THE
\A
THE ENTRANCE PATH.
THE SMALL PLACE
ITS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
BY
ELSA REHMANN
With 100 Illustrations
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Ifcnfcfeerbocfeer press
1918
TV*
COPYRIGHT, 1918
BY
ELSA REHMANN
ttbe ftnfcftetbocfter f)te00» "Hew
IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER
CARL F. REHMANN
AN ARCHITECT
PREFACE
THE idea for this book grew out of an intensive
study of the small place from the point of view
of the landscape architect. The actual formation
of the book began several years ago while I was
still serving my " apprenticeship" and much of the
material was gathered on the occasional journeys
for observation to town and country with which
I varied the work in the office. During this time
I have studied and worked on large gardens and
rich estates and I take unusual pleasure in the op-
portunities for landscape development that they
offer; but the small place still retains its fascination,
for its possibilities, which are generally overlooked,
are infinite, and its limitations, which are considered
as drawbacks, ought to be the very means of its
making.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
IT is a great pleasure to make acknowledgments
to those who have contributed in so friendly a
manner to this book.
I would thank the owners of the places for grant-
ing me the privilege of visiting and discussing their
problems. As some desired that their names
should not appear, I felt that all must remain
anonymous. In order to make an exact study and
an accurate analysis of each place, I have made
many a pleasant little journey through the space
of several years. Three of the places I have un-
fortunately not seen but through a practice in the
reading of plans, reports, and pictures I have been
able to interpret the spirit of these places accu-
rately enough to satisfy the designers.
Acknowledgments are due The Garden Magazine
and House and Garden. The chapters on the
designs by Miss Coffin, Miss Clark, Mr. Paul, Mr.
Davis, and the Olmsted Brothers appear for the
first time, but the chapter on Mr. Manning's prob-
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
lem appeared in a 1913 number of The Garden
Magazine and the rest of the chapters appeared in
House and Garden during 1915 and 1916. Since
their publication as magazine articles, these chap-
ters have undergone considerable revision and ap-
pear now in a more complete form.
For the renderings of the plans I am indebted to
Mr. B. Y. Morrison.
I greatly appreciate the opportunity that this
book has given me of widening my acquaintance-
ship among landscape architects. I regret that
more members of the profession could not be re-
presented in this book, for many, who were willing
to be of assistance and who have given freely of
their time, had nothing immediately available for
my use. I am happy that, despite the self-imposed
limitations of the book, such a representative group
of the profession have contributed to it. To those,
whose small problems have helped to make this
book possible, I would express my warmest grati-
tude for their cordiality, cooperation, and encour-
agement.
vin
INTRODUCTION
I HAVE selected fifteen problems in landscape
architecture to show in a simple and popular man-
ner the fundamentals that underlie the planning
and planting of the small place. I have made my
selection from the work of landscape architects, —
the majority of them belong to the American
Society of Landscape Architects, — so that each
problem would have a logical plan and a firm
structural foundation with the planting developed
as a decorative component.
I have taken great care in the selection of these
problems. I tried to use only places that have a
complete and well organized plan. It is difficult
to find places — especially small ones — in which all
the parts are given a proportionate share in the
development and where these parts are grouped to
form a harmonious whole, for the attainment of
perfection in a plan or underlying structure is often
not understood or entirely overlooked by the lay-
man, who is only attracted by the beauty of an
ix
INTRODUCTION
individual plant or by the gayety of a flower. A
perfect plan grows, moreover, out of existing con-
ditions, out of the limitations and peculiarities of
the site and soil, and out of the requirements of the
owner and of his domestic and social needs. In
the few cases where I have used only a part of a
complete layout, the part under discussion seemed
complete enough in itself to warrant it.
I have used only problems which have arrived at
such a degree of completion or growth that the
designer's ideas can be easily grasped by the lay-
man. I have used only those problems in which
the designer's ideas have been actually carried out.
In search of these I have made many a useless
journey, for many of the places that I visited had
been either entirely neglected or never completed
or changed out of recognition. The design is sel-
dom altogether lost but the planting is often sub-
ject to changes, for the client seldom realizes that
in a carefully considered plan each plant has its
special value in the development of the entire
scheme.
No matter how much thought and ingenuity the
landscape architect expends in evolving a layout,
it is a matter of time and growth before the pic-
tures in the designer's mind materialize. It is,
x
INTRODUCTION
therefore, very essential that the owner is willing
to cooperate sympathetically with the designer,
to obtain a comprehensive understanding of what
the design means and of what the ultimate re-
sults are to be. It is to such cooperation that
Mr. DeForest, for instance, lays the success of his
design.
It is of equal importance — especially in the case
of flower planting — that the client understands the
worth of the designer's supervision, not only while
the work is being done but also during its growth.
A share in the success of Miss Coffin's problem is
due to the owner's appreciation of the need of her
occasional visits of inspection — several are made
each year — when all the little planting details are
looked after so that the garden retains its perennial
charm without a single lapse.
These fifteen problems are of such diversity in
design and planting that they exhibit many prin-
ciples of landscape art as they are applied to the
small place. They emphasize the fact that while
all problems are governed by the same laws, each
demands an individual treatment. I considered
it valuable, therefore, to give a chapter to each
problem. Each chapter is illustrated with a plan
and with enough pictures to vivify the essential
xi
INTRODUCTION
points of each problem. The description of the
planting is given in detail for the discussion of con-
crete examples seems of greater value than mere
generalities. I hope that the reader, as he studies
each problem in its entirety, will, perchance, con-
ceive his own property as one complete and con-
sistent design and shape its individuality according
to the laws of landscape art.
xii
Areas in lawn or grass
Areas in flower/- t
e5brub/ CTCS) Tree; O Hedge/
Wdll/ by double line or
if of rubble con/truction
wi& /tep/
or ifeu/ to denote jtone fldg/
Arbor/ ^ Pergolaj WBtU *"
HoujeJ" are shown
in roof Wdn - S^^J-^I Pool/
THE KEY TO THE PLANS.
The arrows on the plans indicate the point of view of the photographs.
CONTENTS
PROBLEM I
PAGE
Design by SIBLEY C. SMITH, Landscape Architect . 3
A Comprehensive Lay out for a City Property.
PROBLEM II
Design by PRAY, HUBBARD, and WHITE, Landscape
Architects. . . . . . 17
A Complete Layout — Within Small Dimensions.
PROBLEM III
Design by E. GORTON DAVIS, Landscape Architect . 29
An Informal A rrangement of a Wooded Property.
PROBLEM IV
Design by ARTHUR A. SHURTLEFF, Landscape Archi-
tect 39
A Colonial Fore-court and Garden of a Farm-
house.
PROBLEM V
Design by OLMSTED B ROTHERS , Landscape Architects 47
The Planting of an Approach and Drive Turn.
xiii
CONTENTS
PROBLEM VI
PAGE
Design by PRAY, HUBBARD, and WHITE, Landscape
Architects 55
A Simple Home-ground.
PROBLEM VII
Design by WARREN H. MANNING, Landscape Designer 63
A Simple Home-ground on a Small Wooded
Hillside.
PROBLEM VIII
Design by HAROLD A. CAPARN, Landscape Architect . 73
An Informal Arrangement of a Small Property
near the Water.
PROBLEM IX
Design by OGLESBY PAUL, Landscape Architect. 85
A Formal Arrangement of a Suburban Property.
PROBLEM X
Design by ALLING S. DEFOREST, Landscape Architect 95
A Naturalistic Arrangement of a City Property.
PROBLEM XI
Design by MARIAN C. COFFIN, Landscape Architect . 107
A Naturalistic Garden — A Study in Flower Color.
PROBLEM XII
Design by ELIZABETH BOOTES CLARK, Landscape
Architect 121
The Terraced Garden of a Country Place.
xiv
CONTENTS
PROBLEM XIII
PAGE
Design by ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG, Landscape
Architect I31
A Small Property with Two Gardens.
PROBLEM XIV
Design by CHARLES N. LOWRIE, Landscape Architect 145
An Old Place — Redesigned.
PROBLEM XV
Design by PRENTICE SANGER, Landscape Architect . 1 53
A Hillside Property in a New England Town.
xv
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE ENTRANCE PATH . . . Frontispiece
THE KEY TO THE PLANS xii
PROBLEM I.
THE PLAN 4
1. THE DRIVE 5
2. THE GARDEN SEEN FROM THE LAWN . . 8
3. THE GARDEN IN TULIP TIME ... 9
4. THE TERRACE 10
5. THE ARCH BETWEEN THE BACK LAWN AND
THE TERRACE 1 1
PROBLEM II.
THE PLAN 18
1. THE GROUNDS SEEN FROM THE STREET . 19
2. THE ENCLOSURE 19
3. THE VESTIBULE 20
4. THE ENTRANCE PATH . . . .21
5. THE LAWN 22
6. THE FENCE 22
7. THE GARDEN 23
xvii
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
PROBLEM III.
THE PLAN . . ... 30
1. THE STREET VIEW OF THE GROUNDS . . 31
2. THE GATE TO THE TERRACE : . . . 32
3. IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE, — INSIDE OF THE
CEDAR HEDGE . . , . . 32
4. THE GATE OF THE OUTSIDE GARDEN . . 33
5. INSIDE THE GATE OF THE TERRACE WITH A
GLIMPSE OF THE HOUSE ACROSS THE ROAD . 33
6. THE TERRACE 34
7. THE WOODS 35
PROBLEM IV.
THE PLAN 40
1. THE FORECOURT . . . v . " . 41
2. THE GARDEN 42
3. THE THREE LEVELS OF THE GARDEN . 43
4. THE GARDEN SEEN FROM THE HOUSE . 44
5. THE SHELTERED SEAT .... 45
6. ONE OF THE GATEWAYS .... 45
PROBLEM V.
THE PLAN .48
1. THE GREAT BEECH . . . -49
2. THE DRIVE NEARING THE HOUSE . . 49
3. AT THE ENTRANCE PORCH .... 50
xviii
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
4. THE HOUSE ...... 50
5. INSIDE THE OVAL . . . 51
6. NEAR THE GATE . . . . .51
7. THE RHODODENDRONS .... 52
PROBLEM VI.
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE GROUNDS . 56
PROBLEM VII.
THE PLAN ...... 64
1. THE STREET VIEW ..... 65
2. AT THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE ... 66
3. THE LAWN ...... 67
4. THE GLADE ...... 68
5. THE DRIVE THROUGH THE WOODS . . 69
PROBLEM VIII.
THE PLAN ...... 74
1. THE STREET VIEW ..... 75
2. THE ENTRANCE GATE .... 76
3. THE ENTRANCE PORCH .... 76
4. THE LAWN ...... 77
5. THE TERRACE ...... 78
6. THE PERGOLA ...... 79
7. THE APPLE TREE ..... 80
8. THE SHRUBBERY PATH . . . .81
xix
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
PROBLEM IX.
THE PLAN . . * > . . 86
1. THE HOUSE . . . . . .87
2. THE PERGOLA . . . . .88
3. THE POOL . . . . ". . 88
4. THE LAWN 89
5. THE SEAT IN THE WALL .... 89
6. THE SHRUBBERY PATH .... 90
7. THE EVERGREEN PATH . . . .90
8. THE GATE IN THE WALL, WITH A GLIMPSE OF
THE SEMICIRCULAR SEAT IN THE SHADOW . 91
PROBLEM X.
THE PLAN . . . . . .96
1. THE ENTRANCE PATH 97
2. THE SERVICE DRIVE 98
3. THE SOUTH LAWN 99
4. THE PATH BETWEEN THE LAWN AND THE
WILD GARDEN 102
5. THE WILD GARDEN 103
PROBLEM XL
THE PLAN 108
1. THE PEONY WALK 109
2. THE MAIN GARDEN PATH . . . .no
3. THE IRIS BEDS in
xx
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
4. STANDARD LILACS AND TREE PEONIES
MARKED THE INTERSECTION OF THE PATHS
BEFORE THE ARBOR WAS BUILT . .Ill
5. THE MAIN LAWN 112
6. THE PURPLE AND YELLOW BORDER . .113
7. THE PURPLE AND YELLOW BORDER WHEN
THE TULIPS, DORONICUMS, CAMASSIAS,
AND GROUND COVERS ARE ALL IN BLOOM . 114
8. THE PINK BORDER WHEN THE CRAB APPLES
AND THE TULIPS ARE IN BLOOM . . 115
9. THE WHITE BORDER . . . .116
10. THE SHADY PATH 117
PROBLEM XII.
