48 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
ASKED AND ANSWERED 
An exchange of experience on practical matters by our readers. You 
are invited to contribute questions and answers to this department. 
Plan For Improving Cemetery Lot 
Editor Asked and Answered ; In your 
November issue you printed an interest- 
ing article on “Planting to Set Off Monu- 
ments,” together with cuts and an article 
by Sid J. Hare. 
The writer is very much interested in 
planting for his own lot the coming spring. 
Kindly state proper name or names of the 
vine or plant that is shown covering the 
graves in cuts 33 and 35 ; where and how 
to buy it ; amount required for each adult 
grave ; proper preparation of the ground ; 
whether or not it will stand the winter. My 
lot is full of ground moles and they work 
under the sod and keep it torn up. How 
can they be gotten rid off? How can the 
ground be prepared to raise a good set of 
grass? How and when should this be done 
and what kind of seed would be best? I 
expect to erect on my lot an exedra style 
monument about eight to ten feet long and 
about three feet wide at base and not over 
six feet high. The lot is twenty feet square 
and the monument will sit on upper edge 
of lot (lot is on slight hill), facing down 
hill over entire lot. What kind of plants 
or shrubs would be best suited for planting 
at either end of base? Give proper names 
and where they can be obtained. Of course, 
these should be something that will stand 
the winter weather here in southwestern 
Pennsylvania. — M. M. G., Pa. 
The exedra style of monument is gain- 
ing in favor, especially when it is properly 
placed in the cemetery with room on the 
lot to allow for planting back of it, and 
having an open view of it from the adja- 
cent road. 
In selecting a cemetery lot it is much to 
the advantage of the purchaser to consider 
the relation of his lot to the road near by, 
also the possible background his monument 
will have when it is erected. Sometimes it 
is possible to secure a lot with a back- 
ground planting already in place ; a plant- 
ing that was provided for in the plans pre- 
pared by the landscape architect who ar- 
ranged the roads, platted lots and desig- 
nated plantings. 
Your inquirer, however, asks informa- 
tion about planting at ends of such a 
monument which he proposes to place at 
the edge of the lot. 
First of all. I would not place a monu- 
ment at the exact edge or lot line unless 
the space back was parked space. 
With a lot 20x20 and an exedra monu- 
ment of the size mentioned, the entire 
half a lot should be set aside for the monu- 
ment and planting this would allow space 
for five graves on the other half. 
If the exedra is placed on the center of 
the half lot, allowing five feet from the lot 
line to the end and at least three feet from 
the rear line of lot to the center portion of 
the exedra, this will give a better planting 
space, as shown in illustration. 
The preparation of the soil would be to 
some extent a matter of local conditions. 
Any reasonably good soil will suffice for 
shrubs, trees and vines, but a little care in 
preparation will be well repaid. 
The areas to be planted should be spaded 
?i.AN Of la X ZO' L°t • 
to a depth of 16 to 18 inches and any heavy 
clay removed. In case of rock, it should be 
removed to a depth of three feet. The 
space resulting from the removal of rock 
or poor soil should be refilled with good 
soil, preferably a mixture of a considerable 
portion of friable clay and enough loam or 
well-rotted compost to lighten the clay. 
The grub worm does not like a clay soil 
and the mole consequently does not hunt 
him there. 
The graves could be planted with Peri- 
The annual report of the Forest Com- 
missioner of Newton, Mass., for gives 
an account of the work carried on during 
the year and interesting data on the elim- 
ination of the white pine blister rust, 
Chester fungus and other tree pests, such 
as the elm beetle and leopard and gypsy 
moths. The spraying work in the spring 
was greatly hindered by the poor weather 
conditions, there being either rain or high 
wind practically every day during the 
spraying season. The effect of this was 
the loss of a great deal of time and a 
minimum of the work done. Some ot 
these places were done over, but a great 
majority of them had to stand as they 
were with the result that many places which 
under ordinary conditions would have been 
free from egg clusters this fall are now 
quite badly infested. 
For this purpose $17,489.52 was spent. A 
winkle (Vinca minor), which is evergreen, 
or English ivy (Hedera helix). The latter 
would probably have to be protected in win- 
ter. These two plants probably make the 
neatest ground covers. 
In planting it is better taste to use masses 
of plants rather than a mixture of various 
kinds in a small group. 
The following planting suggestions are 
offered : 
First: (A A) could be Althaea (Hibis- 
cus syriacus) for summer blossoms, with 
Van Houtte’s spiraea (Spiraea Van Hout- 
tei) for spring flowers. 
Second: (A A) could be Tamarix (Tam- 
arix gallica) summer blooming, with Hy- 
drangea (Hydrangea paniculata grandi- 
flora) between, for fall blosoms, and at the 
ends of the monument Deutzia (Deutzia 
gracilis) . 
Third: (A A) could be Purple Barberry 
(Berberls purpurea) for color of foliage in 
spring and summer and berries in winter, 
with the Lemoines Deutzia (Deutzia Le- 
moine) between and Paeonias at the ends, 
alternated with Lespedeza penduliflorum. 
Paeonias for spring flowers and Lespedeza 
for fall. 
Fourth: (A A) could be Pyramidal Ar- 
borvitae, either American (Thuja occi- 
dentalis pyramidalis) or Oriental (Thuja 
orientalis), with Mountain Laurel (Kalmia 
latifolia) between and Azalaea at the ends 
would make an evergreen group. 
There are so many good varieties of 
hardy shrubs and small evergreens that this 
list might be extended indefinitely. 
These groups are suggested with the idea 
that they are not to be planted under trees. 
For varieties of seed for lawn, ask your 
local seed man. Hare & Hare, 
Landscape Architects. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
total of 635 trees were planted during the 
year. The inventory of the nursery stock 
shows a total of all trees of 13,438, valued 
at $3,264.44. The parks were maintained 
in good condition. For a number of years 
Newton has owmed 685 acres of land 
around its water supply area. Until 1915 
nothing had ever been done to safeguard 
and preserve the growth there and con- 
sequently a large part of it had annually 
been burned over and large areas of 
growth entirely destroyed. What the fire 
left had been badly infested with gypsy 
and browntail moths which have from year 
to year stripped practically the whole area. 
This repeated stripping has resulted in the 
death of nearly fifty per cent of the trees 
on certain tracts of land. To beautify this 
spot $1,000 was asked for last year and 
refused by the board. The same request 
w'as again made for 1916 and, after con- 
PARK NEWS. 
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