170 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
April, 19 17 
monplace freight traffic of the streets, especi- 
ally when groceries, coal, fish or laundry 
arrive at the same moment with the invited 
guest. The first thought is to be shielded 
from all this as much as city conditions will 
allow. Then, too, there is the dust nuisance 
from which many people still suffer in city and 
country, even in these days of swept streets 
and oiled roads. The high wall or hedge cer- 
tainly stops a lot of dust from getting into lawn 
and house. 
A second group of people consider the home 
a place of refuge from the city. Granting that 
the passing show may be a beautiful and in- 
teresting thing at times, they want a rest and 
change from it occasionally. Outside excite- 
ment is always there when one is in the mood 
for it. People of quiet taste like a peaceful 
garden in which they may recharge their bat- 
teries to do their work in the world. 
A third group of people have the social in- 
stinct and naturally desire an outdoor living 
room. They like to take tea on the lawn or 
entertain friends in a garden. One cannot do 
these things properly in a yard that is open to 
the gaze of curious passersby. 
A fourth group comprises those who have 
difficulties with the neighbors. Even if all the 
neighbors in the world had the neighborly 
spirit, there would still be good reason for high 
enclosures around front or back yards. One 
cannot let too many children have the run of 
one’s place. Dogs are destructive to flowers 
and to fancy evergreens. Cats kill our song 
birds. The people next door or across the way 
may be frankly inquisitive or too watchful of 
our doings. 
The woman’s point of view also needs special 
attention. There are ladies who manage 
somehow to dig in the dirt without “looking 
like a fright,” but I have never met one who 
would concede that she looked her best in 
working attire. One of the greatest blessings 
a woman can have is to work outdoors alone in 
her own garden. Indeed every member of the 
family ought to have that privilege. It is 
necessary for the good of tbe human race. 
Whether paterfamilias ought to go to church 
on Sunday morning or whether he may 
occasionally live that hour among his Tulips 
and Daffodils conscience must decide. But if 
a front yard is really private every member of 
the family may work, play, rest, or read there 
six days in the week or seven without annoy. 
One individual specimen of any shrub, planted against a 
fence helps the feeling of privacy (Snowberry) 
Hitherto there has been more talk about 
privacy for the back yard than for the front. 
This is natural for the common American 
attitude is expressed by the saying “Front 
yard public, back yard private.” Moreover, 
we all know whole cities that seem to have no 
front yards at all. Yet it is surprising how 
many places there are in nearly every town 
whose only chance or best chance for privacy is 
in the front yard. I suppose that fifty feet 
square is about the minimum for working out a 
satisfactory outdoor living room, and in al- 
most any town, big or little, a half hour’s ride 
in an automobile will discover many front 
yards larger than that which are owned by 
people of moderate means. And this is true in 
spite of the wonderful growth of modern cities 
and the many influences that tend to make 
lots smaller and smaller. 
Some of the most interesting living prop- 
ositions of to-day are furnished by places laid 
out fifty to seventy years ago by the leading 
citizens of that day. Some of these have grand 
old houses that look like Greek temples, while 
those in the Victorian style can sometimes be 
modernized within and transformed into Col- 
onial houses. Ih^je places generally have 
magnificent proportions and lovely old shade. 
Sometimes the trees are much too thick, and 
the yards are made gloomy by Norway Spruce. 
It makes all the difference in the world to let 
the light into these old places and open a cen- 
tral lawn. Have you not been tempted by a 
vision of this sort in some quiet country town? 
On the other hand many of the old places, 
like those on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland or 
Jefferson and Woodward avenues in Detroit, 
had retirement, but no real privacy, because 
the trees were high-branched and any one could 
see the whole yard at a glance. These places 
can have real privacy by putting «n tall shrub- 
bery near the sidewalk. 
It is a pity that people do not always dis- 
tinguish between real and imitation privacy. 
Many persons who build three-foot walls de- 
clare that they “want a little privacy,” but 
any wall, hedge, or border that can be looked 
over gives no real privacy. If those who 
adopt half-way measures will search their 
hearts they may find that pride of ownership 
or love of display have unconsciously in- 
fluenced the decision. It is the most natural 
thing in the world for the new owner of a piece 
of ground to wish to mark his boundaries, and 
this instinct accounts for many thousand 
Privet hedges that are trimmed to a height of 
four feet. But this is a stiff and artificial way 
to advertise one’s ownership of real estate. A 
better aim is to blend one’s home with the en- 
vironment, and irregular boundary plantings 
are more natural than conventional hedges. 
I hope every reader of this article will avoid 
the very common mistake of planting too near 
a sidewalk. Thousandsof people have planted 
their Lilac or Privet hedges right next to the 
concrete, without thinking that tall shrubs 
commonly spread five or six feet on either side. 
The bushes soon overhang the walk and then 
there is trouble. People do not like to be 
crowded off the sidewalk even by wayward 
branches. And if the hedge is trimmed the 
effect is not good. * 
Of planting materials there is a bewildering 
variety. The selection and grouping of shrubs 
is a fine art. The tallest bushes are leggy and 
it is necessary to face these inside and out with 
medium or low-growing shrubs that arch over 
to meet the ground. In order to keep out cats 
and dogs it is well to use a good deal of Jap- 
anese Barberry. If this must be in a straight 
line it will look better next the side walk than 
on the lawn side. If a Barberry hedge is too 
artificial, it is possible to interweave groups of 
wild Roses and other prickly bushes through- 
out the border in such a way as to preserve a 
natural effect. 
There is complete privacy here because the hedge is too tall to see over, but an irregu- 
lar border of shrubs in variety would blend better with the landscape and would offer 
passers-by more color throughout the year 
People ridicule “gingerbread houses'" nowadays. They may admire the horticultural 
perfection of vines and hedge, but they cannot atone for bad architecture and landscape. 
The house is too near the street, and the hedge loo low 
