HOUSE AND GARDEN 
141 
September, 1914 
that every vestige of the individuality they may once have re¬ 
flected has gradually disappeared, leaving the husk as void of 
expression as the ashes of any other burnt out formula. 
Expert advice is undoubtedly valuable at all times, and, if a 
large place is to be laid out harmoniously, it is frequently essen¬ 
tial. The small piece of land is, however, a very much simpler 
problem, and one that could be successfully handled by any 
garden maker who has a normal color sense, a feeling for pro¬ 
portion, and an elementary knowledge of the conditions which 
certain plants demand. 
Even the suburbanite’s seventy-five foot lot can be made to 
express the individuality of the one who plans it, if it is not 
regarded simply 
as a work of art, 
but rather as a 
harmonious solu¬ 
tion of a plan of 
utility. 
Amateurs are 
too often dis¬ 
couraged by hear¬ 
ing landscape 
gardeners dis¬ 
course solemnly 
about massing, 
grouping and 
relative distances. 
The main thing, 
after all, is to 
plant certain 
shrubs and flow¬ 
ers because we 
want them in 
such and such a 
place. If the col¬ 
ors do not blend, 
or if the place is 
too shady or too 
sunny for certain 
plants, the dif¬ 
ficulty can be 
remedied another 
year. Even if the 
first garden should not be a complete success, the garden lover has 
at least known the keen satisfaction of working out his own sal¬ 
vation, instead of toiling over some one else’s arbitrary arrange¬ 
ment. 
Miss Duncan’s garden models have been carefully planned that 
they might smooth the way of the prospective gardener by giving 
him something practical as well as tangible with which to try out 
as many color schemes and plant arrangements as his ingenuity 
can suggest. The scale is approximately half an inch to a foot, 
and the plants take up about the relative space which should be 
allowed them in the garden. 
Each collection of trees, flowers and shrubs 
is in the form of a flat, detachable unit with a 
squarely cut base, which can be readily inserted 
between any two of the little oblong wooden 
blocks which form the foundation of the gar¬ 
den. On the upper part of the model the 
general form and color of the plant is repro¬ 
duced as faithfully as possible. On the lower 
end the name and time of flowering is printed. 
That the colloquial name is given rather than 
the Latin alternative, which would convey 
nothing to the beginner, is characteristic of 
Miss Duncan's whole attitude toward gardening. She looks upon 
a garden as an intimate and thoroughly delightful friend, rather 
than as a means by which to make a pedantic display of learning. 
In additon to the models of plants, Miss Duncan has designed 
several charmingly realistic little cardboard houses to be used in 
making experimental plans. Some look so livable that one half 
expects to see smoke curling out of the substantial red brick 
chimneys, or to catch a glimpse of welcoming faces behind the 
square-paned windows. The very shutters swing convincingly, 
as if, were the night windy, they might reasonably be expected 
to squeak. Even the hospitably arranged settles at the front door 
look perfectly capable of supporting a substantial weight. The 
only undetachable 
specimen of plant 
life near the 
house is the vine 
that clambers 
leisurely up the 
face of the build¬ 
ing. All the other 
“growing things” 
can be shifted at 
will, for their 
present positions 
are not more per¬ 
manent than the 
whim of the per¬ 
son who is plan¬ 
ning the garden. 
Even the rose ar¬ 
bor and the foun¬ 
tain it overshad- 
ows may be 
moved with im¬ 
punity. 
The round 
green tables are 
equally adaptable, 
as are the staunch 
little brown card¬ 
board benches. 
Liberties may 
even be taken 
with the wooden grass-colored oblongs, which are fitted together 
to form the floor of the garden. The undersides of these blocks 
have been artfully colored to simulate brickwork, the very thing 
to use in laying out the old-time path in the garden, or for mak¬ 
ing its red brick wall. 
In the garden adjoining the house, clumps of daffodils have been 
introduced to break the solid expanse of red brick wall. Holly¬ 
hocks and iris rear their heads on the side nearest the house, 
and the full-grown lilac and snowball bushes make definite notes 
of purple and white in the main body of the garden. The rose 
arbor which shades the path in the middle 
of the plan acts as a delightfully effective 
link reuniting the two sides of the garden 
which have been separated by the walk. 
Past the little clumps of purple and white 
iris, near the lattice screen at the extreme 
rear of the garden, a short flight of steps 
leads down to a little summer house, which 
has also been fashioned out of card-board. 
Another of the houses is simpler in 
style. It also has settees in front and two 
closely trimmed bay trees, but it has no 
(Continued on page 168) 
Herein a problem in arrangement simply solved — tennis court, rose garden, pool, iris beds and terrace. One 
almost expects smoke coming out of the chimney! 