THE PLAN 122
1. THE HOUSE AND THE GARDEN . . .123
2. THE ENTRANCE FROM THE MEADOW . .124
3. THE TERRACE 124
4. BETWEEN THE Two COLOR GARDENS . 125
5. THE BLUE AND YELLOW GARDEN . .126
6. THE PASTEL GARDEN . . . .126
7. ANOTHER VIEW OF THE BLUE AND YELLOW
GARDEN 127
PROBLEM XIII.
THE PLAN 132
1. THE HOUSE AND THE FORMAL GARDEN . 133
2. THE FORMAL GARDEN . . . .134
xxi
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
3. THE LONGER Axis OF THE FORMAL GARDEN 135
4. AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE INFORMAL GARDEN 138
5. IN THE INFORMAL GARDEN , . .139
PROBLEM XIV.
THE PLAN . . . ... 146
1. THE GARDEN 147
2. THE TEA HOUSE . . . . 148
3. INSIDE THE TEA HOUSE . . . .148
4. THE LONG PATH 149
5. THE PERGOLA 149
PROBLEM XV.
THE PLAN 154
1. THE HOUSE . . . . . . 155
2. THE TURN-AROUND 156
3. THE SERVICE COURT AND GARAGE . .156
4. THE HOUSE AND THE GARDEN . . .157
5. THE TERRACE AND THE GARDEN . . 158
6. THE POOL 158
7. THE SEMICIRCULAR SEAT . . . .159
8. THE GATEWAY 159
xxn
THE SMALL PLACE
PROBLEM I
PROBLEM I
A COMPREHENSIVE LAYOUT FOR A CITY PROPERTY, BY
SIBLEY C. SMITH, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
PROVIDENCE, R. I.
This property is located at Providence, R. I. Its dimensions
are 140 x 209 feet
THE development of this city lot illustrates the
comprehensive use that can be made of a
small piece of ground. The house stands in the
very center of the property. There is a drive on
the north side which passes right by the entrance
porch. On the east a shrubbery-bordered lawn
makes a pleasant outlook for the living room. On
the south the conservatory leads to the terrace
and to the flower garden. On the west in back of
the house is the laundry yard and next to it the
stable court, which connects with the drive again.
The various parts are united and framed in by a
wall built around the entire property. In this
way privacy and seclusion are obtained in the very
midst of the city.
T
THE SMALL PLACE
§
The house is only open from September until
June. It is during this time that the grounds can
be enjoyed by the family. And it is for this
reason that the planting is so chosen and arranged
that it will produce its best effects during the late
fall, winter, and early spring. There are late
autumn flowers and shrubs with brilliant foliage.
There are evergreens and shrubs with berries and
gayly colored stems. There are spring bulbs and
early flowering shrubs. These give abundant
green and bright color to the city garden during
the cold seasons of the year.
The drive was made as practical as possible. It
runs parallel to the house and turns abruptly
with short curves to the two entrances. Its shape
fits the ground and the rising grade of the street
and the two gateways make easy the entrance
and departure of vehicles. The door of the stable,
placed on the axis of the straight part of the drive,
maKes an easy connection between stable, front
door, and street.
It is here that the initial impression of the
grounds and the house is received. The planting
has been carefully considered in order to obtain
at the very beginning a certain distinction char-
4
PROBLEM I
THE PLAN.
SIBLEY C. SMITH
acteristic of the entire place. An old Beech
with widespread branches dominates this part of
the grounds. In its deep shade many woodsy,
shade-loving plants like Ferns, Solomon's Seal,
Uvularia, and Violets make a ground cover where
grass will not grow. The drive is bordered by
narrow planting strips. On one side Myrtle is
planted near the entrance, then Ivy, and near
the exit a group of Fragrant Bush-Honeysuckles.
Along the wall in back of this strip there is Regel's
Privet in scattered groups. On the other side of
the drive near the entrance are Euonymus radicans,
Fragrant Sumac, Pachysandra, and Ivy, with Hem-
lock, Forsythia, and Dogwood against the wall
in back of them. Along the house the planting
is principally of Rhododendrons. It is interesting
that these Rhododendrons, that did poorly in
their original position on the south side of the
house before the garden was built, flourish on the
north side. They dislike excessive sunlight, es-
pecially in winter, but enjoy the more even tem-
perature of the shade. Now they thrive every
winter without any protection except a mulch
around the roots. They look particularly pleasant
in contrast to all the neighbors' Rhododendron
beds, which are tied up in their coverings of ever-
5
THE SMALL PLACE
green boughs at the first approach of cold weather.
Leucothoe catesbcei, Pachysandra terminalis, Ferns,
Ivy, and Yellowroot make a foreground planting
for the Rhododendrons. Along the wall of the serv-
ice court Fragrant Sumac and Asters are planted,
and Ampelopsis Engelmanni, which has clinging
suckers like the Boston Ivy and a free growing
habit like the Virginia Creeper, climbs over wall
and posts.
All the plants on the drive endure northern
exposure and shady positions. It is a planting
composed mainly of evergreens. To the exclusion
of all stiff specimen conifers, broad-leaved ever-
greens have been used. The decorative effective-
ness of evergreen planting depends as much on the
nicety with which the different varieties are com-
bined as on the selection of the material. It is a
planting chosen principally for its fine foliage
effects. The lasting green of Myrtle and Ivy,
Hemlock, Euonymus, and Pachysandra, the almost
evergreen foliage of the Fragrant Bush-Honey-
suckles, and the glossy leafage of the Rhododen-
drons give a splendid winter effect. Against these
are contrasted the Leucothoe when its foliage
turns a deep red in the autumn and the fall color
of the Yellowroot and Fragrant Sumac.
6
SIBLEY C. SMITH
From the drive we can pass to the lawn. It is a
little place, quite private and secluded, six feet
above the sidewalk. The wall around it has done
away with the original steep grass slope which
was never good to look at and very difficult to
keep in order. By the building of this retaining
wall, several feet were added to the width of the
lawn, a desirable economy of floor space for a
small piece of ground.
The shrubbery planted along the front wall is
not put in a continuous border. With economy
of space in mind and with a desire to show the
wall between, the familiar Spirtza Fan Houttei,
Regel's Privet, and Hemlock are planted in groups
at intervals. The Privet and Hemlock have a
sweeping habit of branching, very desirable in
plants for lawn enclosures. They provide a winter
contrast of black berries against evergreen boughs.
Japanese Quince is planted near the house for early
spring bloom, and Rosa multiflora, climbing over
the wall, has bright hips for autumn effect.
From the lawn we can enter the flower garden.
It is quite a marvelous little place. In considering
all that has been done in it, it is really worth while
noticing that its size is only thirty-five by forty-
7
THE SMALL PLACE
five feet. Its slightly raised position above the
front lawn and its sunken position in relation to the
terrace gives it the change of level to which so
many gardens owe a great deal of their charm.
Part of its charm comes, too, from its enclosure,
from the walls which frame the two sides of the
terrace. Then, it gets the benefit of the large
Pine on the terrace and of the old Spruce in the
back lawn.
The flower effects have been confined entirely to
the spring and autumn months. In the spring
the central beds glisten with the more delicately
colored varieties of Darwin Tulips underplanted
with Forget-me-nots. The side borders are filled
with creamy white Narcissus and fritillaria mele-
agris with a ground cover of pale lavender Phlox
stellaria. Delicate pinkish white Japanese Anem-
ones, replacing the Tulips in the central beds,
begin the fall flowering. A mass of pale lavender
Asters with white and yellow Snapdragons in the
foreground fill the wall border, while yellow and
maroon Chrysanthemums along the house con-
tinue the flowering season until after the frost.
In the planting of a small garden striking seasonal
effects can be obtained only through large masses
of a very limited variety of plants. This does not
8
SIBLEY C. SMITH
exclude, however, the use of many different kinds
of plants in small clumps. Many are used in this
garden, among them Iris reticulata, Abelia rupestris,
Lilium rubellum, Anemone blanda, Iris cristata.
Crocus speciosus, Iberis sempervirens, and Helleborus
nigra. It is necessary, of course, to plant these
many kinds in very small quantities, but this will
not limit their effectiveness as they are seen
at the closest range. They have to be subordi-
nated, however, to the general seasonal effect and
be in harmony with its color. The seasonal dis-
play here of Narcissus and Darwin Tulips in the
spring, of Japanese Anemones, Asters, Snapdragons,
and Chrysanthemums in the fall gives a unity not
to be overlooked but strongly emphasized in the
small garden.
In the design of the garden every effort was
made to make it attractive during the cold months
of the year. The space saved through the elimi-
nation of all summer blooming flowers has been
used for a liberal planting of small evergreens.
Euonymus radicans, kept closely clipped, forms the
edging of the central beds. Andromeda, Laurel,
Pachysandra, and the dainty Daphne cneorum
make a narrow shrubbery along the wall. Japanese
Yew, Japanese Holly, and Azalea are planted along
9
THE SMALL PLACE
the house wall. These shrubberies give a good color
effect when in bloom, they make a background for
the flowers, and they are especially valuable in giv-
ing a cheerful note to the garden in midwinter.
A broad brick-paved terrace adjoins the flower
garden with everything to make it attractive during
the cold weather. It is warm and sunny and dry
under foot. Its walls catch and hold the heat of the
sun and make it comfortable to sit in even late in
the fall, while the Pine tree furnishes just enough
shade to make it a pleasant afternoon lounging
place even in the warm days of late spring. The
terrace is sheltered on the north by the house,
from which it is approached through a small
conservatory. The stucco pilasters and wooden
beams of the conservatory make it a desirable
winter substitute for a pergola. On the west the
terrace overlooks the flower garden. The other
two sides are enclosed by walls. Opposite the
conservatory the wall is raised to give privacy from
the carriage drive of the adjoining lot. The
monotony of a solid wall is changed into a feature
of much interest by an arrangement of three
panels. The side ones are filled with Delia Rdbbia
Singing Boys, the center one with a brick wall
10
THE ARCH BETWEEN THE BACK LAWN AND THE TERRACE.
SIBLEY C. SMITH
fountain. The fountain provides an architectural
feature which is pleasing in its placing opposite
the conservatory door and in its location near
the Pine which overshadows it. A wall fountain
is an economy of space and the smallest trickle of
water has an enlivening effect in a garden. The
three flat arch openings in the other wall allow the
green of the back shrubbery to enter into the com-
position. This wall is unusual, in giving both the
effect of seclusion and a suggestion of something
of interest beyond. Jasminum nudiflorum planted
under the conservatory windows has bright yellow
flowers very early in the spring. Snowdrops, Iris
reticulata, and English Primroses are planted in the
sunny nooks at the foot of the wall and a white
Chinese Wistaria climbs over it. The annual vine
Cobea scandens gives a delightful lavender bloom
in the fall and English Ivy planted on the shady
sides provides the winter interest. The terrace is
a pleasant out-of-door room. It is comparatively
small but the wide-open view of the flower garden
and the broken glimpses of the back lawn makes it
quite big in feeling if not in actual extent.
The central arch of the wall is a door to the
back lawn. On either side are informal shrubbery
ii
THE SMALL PLACE
borders. The ground under the shrubs is planted
with Bloodroots, Solomon's Seals, Trilliums, Cro-
cuses, Squills, Violets and other spring flowers. It
is a substitute for a rock or wild garden which
shows what charming simple effects can be de-
veloped on a small place if thought is given to the
intensive use of every corner. In the shrubbery
itself the main masses are composed of Lilacs,
Snowberries, Euonymus alatus, Cornus alba, and
Kerria japonica. The Lilacs provide abundant
spring bloom, the Snowberries a charming autumn
touch. The brilliant red branches of the Cornus
and the vivid green stems of the Kerria give a very
effective winter contrast. At the farther end of the
lawn the vista is terminated by a v wonderful old
Spruce backed by a semicircular lattice. A row
of square white stepping stones leads from the
terrace to the Spruce and turns at right angles to
enter the stable court. Even in this court the
winter effect has been thought of. There are
Barberries with red berries and Privets with
black fruit.
We have made a complete circuit of the grounds,
just as I made it one sunny day in December.
The visit was a timely one to show me how beauti-
12
SIBLEY C. SMITH
ful the garden was going to be during each winter
month. It was fascinating to watch the gradual
unfolding of each garden picture as I walked around
the house. Every part of the property, every
little corner, was utilized to its fullest extent, and
beneath its decorative treatment the underlying
plan bound together the various subdivisions into
a closely interrelated and unified whole.
PROBLEM II
PROBLEM II
A COMPLETE LAYOUT — WITHIN SMALL DIMENSIONS, BY
PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE, LANDSCAPE ARCHI-
TECTS, BOSTON, MASS.
