34 
House & Garden 
VISTAS IN THE 
GARDEN 
ROBERT EL WOOD 
Northend 
The vista's purpose is to lead the 
eye into the distance. Here on 
the estate of Harrisson Bennett, 
Esq., at Weston, Mass., this effect 
is achieved by the straight line 
and contrasting color of the 
central walk 
T HE primary purpose of a path is to 
lead one somewhere. Thus was it in 
the beginning, is now, and, so far as one 
can foresee, will indefinitely remain. 
Yes, a path must go somewhere, if its 
existence is to be justified. It should 
possess a destination not only in the 
physical sense, but in the mental as well. 
In other words, the ideal path carries 
one’s eyes as well as feet from here to 
there. It is a vista, more or less pro¬ 
nounced according as it is straight or 
winding. 
This vista quality is one of the chief 
assets of an attractive path, for vistas in 
the garden there must be. Without them 
we feel confined, shut in by too near 
boundaries of flower, shrub and tree. 
Our imaginations, together with our eyes, 
have too little to feed upon where there 
is no guiding sense of distance. 
A vista need by no means be as ambi¬ 
tious as the two examples shown on this 
page. It may be no more than a glimpse 
between two flowering shrubs to a garden seat 
a dozen yards away; or a bit of distant moun¬ 
tain seen through a gap in the boundary hedge. 
Yet it must always be justified—generally la¬ 
bilities of different places are rarely 
identical. Keep in mind the general 
principle—that a vista is a more or less 
narrowed glimpse into the distance, gain¬ 
ing its effect through the contrast of near 
and far objects. 
Two mediums may be utilized in fram¬ 
ing the sides of the vista, for distinct 
sides there should be in the majority of 
cases. The first is architectural in char¬ 
acter, exemplified by the pergola, the 
gateway in wall or fence, the pillars of 
the covered terrace. The second, and by 
far the more generally available, is the 
planting of trees and shrubs. Here lie 
the biggest possibilities, the best chance 
to attain success with the minimum of 
labor and expense. Growing things are 
Nature’s frame, ready to your hand. 
Work for perspective in the plan of 
your garden or grounds. If there is even 
an indefinable feeling of undue restric¬ 
tion, of overcrowding, look about for vista 
possibilities. It is not all of landscape 
planting to plant; more frequently than most 
of us realize the solution of our difficulties 
on the road to garden perfection lies in elimi¬ 
nation rather than addition. 
Northend 
Creating a successfid vista is a matter of real study. 
Keep in mind that the object is to draw one’s atten¬ 
tion directly to some goal more or less distant 
the existence at its far end of some object which 
serves as a definite goal for the eye. 
Rules for planning vistas can be no more 
than suggestive, as the conditions and possi¬ 
