56 
House & Garden 
The flagged court or dooryard calls for flowers arranged in beds that follow the lines of the individual stones. Roses are used 
here with borders of clipped box; English ivy covers the walls with a dense mat of dark green foliage against which old iron 
lanterns show to advantage 
DOORYARD GARDENING 
A Form of Planting Which Enhances the Hospitality of the House JVithout Making 
It Unduly Familiar—What to Use and How to Arrange It 
T here is something peculiarly intimate 
about a dooryard—the very word suggests 
a little zone between the inside of the house 
and tlie outer world into which the passerby, 
pausing in his walk, may look and see marks 
of the owner’s personality. Y’et the true door¬ 
yard is never vulgarly familiar; merely docs 
it avoid repelling by any undue formality, re¬ 
serving a certain privacy the while it stretches 
forth an inviting hand. 
In such a place there must be neither too 
much ])lanting, lest the door Ije hidden or made 
aloof, nor too little, with its attendant proba¬ 
bility of liare and inhospitable coldness. A 
balance between these two e.xtremes should Ije 
sought, which will l)e in keeping with the size 
and character of the house, its pro.ximity to the 
public highway, and other similar conditions 
affecting each individual case. 
The simplest, and many times the most 
gratifying dooryard garden is that which lies 
before the entrance of tire small house of cot¬ 
tage or farmhouse inspiration. Here is an 
opportunity to use those old-fashioned flowers 
which were so closely associated with the thres- 
ROBERT STEEL 
holds of our Puritan ancestors—grass pinks, 
candytuft, thrift, wallflowers, stocks, pansies 
and Johnny-jump-ups are a few of them. 
Here, too, can often be used climbing roses, 
sweet-scented honeysuckle, wastaria, akebia or 
grape vines for the porch pillars or trellis; tall 
hollyhocks beside the doorstep; ampelopsis for 
the foundation and walls of the house itself. 
^^’here the grounds are small, border planting 
is the Ijest for the flowers—narrow beds flank¬ 
ing the entrance walk, along the side property 
lines, and close to the house foundation in 
cases where shrubbery is not used. Often win¬ 
dow ledge boxes will add much to the charm 
of the doorA’ard; geraniums and petunias give 
them the needed touch of brilliant color, and 
vincas, nasturtiums and tradescantia will sup¬ 
ply the drooping grace of greenery necessary 
to complete the picture. 
Bulbs and Shrubs 
Spring blooming bulbs are especially 
adapted to planting in the dooryard, but be 
sure not to use them in the formal massed 
Ijeds which characterized one happily obsolete 
period in our landscape gardening develop¬ 
ment. Crocuses, snowdrops, scillas and grape 
hyacinths—these can be scattered along the 
edges of the borders and in odd sunny nooks 
here and there, with old-fashioned daffodils 
and poet narcissus where taller growing things 
are desired. 
Shrubbery there should be in even the small 
dooryard, just enough to relieve any sugges¬ 
tion of starkness in the background, and to 
furnish that feeling of permanence which only 
woody plants can give. Alock orange, snow- 
berry and Rose of Sharon are all good sorts 
which are in keeping with such informal set¬ 
tings, and, of course, the alwa 3 ^s desirable 
spirea should have a place. Close to the edges 
of the shrubbery planting, or in other shady 
spots, lilies-of-the-valley will make a charm¬ 
ing ground-cover and be a source of exquisite¬ 
ly dainty flowers. Boxwood, of course, either 
as sjrecimen bushes or in low edgings for the 
walks, can well be used where the winter 
climate is not too severe for it. 
.411 this has to do with dooryards where the 
entire space except the walks is in soil and 
