February, 19 17 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
33 
I 
"If you want an inviting garden remember that it is the outdoor feeling combined with comfort which lures us out” 
noble trees. They offer the repose 
won from tempest-tossed nights 
and calm summer moonlight, and 
under the spell of their benevo- 
lence of mein one feels as lacking 
in pojse as a nervous, frivolous 
chipmunk. In accepting the hos- 
pitality of their peaceful shade, I 
want to bare my head in worship 
of one of the most beautiful 
things of life. 
Many trees like the Beech and 
Linden, if unmolested and given 
breathing space, will spread into 
great tents, their long branches 
sweeping low to touch the earth. 
Ascent into their leafy apartments 
is rapturously easy. A treasure 
house for life has the child who 
has gazed long and breathlessly 
into the tender green world of 
shifting sun spots far up in one 
of these green fortresses, true 
kingdoms of imagination. Here 
puzzling realities dare not intrude. 
Oh, woodman, in your madness 
for trimming, spare a few such 
treesof mystery and childhood joy! 
In contrast to these trees of 
lovable character are the ornamental trees 
one sees so frequently in parks. They are of 
the handsome “cloak model” variety, aloof 
and conscious only of their function of decora- 
tion. If you are planting trees to live with, 
study their characters and choose them as 
you would your friends. In Maeterlinck’s 
wonderful “ Blue Bird,” the trees are curiously 
changed in their French character. We do 
not recognize the Willow as a dwarf and 
cripple because we do not mutilate them as 
do the French, and it is impossible to consider 
the Elm as plebeian. If you want an inviting 
garden, remember that it is the outdoor feel- 
ing combined with comfort which lures us out. 
Get a fresh point of view on your problem 
by looking at the garden in a handglass. 
It may be you never before especially 
noticed the unsightly bald spots in the 
planting and the ugly back fence. If it 
is too windy you need a sheltering hedge 
or vine-covered lattice as a windbreak; 
if it is too sunny there should be a suit- 
able arbor or pergola. It may be that your 
garden is dominated by some trees whose 
shade and root system discourage all efforts 
at flowers; so much the easier in determining 
the type of garden you 
must have. Sometimes 
there’ is comfort in 
one’s limitations. Once 
a good sheltering back- 
ground of greenery is 
established, the simple 
addition of comfortable 
chairs, tabourettes for 
cups, tumblers, or 
work, a large gay sun- 
shade over a table, and 
big jars filled with 
branches of flowering 
shrubs or wild flowers, 
will create a hospitable 
open spaces of lawn for play and 
refreshment to the eye. 
Among the little things which 
add comfort and decoration to 
the hospitable garden are the 
wicker baskets with compartments 
for carrying bottles, glasses, and 
cracked ice, the brown Japanese 
baskets filled with fruit, nuts, etc., 
the American Indian and Mexican 
rugs and pottery, and the big tea 
jars which come from the East. 
A shield for the spirit lamp, and 
weights on the corners of the tea 
cloth, cheat the wandering breeze 
of its sport. Hickory and willow 
furniture will stand a lot of abuse 
from the weather, and the light 
collapsible tiffin tables with straw 
trays are easily carried about. 
It is not surprising, of course, 
that so few gardens are livable and 
interesting but it is saddening. 
It is not necessary to have one 
expensively maintained with a 
fine display of flowers. The cot- 
tage gardens of France are a joy to 
behold. There the cabbage and 
the Rose are on equal terms, 
and the onion more respected than either. 
The Europeans are clever in using every 
tiny breathing space. How the traveller blesses 
the sociable little cafes everywhere just a 
step from the hot dusty roads. Shady and 
vine covered, sometimes with small trees 
trimmed on top to make them spread into a 
leafy roof, with gravel under the chairs and 
tables, and perhaps a few boxes of Geraniums, 
they lure us in and invite a holiday spirit. 
Are the educated, self-respecting American 
farmers’ wives and village dwellers all too 
proud to copy their foreign sisters’ method of 
profit? There is so little outlay necessary 
to start, and in these days of thirsty motorists 
there is every chance of success. 
For the people unable to possess a garden 
will some kind philanthropist, eager to be 
relieved of the burden of his wealth, please 
finance a system of artistic little cafes along 
our main arteries? Picturesque places could 
be selected at proper distances from towns 
and they could be given into the hands of 
“struggling artists and architects” for in- 
dividual treatment. Some one must set 
an example. 
Already I hear the deadeninglv practical 
critic commenting fa- 
cetiously on high rents, 
flies and other na- 
tional institutions 
which sap the esthetic 
life of our soda water 
fountains. 
Our national nerves, 
however, need just 
such accessible, i n - 
expensive public 
gardens for the 
wholesome entertain- 
ment of the fettered 
spirits of the pave- 
ment. 
“Many trees, if unmolested and given breathing space will spread into great tents, their 
long branches sweeping low to touch the earth.” As suggested here a sort of playhouse' 
may be erected in the very branches 
garden centre even when backed against a 
dump heap. From this one may build to more 
ambitions things — vistas, flower beds, and 
“ How the traveler blesses the sociable little cafes every- 
where. Shady and vine covered they lure us in and invite 
a holiday spirit" 
