May, 1910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



209 



that of having the living quarters directly on the street, for 

 it leaves no breadth of space that may be treated as one un- 

 broken whole. However, to recommend but one lay out 

 for grounds that shall suit any house and lot would be but 

 a fool's trick. Conditions may require the house to be on 

 the rear of the lot, with the garden in front, or on the front, 

 with the garden at the back. The arrangement of the 

 neighbor's grounds and the outlook will determine this. 

 In any case, the grounds should be of an intimate sort, and 

 as comfortable and retired as a room of the house. 



In the particular case discussed in this article, most of 

 the lot which was not occupied by the house was laid out as 

 a garden, and privacy attained by surrounding the garden 

 with a brick wall of an average height of seven feet. Thus 



the land showed a difference of grade of two feet 

 six inches that sloped from the western boundary to- 

 wards the house. The scheme was to make the main 

 garden, which is in view of the dining-room, as nearly level 

 as possible, and to take advantage of the slope to make 

 a terrace at the farthest side, and on this terrace to have a 

 small summer-house against the wall. The level of the 

 terrace is but two feet above that of the rest of the gar- 

 den — just enough to make an interesting background, and 

 to give a higher level, from which one may look down 

 on the flower-beds and other features. 



When arranging the grounds of any suburban home, one 

 must not loose sight of the fact that the winter aspect is 

 as important as the appearance of the place in summer. 







^ 



^•^^ ~- 



The garden as it was planned in perspective 



the garden became a little world by itself, as intimately 

 connected with the house as possible. 



However, there are many desirable ways to enclose a 

 garden other than with solid masonry. Often a dignified 

 picket fence covered with vines would be more in keeping 

 with the house and sight, or it might best suit the owner's 

 pocektbook to use a hedge or a planting of tall growing 

 shrubs, making a natural barrier between the home grounds 

 and their surroundings. 



The lot in question (135x140), being a corner lot, shows 

 the best arrangement by having the house near the corner 

 of the streets, thus placing it as far away from its neigh- 

 bors as possible, and leaving a generous amount of 

 ground in one piece. Before the garden was built. 



The accompanying sketch and plan of an enclosed garden 

 shows many semi-architectural features that give a pleasing 

 effect all the year round. All successful plantings must in- 

 clude shrubs and trees that are either evergreen in nature 

 or have interesting berries or colored twigs that will give a 

 touch of warmth at those seasons when flowers and green 

 leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs are not in evidence. 



The proper arrangement of the grounds is as important 

 as the internal arrangement of a house. The lawn, garden 

 and clothes yard must each be in its proper position. No 

 amount of ornamental work can help the appearance of a 

 place that is poorly planned. The main thing is the adap- 

 tation of the grounds to their uses. Too often one sees 

 a place spotted by isolated plantings here and there, flower- 



