December, 19 2 2 
43 
beauty which a garden always imparts to a 
house, for its owner has not seen the possi¬ 
bilities of utilizing the ground as it stands 
and has considered that the expense of 
leveling or building retaining walls too 
great for the return that a small garden 
area would give. Yet in other instances we 
find places where no expense has been 
spared to obtain flat areas for gardens; but 
the results are not in keeping with the en¬ 
vironments, and so they appear as affecta¬ 
tions. 
We can, however, with study and care, 
reach a successful solution. There are 
places where terraces may be used as transi¬ 
tions from the architectural lines of the 
house to the more natural characteristics 
of the garden site; others where the garden 
may take the form of a series of terraces, 
in the conventional Italian method; others 
where vantage points for vistas may be 
secured by the introduction of raised areas 
above the garden level; and places in which 
the slight variations in contour may be 
made accessible by the use of a system of 
paths with short flights of steps or sloping 
ramps. 
If we provide a terrace at the house level 
we have at once achieved a desirable feeling 
of intimacy between the house and the 
garden, and also gained a point from which 
we may overlook and appreciate the entire 
scheme. This terrace will be formal enough 
to be in keeping with the architectural lines 
of the house, but this feeling of formality 
may be softened by the introduction of 
turf, vines, and flowers either in pots or in 
beds. These bits of greenery and color will 
form a gentle approach to the gaiety and 
verdure of the garden beyond. 
One should be careful in designing such 
a point of overlook, for this introductory 
view should not be too complete or search¬ 
ing; a large part of the charm of any garden 
scheme lies in its unexpectedness. Hidden 
nooks and half revealed by-ways should be 
devised in order that one may be made 
eager to descend and explore the charms 
which lie just around the corner. Easy 
flights of steps or graceful ramps make 
progress a pleasure, and, looking back, 
interesting retaining walls in brick, stone, 
or cement, make pleasing pictures when 
shrubs or tall perennials with their graceful 
blooms are planted at their base. 
In locations where there is sufficient 
change in grade more than one terrace may 
be constructed. If the grade is not too 
abrupt they can be made wide and planted 
with flower borders about a central grass 
panel. If it is steep the terraces should be 
narrow and, of course, there should be 
more of them. Such a series of terraces 
may be treated in one of two ways. Each 
terrace may be considered as a separate 
unit in the garden scheme when such 
{Continued on page 90 ) 
The house terrace of George D. Pratt's 
garden at Glen Cove, Long Island, ends up¬ 
on a Tudor loggia and is separated from 
the lawn below by a high balustrated retain¬ 
ing wall banked with shrubs and flanked 
with steps 
