[Continued from Popular Gardening.] 



TASTE AND TACT IN ARRANGING HOME AND OTHER 



GROUNDS— XIV. 



SUALLY in treating the ground 

 plans that are being sub- 

 mitted to us by readers, 

 ■ we find it necessary to point 

 out, as a chief fault, the un- 

 satisfactory present arrange- 

 ment of such features as 

 walks, trees, shrubs, etc. 

 But in the case now to be considered, the faults 

 which our correspondent finds with his place are 

 of another sort. We will let him present them in 

 his own words : 



Decatur County, Kansas, 



To THE Editor : 



Dear Sir — Agreeably to your proposition, I submit here- 

 with a sketch [see page 714] of my dwelling property, 

 size 60x60 feet. It is deficient in shrubbery of all kinds, 

 as the place is comparatively new. Had 1 been taking 

 your journal at the time I built, I would not have made 

 the fatal mistake of setting the bouse so close to the 

 street. One hundred dollars would not repair this 

 blunder. Yours truly, 



G, W. K, 



This applicant pays Popular Gardening a pleasant 

 compliment in saying that had he taken the journal at 

 the time of building, he would not have made the mis- 

 take he did. It will give us pleasure to reassure him, 

 by showing how his grounds can be made so handsome 

 that we are certain, if the suggestions be followed, he 

 will in time quite lose sight of the chief fault deplored, 

 namely, that his house is in the wrong place. More- 

 over it is hoped that some comfort may be conveyed to 

 other readers whose houses may be located similarly ; 

 for one of the objects of this series is to encourage every 

 one to possess a fine garden, even though the surround- 

 ings are not in all respects of the most favorable kind. 



In this case undoubtedly the owner is right in think- 

 ing that the house is too close to the street. Yet it will 

 be observed that the fault is in the nature of detract- 

 ing from the pleasantness of the rooms and verandas of 

 the house, rather than in that of impairing the garden- 

 making qualities of the place. Indeed, speaking from a 

 gardener's standpoint, it might be laid down as a rule, 

 that the farther the house is from the center of the 

 lawn area, the better, as contributing directly towards 

 the greatest of garden charms, breadth and repose. But 

 when the gain is secured at the heavy cost of depriving 

 the front rooms of delightful garden views wholly out 

 of proportion to the extent of the grounds, the absur- 

 dity of such a rule is obvious. A defect is also ap- 

 parent from this same cause, as it relates to the view 



obtained of the residence from the street ; for the home 

 is perhaps not in existence that does not appear, as 

 viewed from without, to better advantage when sur- 

 rounded on all sides by a fair extent of lawn. 



Another objection that may be discovered in the 

 present arrangement is the regular relations that not 

 only the fruit trees (at the front of the stable and to the 

 right), but the forest trees in the further right hand part 

 of the lawn, bear one towards another and to the 

 boundaries. The few shrubs near the house are too 

 much scattered, and so located as to appear not to fit 

 their places well. Altogether it is apparent that straight 

 lines and angles in the outlines of the place, the direction 

 of the walk, tree rows, etc., abound in a degree which 

 has not met with due relief by past planting. 



On page 715 is shown the result of a study to ar- 

 range our correspondent's place more pleasingly. A 



Diagram of Planting in a City Back Yard. 

 (See page 718.) 



fundamental improvement suggested is the introduction 

 of some bold curves in the walks and the vegetable gar- 

 den partition, to offset the many fixed straight lines and 

 angles referred to above. In conjunction with these 



