December, 1909 
to the plan, is about roo feet in width and 
less than 450 feet in depth, in other words, 
about one acre. It is within a few miles 
of one of our large cities; no description 
will be given of the house; all that is writ- 
ten will be in reference to the grounds. 
The front part, or street end, consists of the usual lawn, 
paths, driveway, trees and shrubbery, showing croquet- 
ground in the front and tennis-court on the side. This por- 
tion of the grounds has been laid out for about fifteen years, 
but particular attention is called to the back half, or what, 
in most properties, is considered the least desirable portion. 
Beginning back of the turn in the driveway, a path leads 
down the hill and joins several other paths. This back- 
» tg id 
oy 2 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 4 
American Homes and Gardens 
Garden Competition 
THE FIRST GARDEN PRIZE OF 
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS 
Won by Charles J. Pilling, Esq. 
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania 
Wa 
~ 
garden eight years ago was neglected and not used. The 
natural advantages at that time were three large trees and 
a spring of clear water that came out of the ground and im- 
mediately went back and ran away under the ground; the 
surrounding country is a beautiful valley. From these con- 
ditions evolved the garden shown in the accompanying pho- 
tographs. 
It is essentially a rough natural garden, with hundreds 
of azaleas, ferns, evergreen trees and dwarf maples growing 
between and covering the moss-covered rocks. While this 
back portion of the garden covers only about one-half an 
acre, its perfect proportions make it seem very much larger. 
The rock construction was done a little each year, as 
most of the planting, covering a period of six or seven years, 
but most of the work was done in the spring and some of it 
It is essentially a rough natural garden 
