American Gardening, 



In one ■ \ AMERICAN GARDEN. | 



^ ' \ POPULAR GARDENING. 



Vol. Xlll. 



JANUARY, 1892. 



No. I. 



RATIONAL GARDEN WALKS. 



X f-HAT 



iDontW^k on 

 WVhe Grass 



A PLEA FOR 



could tell more 

 n 1 y than the 

 Don't" boards 

 placed in parks and 

 gardens to prevent walk- 

 ing on the lawn, that 

 greensward is pleasant 

 to walk upon ? Recently 

 I visited a public garden 

 whose pathways were ridiculous. Gravel walks 

 had been provided, but they were poor as regards 

 smoothness, firmness and size of the surface gravel 

 used. The pebbles were large, uneven in size and 

 loose, making a most uncomfortable walk. About 

 four feet back from the margin was a line of boards 

 inscribed, " Don't Walk on the Grass." Between 

 the gravel and the boards was a smoothly-beaten 

 dirt path where grass had once grown, but had long 

 since been trampled to death. The pedestrians 

 certainly did not "walk on the grass," for there 

 was no grass on which they could walk. 



This park is a fair illustration of the most of 

 public and home grounds in one respect at least. 

 Its walks may be reduced to two common kinds ; to 

 wit, such as extend between certain points and are 

 much used, and such as are designed simply to 

 give access to the more remote parts of the area, 

 and which are used comparatively little. Among 

 the former may be mentioned certain cross-paths 

 from street to street, giving people a chance to run 

 directly across the garden. These might be con- 

 sidered analogous to the much-used walks between 

 house and street, house and stable, etc., in private 

 grounds. 



Now, it has been my practice in garden-making 

 to preserve a clear distinction between these two 



EASY PATHS. 



kinds of walks. I believe in constructing the much" 

 used walks of the best material that can be afforded 

 for easy and agreeable travel, and also think they 

 should be quite direct, so that there will be little 

 temptation to deviate from them in going from point 

 to point. For superfluous, little-used walks leading to 

 remote parts of the garden, I have no liking, pre- 

 ferring instead to dispense with "Don't" boards 

 and make of all the parts outside the cultivated 

 borders, etc., a common of closely-clipped, vel- 

 vety lawn — the pleasantest thing in the world to 

 walk on. Pleasure is then combined with cheap- 

 ness and beauty. 



I have long been satisfied that this is the rational 

 view of the walk question in private grounds, and 

 it applies equally well to public parks. In the inci- 

 dent cited, I am positive that were the much-used 

 cross-paths made of asphalt or some other superior 

 material for walks, and were other walks omit- 

 ted, all being left a common of greensward, the re- 

 sults would be vastly more gratifying. Not the 



Inexpensive Garden "Walks. 



least gain would be the getting rid of an inconsistent 

 combination of gravel walks (on which no one treads 



