An intimate spot not thirty feet square is the flower garden, 
nasturtiums between; then come tall, blue iris interspersed 
formal effect, a Rose of Sharon is planted at each corner 
Rhododendrons, box and arborvitae form the enclosure, and around the walls, sedum spectabilis, with dwarf 
with golden marguerites; a third tier is composed of daffodils, lavender and white phlox; and to complete the 
Landscape Gardening on a Small Place 
BEING THE STORY OF A PATH ON A BROOKLINE PROPERTY—THE ROUND GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 
PLOT—GROWING A FRAME FOR A VIEW—THE CREATION OF INTEREST IN A GARDEN—PRAY, HUBBARD 
& WHITE, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS 
Elsa R e ii m a n n 
HIS is the story of a path, 
because on its location 
depended the develop¬ 
ment of the whole prop¬ 
erty — a path on a small 
suburban lot, connecting 
the front door with the 
street. 
Such a walk is a 
necessity in daily use. 
It must be practical, dry 
under foot and as direct 
as possible. These rea¬ 
sons should not deprive 
it of interest and make 
it commonplace. The 
very fact that it is in 
daily use is all the more 
reason why it should 
have beauty inwrought 
in its making. While 
considerations of beauty and the means of arriving at and depart¬ 
ing from a front door are by no means the same, yet it will be 
found that they are not antagonistic. A solution which offers 
convenience can at the same time be beautiful. 
The house had to be set high above the street level. To accom¬ 
modate its shape to the long, narrow lot, it was built wide and 
shallow. For these reasons the necessity of facing the house 
upon an unpaved road which is only a right of way, and the im¬ 
practicability of placing the entrance to the grounds on it, forced 
a less conventional solution than is usually possible. The direct 
communication with the main thoroughfare only a block away 
through a narrow street on the south side of the house, made it 
of practical importance to locate the entrance on this street. Still 
the problem remained of how to get from the street entrance to 
the front door in an interesting hut direct manner. 
The grounds are walled in along the whole southern side to 
avoid steep, grass terraces. This wall is surmounted by a white 
picket fence and broken in the middle by the entrance steps. One 
step up out of the street we stand on a small space in front of 
seven steps, which are closed in on both sides by the retaining 
walls of lawn and flower garden. Once up the«e steps we come 
170 
