THE GREENING LANDSCAPE 



RAILROAD LANDSCAPE 

 GARDENING 



r 



RAILROAD people are very progressive. More than 

 any other industry the raih'oads have helped to de- 

 velop the natural resources of this country. They are 

 now leading the van in beautifying the .towns and cities 

 through which they pass by the artistic planting of their 

 station grounds. The Detroit United Railway has under- 

 taken a systematic campaign of improvements by develop- 

 ing from six to twelve stations a year and has appointed 

 me as their official landscape gardener. On some of the 

 larger grounds very elaborate gardens are laid out, in- 

 cluding small parks planted with shade-trees and many 

 shrubbery details. The view here pictures the power- 

 house at Ypsilanti, Mich., and shows what can be done to 

 make beautiful even the surroundings of car-barns. In- 

 stead of the usual accumulation of old iron and other 

 rubbish we find here a lovely setting of shrubs and well- 

 kept lawns. As there is a great deal of careless travel to and from 

 the barns, guard-rails, made of gas-pipe, were used near the walk 

 to prevent the employees and others from making a short cut 

 across the lawn. The two beds in the foreground are in the park- 

 way; that is, on the street next to the sidewalk. There is a similar 

 planting on the other side of the building and at the rear. Even 

 the approach to the power-house and coal-sheds is made beautiful 

 by the combination of shrubs. 



But perhaps the most noteworthy fact connected with this 

 improvement is that it is done as an investment. People like to 

 travel on a line of railroad that caters to the intellectual and 

 sesthetic culture of its patrons, and I predict that the time will 

 yet come when the railroads will not only provide beautiful sta- 

 tion grounds but will provide bouquets of flowers for their travel- 

 ing guests. At certain stations uniformed attendants will board 

 the trains and give a complimentary boucjuet to all passengers, 

 a practice now in tentative use by the Michigan Central Railroad 

 at their Ypsilanti station. 



I had a peculiar experience at the Ann Arbor station of the 

 Detroit United Railway. The waiting-room is wedged in between 

 other buildings and there was absolutely no ground near it. Now, 

 making a garden without ground is very much like playing Hamlet 



53 



Plate 42 



RNS OF DETROIT UNITED RAILWAY AT YPSILANTI, MICH. 

 Showing Landscape Improvements One Year After Planting 



with Hamlet left out ; but I found a way out of the difficulty by 

 using Bay-trees in tubs and hanging flower-boxes ruider the 

 windows. The results were very satisfactory and added greatly 

 to the beauty of the waiting-room. 



DETROIT UNITED RAILWAY 



Detroit, Mich., Sept. 7, 1910. 



The Greening Landscape Co., Monroe, Mich. 



Gentlemen: — It gives me much pleasure to state on behalf of my 

 Company, that the landscape gardening that you have done for us is most 

 satisfactory. 



Aside from the great improvement made in the appearance of our 

 Station Grounds, the general layout and tone of the work has been fre- 

 quently most favorably commented on by others. 



Yours very truly, 



F. W. BROOKS, Vice-President. 



