I N the development of the 
small lot it is best to cen¬ 
ter all the attention upon one 
important feature. This fea¬ 
ture should be in full sight of 
the house and have a close re¬ 
lationship to it. It should 
have individuality enough to 
perpetuate genuine pleasure in 
it. It should have elasticity 
enough to offer a chance for 
the expression of changing 
and growing interests. It 
should have a distinct origi¬ 
nality which will grow in the 
hands of the ingenious de¬ 
signer directly out of some 
character peculiar to the site 
itself. These principles under¬ 
lie the development of this 
property. 
The unobtrusive, low shrub¬ 
bery, still rather unconvinc¬ 
ing in its newness, which is 
planted along the front of 
the house, conforms with the 
quiet character of the nar¬ 
row Plymouth street over¬ 
shadowed by old elm trees. 
The front of the house is sim¬ 
ply good to look upon. There 
is nothing of particular in¬ 
terest or striking originality. 
This is left entirely to the 
development of the ground 
in back of the house. There 
the attention is focused 
upon the garden. 
In the beginning it was 
only a deep, uninviting hol¬ 
low. Now it is an oval 
flower garden. In May, 
I 9 I 3- it was an unsightly 
dump, an ugly hole in the 
ground. On the 20th of 
August of the same year 
there was a carefully ar¬ 
ranged garden with abun¬ 
dant bloom and color. By 
July of the next year 
astonishing growth h a d 
sprung up. Later pictures 
will show still heavier growth, 
but these early pictures shown 
here convince one of the effi¬ 
ciency of a plan in which the 
work is carried on skillfully 
and rapidly without unneces¬ 
sary readjustments of hap¬ 
hazard and disjointed ideas. 
The ordering of large-sized 
plants, the planting of heavy 
clumps for later thinning and 
the use of annuals for filling 
in bare spots gave in a few 
months a full-grown effect to 
the garden. 
Its oval shape and sym¬ 
metrical treatment fit natu¬ 
rally into its sunken position. 
Its full expanse is seen in a 
semi-bird’s-eye view from the 
house. The path on the 
shorter axis of the oval, cen¬ 
tering on the central doorway 
and terminating at the gen¬ 
erous seat under the trees, 
binds house and garden toj 
gether. A path cuts through 
the oval on the longer axis. 
These two paths dividing the 
oval into four equal parts 
meet at the center in a circle. 
The main lines of the de¬ 
sign have a simplicity of 
which one cannot tire. 
They have a strength which 
holds together all the minor 
elements. For convenience 
in caring for the flowers in 
the very wide borders a 
stepping - stone path de¬ 
scribes an inner oval. In 
summer it is almost lost in 
the thickness of the foliage, 
but in spring it strikes a 
minor chord in the compo¬ 
sition. 
The flowers are arranged 
to carry out and emphasize 
the design. The four parts 
of the oval are so planted 
that at first glance they ap¬ 
pear symmetrically correct. 
A glimpse into the informal garden shows a bright tangle of color in old-fashioned 
plants and favorite flowers of odd tints and curious shapes 
THE FORMAL AND INFORMAL GARDENS OF A 
PLYMOUTH PROPERTY—ELIZABETH LEONARD 
STRANG, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT 
Elsa Rehmann 
In May, 1913, this was an ugly hole; four months later by an almost magic transition had it 
been made a carefully designed, well ordered, formal garden 
255 
