December, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XV 



PLANNING THE GARDEN^ 



By Ida D. Bennett 



THE most important point in planning 

 the garden is the location. Where as 

 great a variety of plants as possible are 

 to be grown it is necessary that the garden 

 have an east and south exposure and that it 

 be somewhat protected on the north and west, 

 either by buildings or trees at a distance, as 

 near-by trees are detrimental to a garden, the 

 roots of the trees drawing too much moisture 

 from the soil. 



The soil of the garden is less important, as 

 that can readily be replaced by better soil 

 from a distance, and in replacing poor soil 

 with good the requirements of the various 

 plants to be grown can be consulted. If the 

 soil is a warm loam with a fair proportion of 

 sand it will grow the greater varieties of 

 flowers successfully, and it will only be nec- 

 essary to add clay to the rose beds and a little 

 leaf mold from woods or compost heap to the 

 beds for the pansies, heliotropes, and hibiscus, 

 and muck from the marsh for the growing of 

 water-lilies and a few other flowers. Marsh 

 earth, however, is very acceptable to all of 

 our ornamental bedding plants, especially the 

 canna, ricinus and salvia, and a few dollars in- 

 vested in a few wagon loads of this piled in 

 an out-of-the-v\ ay place to decay is a very 

 good investment for the garden. 



The relation of the garden to the house is 

 important, as much of the pleasure of garden- 

 ing is lost if one must be too much in the 

 public eye or be in any way inconvenienced in 

 going to and from one's work. A shelter for 

 tools, at least, should be within easy reach of 

 the garden, so that as little time as possible 

 need be spent in collecting what is necessary. 

 But while the garden should be easily ac- 

 cessible from the house it should have its 

 privacy guarded in some way, either by an 

 encircling wall or hedge, though the latter 

 may be but a low one of flowering plants. 



If the garden is located where the land falls 

 away from it in any direction, especially 

 toward the south or east, the matter of drain- 

 age will not be apt to give any serious trouble, 

 but where the land is flat and underlaid with 

 clay it will be necessary to underdrain with 

 porous tile, and it will be best to do this be- 

 fore any beds are marked out or paths es- 

 tablished. 



There is a prevalent opinion that the shape 

 of the bed is an important consideration. This 

 is true only in a superficial sense. The paths 

 are really the more important point, having 

 the relation to a garden that the streets have 

 to a city. Given good broad paths to get about 

 in and the work becomes a pleasure, but wind- 

 ing paths, full of impractical or impossible 

 angles, make for irritation and ineffectual 

 work. There are heavy loads of earth and 

 fertilizers to be wheeled along the garden 

 paths, and loads of weeds and other refuse to 

 be carted out. Racks of dead leaves are to 

 be brought in for winter protection, all call- 

 ing for good roads and easy curves. The 

 quality of the roads depends both on their 

 width and smoothness, so that the material 

 of which they are composed is also important. 

 Where expense need not be too closely con- 

 sidered it will be well to lay concrete or ce- 

 ment walks, and in doing so to extend the 

 edges of the walks into a curb about the beds. 

 But where cement walks with curbs are laid 

 provision for drainage should not be neglected, 

 as water standing on cement walks after every 

 rain is very annoying. Drainage plates set in 

 the walks every few feet will obviate this. 



The garden will grow, and provision must 

 be made for it by so arranging the beds that 

 they may be extended when the need arises 

 without disturbing the portion already planted. 



Importance of Hardware 



The selection of the hardware trimmings for your new house is too important a matter 

 to be left to the discretion of another. Make your own selection; by doing so you not only 

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 you will be able to obtain a more appropriate and artistic effect. 



£^ -9 ARTISTIC 



bargent S Hardware 



may be selected to liarniouize with any style 

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 long- wear affords unbounded satisfaction. 



THE GEORGE WASHINGTON MIRROR. 



An exact reproduction of this famous Colonial Looking-glass, finished 

 in pure gold leaf. Outside measurement is 26 inches by 66 inches long. 

 This finely tempered h rench Plate mirror measures (two sides) 1 2x 1 8 

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Portfolio of " The Looking-glasses of 100 Years Ago" free to Lovers of 

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.TH.BROOKS£CO.(U^'0- 

 Floor&Sidewalk Lights. 



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Homes, Apartments, Office Buildings, Hotels, Schools, 

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