The garden house in Mrs. Wilder’s garderL The approach is through the centre of the building, the garden scene bursting suddenly into full view. (See next page.) 
The Making of My Garden. Louise beem 
[Editor’s Note: — Mrs. Wilder s recently published book “My Garden” is a zvork of exceptional quality. It is indeed the most inspirational 
and yet at the same time most practical book on the American garden that has appeared for some years. Though based on the trials and successes of 
' her garden in the Ramapo Mountains the information given has a universal appeal because the author has traveled much and has seen much. She in- 
terprets, never preaches, and is not didactic. In “My Garden” the reader is carried along from the year s beginning to its close in a series of chapters 
that interpret the activities of each month. An unusual acquaintance with plants for the perennial garden is noticed throughout. Mrs. Wilder has 
contributed articles to earlier numbers o/The Garden Mag.azine, writing especially on Irises. The present article is taken from one of the chapters 
of “My Garden,” a book by the way that should do much to popularize the personal side of gardening among us, and which might with advantage be 
in the garden zvork room of the vast majority of amateur gardeners, and one from which many a professional might learn much.] 
“Take thy plastic spade, it is thy pencil, take thy 
seed, thy plants, they are thy colou s.” — Mason 
I T IS well, I think, for all gardeners, present 
or prospective, to be reminded that the 
words “garden,” “\'ard,” and “orchard” 
all spring from an .'\ryan root meaning an 
enclosure; for apparently, in the general letting 
down of barriers, which seems to be the order of 
our day, there is more than a little danger of 
the garden losing one of its greatest charms — 
that of privacy and peaceful seclusion. 
Many suburban places are quite open to the 
street, so that for all freedom from observation 
their 'owners may enjoy they might as well be 
in a public park; and often, on large country 
places, the space devoted to flowers is not 
divided from the surrounding country by any 
distinct boundary, but trails away indefinitely, 
so that one quite loses the significant delight of 
going into the garden, of being within an en- 
closure set apart for a special and beautiful 
purpose. 
For many centuries the idea of a garden as 
an enclosed, protected area prevailed, and, in- 
deed, it is only recently, since Kent “leaped 
the fence and saw that all nature was a gar- 
den,” that such an anomaly as a barrierless 
garden was thought of, much less perpetrated. 
In the early gardening days of the old world 
walls and stout fences were needed for pro- 
tection; but later, m less strenuous times, were 
retained for the sake of the peace and privacy 
they insured. And, it seems to me, that no 
pleasanter picture for our emulation can be 
called to mind than those little walled gardens 
of long ago — the trim, straight paths, the little 
beds and narrow, straight borders filled with 
friendly and lovely things, the shadowing 
Crab and Cherry trees — a spot converted from 
the common land and made intimate and per- 
sonal, sacred to beauty and sweetness, to de- 
lightful work and auiet meditation. 
THE RARE ENJOYMENT OF A G.ATE 
I o me, a garden unenclosed can never quite 
deserve the name, however beautiful the flow- 
ers; and I feel sure that any one who has ever 
owned a garden gate, and known the rare enjoy- 
ment of passing through and closing it, will 
understand and support my preference. 
There are many ways of encompassing the 
garden; walls of old brick or stone create an 
especially agreeable atmosphere and a splendid 
background for the flowers, but m many cases 
these are not possible and sometimes not de- 
sirable, and one has the choice between clipped 
or free-growing hedges, trellis or paling fences, 
wire fences overgrown with vines, or posts set 
at intervals with ropes or chains hung between, 
upon which Roses or other long-limbed vines 
may be trained. 
For small gardens or for divisions between 
different parts of large gardens, the wooden 
trellis, painted white or very light green, is 
extremely pretty; and even the white paling 
fence, when used to enclose simple gardens of 
the cottage type, is both attractive and ap- 
propriate. But for general use and beauty. 
•My Garden by Louise Beebe Wilder, pp. XVI-^^o8. Illustrated. Cloth, Price I1.50 (Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City. N. Y.) 
‘203 
next to walls of stone or brick, I think a fine 
• evergreen hedge close-clipped to a formal line 
is unsurpassed. The dark color of this hedge 
throws the brilliancy of the flowers into high 
relief and the severity of line creates a charm- 
ing foil for the luxuriant unrestraint within. 
Three true evergreens make satisfactory 
hedges in our Northern climate: our fine Hem- 
lock (Tsuga canadensis), the Norway Spruce 
(Picea excelsa), and the common American 
.Arborvitae (Thuya occidentalis), the last of 
which is the least expensive and makes a hand- 
some hedge. 
Privet is very nearly evergreen m our cli- 
mate, and for cheapness, quick growth, and 
ease of management has much to be said in its 
favor. Many urge against it on account of its 
reputation as a ravenous feeder, but I feel that 
we should not be frightened away from so good 
a shrub on this ground, for it offers us the op- 
portunity of having a fine hedge in a compara- 
tively short time and at small expense, and 
where much hedging is to be done this latter 
point must usually be taken into consideration. 
Privet should be cut back hard the first two 
seasons after planting in early spring — this to 
• insure a compact growth at the base — and 
thereafter the pruning may be done in June 
when the spring growth of the young shoots is 
accomplished. 
MANAGING .A HEDGE 
The management of the evergreen hedge, the 
first few years after planting, is all important. 