Location — Allston, near Boston. Size — 64 x 164 feet
development of this property was deter-
mined by the location of the path which now
connects the front door with the street. Such a
path is a necessity in daily use. It must be prac-
tical, dry under foot, and as direct as possible.
These reasons, however, should not deprive it of
interest. The very fact that it is in daily use
is all the more reason why it should have beauty
inwrought in the making.
The house had to be set high above the street
level and had to accommodate its shape to the
long narrow lot. The necessity of facing the house
for these reasons upon an unpaved road, which is
only a right of way, and the impracticability of
placing the entrance to the grounds on it, forced
17
THE SMALL PLACE
this unconventional solution. The direct communi-
cation with the main thoroughfare, only a block
away, through the use of the narrow street on the
south of the house made it of practical importance
to locate the entrance on this street. The problem
still remained of how to get in an interesting but
direct manner from the street to the front door.
The grounds are walled in along this street
to avoid steep grass terraces. This wall is sur-
mounted by a white picket fence and broken in
the middle by the entrance steps. One step up
from the street we stand on a small space in
front of seven steps which are walled in on both
sides by the retaining walls of lawn and flower
garden. Once up these steps we cpme to a little
vestibule or anteroom, if we may borrow the
architect's terms. It is a little breathing space, a
place pleasant to linger in a moment. It is the
parting of the ways. Masses of Rhododendron
with a background of Cedars face us. On the left
the white gate opens into a short cut through the
flower garden to the living room. On the right
tall feathery Retinispora pisifera specimens on
either side indicate that the walk continues in that
direction toward the front door. After we pass
these evergreen sentinels we make a turn and
18
PROBLEM II.
THE PLAN.
THE GROUNDS SEEN FROM THE STREET.
PROBLEM II. No. 2.
THE ENCLOSURE.
PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE
another five steps bring us up to the house level.
This turn and the shrubbery around it hide one
flight of steps from the other and the level piece
of ground between breaks into two short flights
what might have been one tiresome as well as
tiring flight of steps. Once on the house level
the walk runs along the whole front of the house.
Not only is this arrangement of the walk direct and
attractive in itself but it makes possible a consider-
able space of unbroken lawn between the walk
and the fence along the unpaved road. This solu-
tion seems so simple and appropriate that all the
care, labor, and study put into the planning for
grading, for construction of wall work and steps
is entirely lost to mind. It should be so. All
study should be hidden behind seemingly un-
studied naturalness. Such fundamental planning,
to which the planting, so important in itself, is
added as a decorative feature, displays the in-
genuity of the landscape architect and shows the
practicability of employing him.
The path is laid in brick. Brick pavements
have a permanent decorative quality and a warm
color which is of special value in the winter effec-
tiveness of a garden. At the end of the path
stands an old Maple. It is a piece of rare good
19
THE SMALL PLACE
fortune to have it just in that position. Such a
tall old tree has a peculiar manner of imparting
some of its own dignity and distinction to the
house and the grounds near it. It has a depth
of shadow which has an indescribable charm. It
provides a strong contrast of shade to the sunny
lawn.
The house is well orientated in relation to the
various parts of the grounds. It faces east upon
the lawn. On the south is the living porch facing the
garden. On the north the kitchen and cellar doors
open on a lattice-screened and brick-paved enclosure
used both as laundry yard and service court. A
path which joins at right angles the path along the
front of the house connects this court with the
roadway.
The corner of the lawn by this service path
is planted with Rhododendrons, Lilacs, and For-
sythia. The Rhododendrons find an appropriate
place in the shade of the Maple. Next to them
are the Lilacs, then the Forsythia. The heavy
plain leaves of the Lilacs harmonize exceptionally
well in color and texture with the Rhododendron
foliage. Both the Forsythia and the Lilacs keep
20
THE ENTRANCE PATH.
PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE
green late into the fall. Together they give
three monthly periods of bloom. The arching
branches of the Forsythia bring this shrubbery
into character with the Lady Gay Roses climbing
along the eastern fence. In front of the Roses are
Peonies. These two give two long periods of
bloom. Peonies like isolation from other flowers
for complete development and are as valuable as
shrubs in foliage effectiveness. Next come Pop-
lars, then come groups of Lilacs, Deutzia lemoine,
and Spircea Van Houttei. This unbroken but
irregular border hides the house from the street
except where glimpses of doorway or arched win-
dow are seen through the branches. It gives a
delightful informality to the grounds which char-
acterizes so many of the older and larger places in
the near vicinity of Boston.
Andromeda floribunda was originally planted
along the house under the windows. It is one of
the most pleasing of the dwarf evergreen shrubs.
The buds of its white flowers have a curious way
of appearing all winter long as if they were just
ready to burst into bloom which helps to enliven
the garden during the winter months. These
plants have disappeared and the unfortunate plac-
ing of Box bushes to take their place spoils the
21
THE SMALL PLACE
continuity of the border. These Box bushes illus-
trate a frequent mistake in shrub planting for
they were planted there simply by the caprice of
the planter, who considered his plant material only
at its own and separate value instead of at its
valuation as a part of a well ordered design. The
Rhododendrons and Cedars at either end of the
house show how effective evergreens can be against
red brick walls. Two Rose of Sharon bushes
with double pink flowers frame the entrance
porch. Their upright habit accentuates its quiet
formality. Just this upright stiffness which
makes it so difficult to mold it into shrubbery
borders invests the Rose of Sharon with a pecul-
iar fitness when it is used to produce architectural
balance.
The planting along the house and for the lawn
enclosure has been given in such detail to show how
full of interest a little place can be when careful
attention is given to the proper arrangement of
shrubs as a boundary around a small lawn. Ever-
greens give it much winter interest, deciduous
planting emphasizes the spring bloom. Then,
after the Roses are through blooming in July, the
lawn is framed by quiet greenery and the color
interest is absorbed by the flower garden.
22
PROBLEM II. No. 5.
PROBLEM II. No. 6.
THE LAWN.
THE FENCE.
PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE
The garden is a delightful little place not thirty
feet square. It shows the infinite possibilities of
the small flower garden. We like its friendly
colors, its little touches of formality, and its seclu-
sion above the street.
Part of the success of this garden is due to
its enclosure. On the north side by the porch
are masses of Rhododendron. Lily-of-the-V alley
plants are crowded together by the steps, and
there is a Box bush on either side. On the east
side is the picket fence. Opposite is a row of
Arbor Vitae now six or eight feet high, and on the
south side the branches of the street trees make
a heavy green screen.
Much of the success of the garden comes from
the worth of its design. In a small garden the
design wins approval through sheer simplicity.
This design is based on a circular composition
inscribed in a square. It is an old motive al-
ways new. The spreading Pinus mugho is not
a very acceptable central figure for it is coarse
in texture and will soon grow too large and
dwarf the rest of the design. We are sorry it is
in the photograph for the center was the place
designed for a sundial or a slender columned bird
bowl.
23
THE SMALL PLACE
Most of the success of a garden must be attrib-
uted to the choice and arrangement of the flowers.
The succession of bloom creates a pleasurable per-
ennial interest. The arrangement of the flowers
emphasizes the circular composition. On the edge
of the circular path are eight Sedum spectabile.
In back of them are planted the tall lilac blue
Iris pallida dalmatica interspersed with Anthemis,
the Golden Marguerite. The third tier is com-
posed of Daffodils and pink and white Phlox.
Along the street wall are rows of Hollyhocks.
In front of the green of the Arbor Vitae light blue
Larkspurs raise their slender spires in early summer
and Aconitum, the Monkshood, gives a similar
effect in autumn. On either side of the gate a bush
of low Deutzia gracilis blossoms early in the spring
and later in July two plants of Yellow Day Lilies
placed on either side of the path to the house
make bright spots of color. To complete the
formal effect a white-flowering Rose of Sharon is
planted at each corner. From the time the Narcis-
sus comes out in April until the Rose of Sharon
fades there is always something blooming in the
garden. The middle of August, when the picture
was taken, is the gala time. It is the climax
of the season. The Rose of Sharon, the Sedum,
24
PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE
and the Phlox are all blooming together. It is,
however, not necessary, as it is not possible, to have
so much bloom all the time to make the small
garden effective. A little bloom goes a long way.
When I saw it in early July with the Hemerocallis
just beginning to bloom and the Larkspurs in
flower, the garden was quite charming with its
delicate touch of blue and gold. Even when it
gets too cold to sit out-of-doors, the garden has
lost little of its attractiveness. The Rhododen-
dron foliage, the fragrant Box bushes, the pyrami-
dal Arbor Vitae, and the red brick of the paths
provide much winter interest.
The enclosure, the architectural details, the
design, the flowers, each has an important part to
play. It is not in their separate parts but in
their interrelated action toward garden effective-
ness that their complete worth lies in the art of
garden making.
PROBLEM III
PROBLEM III
AN INFORMAL ARRANGEMENT OF A WOODED PROPERTY, BY
E. GORTON DAVIS, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y.
This property is located at Ithaca, N. Y. The main prop-
erty is no x 136 feet. The "outside" garden is
go x no feet
OPEN expanses of ornamented lawns which ex-
pose the full view of the house to every
passer-by are of a past day in garden art. Vine-
covered walls and fences, hedges, shrubbery
borders, and slopes clothed with trailers and re-
cumbent shrubs form the boundaries that are
helping to make the attractive streets of to-
day. Bare and uninterrupted views of houses
are now replaced by pleasing impressions caught
over hedges and through shrubbery. These en-
closing frames make one comprehend the meaning
of the English wall and hedge bounded gardens
and appreciate the desirability of the privacy thus
attained. The street boundary is not to be
29
THE SMALL PLACE
chosen hastily, for it must be in keeping with the
style and character of the house and give the
correct intimation of the grounds it encloses.
It must not, however, be too different from the
rest of the places on the street.
For this house and for these grounds, it seemed
best to plant a Cedar hedge all along the street
boundary. The gates for drive and walk entrances
break the hedge line but preserve the continuity
of the boundary. The tall undipped Cedars that
mark the main entrance and add variety of skyline
to this point .unite with others near them to give
a picturesque quality to the entrance and thus
strengthen the impression of simplicity desired
in the grounds. Rhodotypus kerrioides has been
planted along the outside of the hedge. The
White Kerria has a pleasant delicacy to its white
flowers, and its persistent black fruit is sprinkled
lightly over the bush. Its unfortunate tendency
to have yellow foliage is avoided by keeping it
on the north side of the hedge, out of the sun.
Incidentally, it makes a pleasing contrast for the
clipped hedge. The stiffness of most clipped
hedges could be easily relieved by some such
low free growing planting. Not even on the
inside is the hedge left entirely exposed. Along
30
PROBLEM III.
THE PLAN.
E. GORTON DAVIS
the lawn boundary Sweet Briar Roses are placed
against the Cedars, and in front of the house the
Cedars act as a background for an herbaceous
border whose taller flowers overtop the hedge.
The passage between the street and the house
is perhaps the most frequently used part of the
grounds. It, therefore, ought to be a fitting ap-
proach to the front door, one that will be agree-
able, day by day, to home-comers and one that
will be a welcome to visitors. It ought to be an
approach that will be in keeping with the style
of the house, one that will express, too, in some
way the manner of household living. It ought
to be the very keynote that will give the correct
initial impression of the entire place.
In this problem, it is necessary to pass along
the entire side of the house to reach the entrance
steps. At first, — before the work on the grounds
was begun, — this walk was an ungainly procedure.
From the street entrance you had to walk down-
grade and then up again before you reached the
porch. The ground was then graded in such a
way that now you reach the porch across an
eighteen-foot-wide terrace which affords a level
and agreeable entrance. At first the house stood
31
THE SMALL PLACE
amid sloping ground and had an awkward and un-
stable look. Through this grading the house has
gained a pleasing appearance of solidity. It is
upon such underlying structural improvements —
like this simple piece of grading — that many at-
tractive features of small properties depend.
This level space has become more than an
approach. It is a pleasant place] for outdoor
sitting. The slanting position of the gateway
and the tall Cedars cut off all possibilities of a
glimpse into the grounds. The hedge around the
terrace is of globe-shaped Thuya, — it might have
been of Taxus cuspidata, — which is low enough
for pleasant views across the sloping lawn and
into the woods on the back hillside. English
Daisies, planted all along the hedge, give a homey
little touch. The nice placing of the regular
stepping stones of the path with the broad grass
spaces on either side give the terrace a pleasing
breadth. The wooden gateway and wooden seats,
as well as the stepping stones, are appropriately
used with this quiet house of gray stucco and
shingle.
