House & Garden 
FOR SALE 
A Choice Piece Of 
Perpetual Summerland 
Fortunately for you, its location is 
one that will exactly suit you. 
As for size, it is neither too big nor too 
little, but one that just fits your 
requirements. 
In an almost mystic way, this avail¬ 
able bit of perpetual summerland is 
always flower-filled. 
Sometimes it is filled with those lovely 
old-timey favorites of our Colonial days 
Then again, it is queenly roses and ex¬ 
quisite gardenias. 
Or if you like, literally floods of sun¬ 
shine-filled daffodils. 
And, of course, violets and orchids, 
with juicy peaches and thin skinned 
succulent grapes, ripened months be¬ 
fore the outdoor ones. 
As for the cost of this piece of perpet¬ 
ual summerland, that is a detail that 
can be arranged entirely to your satis¬ 
faction. 
At your suggestion, we will gladly call 
and talk it over, or if you prefer, will 
send you an informative piece of print¬ 
ed matter. 
Iord„ & fWrihamlo. 
Builders of Greenhouses and Conservatories 
Eastern Factory 
Irvington, N. Y. 
Irvington 
New York 
Boston-II 
Little Bldg. 
Western Factory 
Des Plaines, Ill. 
New York 
30 E. 42nd St. 
Cleveland 
407 Ulmer Bldg. 
Chicago 
Cont. Bank Bldg. 
Canadian Factory 
St. Catherines, Ont. 
Philadelphia 
Land Title Bldg. 
Kansas City 
Commerce Bldg. 
Denver 
1247 So. Emerson St. 
Buffalo 
White Building 
Toronto 
Harbor 
ARE THESE YOUR PROBLEMS? 
(Continued from, page 148) 
Carolina, for there you would have 
a dry atmosphere, quite an elevation, 
and a splendid opportunity to carry 
out the work you have in mind. It 
should be possible there, to lease a 
tract of mountain land on which broad¬ 
leaved evergreens are growing, and to 
collect them for shipment to northern 
gardens and estates. 
Such a project should involve very 
little capital and would be healthful, 
interesting, and possibly remunerative. 
Let us know what you think of this 
idea. If it has some drawback, I am 
sure we can think of something else. 
Question: Undoubtedly your depart¬ 
ment can solve a problem which has 
stumped me for several years. 
I have a grape arbor 8' wide, with 
a 3' walk running through it; leav¬ 
ing a strip of ground 2wide on 
each side of the walk. Thinking it 
would look more attractive to have 
this walk bordered with grass, I have 
on a number of occasions tried to 
cover these places with a nice green¬ 
sward. I have tried sowing seed early 
in spring, then early in fall, always 
with the same result. I have tried 
various shady grass mixtures; and 
others, all to no avail. As long as 
the arbor was not covered with leaves 
I was able to get a beautiful stand of 
grass; but when summer came and 
the growth of the grape vines shaded 
the grass, it vanished and left two 
dirty black stretches bordering the 
walk. 
Is it possible to make a dwarf ever¬ 
green plant grow under this arbor; 
if so, please give me the name of the 
plant. I do not care for anything 
that makes one think of a graveyard. 
Answer: Your problem is not an un¬ 
usual one and is comparatively simple 
to solve. When you say you do not 
care for anything that makes one think 
of a graveyard, I suppose you mean 
to eliminate English ivy and myrtle. 
It is too bad that there should be this 
feeling about these two plants, because 
they are ideally suited for covering the 
ground in shady places and covering it 
very decoratively. However, there is 
another plant called Japanese spurge 
(pachysandra terminalis) which is less 
commonly used than the two above 
and which is hardy, evergreen and 
very attractive. In early spring it is 
covered with inconspicuous greenish 
white flowers. It makes a thick mat 
on the ground about 6" high. Trail¬ 
ing bittersweet also can be used in the 
same way. The botanical name of 
this is euonymous radicans. It is 
notable for its small oval evergreen 
leaves. It is a little more vigorous in 
habit than the other plants mentioned 
but if you care to have a plant which 
will also climb upon the arbor, this 
will be very suitable. 
