HOUSE AND GARDEN 
342 
May, 
I9D 
The combination of wall and fence depends largely upon the view from the house or garden, and the point from which privacy is most desired. 
side fence to insure privacy, or a front fence and a wall at the rear of the property to make a background for the garden 
Thus a front wall and 
press, cedar or redwood, with panels and moulding tongued and 
grooved into one another, the joints being set in white lead. 
Fences that can sustain architecturally posts of such proportions 
are generally of appreciable height and should be well braced, 
especially near gate posts. The construction law of the gate to 
be remembered, is that it exerts a strain on its supports pro¬ 
portionate to its weight. If the pickets of the gate are cut so 
as to make the top of the 
gate concave in shape, the 
terminal weight at the 
end of each gate will be 
lessened and the necessity 
for bracing the posts 
eliminated. 
The iron fence has 
often been looked upon as 
inartistic. The charge, 
however, cannot be sus¬ 
tained, certainly not to¬ 
day, when manufacturers 
are cataloguing such ex¬ 
cellent and varied types for 
all sorts of situations and 
places. It is a more ex¬ 
pensive proposition than 
wood but more durable. 
For an effective use, com¬ 
bine brick piers with iron, or provide a brick of concrete course 
at the base on which the pickets can rest. Care must be taken 
that the architectural form of the piers coincide with the form 
of the fence. 
The treatment and design of the gateway, as has been shown, 
depend largely upon the nature of the fence or enclosure, whether 
it be stone, brick, concrete wall, a wooden rustic fence, an iron 
fence or one of the various forms of hedges. Should the en¬ 
closure be a combination of rustic or iron fencing, backed by a 
thick hedge just within the fence, the gate and gate posts should 
be in harmony with the fencing, thus eliminating the introduction 
of a third type of construction. 
For a cottage home an arched and trellised gateway, with a 
simple form of iron or picket gates and vine-covered fencing of 
iron wire, forms a picturesque entrance. It may be a narrow 
arbor or pergola, formed either of two or more arches set close 
together, or it may be of rustic woodwork, the roughness of bark 
and twisted limb being preserved to aid the effect. It should 
always be covered with vines, for bare pergolas of any form are 
not successfully decorative. Gateways of stone, either set in 
mortar or set “dry,” 
should likewise always be 
covered with vines. If 
the stones of the gate 
posts are set dry, the 
crevices can be filled with 
some rock-loving plants 
that flower in the soil 
pockets of the crevices. 
The question of plant¬ 
ing, both on and behind 
the fence, depends largely 
upon the height of the 
fence and its durability. 
Thus one of the ivies is 
a good selection for the 
stone posts, although bar¬ 
ren grape, honeysuckle, 
rambler roses or clematis 
will be more decorative 
if a pergola is to be covered or an arch spanned. It is generally 
well to back up a low iron fence with a hedge—privet and laurel 
are perhaps the easiest grown. There can also be used one of the 
more colorful shrubs—Japanese barberry or Spiraea van Houttei. 
Such a hedge will remove any of the hard cut-and-dried appear¬ 
ance of the iron, which is the main claim against this type of fence. 
In arranging for the planting behind a fence for any high shrub¬ 
bery near it, it is well to consider the location of the best view 
from the house and not to obstruct it. Often, when the owner 
desires more privacy from the street, high shrubbery massed 
around the gate will be most effective. In using evergreens for this 
purpose, however, see that the masses are not made of a con¬ 
glomeration of species, such as used to be the fashion. 
This is the case of a remodeled house, where attention was given to the relationship between 
fence and house with obviously successful results 