From the terrace broad field stone steps lead
down to the lawn and then by easy grades to
32
O
E. GORTON DAVIS
the wood paths. In the crevices of the stones
many rock plants are tucked. There are Golden
Tufts (Alyssum saxatile compactum and A. rostra-
turn), dwarf silver toned Anthemis aizoon, Arabis,
Thrift, dwarf Baby's Breath, delicate tinted Saxi-
fragas, and all kinds of gay Sedums. This method
of softening the stone and brightening the path
with bits of flower color is an exquisite acquisition
from English gardens.
The woods is roughly 50 by 150 feet in its
entire area and yet its paths are of enough length
to create a whole series of charming wood pictures
along their sloping ways. Pines and Hemlocks,
undergrowth shrubs and trees supplement the
existing woods of Oaks, Hickories, and Maples.
Dogwoods and Judas trees make a charming
spring combination full of delicacy and color.
Then there are Azaleas, the soft rose Azalea nudi-
flora and its brighter flame-toned relative, Azalea
calendulacea. For early summer there are masses
of Laurels scattered through the woods and at
special places there are Rhododendrons, the tall
native Rhododendron maximum, the smaller-leaved
Rhododendron carolinianum, and the low small-
flowered Rhododendron myrtlefolium. There are
masses of Leucothoe and an occasional Yew
3 33
THE SMALL PLACE
(Taxus canadensis). For the fall there are
white-berried Cornus paniculata. Viburnum acer-
folium with autumn-tinted maple-leaved foli-
age and black fruit, and Witch-hazels whose
very late flowers and yellowed foliage herald
the winter.
It would seem as if the picture were complete
and yet these trees and shrubs form but a back-
ground for hundreds upon hundreds of plants that
love wood soil and shade. All the early wild
flowers are there, Bloodroots and Dutchman's
Breeches, Hepatica and Spring Beauties, Arbutus
and Partridge Berries, Columbines and wild Bleed-
ing Hearts, Mandrakes and Wild Ginger. There
are Violets and Trilliums in great variety, many
kinds of Lady Slippers (Cypripediums, Habanarias,
Orchis spectabilis) and a complete collection of
ferns. There are Solomon's Seals and Mertensias,
groups of Cimicifuga racemosa (the white Snake-
root), and bold masses of Eupatoriums and wild
Asters. There are Bluets and wild blue Lupines
and lilac blue Phlox divaricata. Monarda (the
Bee Balm) makes a bright spot of color, orange
and red Wood Lilies (Lilium candense, Lilium
philadelphicum, and Lilium superbum) are growing
in gay masses, and in more secluded and sheltered
34
E. GORTON DAVIS
nooks an occasional Cardinal Flower gleams scarlet
amid the deep green of the woods.
The gathering and collecting of these wood
plants has become a pleasant hobby, all the more
worthy because the placing and composing of the
plants in their woodsy setting has been done with
such care that it is in harmony with the structural
integrity of the whole place.
The segment-shaped piece of land on the other
side of the street was bought to prevent the
possibility of any objectionable building rising in
front of the house. A charming chalet, too
picturesque, perhaps, to be in keeping with the
modest old-fashioned air of the residence, was built
upon it. Part of it is used by the owner as an
office. The placing of this house, in a subordinate
position on the side of the grounds, allows ample
room for landscape development. In front is a
roomy lawn, on one side is a long walk with a
flower border that acts as a cutting garden, and
tucked away into the back corner is a small salad
garden. The main feature is the circular flower
enclosure. It is connected by a direct walk with
the house terrace across the road and so becomes
an integral part of the main grounds.
35
THE SMALL PLACE
This additional garden space is really what the
Germans call an "Abseits Garten" or a garden
outside. It originated in old towns where the
houses were so huddled together within the walls
that the gardens had to be planted, necessarily,
outside the fortifications. Here, the "outside
garden" is so close to the house that the careful
placing of entrances and gateways brings the two
properties together into one logical and structural
whole.
PROBLEM IV
37
PROBLEM IV
A COLONIAL FORE -COURT AND GARDEN OF A FARMHOUSE,
BY ARTHUR A. SHURTLEFF, LANDSCAPE ARCHI-
TECT, BOSTON, MASS.
This property is located at Shrewsbury, near Worcester, Mass.
The dimensions of the Fore-court are 42 x 6$ feet;
those of the Garden are 34 x 38 feet
THE FORE-COURT.
THE house stands in the midst of fields in a
small community in Massachusetts, not far
from Boston. The walled-in fore-court or door-
yard was designed to separate the house grounds
from the wide farm lands on every side. It is
an approach or introductory passage from the
road to the house door. The drive and roads to
the barns are thus separated from the main en-
trance to the house.
It is a well kept level place. The stone walls
make a strong dividing line between its smooth
lawns and the rougher ground without and are
in keeping with the farm surroundings. The
39
THE SMALL PLACE
picket fence in front, with the small posts, is in
keeping with the colonial character of the house.
Ampelopsis is growing over the wall to soften its
surface. Lilacs are massed at the corners near
the road, Mock Oranges are grouped near the
entrance gate, and Poplars are placed in two
balancing groups just outside the wall near the
corners of the house. At the entrance gate stands
a great Ash with an enormous spread of branches.
It dwarfs the house and creates the homey im-
pression so often unconsciously attained in old
farmyards through the planting of one large tree
near the front door. Here, it stands so far from
the house that it does not demand the sacrifice
of light usual in the older examples. The old
Apple trees, inside the yard, are pleasant features
that add to its simplicity. The narrow flower bor-
ders along the inside of the wall are composed of a
very few kinds of plants such as early Yellow Day
Lilies, Madonna Lilies, Larkspurs, and Phlox.
They are planted not with the idea of producing
a carefully arranged border that would attract
particular attention but with the idea of breaking
up the long straight wall surface with a few in-
teresting plants whose color would be refreshing
against the gray of the stone. As the fore-court
40
PROBLEM IV.
THE PLAN.
ARTHUR A. SHURTLEFF
is considered merely as an approach, a place to
walk through and not a garden to linger in, it is
essential to make it simple enough in arrangement
so that it can be grasped in its entirety at the first
glance.
This fore-court, placed here to conform with
the colonial style of the house, is an interesting
free interpretation of an old colonial garden form.
The front doorway garden, as it was found in old
New England and is still sparingly seen in conser-
vative communities, is a form derived from the
English fore-court, of which the English doorway
garden is a humbler, more intimate, and less formal
expression. In these colonial examples, the front
fence stood near the road and the side fences ex-
tended back to the corners of the house. It was,
therefore, rectangular in shape, taking its dimen-
sions from the width of the house and the distance
it was placed back from the road. At first, the
enclosure of the colonial fore-yard had a purely
practical reason for existence. It preserved from
the inroads of cattle a little clearing where the
housewife could grow a few flowers. But soon it
became something more. There was an attempt
to create a little air of formality for the approach
to the front door. There was a nice striving to
41
THE SMALL PLACE
separate the small orderly garden from the rougher
fields and the bigger expanses of surrounding
country. These same reasons inspired its repeti-
tion for this country house. In its simple ar-
rangement, there is a message to every dweller in
rural communities, a suggestion of how to give the
farmhouse a worthy dignity through an appropri-
ate setting.
THE GARDEN.
To one side of the house, the ground slopes
quite steeply and a small garden was won from
the surrounding farm lands by giving it three
levels. Highest is the terrace outside the living
room porch. Going down five steep stone steps
we stop on a narrow strip, not more than ten feet
wide, where Roses grow and tumble over the wall.
Down another five steps and we stand in the
garden proper.
It is a very small garden. It is walled in with
the same field stone used in the enclosure of the
fore-court. An adequate enclosure is one of the
main essentials of a garden. By shutting it in,
the garden is relieved of the disturbing task of
competing with the bigness of the surrounding
country with its varied nature. The trees that
42
PROBLEM IV. e No.
THE THREE LEVELS OF THE GARDEN.
ARTHUR A. SHURTLEFF
«
arch over the wall add much to the interest of the
enclosure. The charming hooded seat built into
the wall reminds one of seats in sheltered corners
of English gardens. Without the two arched
gateways the garden might have seemed a little
cramped. The round pool in the center of the
garden is little larger than a bird bowl but it is
in perfect scale. The Japanese Iris are grouped
around the pool and the specimen Mugho Pines
make accents for the corners of the grass plot.
The flower borders are very narrow, and the
flowers are necessarily few, but they are of
sufficient variety to be incidents in the summer.
When I saw them early in July, two great Peony
bushes marked either side of the seat, the white
Japanese Iris was in full bloom, the Foxgloves
had just faded, the Larkspurs were beginning to
open, and a very little early pink Phlox had just
come out.
This garden has all the requisite elements,
proper enclosure, flower borders, grass plot, pool
and seat, and ought to be suggestive to the
owners of farmhouses where gardens can only be
had if they need the minimum of upkeep and
attention. It ought to be suggestive as well to
the owners of small city properties who generally
43
THE SMALL PLACE
despair of having gardens because they lack
spacious grounds, unlimited means, and gardening
inclinations. It hints at the possibilities of the
small garden for which there is ample need and
opportunity in our towns and suburbs.
44
PROBLEM IV. No. 4.
THE GARDEN SEEN FROM THE HOUSE.
PROBLEM V
45
PROBLEM V
THE PLANTING OF AN APPROACH AND DRIVE TURN,
BY OLMSTED BROTHERS, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS,
BROOKLINE, MASS.
This property is located at Chestnut Hill, Pa.
WHILE this house is a large country home
with very interesting terraces and gar-
dens, its approach and drive turn can be appro-
priately considered in the planting of a small
place. The house is suggestive of the large Eng-
lish houses with its long irregular plan, its series
of mullioned windows, and its many-gabled roof.
All along its front, following the curving line of
the drive, there is a hedging of clipped Box and
a few tall undipped Box bushes are grouped in a
windowless corner. Such uniformity in the plant-
ing along the house walls manifests reserve but
it is necessary to accompany it by planting which
will relieve its regularity. So, Honeysuckle, Ivy,
and Euonymus are creeping up the stucco walls,
47
THE SMALL PLACE
a pink climbing Hybrid Tea Rose has reached the
second story window above the rough stone which
forms the stair well, and Pachysandra, the lovely
evergreen ground cover, interplanted with Christ-
mas Roses, makes a charming edging in front of
the Box.
The oval inside the drive turn is dominated
by the Beech. Ivy, Euonymus, Myrtle, and the
dwarf St. John's Wort, Hypericum calycinum,
creep in a great spreading mat around the broad
trunk of the tree. On one side Andromedas are
planted, the low Andromeda floribunda and its
more graceful relative Andromeda japonic a. Or
the other side of the intertwining vines are dwari
Rhododendron Wilsoni which have lovely small
pink flowers and next to them are Azalea indict
alba which are crowned with heavy clusters oi
white flowers. Just beyond, around the turn tc
the left, two young White Pines spread theii
horizontal branches over Yews and Andromedas
Finns mugho, and a few Barberries. In amon|
this planting, groups of Junipers raise their slendei
columns: Juniperus virginiana, the Common Rec
Cedar, Juniperus Kosteri, and Juniperus chinensis,
with nice variation in their green, gray, and sil-
ver foliage tones. Beyond, yet farther around th(
48
PROBLEM"^. ^ No. lA «* -
THE GREAT BEECH.
PROBLEM V. No. 2.
THE DRIVE NEARING THE HOUSE.
OLMSTED BROTHERS
turn opposite the entrance porch, groups of slen-
der Juniperus Schotti spring up out of a low plant-
ing of Andromedas, Azalea hinodegiri with its
delicate foliage and flat branching, and Spircea
thunbergii. In the next segment, amid Azaleas,
Yews, and Mahonias, the pyramidal Junipers
appear again, scattered, as before, in longish
irregular groups, but the interest of this planting
is centered upon a group of four Dwarf Horse-
Chestnuts, dEsculus parviflora, with their effective
palmate leaves and tall plume-like flower spikes.
This planting has a varied and intimate character
in contrast to the planting of the bays and of the
outer edges of the drive which is marked by a big
simplicity.
To the left of the gateway, native Rhododen-
drons form the background for Laurels, Androme-
das, Mahonias, and Azalea arborescens, with a few
Azalea calendulaccea for a bright color touch.
Where this border turns to become the enclosure
of the larger lawn a big group of Tree Lilacs
makes an excellent accent in the shrubbery. Their
tall white flowers are very striking and their large
and heavy oval leaves harmonize with the broad-
leaved evergreens.
