132 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 1908 



Bridge Above a Dam 



A Rustic Bridge of Simple Design 



A High Bridge Across a Stream 



port the wooden bridge, and plain wooden 

 railings outline both driveway and bridge 

 leading to the old mill and a natural bog 

 garden in the hollow beyond. 



Another section of this same stream at 

 the upper end of the estate is so shallow in 

 dry seasons that it frequently dried away to 

 an ugly expanse of mud in midsummer, until 

 it was dammed up with ornamental stone- 

 work. A broad stone wall reaches out from 

 either bank of the stream making the 

 waterway quite narrow where it flows over 

 the dam. On one side of the stream the 

 wall has been left without vine planting. On 

 the garden side, where a sheltered resting 

 place has been formed down close to the 

 music of the waterfall, both vines and shrub- 

 bery have been planted to obscure the rough 

 masonry; and the big trees springing from 

 the water's edge have their trunks well cov- 

 ered with billowy vines that seem to sway 

 and dance to the music of the dashing water. 



The best hardy shrubbery for planting in 

 such positions is the giant knotweed. This 

 is a tall-growing species known botanically 

 as Polygonum cuspidatum. It frequently 

 reaches a height of from five to seven feet, 

 and may be planted close down to the edge 

 of the stream, where with one foot in the 

 water and another on the land it will take 

 strong root hold and cover its branches with 

 billowy masses of foliage throughout the 

 greater part of the year, and display misty 

 clouds of bloom during August and Sep- 

 tember, when numerous long drooping clust- 

 ers of white flowers develop at the axil of 

 each leaf along the upper half of the stem. 

 This is a striking plant for an isolated speci- 

 men of shrubbery, but it is especially beauti- 

 ful when grown in its favorite moist situation 

 on the edge of a garden stream, with its 

 mist-clouds of bloom swaying over the 

 water. 



The charm of appropriateness between 

 the garden stream, its planting and its bridg- 

 ing, is shown in many pleasing types on the 

 Morris estate. On a quiet level stretch, in 

 a secluded portion of the grounds, where 

 there is little swelling of the stream with 

 destructive dash and flow after heavy rains, 

 an artistic stone bridge with steep archway 

 has been erected, with big boulders at the 

 side for stepping stones and resting places 

 leading down to the water. A drooping wil- 

 low has been trained to spread its branches 

 above the bridge, reach down to the water, 

 and shelter one of the most alluring of the 

 boulder seats. Then all along the banks the 

 planting problem has been solved by a va- 

 riety of hardy iris and trailing myrtles. The 

 hardy varieties of Japanese iris are especially 

 appropriate for this planting. There is also 

 a variety of iris of peculiar attraction for 

 such situations known botanically as Iris 

 pallida folia variegata. It is conspicuous 

 because of its beautifully variegated foliage, 

 each long leaf showing a background of 

 glaucous green with broad bands of creamy 

 yellow. There is still another variegated 

 sort which is prized for stream gardening 



