A Long Island House and Garden 
and it is also reached by the driveway as it 
makes a graceful turn into the grounds from 
the gateway. 
Near the house a formal garden, with clip¬ 
ped hedges of cedar, yews trimmed to resem¬ 
ble birds and animals, carved stone seats, 
marble vases and statuary diffuse a tranquil 
enjoyment of Nature that is not afforded by 
a wilder, less cultivated treatment. Flowers 
in decorative, luxuriant masses framed by box 
and sheltered by high hedging make a gentle 
transition to another part where plants for 
cutting purposes are left to a freer growth. A 
grass path leads to a stone sun-dial, and further 
on to a swimming pool that is almost large 
enough to be dignified by the title of lakelet. 
A high cedar hedge is trimmed into nume¬ 
rous openings that reveal and conceal the 
beauty of the gardens beyond. At the time 
when the photographs were made the season 
for clipping was past and the usual trim aspect 
of the grounds could not be represented. The 
greenhouses are placed near the service por¬ 
tion of the house, at the opposite side from the 
driveway and formal gardens. 
The happy accomplishment of so much out¬ 
door work within a brief decade must be an 
encouraging incentive to every home gardener. 
Long periods of time are popularly supposed 
to be required to bring garden effects to a state 
of perfection, but, with the newer methods for 
transplanting trees and shrubs of good size, 
satisfactory and quick results are quite prac¬ 
ticable. The use of native plants, too, is com¬ 
ing into more general acceptance, and opens 
wide possibilities for the beautifying of coun¬ 
try places at slight expense. 
Planting on a small scale offers, perhaps, 
more difficulties than the planting of grounds 
of large dimensions, in much the same way 
that the designing of a house of limited pro¬ 
portions proves a harder task than the same 
proposition applied to more extended areas. 
Monotony, the low-water mark in garden 
work, is more avoidable when there is 
space for carrying out ideas; and, when the 
means are sufficient for the undertaking, 
any tract of land however sterile and unin¬ 
viting may be rapidly transformed into a 
pleasure ground. 
The Swimming Pool 
126 