Rhododendrons form the dominant planting of
4 49
THE SMALL PLACE
the other bay and act as a unifying factor. Masses
of native Rose Bay are placed in back of hybrid
varieties. There are crimson Rhododendron " Par-
sons/' pink Rhododendron "H. Sargent," and white
Rhododendron album elegans. They are arranged
in a continuous easy flowing line around the bay.
Where the boundary rounds in toward the gate-
way the Rhododendron masses merge into Laurels
and these give place to dwarf Rhododendron Wil-
soni. Where the planting approaches the house,
the Rhododendrons are supplanted by Azalea
hinodegiri and by the lovely Azalea indica alba.
A few Magnolia stellata and Cedars are placed in
back of them, the lovely Magnolia flowers acting
as forerunners to the even lovelier bloom of white
Azaleas.
This planting offers flower effects of great beauty.
Take, for example, the Andromedas with tender
white sprays, the pure white Azaleas, the delicate
Laurels, the brilliant Rhododendrons. Each effect
is distributed through the various sections of the
planting. Besides, emphatic color spots are pro-
vided, here by a group of bright Azalea hinodegiri,
there by a few starry Magnolias, here by a cluster
of Dwarf Horse-Chestnuts, there by a mass of Tree
50
PROBLEM V. No. 3.
AT THE ENTRANCE PORCH.
PROBLEM V. No. 4.
THE HOUSE.
INSIDE THE OVAL.
PROBLEM V. No. 6.
NEAR THE GATE.
OLMSTED BROTHERS
Lilacs. But the flower effects, attractive as they
are, act only as color incidents amid the prevailing
green of the evergreen planting.
The planting offers an interesting diversity of
forms. The graceful drooping habit of Andromeda
japonica, the flat branching of the Yews, the
torchlike shoots of the Pinus mugho, the compact
growth of the Box, the conical shapes of the Cedars,
give variation to the strong billowy form of the
Rhododendron masses.
The big entire oval leaves of the Rhododen-
dron are arranged in large paintable clusters. In
harmony with them, through a similarity of foliage,
shape, and structure, are Laurels, white Azaleas,
Andromedas, Myrtle, Euonymus, Magnolias, and
Tree Lilacs. These give the dominant foliage
note. Amid them Mahonia with spiny dentated
leaves, Spiraea with feathery foliage, White Pines
with soft needle clusters, Pachysandra and Christ-
mas Roses and Dwarf Horse-Chestnuts make pleas-
ing deviations.
The planting is composed almost entirely of
evergreens. The green of their persistent foliage
becomes the prevailing color of the approach,
which is in consequence cool, restful, and quiet,
but in such a complexity of planting, green appears
51
THE SMALL PLACE
in all its manifold shades. Take, for meager ex-
ample, the somber Rhododendron green and con-
trast it with the varying greens of the different
Junipers or with the light delicate green of Spircea
thunbergii. With each additional variety, the
color complexity increases, but, by delicate adjust-
ment, the tone of one green mass merges into and
mingles with that of the adjoining one. The
blending of the light and dark tones, together
with the delicate mottling of sunlight and shadow,
gives the approach a wonderful charm.
Wonderful as the planting is, it does not exist
for itself alone. House, approach, and planting
are considered as component parts of one big
scheme. This triple coordination is one of great
subtlety and each problem demands individual
treatment. Therefore, the charm of this planting
lies in the fact that it interprets and emphasizes
the atmosphere of the house and the essential
character of the approach.1
1 1 wish to mention that I obtained the use of this problem through
the kindness of Mr. James Frederick Dawson, an Associate Member
of the firm of Olmsted Brothers, who was particularly interested in the
development of this place.
PROBLEM V. No. 7.
THE RHODODENDRONS.
PROBLEM VI
53
PROBLEM VI
A SIMPLE HOME-GROUND, BY PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE,
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, BOSTON, MASS.
This property is located at Fall River, Mass. Its dimensions
are 100 x 250 feet.
WITH an inborn knowledge of garden art and
land economy, the English make most
intensive use of their grounds. They invariably
divide them, no matter how small they may be,
into little parcels with well established boundaries.
It is this custom Americanized that is the subject
of this problem.
The ground in front of the house is developed
into a shrub and tree bounded lawn, kept very
simple to be in keeping with the informal and
semi-suburban character of a Fall River street.
The planting along the sidewalk is high enough
so that you can stand unnoticed on the lawn but
it is low enough to allow from the entrance porch
55
THE SMALL PLACE
a view of the Fall River harbor. This view is a
valuable asset to the property, for on the sloping
land, just across the street, steel gray rock ledges
are overgrown with Bayberry, Sweet Fern, and
wild Roses, while below is the harbor, and beyond
it the checker-board particolored fields of Rhode
Island framed in by the low hills of Connecticut,
all blue and gray in the distance. The omission
of the planting along the street would have given
a broader and barer view of the harbor but this
more restricted outlook through the leafy frame
of shrubs and arching elm branches is far more
pleasing.
For the lawn enclosure it is essential to plant not
only boundary plantations but borders along the
house. This is often a difficult .problem. The
composition of such a shrubbery, while interest-
ing in itself, must be in keeping with the house.
It is necessary to take into account, also, the win-
dow arrangement so that spreading branches will
not encroach upon it. This difficulty was elimi-
nated here. The balustraded unroofed porch, re-
sembling a terrace, allows the use of a continuous
shrubbery border, but even then, it is necessary to
see that the shrubbery is not allowed to grow too
thick and massive.
56
PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE
The ground in back of the house is divided into
four parts. Through the center of the lot runs a
flower-bordered path. This terminates in the
vegetable garden. Relegated to the north side of
the lot, to be near the kitchen, are laundry yard,
garage, auto run and turn-around arranged in a
closely related and efficient group. On the south
side is a small rectangle enclosed by shrubbery
which is called the orchard because of its five
dwarf fruit trees. Enclosed by vine-covered
fences, lattice screens, free-growing shrubbery,
and clipped hedges, each subdivision can be
treated as a part by itself and can concentrate
upon itself all the interest of the moment.
The garage is connected with the house. Many
interesting problems in house building and in the
development of the grounds would arise from a
desire of weaving house and garage into one
architectural composition. It v/ould do away
with the many and for the most part ugly little
outbuildings which are spoiling many small sub-
urban properties.
The laundry yard is a narrow space between the
garage and the lattice screen of the garden. The
auto run with an exit on a back street is a pleasant
tunnel under trees that arch overhead. The turn-
57
THE SMALL PLACE
around is bounded by hedges and by high fences
completely hidden under rampant Honeysuckle
vines. The orchard is enclosed by shrubbery.
The shrubs are planted in straight rows but the
difference in their habits of growth and in the
spread of their branches gives the appearance of
an irregular plantation.
The flower garden consists of narrow flower beds
bordering a brick path. It is the very simplest
kind of flower garden. The lattice on the north
side and the hedge on the south side form back-
grounds which will in time make it a secluded walk.
It is one of the prime requisites of small perennial
borders that they be crowded with plants. In a
very small garden it is well to remember several
points in making a choice of flowers. Plants
should be chosen for their foliage effectiveness.
They should be selected for striking flowers so
that a few plants will make strong color notes in
the planting. Plants with long blooming periods
should be given preference, for then only a few
kinds will be needed for a continuous effect.
When the backbone of the border has been thus
established, then many other plants can be inserted
for added color interest. The path, however,
does not end with the flower borders. Beyond
58
PRAY, HUBBARD, AND WHITE
the rose arch it extends between hedges of Cur-
rant bushes to the end of the property. This
change in the borders of the path seems to increase
the length of the vista and gives a feeling of extent
to the grounds. The vista is to be terminated
by a garden seat harmonious in design with the
lattice which is to be placed in front of a narrow
border of shrubs, growing in the shade of several
Maples.
The property has a homey quality. It is de-
veloped in a logical, straightforward way in direct
response to practical needs. Its plan is definite,
clear cut, and compact. Each and every part has
been given its appropriate share of plant beauty.
For these reasons it ought to be suggestive for
other lots of small size.
59
PROBLEM VII
61
PROBLEM VII
A SIMPLE HOME-GROUND ON A SMALL WOODED HILLSIDE,
BY WARREN H. MANNING, LANDSCAPE DESIGNER,
BOSTON, MASS.
This property is located at Newark, N. J. Its dimensions
are 100 x 275 feet
A SHRUBBERY -BOUNDED lawn, a flower
garden, a woods with a curving drive are
some of the understood requisites of a large es-
tate, but to have all three of them in the sub-
urbs on a steeply sloping lot of only a 100 feet
frontage and 275 feet depth hardly seems possi-
ble until we see a concrete example such as this.
Its simplicity, dignity, and naturalness distin-
guish it from all the thoughtless and unfinished
planting of neighboring lots and shows that efficient
treatment and organized planning is as necessary
for a small place as for a large one. This lot is
fortunate in having some tall trees with a mass
of undergrowth characteristic of deciduous woods.
63
THE SMALL PLACE
The house is well placed, back from the street,
and has a fine suburban spirit. It is low and
rambling with quaint roof lines that make it nestle
among the trees.
The plan as here produced is of the place as it
appeared at the time when the chapter was first
written and not wholly as it was originally planned.
The plan was left in the hands of the owner to
carry out. Certain things were changed, by the
owner's own confession, not always to its advan-
tage, certain things have never been developed in
accordance with the original intent, but the touch
of the landscape architect's hand is on it.
In the making of the garden picture, there are
two duties to be performed, a duty to outsiders
and a duty to oneself. The planting, like the
exterior of the house, ought to be an asset to the
street ; the grounds, like the interior of the house,
ought to be primarily for one's own comfort and
enjoyment, a place as private as possible so that it
can be in reality an out-of-door room. Here a
Barberry hedge is planted along the front. The
simple break in the hedge at the entrance steps
with their edging of trailing Rosa wichuriana is
more appropriate than gate posts or any other
64
PROBLEM VII.
THE PLAN.
WARREN H. MANNING
form of emphasis could have been. The Barberry
has an informality of habit well suited to this
house. When left undipped, as it is here, it
has a spreading habit which is very pleasing for
its position here on the top of the low grass ter-
race. Hedge and terrace together form a barrier
of six or seven feet which gives just enough privacy
to the front lawn without making it too exclusive,
for, as you look over it from the street, you can
see the Lilac tree near the porch and the Wistaria
on the corner of the house, and glimpses of the
shrubs in the borders.
The first impression you get, once inside the
hedge, is a feeling of space: for though the front
lawn is not more than 80 feet in width and about
40 feet in depth it is smooth and uninterrupted.
There is, however, no picture in just a green lawn.
The surrounding line of trees and shrubbery is
the source of its beauty; it gives to it the color
of the flowers and the varying green of foliage,
and the changing shadows. Here the street trees
enter into the scheme for they supply the large
trees without encroaching upon the lawn space.
The planting along the house foundations is an
interesting use of low growing plants with taller
5 65
THE SMALL PLACE
shrubs and vines and small trees. It is the pur-
pose of the small shrubs to soften the fixed
rectangular lines of the house with gracefully
curving and spreading branches, to nestle close
to the foundations, and be a link between the
house wall and the lawn. The shrubs are planted
closely together to give continuous effect of foliage
in summer and of twigs and branches in winter.
The use of one kind of plant would be monoto-
nous, the use of too many kinds spotty, not only
in flower effect but in foliage values. Spircea
thunbergii and Stephanandra flexuosa are planted
along the front of the house, an Actinidia vine
tumbles luxuriantly over the porch railing, a Wis-
taria climbs up the corner of the house, and climb-
ing Roses and Peonies are planted under the south
window. Together, they form an intermittent suc-
cession of bloom from late April to late June.
Lilacs are used to form the high part of the
south shrubbery and are the main feature of it.
A predominance of one kind of shrub, especially
in so small a border, is one way of insuring a har-
monious foliage effect and of avoiding a spotty
effect. With two kinds of Forsythia, Rugosa
Roses, and Snowberries, the bloom lasts from April
until August. Though the house shrubbery and
66
WARREN H. MANNING
that of the border are each complete in them-
selves, they complement one another. The Spiraea
and Forsythia give a white and yellow effect
which is bright and cheerful in early spring, later
the Wistaria and Lilacs give a quieter effect of
lavender and purple.
Naturally the emphasis of the lawn planting was
centered on the south side as it is seen from the
main living room. Through this concentration,
the north side was neglected. The original plan
calls for a low wall on either side of the drive and
for shrubbery on the north side of the lawn. It is
so indicated on the plan here presented to show
how such treatment would hide the drive from the
front lawn and complete the picture of the lawn
with its surrounding trees and flowering shrubbery.