Question: Have made a few draw¬ 
ings of the size and location of the 
house we live in and the grounds 
around it. Have a list of plants and 
shrubs I have been raising for three 
years to plant upon the grounds but 
as our lawn drops about 20' to the 
water’s edge and we do not know 
how to grade it, would some pictures 
of it be a help to you to suggest to 
me what to do and how to do it? I 
am very anxious to plant and arrange 
the grounds to make them beautiful 
when finished at the back as well as 
the front of the property. Please tell 
me what to do first and if you will 
help me I shall be very grateful. 
Answer: If you will send us a scaled 
drawing of your lot, showing the loca¬ 
tion of your house, walks, and exist¬ 
ing planting, together with a photo¬ 
graph or two of the site, we should 
be delighted to give you the informa¬ 
tion you want. 
Our Service Department does not 
include the preparation of planting 
plans but is limited to giving verbal 
suggestions. This can be given most 
intelligently when we have complete 
information on the problem at hand. 
Question: I have a back yard, 30' 
x 40', with sun on only about half of 
the space, surrounded by buildings. 
There is a border of small lilac bushes, 
which do not grow at all, on the south 
side. They receive no sun. The north 
side is the sunniest. Grass grows 
where the sun shines. What plants can 
I put in, that will grow in the shade? 
Our front lawn is tiny and grass dies, 
as there is a large maple tree there. 
How about planting myrtle, and where 
can it be obtained? 
Answer: There are quite a few per¬ 
ennials which will grow well and blos¬ 
som in shady places. Among them are 
the two varieties of balloon flower— 
platycodon grandiflorum and platy- 
codon mariesi. The first is the larger 
of the two, growing to about 3', the 
latter is a dwarf variety and attains 
a height of 1'. Each variety comes 
in two colors, a blue-lavender and a 
white, and their blossoming period 
covers most of the summer. Day lily, 
or funkia subcordata, is another good 
plant for the purpose, as are prim¬ 
roses, horned violets, dwarf aster, 
spring adonis, anemone sylvestris, and 
globe flower. In addition to these 
herbaceous plants many of the broad¬ 
leaved evergreens prefer such a situa¬ 
tion as yours to a sunny exposure. 
These include rhododendron, laurel, 
Japanese fetterbush and euonymous. 
Planting myrtle under your maple 
tree where the grass doesn’t seem to 
thrive is a splendid solution to your 
problem. It can be obtained from any 
nursery. 
Question: I want a flag stone walk. 
I do not know whether to have it 
laid in cement or not. 
Which is the least expensive of this 
type of walk ? Any advice you can 
give me will be much appreciated. 
Answer: Any stone that can be split 
into flat pieces is suitable for a flag 
stone walk. It is possible that you 
can obtain stones of this kind in your 
neighborhood. If not we would be 
glad to furnish you with the name of 
a quarry near Philadelphia from where 
you can get flat sand stone flags in 
various colors at a fairly reasonable 
price. Also we would be glad to tell 
you where you can get vari-colored 
slate, from a reddish purple to a pale 
green. 
Flag stones or slate in irregular 
shapes are less expensive than those 
which have been cut to rectangular 
sizes, but the former cost more to lay. 
It is unnecessary to lay these stones 
on a cement base unless you want a 
very substantial walk or unless the 
stones are so small that they can be 
dislodged easily. In this case you 
should excavate to a depth of 5" and 
lay the stone on a 3" grouting of 
sand and cement. They can also be 
laid on a sand base 3" in thickness— 
a somewhat more satisfactory method 
than laying’them directly on the ground. 
If you lay them on sand or on the 
ground you should leave a joint of 
one and a half inches between the 
stones to be filled with earth, in which 
grass or small rock plants can be 
grown and thus tighten the whole con- 
(Continued on page 152) 
