HOUSE AND GARDEN 
AY, 1913 
383 
The terrace vies with the porch as a loitering place on summer after¬ 
noons, careful flower planting adding greatly to its charms 
The intimacy and home-likeness which are prominent features here are 
two of the greatest assets in gardens for the English type of house 
viduality. Here is one of earth, leading through this wilderness 
of blossom to the cottage doorway. Into it gravel and small stones 
have been worked, in time, until it is as smooth and hard as a 
walk of brick. Here is another of tile, laid neatly just into the 
ground, in four parallel rows. Could anything be more charm¬ 
ing? The breadth of turf between the long borders of foxglove 
and plantain lilies on either side is all included, of course, in the 
entrance space; but the tiles take the actual wear, and prevent an 
untidy little path being trodden in the midst of the turf stretch. 
Here, by the way, is a garden space not quite so lavishly filled. 
To the left lie the fruit and kitchen garden; to the right a second 
broad space of turf equal to the entrance space, with another 
border beyond, parallel with the first. Simplest of simple designs 
it is; yet what distinction it has, and how truly picturesque it is. 
Here would be commonly found, in altogether too many Ameri¬ 
can dooryards, a flower-bed shaped like 
a star or a crescent or a heart—or 
goodness knows what! And at great 
trouble this ugly and unnatural form 
would be maintained, its edges trimmed 
and its even proportions carefully 
guarded. Whereas, the long straight 
border has little or no difficulties of 
this sort to be overcome; and it is in¬ 
finitely more beautiful. 
The brick walk which leads into the 
old cottage at Berry is a bit more pre¬ 
tentious perhaps, but not a bit more at¬ 
tractive, than the others. Here an edg¬ 
ing of low growing boxwood restrains 
the flower borders on either side. These, 
by the way, will form a veritable hedge 
before the summer wanes, with their 
tall growth and the lesser, denser speci¬ 
mens before it. Where but before an 
English cottage would it be thought 
possible or proper to have such great 
tall fellows growing out in the open? 
The commoner way would be to plant 
them against a wall or before a building 
where something taller than they would 
rise back of them. This is not neces¬ 
sary ; hollyhocks beside a path are as 
suitably placed as ever they are when 
the garden about the English type of house must have; but these 
will not necessarily be the flowers commonly found growing in the 
gardens of English houses. Plants which do so well there some¬ 
times will not thrive here at all. So it is a question of selecting, of 
finding out what will furnish the very best results in a given place— 
and then of concentrating on those things. The garden that is well 
planted will be dominated by one thing at a time, and half a dozen 
varieties of superlative merit will come nearer to duplicating the 
effect of the Old World garden than twice that number of less 
excellence. Remember that it is effect that is to be striven for; 
not actually an imitation of the English garden, in kind as well 
as design. Native wild asters will produce here a mass of rich 
color and gorgeous floral display quite different from the English 
daisy, for example—yet in its way quite as superlatively good. A 
(Continued on page 406) 
against the house. Be sure of this. 
Flowers in the greatest abundance 
More pretentious than the one pictured on the opposite page, this brick walk leading to a Berry 
cottage doorway is edged with low boxwood 
