- 

 vidually, while even a slight 

 saving may result consequent 

 upon the purchase of larger 

 quantities. 



The accompanying plan 

 shows how such an idea was 

 actually worked out. The 

 garden here depicted is the 

 result of odd hours snatched 

 from a busy fife and being 

 still in the making, minor 

 details therein may be 

 changed, though the main 

 features have already been 

 developed and will remain. 

 In the first place a drive was 

 laid out extending from the 

 street back to the full depth 

 of the house where it widens 

 into a circle, the centre of 

 which is occupied by a large 

 flower bed. Half of the 

 width, about five feet, was 

 contributed by each owner. 

 The driveway was put in 

 to obviate the necessity of driving over the 

 grass in unloading fuel and to facilitate 

 the removal of garbage, ashes and garden 

 rubbish, for the property is without an 

 alley. The drive affords ample turning 

 space for the largest wagon. It is annually 

 coated with ashes mixed with cinders. The 

 drainage is very slight from the rear to the 



front and to both sides, yet a firm, com- 

 paratively dry surface is obtained during wet 

 weather. 



Back of the drive extends the main shrub- 

 bery border, encompassing in a semi-circular 

 outline a grass plot just large enough for a 

 croquet lawn. To this each party also con- 

 tributed an equal share, and this is the full 



Wild-roses (Rosa Carolina) 



Highbush cranberry (Viburnum Opulus) II. 



Rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa) 12. 



German iris (Iris Germanica) A. 



Golden elder (Sambncus nigra, var. aiirea) B. 



Sumach (RJius glabra) C. 



Spirea (Spiraa Van Houttei) E. 



Hardy hydrangea (Hydrangea pankulata) S. 

 Mock orange (Philadelphia coronarius) 



Native thorn (Crategus oxacanlha) 



Peony (Paony albiflora) 



Honeysuckle (Lonicera Talarica) 



Apple trees (Pyrus Mains) 



Boxelder (Acer Negnndo) 



Cut-leaved birch (Betida alba, var. laciniala) 



Elm (Ulmiis Americana) 



Blue spruce (Picea glauca) 



These two lots are planned, as one, yet are quite distinct, and each owner has 

 opportunity to indulge his own fancy in plants 



extent of the cooperation. The shrubbery 

 not only screens the kitchen gardens to 

 either side, but likewise affords an excellent 

 background for the flower bed as seen from 

 the sidewalk. The massing and locating 

 of the shrubs at this part of the lots, more- 

 over, adds a suggestion of depth not to be 

 gained by other means. Native shrubs have 

 353 



been used for the most part, primarily to con- 

 form to the limitations of the climate. Fur- 

 thermore, experience has shown, as regards 

 berried shrubs for winter effect, that native 

 material fruits more abundantly and holds 

 its berries more persistently than exotics. 



Naturally enough, as the gardener, who a 

 few years ago was a complete novice in the 

 art, grows more proficient 

 he may wish to change some 

 of the individual shrubs — 

 and a pity it were if this 

 desire did not arise — but 

 the main features will not be 

 altered thereby. Therefore, 

 as far as our present purpose 

 is concerned, a discussion 

 of the effect to be produced 

 will prove more interesting 

 than an enumeration of the 

 exact number and kind of 

 shrubs used. Against \\.c 

 rear fence are plamed native 

 wood roses (Rosa Carolina) 

 intermixed with a row of high 

 bush cranberries, fronted by 

 rugosa roses, which in turn 

 are flanked by German iris. 

 This arrangement, while 

 affording a fair succession 

 of color during the sum- 

 mer, produces an excellent 

 winter effect. The highbush 

 cranberry is followed in 

 flower by the native roses, 

 whose color, more pronoun- 

 ced and darker, is carried 

 into September by the more 

 solitary flowers of the rugosa 

 roses. The irises, with their 

 color play against the green 

 background, afford a pleas- 

 ing contrast. In winter, the 

 warm red berries of both 

 the roses, as well as the high- 

 bush cranberry, stand out 

 against the snow. Unfor- 

 tunately, however, the archi- 

 Ce&m- tect planned the houses years 

 before the garden was 

 thought of, so neither living 

 room, dining room, nor 

 kitchen window will ever 

 frame this picture. Here is 

 a lesson worth learning. 



In front of each group of 

 native roses a golden elder 

 flaunts its yellow, perhaps a 

 color somewhat too pronounced, but by no 

 means a discordant element, as staghorn 

 sumachs with their large, dark green foliage 

 tone it down. Bordering the sumach a 

 short row of Van Houtte's spirea bend their 

 graceful sprays of white. Their foliage con- 

 trasts prettily, both in shade and outline, with 

 that of the sumachs. Next to the sumachs 



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