4 
r nr a- rni t r |» ft tin 
u 
f arm House 
A NOVEL TREATMENT THAT WILL LEND 
DIGNITY TO THE SMALL COUNTRY PLACE 
—THE USE OF ROUGH STONE WALLS—WHAT 
PLANTING TO USE—ARTHUR A. SHURTLEFF, 
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT 
T 
A wall constructed of field stone laid dry 
surrounds the flower garden 
'HE house stood in 
the midst of fields 
in a small community in 
Massachusetts not far 
from Boston. The walled- 
in fore-court or dooryard 
was designed to separate the house grounds from the wide farm 
lands on every side. 
It is an approach or 
introductory passage 
from the road to the 
front door. The drive 
and roads to the 
barns are thus sepa¬ 
rated from the main 
entrance to the house. 
It is a well-kept, 
graded place. The 
stone walls make a 
strong dividing line 
between the smooth 
lawn within and the 
sloping rougher 
ground without. The 
rough field stones 
found in the imme¬ 
diate neighborhood, if 
not actually on the 
place itself, made a 
wall which was com¬ 
paratively cheap as 
well as one which is 
in keeping with the 
farm surroundings. 
The picket fence in 
front is harmonious 
with the Colonial character of the house. 
Ampelopsis is growing over the wall to 
soften the surface. Lilacs are massed at 
the corners near the road, mock-oranges 
are grouped near the entrance gate and 
poplars are placed 
in two balancing 
groups just outside 
of the wall near 
the corners of the 
house. These 
shrubbery groups 
break the stiffness 
of the wall. 
At the entrance 
ga,tie stands the 
The hooded, walled-in seat is reminiscent of 
English cottage gardens 
At the entrance gate stands a great tree, with its enormous spread of branches, 
but does not demand a sacrifice of light 
(\<? b 
The fore-court is an interesting free interpretation 
of an old Colonial garden form 
great tree with its enor¬ 
mous spread of branches. 
It dwarfs the house and 
creates thereby the homey 
impression so often un¬ 
consciously attained in 
old farm yards through the planting of one large tree near 
the front door. Here 
it stands so far from 
the house that it does 
not demand the sacri¬ 
fice of light usual in 
the older examples. 
The old apple trees 
inside the yard break 
the lawn areas with¬ 
out spoiling their sim¬ 
plicity. 
The narrow flower 
borders along the in¬ 
side of the wall are 
composed of a very 
few kinds of plants, 
such as early yellow 
day lilies, Madonna 
lilies, larkspurs and 
phloxes. They are 
planted, not with an 
idea of producing a 
carefully arranged 
border to attract par¬ 
ticular attention, but 
rather with the idea 
of breaking up the 
straight wall surface 
with a few interest¬ 
ing plants whose color will be refreshing 
against the gray of the stone. 
As the front yard is considered merely 
as an approach — a place to walk through — 
and not a garden to linger in, it is essential to 
make it simple 
enough in arrange¬ 
ment that it can be 
grasped in its en¬ 
tirety at the first 
glance. 
Groups of lilacs, 
so familiarly asso¬ 
ciated with every 
farm house, are 
placed upon either 
It dwarfs the house, 
434 
