Garden Steps 
THE PLACE A FLIGHT OF STAIRS CAN OCCUPY IN YOUR ,GARDEN—THE PROPER SLOPE— 
A FEW /SECRETS ABOUT THEIR CONSTRUCTION—MATERIALS THAT WILL BE MOST SUITABLE 
BY COSTEN FlTZ-GlBBON 
Photographs by Thomas Marr, Mary H. Northend and the Author 
G ARDEN steps, like everything else of human contrivance, 
may be good, bad or indifferent. Their fashion and sub¬ 
stance depend en¬ 
tirely on the origi¬ 
nating personality 
back of them. In 
this, as in every 
other respect, the in¬ 
dividual tone of the 
creator is bound to 
find indelible con¬ 
crete expression in 
the form of the thing 
created. 
First and fore¬ 
most among the re¬ 
quirements for suc¬ 
cessful garden 
steps, they should 
be practical, conven¬ 
ient and in thorough 
keeping with their 
setting. It would be 
manifestly absurd to 
make steps merely 
for appearance’s 
sake without due re¬ 
gard for the par¬ 
ticular needs of the 
place in which they 
are set and it would 
be equally absurd to 
build them incon¬ 
gruous with the sur¬ 
rounding features. 
However, notwith¬ 
standing the patent 
absurdity of it all, it 
is not an uncommon 
thing to find glar- 
i n g 1 y ill-assorted 
combinations that 
fairly cry aloud in 
protest—steps rude 
and rustic where 
o b v i o u si y thev 
should be formal 
and stately, or 
again, on the other 
hand, graceful 
flights and delicately 
wrought balustrades 
in the midst of untamed, unpruned thickets and shrubbery. 
So then, the first thing to be settled is the question of fitness, in 
other words, the kind of steps most suitable for the particular 
place we have in mind. We must study well the character of the 
ground and the manner of gardening to be employed before we 
Taking our cue from the garden makers of 
garden of different levels 
essay to embody our fancies in a medium of wood, brick, stone 
or concrete. The evident purpose of steps, whether indoors or 
out, is to afford 
short and easy ac- 
c e s s between two 
different levels. 
Some garden steps, 
while satisfactory 
enough fro m the 
architect’s or the 
garden - engineer’s 
point of view, are 
anything but a com¬ 
fort or pleasure to 
those that have ha¬ 
bitually to use them. 
The chief trouble 
is generally with the 
pitch, an important 
consideration too 
often neglected. One 
mistake frequently 
committed is to 
make the pitch so 
precipitous that any¬ 
one ascending them 
feels, on reaching 
the top, that he 
has performed a 
gymnastic feat dif¬ 
ficult of achieve¬ 
ment. As a matter 
of fact, garden steps 
ought to be the easi¬ 
est things in the 
world. They ought 
to be constructed 
with so gradual an 
incline that, how- 
e v e r short-winded, 
one may go up them 
without experiencing 
any inconvenience. 
There are definite 
proportions between 
the height of risers 
and the breadth of 
treads which, if 
carefully observed, 
will ensure satisfac¬ 
tion in most cases. 
Ordinarily it is ad¬ 
visable to make steps so that the product of height of the risers 
and the breadth of the treads shall be about 75. Outdoors the 
treads may be even broader. That is, if the risers are six inches 
high the treads should be twelve and a half inches wide; or 
again, if the risers are five inches high the treads should be fif- 
the old world, we are now appreciating that a 
has the greatest possibilities 
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