PLACE THAT IS STARTED 169 
how many may be retraced, if it seems wise to 
retrace, in order to reach the one farthest back 
from which to inaugurate the work. Assuredly 
the plan and the position of the house are fixed, 
beyond all possibility of change, which elimi- 
nates the first step of all. The dwelling’s ex- 
posure is thus settled and the convenient dis- 
position of the ground about it, according to 
the location of the doors and windows, its ser- 
vice, and its social portion has probably been 
made, or accepted as it has made itself. 
The garden design, however, which is 
hardly a design at all, is not unalterable; 
neither are the grades; nor as a matter of fact 
are any of the other attributes or features 
which follow in orderly sequence, from the 
initial step of planning and choosing the posi- 
tion of the house. Walks may be changed and 
arbors and all the things of this sort; plants 
may be moved, even very large ones, if the 
work is carefully and properly done. Really 
the only step which is not retraceable then is 
the very first, unless perchance a large tree has 
grown up in the wrong place. But this we will 
come to later. 
So all the way back to that first step we may 
go and thus make a beginning with the second 