The small flower garden, which divides the front
lawn from the woods in the back, is well placed
on the side of the piazza. Besides the shrubbery
bounding it on the front and the woods in the back,
a trellis for vines on the side opposite the piazza
hides it from the neighbor's kitchen. The charm
of many a flower garden is due to its bounding
lines and these are possible in the smallest garden.
A flower garden is not an absolute necessity for
67
THE SMALL PLACE
a well arranged informally planted small place.
It can be considered as its luxury. It has not been
made much of in this place. The space left for it
is really very small, far too small for a regular
garden, but such a little square can be crowded
with flowers, leaving only enough room for the very
narrow paths necessary to tend them. The plants
want to be placed very close together in order to
cover the entire space. They want to make a closely
woven color pattern, for, sitting on the piazza or
standing by the railing, you get a bird's-eye view
looking down into the bloom. Such a secluded little
spot need not be kept in fine trim, nor can it be kept
in continuous bloom. It seems best to limit the
bloom to one season and to get one fine effect. It
could be primarily a spring garden with Daffodils
or late Tulips with early ground covers like creep-
ing Phloxes, or it could become a lovely tangle of
Irises and Yellow Day Lilies, it could be quite a
choice little spot filled with several kinds of white
Lilies, or it could become an autumn garden full of
perennial Asters or hardy Chrysanthemums.
In back of the house, the ground drops off at a
very steep grade. Many people avoid such steep
properties. They do not see any possibility of
68
WARREN H. MANNING
making them attractive and let them grow up
rank with weeds and washed into gullies for it is
well-nigh impossible to make them into lawns.
Such slopes are not easy to handle but their very
difficulties encourage their opportunities. It is
interesting, for instance; to transform them into
little woodlands. Such treatment is especially
harmonious with a low informal picturesque house
such as this one. Even if the ground is devoid
of trees, a woods effect can be created in a com-
paratively short period of time through the plant-
ing of some extra sized trees and a thick naturalistic
planting of wild shrubs and small trees. On this
lot, it was not a problem of creating a woods for
the slope was part of a century-old forest, it was
the problem of preserving the character and spirit
of the woods through the planting of shade-loving
shrubs and woodsy flowers. The owner realized
and appreciated his opportunity and though
it could be improved through more and better
planting, the enchantment of the woods has been
preserved in wonderful contrast to the neighbor's
yard where the trees have been destroyed.
The road is a frank straightforward piece of
engineering to get from the street level to the barn
at a grade possible for a horse. The curve is a
69
THE SMALL PLACE
little steep for the automobile, which came into use
after the road was built, but it is not impracticable
except in very slippery winter weather. The road's
very picturesqueness is due to the curve which was
a necessity. It provides a series of woodland pic-
tures. The views from the dining room windows
and from the piazza are especially charming. The
open glade where the road runs along the back of
the house provides a small laundry yard.
Trees and shrubs, for the most part decidu-
ous, predominate over flowers and ever-greens.
These give interest to the grounds in all sea-
sons. In spring they cheer with delicate flowers,
in summer they rest with abundant green and
shade, in autumn and winter they enliven the
grounds with bright fruit and colored twigs. This
is one of the most important points to keep in mind
in the planting of small places, for the suburban
grounds are the setting for houses which are in use
the year around.1
1 Since the chapter was written and the pictures taken, the original
owner has died and the place has been sold. Through neglect and
changes made by an untutored and unsympathetic hand the place has
almost lost in the short space of two years its essential charm. The
place never had unusual care, nor did it require the trimness of less
informal places, but now it has lost the ever sympathetic understanding
of its spirit. I make note of it with regret in justice to the original
owner and to the landscape architect, to emphasize the worth of intelli-
gent maintenance.
70
PROBLEM VIII
PROBLEM VIII
AN INFORMAL ARRANGEMENT OF A SMALL PROPERTY,
BY HAROLD A. CAPARN, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
NEW YORK CITY
This property is located at Larchmont, N. Y. Its dimen-
sions are 150 x 200 feet
THIS oblong piece of land, less than an acre,
lies between the street and a picturesque
inlet of Long Island Sound. An outcrop of rock
formed the highest part of the ground, which sloped
first gently, then with an abrupt dip toward the
water. A few old Apple trees were dotted along
its outlines, old overgrown and intergrown Thorns
were scattered about in big groups. Such were
the existing conditions.
The house is located on a rocky ledge. The
stone of the cellar excavation was used for the
building of the first story. The ledge as an
integral part of the house, together with the
Thorns which are by merest chance so picturesquely
73
THE SMALL PLACE
grouped around it, suggested the name of "Thorn-
ledge."
The house stands very near the street boundary
which is an advantage as it allows an uninter-
rupted use of the grounds. On a small property
this fact is particularly worthy of note. There
would have been no advantage in setting the
house back from the village street, which has no
traffic, while it was very desirable to get a big ex-
panse of lawn as a foreground for the inlet view.
As this is on the southern side of the house it was
important, too, to place the main rooms upon it.
This seems the most logical development, a natural
solution, the only one in fact, yet you will find that
very few people take such important .matters into
consideration in house building. This same care
is shown in placing the house parallel to the stream
at the foot of the property and caused its unusual
angle to the street which is not noticeable at all
because of the ingenious arrangement of the en-
trance with the inset of the gate on the diagonal.
Inside the gate, the shrubbery, the curve of the
brick walk, and the tangle of Thorns hide the
front door. The Carmine Pillar Roses and Clema-
tis on the gate arch, the Rhododendrons along the
house wall, the Laurels around the front porch,
74
PROBLEM VIII.
THE PLAN.
HAROLD A. CAPARN
the Thorns along the walk, the Apple tree near the
hedge, the shrubs grouped in a heavy mass along
the side boundary combine in giving continuous
interest and color to the entrance walk and em-
phasize the informal character of the house.
Service paths on small properties are especially
difficult problems to deal with. The monotony
in so many suburban and city streets where two
straight paths cut up each lot front and form
tiresome ribbon bands of paving along the whole
street makes any ingenuity and originality ex-
pressed in the solving of this problem welcome.
Here, it seems most naturally done. The little
branch path curves off the main path and then
it is almost hidden by the outstretching branches
of the shrubbery borders. It has the essential de-
manded of all the service parts of the grounds, that
they are screened and hidden away from all the
rest of the property.
Tree and shrub enclosures are absolute essentials
in developing lawns. What they add to the lawn,
in giving privacy and in creating general interest,
is not generally appreciated nor understood by
owners of small properties. For the surroundings
of most lawns the boundaries should be as high
75
THE SMALL PLACE
and heavy and impregnable as tall trees and
shrubbery can make them.- The same trees and
shrubbery that here bound the lawn space hide
the barn buildings on neighboring properties and
make a frame for the view.
This property is only 150 by 200 feet. For the
complete and intensive use of a piece of ground,
even of this size, more than a lawn is necessary.
A terrace is a means of transition between the
house and lawn. Terraces are capable of many
forms, shapes, and characters. They can be spa-
cious, dignified, ornate, and formal to harmonize
with the most elaborate house, they can be as
small, simple, and informal as any suburban house
may require. Here the small oblong grass plot
is surrounded by narrow brick paths which are
bounded on the outer side by undipped Barberry
hedging. This is the simplest form a terrace
can take. It is particularly fortunate in winter
to have such a sunny spot close to the house.
The brick paths make it dry to walk on and the
red Barberry berries look bright and cheery. In
the first plan for the terrace the grass plot was
divided into three panels, a pool in the center with
flowers on either side. This idea, shown on the
76
HAROLD A. CAPARN
plan, illustrates how even such a small place can
be full of interest and color.
Steps from the terrace lead down to narrow
strips of ground on the east and west sides of the
lawn. The eastern side of the property was
originally thought out as the service side of the
garden but it is so full of color and flowers that it
hardly gives any suggestion of the original inten-
tion. A path runs along the whole length to a tool
house. It is shut off from the lawn by a hedge and
for part of the way it is under the curving grape
arbor. It is very simply built, its curve is inter-
esting, and its pointed roof construction gives a
rather quaint impression. It is built very low and
is set so far below the terrace that in a very few
years it has become almost hidden by the matur-
ing trees, shrubbery, and vines.
On the side of the arbor is an oddly shaped little
piece of ground given to Roses and small fruits.
Many kinds of native and bush Roses are planted
in a thick mass along the terrace wall. Rosa Blanda,
Rosa spinossissima, Persian Yellow Roses, Rosa
rubrifolia, Rosa rubiginosa which is the Sweet Brier,
Rosa nitida, Rosa lucida, Madam Pantier Roses,
and Rosa Carolina, to attempt to give them in their
succession of bloom, give a bright tangle of color.
77
THE SMALL PLACE
Every garden should have Roses for cutting and
yet Hybrid Tea and Hybrid Perpetual Roses can
hardly be associated with shrubbery. It is diffi-
cult to find an appropriate place for them in a
garden which is developed in such a naturalistic
way as this one. Here, they have been planted in
beds with the Gooseberries and Currants. This
arrangement gives both Roses and small fruits
the space they need for good development. If
Roses cannot have the dignity of a separate garden,
which is hardly possible in a small place of this
kind where intensive use ought to be made of every
bit of ground, this combination of Roses and small
fruits is a very good one.
To the north of the Roses is the, drying yard
tucked away behind hedges. Iris and Chrysanthe-
mums are planted along the side of the hedge.
To the south of the Roses is an oblong plot origi-
nally planned for the vegetable garden, but now
a secluded little nook. The great old Apple tree
makes it a nice shady little spot with the simple
lawn space between yellow Iris that grow on one
side and white and pink Peonies on the other.
While the eastern side of the property is allotted
to utilitarian purposes and shows how pretty such a
78
PROBLEM VIII. No. 5.
THE TERRACE.
HAROLD A. CAPARN
useful little strip of ground can be made, the west
side was developed in a purely decorative way
The outcropping ledges immediately to the west
of the house are overgrown with Wichuriana Roses
and in among them are such rock plants as the
yellow Sedums and creeping Phloxes and Helian-
themum which form a wild little spot almost en-
tirely enclosed yet a part of the larger lawn.
The west path starts at the terrace and makes a
big generous curve to the extreme western side of
the grounds. It is an informal one passing through
masses of shrubbery. Interspersed with the shrubs
to brighten them with color spots and fill in bare
places are patches of low and creeping flowers
which grow over the rough stone edging of the
path. Occasionally the shrub mass is broken, just
enough to give views of the lawn through the
gaps.
Such paths, full of interest in growing and flower-
ing things, are ways of making the grounds seem
larger. There is no attempt at deception or optical
delusion. The result is gained simply by engrossing
one's interest in every step of the way so that one
lingers longer upon it. A curved path is better
for this than a straight one. The curved path
gradually unfolds its varied pictures to the be-
79
THE SMALL PLACE
holder as he passes along while a straight path
opens up one long vista to him all at one time.
The planting of a straight path needs to be
arranged to obtain one unified effect throughout
its entire length, the planting of a curving path,
where only little portions of the way ai;e seen,
can be made up of a series of different effects.
Such a path can be kept continually interest-
ing, not only one part of it but along its whole
course. This interest is obtained not through
great diversity of plants but through thoughtful
distribution. Each group of plants — for a border
in plan is divided into arbitrary groups not
visible in the planting — is composed of two or
three kinds of shrubs that arouse attention at
different times. Japanese Barberry and Clethra
alnifolia, the Sweet Pepper Bush, are inter-
planted. The Japanese Barberry provides early
spring bloom and winter interest and the Sweet
Pepper Bush gives a good summer effect with
its white flowers. Spirt? a Anthony Water er and
Hypericum aureum have two different summer
periods of bloom. Kerria japonica and Snow-
berries have two periods. The white Snowber-
ries are effective in autumn and the green Kerria
stems are conspicuous in winter time. Cornus
80
PROBLEM VIII. No. 7.
THE APPLE TREE.
PROBLEM VIII. No. 8.
THE SHRUBBERY PATH.
HAROLD A. CAPARN
alba and Common Barberry are interplanted.
The Barberry has its greenish yellow pendants
in April, the Cornel has small flat clusters of
white flowers in June. In autumn the white
Cornel berries make a contrast with the red fruit
of the Barberry and in winter Cornus alba has
brilliant red stems. Again Stephanandra and
Regel's Privet are planted together. One blooms
in May, the other in July. They have an in-
teresting winter effectiveness for the Stephanandra
stems are orange tinted and the Privet has per-
sistent black fruit. Philadelphus microphyllus and
Spircea Anthony Waterer are grouped together.
