October, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



243 



How to Lay Out a Wild Wood Garden 



By Leila Mechlin 



N SPITE of the present enthusiasm for gar- 

 den lore and the great variety of existing 

 gardens, there are few persons who have 

 heard of, or attempted the making of a gar- 

 den in the woods. We have English gar- 

 dens, Italian gardens, formal gardens and 

 old-fashioned gardens galore, but very few wild gardens. 

 The name itself has a paradoxical ring, since all gardens 

 but the first have been made by man, and in large measure 

 derived their charm by submission to his will. That it is 

 not, however, an anomaly an ardent lover of the outdoor 

 world has proved. 



Some of the happiest results are brought about by un- 

 toward conditions, and so it happened that when five years 

 ago Dr. Charles W. Richardson, of Washington, D. C, 

 was confronted with the perplexing problem what to do 

 with the loose lying stones on a recently purchased suburban 

 estate, the solution of his difficulty, suggested by his wife, 

 became the inception of a wild rock garden, unique in con- 

 struction, delightful in character. 



The location for such a garden was ideal. From the 

 road the land rose with sufficient abruptness to give to the 

 house crowning its eminence both privacy and a vista ; at 

 the summit it rolled itself out into a fairly broad plateau; 

 dipped into a tiny dell, and finally lost itself in a well de- 

 fined glade which wandered through the woods with a 

 pleasant indifference of direction. The front slope has 

 been ordered into a park; the top land utilized in part for 

 a green, a formal flower garden and a kitchen garden; 

 but beyond the dell, on the rear of the estate, occupying a bit 

 of the plateau, and comprehending the glade and the gently 



The Rhodendron Mound and the Day Lillies 



The Japanese Point Where the Paths Divide 



sloping hillsides, over an acre and a half in all, is the rock 



garden. 



The first step in the construction of this garden was 

 the laying out of paths, and this was taken with thought- 

 ful regard of a natural order. The stones, obstacles in 

 the making of the park and green, were carried hence and 

 dropped, first in a defining line, and then one on another 

 to form pockets for the proper elevation of certain plants. 

 Conventionality was scrupulously avoided, and the wilful, 

 unsystematic spirit of the woods carefully preserved. 

 Certain clearing of the underbrush and trees was of course 

 necessary, but in the main nature's arrangement was ad- 

 hered to. The paths are allowed to lead from place to 

 place without apparent purpose; curving in and out, meet- 

 ing and separating, affording vistas and forming secluded 

 nooks; marked in places by a single row of rocks and pass- 

 ing in others through rocky, sloping walls, waist high. 

 To overcome the inconvenience of abrupt slopes and gully 

 washing steps have been constructed, at wide intervals, 

 with long gravel treads and log lifts — picturesque, and 

 at the same time informal. In the same spirit a rustic, 

 Japanese covered seat has been erected at the parting of 

 two walks to give the sojourner a sheltered rest, and here 

 and there log benches have been disposed. An effort has 

 been made, also, to produce variety in the several pros- 

 pects. In one large section a wild lawn has been made a 

 feature, and in another a group of beeches has been util- 

 ized to good effect. 



Once planned and fairly started, the collection of plants 

 began, and from every roadside and meadow in the vicin- 

 ity of the District of Columbia Mrs. Richardson gath- 

 ered specimens, transplanting wisely, and replacing as 

 nearly as possible each one in its natural environment 



