March, 1916 
15 
room that a flower garden is an 
important part of the grounds. 
The large semi-circular seat on 
the west side of the garden proper 
is a very inviting place from which 
to view the flowers. When the 
hemlocks at its back are tall 
enough to throw the shadow of 
delicate boughs across it, it will 
grow in charm and seclusion. 
Opposite to the seat is the per¬ 
gola. It is unusually fortunate in 
its position in front of the heavy 
evergreen planting, and as soon 
as the vines begin to cover it, it 
will sink into its right place in 
the garden and be a shady retreat 
from which to look out on the 
sunny flower borders. 
The Flower Beds 
The whole of the garden can be 
seen at one time, so a certain uni¬ 
formity in its planning was desir¬ 
able. To a great extent this was 
obtained by the four central 
flower beds where Viola cornuta 
and Arabis are used as edging 
plants and iris, columbine, achil- 
lea, Chrysanthemum maximum, 
phlox and asters appear in a con¬ 
tinuous succession of bloom. 
These were chosen largely be¬ 
cause of their long blooming 
habits as well as their flower dis¬ 
play, but of course, they form 
only a small part of the planting. 
The four beds form the borders 
for the lawn space, and for the 
pool in its centre, the oblong shape 
of which conforms with the rec¬ 
tangular outline of the garden. It 
is interesting to note that the pool 
is so constructed that the grass 
can grow to the very edge of the 
water, an effect particularly good 
in preserving the lawn simplicity. 
The central flower beds are 
comparatively low and broad in 
appearance, while the long side 
borders give an enclosing high ef¬ 
fect with many red and white 
hollyhocks to make a particularly 
fine effect in midsummer. The 
continuous bloom of many varie¬ 
ties is very effective when the gar¬ 
den is viewed from above, and 
adds an interest to the close in¬ 
spection of the flowers when one 
comes unexpectedly upon scat¬ 
tered groups of them. 
Taken as a whole, the garden is 
an intimate part of the house, es¬ 
pecially of the living-room. Its 
sheltered position, its comfortable 
seats, its shady nooks, its bright 
color, all draw one out of the room 
into its larger open continuation, 
the garden. 
Design for the wall and gate into 
the vegetable garden 
A heavy plantation of evergreen and 
deciduous trees disguises the slope of 
the ground from the end of the garden 
One cannot look upon this re¬ 
juvenated New England place with¬ 
out admiring the effective manner 
in which its various dissimilar fea¬ 
tures have been drawn together and 
harmonized. It is distinctly a 
“home,” with all the intimacy of 
arrangement and effect which the 
word implies. 
The Landscaping Problem 
There is, indeed, far more to the 
successful accomplishment of such 
a task than merely planting for 
ornamental effect. The real prob¬ 
lem was not how to obtain this or 
that individual combination of 
color or strength of outlines, but 
rather to create a real “home 
ground,” an organism in which the 
subdivisions, while serving their 
own peculiar functions, are united 
in a definite, concrete whole. Hill¬ 
side property is a subject with 
which many others have to deal in 
one form or another. The actual 
situations to be met vary, of course, 
in practically every case, but the 
main principle is fixed: the practi¬ 
cal conditions must be moulded into 
a skilful design which is supple¬ 
mented by a planting of decorative 
value. 