The foliage delicacy and small dainty white flowers
of this variety of Mock Orange are quite choice in
comparison with the coarser growth of the Spiraea
and give two distinctly different effects to the
same spot.
In such careful massing the shrubs can be used
in small groups, sometimes only one of a kind,
sometimes five or six plants used together. In
this kind of grouping there is always something
new and interesting, always something different
on the path to attract attention, through the
whole cycle of seasons, which makes a new little
garden adventure every time we pass along.
6 8l
THE SMALL PLACE
While the attention given to seasonal effects
makes this path of continual interest, it is the
consideration given to the foliage effect and to
shrub habit which binds the shrubs together
into a unified border. It is the complexity of
these varied considerations that makes border
planting such a difficult problem, one which re-
quires an artistic feeling to do it justice.
82
PROBLEM IX
PROBLEM IX
A FORMAL ARRANGEMENT OF A SUBURBAN PROPERTY,
BY OGLESBY PAUL, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
This property is located at Villa Nova, Pa. Its dimensions
are 150 x 300 feet
THIS garden reminds me of a triptych of an old
altarpiece for it is made up of three parts
built upon straight lines in a carefully balanced
design. The main picture is in the large central
panel while the narrow wings picture the minor
events. The central garden is in full view of the
house. It is the garden which is most carefully
tended and in it the succession of bloom is carefully
carried out. The side gardens, as the lesser parts
of the design, are reserved for special effects.
They are .more secluded, more sheltered, and
therefore need less careful attention.
One often imagines that only a large place can
support such a set of gardens but they have been
compacted into this small area with great nicety.
85
THE SMALL PLACE
Each part has a feeling of breadth and bigness,
for the design is worked out on simple and
straightforward lines.
The house has a simple plan. The front and
back of the main portion are very similar with
a central doorway flanked on both sides by two
windows. To one side of the main portion is the
porch, on the other side the service wing.
The central doorway encourages the balanced
design of the gardens as it necessitates a strong
axis line. Upon it are arranged three interestingly
varied parts. Just outside the door is a little
courtlike place. It is hedged with clipped
Privet and paved with old brick laid herringbone.
Pyramidal Box bushes flank the doorway and
Hollyhocks are growing up by the side of the
windows. On either side are very simple wooden
benches and in back of each stands a standard
globe-shaped Privet. These clipped curiosities
are becoming very common in nurseries and are
being very much misused and overased. It is
safest to avoid them altogether. Occasionally,
however, such oddities have a place in strictly
formal positions as in this little hedged off place
near the house. Outside the hedge — still centered
86
PROBLEM IX.
THE PLAN.
X
OGLESBY PAUL
on the main axis — the octagonal pool ornamented
with four clipped Box balls stands in the center
of a little piazza. Beyond the pool is the lawn
which is the central picture of the triptych. Old
Apple and Pear trees, that have roses climbing
up the trunks, are scattered over it and give it
a quaint old-fashioned look. The lawn is edged
on its four sides by flower borders. When I first
saw these borders, early in June, they were mainly
blue and white with touches of cream and pink.
There were clumps of Iris and groups of Lupines
at more or less regular intervals with Columbines
scattered in between. I saw them again the last
of June. Then the Madonna Lilies were out in
great numbers. Larkspurs were sprinkled through
the borders in delicate groups and pink Sweet
William was out, making almost too thick a mat.
At the farther end of the lawn a wall extends
across the whole width of the property. The
old-time spirit of the garden is expressed best
perhaps in this wall with its gray cement finish,
its brick coping, its vines — Actinidia and Grape,
Honeysuckle and Roses — that are making a tangle
over it. This same quaintness is accentuated
in its architectural features. At one end is an
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THE SMALL PLACE
arched opening with lattice bars. The recessed
seat, in the center, has a slightly curved arch
overhead and a delicate lattice back on which
Roses are clambering. Next to it is a round-
headed gateway with a solid wooden door. At
the other end is the best of all its features, a
curved seat forming a segment of a circle. The
lattice at its back is arranged in panels that
look like casement windows and above it there
is a beamed overhang. Something about this
seat, placed in the deep shade of tall trees with
only faint mottled sunlight coming down through
the leaves, something in its cool gray, almost
ruined look gives it a charming timeworn spirit.
Such a feeling in a ten-year-old garden is not the
result of neglect but is expressive of an indescrib-
able atmosphere which is found in gardens where
there is a leaving of well enough alone.
The side panels of the triptych are composed of
long straight grass paths. One is bordered by
deciduous shrubbery and flowers, the other by
evergreens. Such straight paths have a host of
possibilities. In England the lovely wall gardens
and clipped Yew walks are built along straight lines.
In the south we have remnants of Box-edged paths
88
PROBLEM IX. No. 2.
PROBLEM IX. No. 3.
THE PERGOLA.
THE POOL.
PROBLE i DC . Na.. 4, ,
PROBLEM IX. No. 5.
THE SEAT IN THE WALL.
OGLESBY PAUL
and alleys of old trees. Grass walks bordered by
free-growing shrubbery and trees with all the
interest which comes from varying foliage tones
and interesting skylines make possible a host of
fine possibilities for modern gardens. Here the
deciduous shrubbery path is a very shady one.
The trees arch overhead and the shrubbery
spreads its branches over the grass. The prevailing
lines are horizontal. The evergreen path has just
the same dimensions but the columnar habit of the
trees keeps the path open to the sky and the
dominant lines perpendicular. _
When shrubbery plays the dominant part in the
border, as it does in this deciduous shrubbery path,
it is difficult to incorporate flowers into it. I have
seen so many instances where flowers add only fussy
little farcical parts to really good shrubbery acting.
This failing in flowers to play their legitimate part
is very noticeable in paths of this kind where they
must be treated frankly as subordinates and yet
where they have a chance to heighten the interest
by some really clever touches. What attracted
me to this path was the chance glimpse — over
the neighbor's hedge — when the Oriental Poppies
were blooming. Scattered singly at regular inter-
vals throughout the length of both borders their
89
THE SMALL PLACE
strong color was silhouetted against the green of
grass and shrub. It is the use of this rich color
all alone amid the green which makes the very
uniformity of the effect so splendid. When such
single effects follow one another month by month,
the flower succession is quite wonderful.
In selecting flowers for such individual effects in
connection with shrubbery, great care ought to be
taken to make the plants really count. Plants
with vivid coloring like Lychnis, Orange Milk-
weed, and Tiger Lilies are good; plants with a
shrubby habit like Baptista australis, the Blue
Indigo, and Buddlea varidbilis, the Butterfly
Flower, and Careopteris mastacanthus, the Blue
Spiraea, are excellent; and plants that adapt
themselves easily to naturalization like Daffodils
and Mertensias, like Meadow Rues and Snake-
roots, like Asters and Joe Pye Weed and Golden-
rods, are very effective.
In the borders of the evergreen walk, the per-
pendicular lines are gained through the use of
Retinisporas. The emphasis upon this one variety
gives the path a satisfying stability while the few
Pines and Hemlocks that are scattered at the back
of the borders relieve the possibility of any mo-
notony. I had hitherto considered that Retini-
9o
PROBLEM IX. No. 6.
THE SHRUBBERY PATH.
PROBLEM IX. No. 7.
THE EVERGREEN PATH.
OGLESBY PAUL
sporas were only good for strictly formal effects,
but here by being scattered along the length of
the borders in irregularly placed groups of two or
three plants they have attained a distinctly in-
formal feeling. They have been so grouped that
in each small clump plants of different tints and
different feathered foliage offset one another, which
gives variety in foliage and a nice warmth of tone
to the borders.
Azalea amoena and Abelia rupestris form the
predominent note among the lower plants that are
used between the Retinispora groups. The foli-
age of these two varieties is so harmonious that
they look charming so interplanted. The spread-
ing habit and lovely foliage of the Azalea amcena
make it a welcomed member of a border in sum-
mer and in winter but its magenta flowers are a
difficult color element to deal with in most places.
Here, however, where it is the only color at the
time it is in bloom amid many evergreens, its
brightness must be altogether pleasing and re-
freshing. While the Azalea amcena makes the
important spring color, the Abelia rupestris gives
a charmingly soft effect with pale blush flowers in
drooping clusters in early autumn. In between
the Azalea and Abelia groups are scattered other
91
THE SMALL PLACE
plants that give foliage variety without disturbing
the unity of the borders. Here is a plant of gray-
toned Juniperus pfitzerii, there a few Pinus
mugho, here a Yew, there a bush of undipped
Box, here a few Dogwoods for a spring touch,
there one Elder for June, and farther on a dwarf
Horse-Chestnut for July and August, and most
charming of all a flame-colored Ghent Azalea
blooming beside a lavender Rhododendron in early
June. This exquisite color study is at the end of
the evergreen path in front of the semicircular seat.
As it can be seen from across the big central gar-
den it is particularly lovely when it helps to key
up the blue of the Iris and Lupines that are bloom-
ing at that time. These paintable bits linger
long in one's memory.1
1 1 obtained permission from Mr. Oglesby Paul to make use of this
problem some months before his death. Paul and Ford, his successors,
have been very kind in putting the plan at my disposal.
PROBLEM X
93
PROBLEM X
A NATURALISTIC ARRANGEMENT OF A CITY PROPERTY, BY
ALLING S. DEFOREST, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
This property is located at Rochester, N. Y. Its dimensions
are 120 x 500 feet
THE elongated proportions of this city lot, with
the unusual depth of 500 feet, gave the op-
portunity for the naturalistic development of this
property. The main interest is centered upon the
big South lawn in back of the house. It is a long,
sunny grass space bounded by heavy enclosures.
Behind it is a smaller lawn, more secluded and
wilder for the Narcissus that are naturalized in the
grass prevent its mowing until the leaves have died
down. Tucked away in one corner beside the
Narcissus lawn is the Wild garden. South lawn,
Narcissus lawn, and Wild garden are connected by
a curving path. This path affords an easy short
cut from the house to a farther street on which the
95
THE SMALL PLACE
car line is located and gives a pleasant opportunity
for the daily use of the property.
On one side of the South lawn, on the east side
of the property, are the drive, service court, and
garage. They have been put there to be near the
kitchen and out of the view of the living room
windows and the porches. This seems such a
logical arrangement that it is difficult to under-
stand the possibilities of any other, and yet in the
scheme first arranged before the landscape archi-
tect's services were solicited, the drive swung
around the back of the house and ended in a turn-
around and garage at the west side of the property
directly in back of the living * rooms. A hard
gravel strip of drive would have divided the house
from the entire back of the property and garage
and turn-around enclosure would have hidden it
away from view. It was to have been a sorry
prosaic place full of the cares of a household. It
needed a bigger vision to relegate all the service
to the kitchen side of the house and in that way
preserve an unbroken lawn which could be enclosed
by quiet foliage, enlivened by the color of flowers,
and made pleasant by the play of shadows on the
grass. It needed an imagination to create this
96
PROBLEM X.
THE PLAN.
PROBLEM X. No. i.
THE ENTRANCE PATH.
ALLING s. DEFOREST
lawn which was to foster through a diminutive and
freely rendered replica of natural scenes a delight
in the wide out-of-doors by putting the lawn where
it could be seen directly from the windows of the
living rooms, by making it an easy matter to step
right out on the grass, and by tempting one
through interesting plant material to explore all
the nooks and corners of lawn and garden.
The emphasis of the planting of the South lawn
is laid on the west boundary. Such boundary
screens are generally considered by the layman as a
collection of heterogeneous shrub and tree material
planted close together without much thought as
to arrangement. This unfortunate and erroneous
idea may be dispelled by a careful analysis of this
screen plantation. It may show that it is an
artistic problem, that the assemblage of trees,
shrubs, and flowers into a good border requires not
merely a horticultural understanding of individual
plants but an artistic perception of how they will
look when united into a border. This west bound-
ary is a composition of contrasts. Big masses of
large trees and tall shrubbery curve boldly out into
the lawn, making strong promontories and leav-
ing in between bays bordered by a shallow planting
of small trees and low shrubbery. There are four
97
THE SMALL PLACE
such promontories. The first, beside the house,
is made of Hemlocks and White Pines with an
undergrowth of native and hybrid Rhododendrons.
This is a strong group of more than fifty plants.
