3i8 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1910 



Fie. 2 — A bench 



ench among the peonies 



the 



(seen in, say, standard roses) ; but 

 then they cannot be upset and are 

 not easily broken. Again its airily 

 patterned walls and luminously 

 decorated- ceilings, though these 

 last certainly sometimes let the 

 water through, are always pro- 

 vided free of cost, and woven ac- 

 cording to the latest design. And 

 when the hour comes for the lights 

 to be put out and the blinds drawn 

 down, this is ever punctually done 

 by invisible ministrants who for- 

 get nothing, and serve us faithfully 

 without needing tiresome direc- 

 tions, or expecting any wages at 

 all." 



The above description would 

 seem to imply that no furniture is 

 necessary in a garden; but the en- 

 joyment of the most perfect gar- 

 den ever imagined would be in- 

 complete without some provision 

 for rest and comfort in the matter 

 of seats and shelter. 



An old writer speaks of 

 "My garden sweet, enclosed with walles 



strong 

 Embanked with benches to sit and take 



my rest." 



And in Much Ado About Nothing, 

 saucy Beatrice is enticed 



"Into the pleached bower, 

 Where honeysuckles ripened by the sun 

 Forbid the sun to enter." 



In regard to the furniture of a garden 

 first come the essential parts of garden 

 architecture, such as walls, gates, gate- 

 posts and balustrades of the terraces. 

 The walls are, perhaps, the most Import- 

 ant factor in the whole, and should be 

 solid and lofty, with a beveled coping and 

 end in pillars, the pillars ornamented with 

 balls or some other device at the top. 

 Niches should be avoided, for they gather 

 dirt and dust and serve no purpose. The 

 walls, however, should be covered with 

 flowering vines or creepers. Gates of 

 wrought iron always bespeak good taste. 



Fig. 3 — An attractive arbor seat 



Paved stone or brick paths set flat among 

 the grass are never out of place, nor is the 

 gravel walk with a neat edging of box or 

 grass, or some simple flower that blooms 

 close to the ground, such as the pansy. 



With regard to ornaments and "embell- 

 ishments — the sun-dial on its pillar mark- 

 ing no hours save the bright ones and the 

 fountain, throwing high into the air its re- 

 freshing spray or tinkling sweetly as it 

 drops from the mouth of some fantastic 

 bird or animal into a basin, are always true 

 to the spirit of the garden. However small 

 the little paved court may be, a fountain is 

 never out of place." 



Vases and statues are "embellishments" 

 that have no natural affinity to gardens. 

 "Statues and such things are added for state 

 and magnificence, but are nothing to the true 

 pleasures of a garden," wrote Lord Bacon; 

 and he was perfectly right. Such decora- 

 tions belong to the stately garden of the 

 grand Italian style with its terraces 

 and statues, temples, theatres and 

 vases, or to the Dutch garden with 

 its evergreens clipped into the 

 shape of monsters or animals ac- 

 cording to the dogmas of the topi- 

 arian art which was in vogue in 

 England and this country in Geor- 

 gian days; or to the simpler gar- 

 den with its formal walks, clipped 

 alleys, smoothly shorn bowling- 

 greens and geometrical arrange- 

 ments of flower beds that resem- 

 ble carpets and rugs. 



In the early eighteenth cen- 

 tury, Batty Langley ornamented 

 flower-gardens with fragrant 

 flowers, fountains and beautiful 

 statues, and advised, 



"That the intersections of walks 

 be adorned with statues, large 

 open plains, groves, coves of fruit, 

 of evergreens, of flowering shrubs, 

 of forest trees, basins, fountains, 

 sun-dials and obelisks: 



Fig. 4 — "Enclosed with walles strong." 



