July, 1915 
T H E GARDE N M A G A Z I N E 
291 
toric forms of ornament are excusable, espec- 
ially the gazing-globe, which reflects in min- 
iature the surroundings and gives a some- 
what unusual feature much liked by some 
people. The base for the support of a 
gazing globe may be of cast cement, stone, 
wood, or terra cotta, and any one of a 
hundred designs would be suitable. 
Some mention must be made of the sun 
dial, if only for a word of warning. This 
object is perhaps the most abused and 
overworked detail in the garden, large or 
small. Nice little sun dials have been 
put in shady corners, or having the index 
set up with no relation to the earth’s orbit 
which of course are anachronisms. Digni- 
fied and statuesque sun dials have been put 
in pocket edition lawns, and seem like fune- 
real monuments mourning the insignificance 
of their surroundings. Machine made sun 
dials, without grace or beauty, have been 
planted by the department stores through- 
out the country, apparently for the sole 
reason that “everybody’s doing it.” Fan- 
tastic sundials are not appropriate to the 
American background. 
At the sides or end of the garden, when 
The bird bath must be shallow and not sharply inclined, 
to give the birds a sense of security and comfort in the 
water 
the plan is closed with hedges, trees, or 
walls, is the logical place for seats and tables, 
where the visitor may rest and take in the 
surroundings with advantage, and where 
tea parties and idlers may be sheltered from 
the sun and wind. These details even more 
than the single ornamental feature should 
be in keeping with the rest of the place. 
If the house be wood or masonry or of some 
marked architectural style, take that into 
consideration. Do not put arts-and-crafts 
attempts at quaintness next a prim colonial 
cottage, nor a near-marble Grecian seat 
supported by allegorical animals against 
a shinglesque, comfortable, American home, 
and remember, a stiff machine-made per- 
gola with no vines and no shelter is not an 
asset, even though it be the first aid to the 
landscape architect. 
Rustic seats of field stone may be built 
against banks or under trees but care should 
be used that the rocks selected are well 
weathered and set with the mossy side up. 
A cement bench of the simplest lines would 
lend itself to any garden style. 
But the wooden seat is even more adapt- 
able. It may be bought or made in almost 
any form, from the red cedar settee to the 
trim colonial bench, with high back and solid 
curved arms, painted a decorous white. 
Ordinary tile brick, harmonizing with the material of the house, may be used for fountain basins, well heads, etc. as in this garden at Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota 