The second promontory is composed of Pinus
sylvestris, the Scotch Pine, and a group of
twenty flowering Dogwood trees. In spring the
wonderful white bracts of the Dogwood flowers
find a foil in the green of the pine, and in the
autumn the evergreens make a background for
the Dogwoods' striking red foliage and bright
fruit. The third promontory is a slight one but
marked by three Abies concolor. These Abies
concolor or White Firs, which like the Blue
Spruce have been very greatly misused as lawn
decorations — lawn disfigurements — have gained a
charming place for themselves here. Plants of
such unusual color enliven the border. They
must be used only where they will not spoil the
color effect of other plants. They must be used only
in an extensive border, and even then only very
sparingly. The fourth promontory is the strong-
est part of the boundary. It marks the end of
the South lawn and furnishes a background for
the rustic shelter. The columnar Cedars and
Arbor Vitaes in the foreground make striking
98
PROBLEM X. No. 2.
THE SERVICE DRIVE
ALONG s. DEFOREST
contrasts with the sturdy bushy White Pines in
back of them. A feathery Larch is planted in this
group, a few Juniperus glauca with grayish foliage
are placed with the Arbor Vitaes, and spring flower-
ing Spiraeas, S. van houttei, S. reevsii, and S.
rotundifolia, make interesting contrasts of white
flowers against the Cedars.
Between these promontories are shrubberies with
a background of flowering trees. The various Mag-
nolias, the native Thorns, Dogwoods, and Fringe
Trees give a succession of spring bloom. The cup-
shaped Magnolia flowers, the abundant clusters
of small Hawthorn blossoms, the large bracts of
the Dogwood, and the great white panicles of the
Fringe Tree each have a striking and distinctive
character. The shrubberies of the bays start
with Lonicera fragrantissima, the Fragrant Bush
Honeysuckle, with very early April blossoms. Next
to them is a bold mass of Peonies. These and the
hybrid Rhododendrons blooming at the same time
make a wonderfully rich display in June. Near the
Dogwoods the flat branched Viburnum tomentosum,
the single Japanese Snowball, and the cut-leaved
Sumac, Rhus glabra lacinata, make an effective
contrast. Farther on Barberries have a value
near Pinus mugho and dwarf Arbor Vitae.
99
THE SMALL PLACE
Plants with delicate leafage like the cut-leaved
Sumac, or of striking structure like the Viburnum
tomentosum, plants with unusual shapes like the
round-headed Pinus mugho (which is wonderfully
effective when it grows old and loose branched)
or distinctive character like the Cedars, have a
value in varying the appearance of the boundary
and in that way prolonging the interest in the
border. The character of individual plants must
not be overemphasized at the expense of spoiling
the continuity of the plantation. Therefore, the
matter of choosing the proper proportion of each
kind of plant is one of delicacy.
There is, too, a succession of interesting seasonal
effects. The border changes in appearance almost
every week in a kind of magical sequence as flowers
appear one after another, as foliage develops and
turns to bright colors and berries mature. And
even in the winter every shrub and tree exhibits a
distinctive character displayed in structure, color
of branches and fruit. Besides, the blending of
this deciduous material with evergreens gives
charming effects to the winter lawn.
The Narcissus lawn has a character quite dis-
tinct from the South lawn. The differentiation
100
ALLING s. DEFORESTT J
is obtained through the use of other plant material
arranged with a different idea in mind. The
shrubbery between the path and the lawn is
composed of all kinds of shrubs that are rich in
flowering effects. On the other side of the path,
in the boundary plantation, shrubs with interest-
ing fruit and winter color predominate. The
border starts with Aralia spinosa. Its host of
black berries follow immediately after great pani-
cles of white flowers. Next is a great mass of
Privet with black winter berries and Eleagnus
augustifolia with silvery fruit. Then come Vibur-
num tomentosum, Viburnum lentago, and Viburnum
opulus with striking large white flower clusters and
wonderful autumn foliage and red fruit. The
Bush Honeysuckles, which are interplanted with
them, produce delicate translucent berries, some
yellow, some orange, some red, which mature
early in July. Next are groups of Indian Cur-
rants and Snowberries. They are small graceful
shrubs but inconspicuous until the fall brings
forth their interesting berries, one coral red in
heavy clusters on drooping branches, the other
round and white on long pendants. Next comes
Rhamnus or Buckthorn, a garden favorite of a
hundred years ago with shining black fruit, then the
101
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Common Barberry with scarlet berries, then Ilex
verticillata or Winterberry . This is a very modest,
retiring plant until winter arrives and then its
small berries clinging close to the stem are the
most brilliant of all the winter fruits. On the
east boundary are Yellowroot with interesting
autumn foliage, the black-berried Elders, a July
fruiting shrub, and Cornus stolonifera with con-
spicuous red stems during the winter time. This
collection of berry-bearing shrubs produces color
effects which make a wonderful winter garden
quite independent of evergreens.
The Wild garden has an individual character
of its own. The bowlder-edged pond has given
an incentive to use water-loving plants, plants of
a rock garden character, and such as will make
good pictures when reflected in the water. In
the pond Water Lilies are growing. Immediately
on the edge are Azaleas in vivid scarlet, yellow, and
orange tints. There are also groups of Japanese
Iris, Yellow Day Lilies, and ornamental grasses.
All these have interesting sheathlike foliage appro-
priate at the water's edge. On the other side of
the stepping-stone path which bounds this planting,
Cedars are planted in a mass just as they grow
102
PROBLEM X. No. 4.
THE PATH BETWEEN THE LAWN AND THE WILD GARDEN.
PROBLEM X. No. 5.
THE WILD GARDEN
ALLING s. DEFOREST
naturally on hillsides. The ground between them
is covered with all kinds of rock plants, white
Rock Cress, dark violet Aubretia, snowy Candy-
tuft, white Cerastium tomentosum, and blue Phlox
divaricata. They flower throughout the spring
and afterwards their varied foliage, the gray
tufts of Arabis, the silvery tone of Cerastium, the
dark leaves of Candytuft, the gray of Aubretia, are
as interesting as the flowers. A few Yuccas are
interspersed with the Cedars for midsummer ef-
fect. In back of them, Roses are planted. There
are lovely Rosa spinossissima, Rosa multiftora,
and Rosa setigera with long arching branches, and
Rosa wichuriana which covers the ground with
long streamers. In early summer the wealth of
single pink and white flowers is offset by the dark
green of Cedars; in winter they are again a deco-
rative feature when the rose hips are contrasted
against the evergreens.
The charm of this place depends upon the dis-
tinct individuality of each subdivision, upon its
interesting diversity of shape, character, and plant
material, and upon the unifying informality of the
design.
103
PROBLEM XI
105
PROBLEM XI
A NATURALISTIC GARDEN — A STUDY IN FLOWER COLOR, BY
MARIAN C. COFFIN, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
NEW YORK CITY
This property is located at Flushing, N. Y. Its dimensions
are 150 x 300 feet
IN this small place the interest is so concentrated
upon the flowers that it seems like one big
flower garden. From the back porch we can look
down the Peony path to the wide stretched Iris
borders and across them to the herbaceous borders
that encircle the big lawn.
On either side of the so-called Peony path is a
flower border, five or six feet wide. First a delicate
line of Tulips is showing on the outer edge near
the grass. These are Picotees, of the cottage
type, white with a margin of rose pink. Next
a double row of pink Peonies makes a bril-
liant showing. Then Pinks are spreading their
grayish foliage and pink flowers over the gravel
107
THE SMALL PLACE
path. Then a row of Madonna Lilies gives the
border its interest, and last, bronze Chrysanthe-
mums with an edging of French Marigolds of the
same peculiar shade make a finale in autumn
tones. Each variety is planted throughout the
length of the borders, but there is no set regu-
larity, there are no hard straight lines that would
give this planting an unpardonable stiffness.
While they vary in color and flower habit, the
uniformity of each effect gives the borders a
simplicity appropriate for such a path, which acts
as an introductory passage to the garden.
The Peony path meets at right angles the main
garden path which runs across the entire width
of the property, about 150 feet. Here the borders
are very wide, ranging from ten to fifteen feet.
Wide borders have a way of expressing the
garden's luxuriance. On one side of this long
cross path are the big Iris beds, on the other
side are the mixed herbaceous borders. Despite
the lack of uniformity of these two borders, there
exists an underlying balance which is almost inde-
finable. Perhaps the reason for this fine adjust-
ment is the consciousness that the first and principal
view of the borders is from the back porch.
1 08
PROBLEM XI.
THE PLAN.
PROBLEM XI. No. i.
THE PEONY WALK.
MARIAN C. COFFIN
The display of Irises lasts fully six weeks. First,
there is a big show of Florentine Iris that makes
a solid mass four feet wide. The Florentine Iris
begin to bloom while the Darwin Tulips are still
out. There are maroon Tulips, and black ones
and cherry red ones, all mixed together to form
an edge for the pearly Iris near the grass. On
the path side Poet's Narcissus are planted for a
very early spring effect. German Iris make the
second big show in this border. There are the
lilac blue Iris pallida dalmatica, the delicate
creamy Iris flavescens, the golden Iris aurea^ and
Iris Dr. Bernice with yellow standards and deep
bronze falls. These are planted in back of the
Florentines, thirty or forty of each kind massed
together. Just as the German Iris are fading,
the Spanish Irises in yellow and smoky coloring
are beginning to bloom, and at about the same
time the English Irises in white and lilac blue
shades. These make a delicate intermezzo before the
third show of Japanese Irises. The Iris are massed
so thickly that there is no room for other peren-
nials except for a narrow row of edging plants.
At first Tree Peonies and standard Lilacs
emphasized the intersection of the paths but now
109
THE SMALL PLACE
in addition to these a very simple rustic arbor has
been built. It is heavily laden with climbing
Roses, Gardenia, and Gold Finch, in yellow and
coppery tones that repeat the color of the Hybrid
Teas, Harry Kirk, and Madam Ravary, that are
planted in three rows on either side of the arbor.
Pansies that overrun these borders in the spring
form a kind of irregular carpet bedding for the
Roses. These Rose beds are incorporated in the
big herbaceous borders, a daring attempt by any
but a master hand.
These wide herbaceous borders are part and
parcel of the enclosure of the main lawn which
with their tree and shrubbery background com-
prise the garden proper. Here a charming color
sequence is developed. The border at the back of
the property, farthest from the house, is known
as the red border, next to it is the purple and
yellow border. A strong mass of Forsythia divides
it from the blue border. The blue border ends
where the Roses begin. On the other side of the
Roses the pink border begins and that merges into
white.
The method of producing this color sequence
must not be misunderstood. There is no hard
no
w
B
Q «
en u
^ H
MARIAN C. COFFIN
and fast color subdivision. In the so-called red
border, there are not only red and scarlet flowers
but those of orange and bronze shades. In the
pink border, too, there are not only pink flowers
but rose and maroon ones and even a few white
ones. The red border is divided from the purple
and yellow one by a strip of grass and so is the
blue border divided from the pink one, but not
into hard and distinct sections, for in looking
over the whole garden area, one color seems to
melt into the next color until they are blended
and wrought into a rhythmic composition. It
reminds one of a symphony in which each theme
is introduced separately and then developed into
complex harmonies. That is the trouble of trying
to describe each border separately, we lose the
effects of the other borders in so doing and we are
apt to forget what an important part the trees and
shrubs play. They act as a back drop to the scene,
or to adhere to the comparison to the symphony,
they are the strong accompaniment to the themes.
Take the red border. Its interest begins
with early Tulips. With them are planted a
few Crown Imperials, those curious favorites
of old cottage gardens. At about the same
time a few starry white Magnolias, Magnolia
in
THE SMALL PLACE
stellata, are in full bloom. Then come the later
Tulips, the glowing red Tulip gesneriana spathulata
major, the strong orange scarlet Tulip "La Mer-
veille," and the showy Tulip "Pride of Haarlem."
Then the red and yellow Azaleas bloom in a
splendid mass in front of Hemlocks, then a group
of Oriental Poppies make a brave showing and
later in the fall red and bronze Dahlias and deep
red Zinnias give a warm color touch that heralds
the autumn glow of the Maples and Hawthorns in
back of them.
The purple and yellow border is an exquisite
study in flower arrangement and is especially
charming in early May. Yellow Alyssum saxatile
and Primroses and the lovely Phlox lilacina form
the groundwork from which spring the Darwin
and Cottage Tulips in similar shadings, the bright
golden yellow Tulip "Mrs. Moon," the exquisite
heliotrope Tulip "Dream," Tulip "Fairy Queen"
in which heliotrope and yellow fawn color are
blended, and the wonderful purple Tulip "Jubilee."
The charm of this border does not depend wholly
on the color harmony, wonderful as it is, not wholly
upon the combination of ground cover and Tulips,
but upon the composition of the whole. The
edging plants grow in luxuriant intermingled mats
112
PROBLEM XI. No. 5.
THE MAIN LAWN.
PROBLEM XI. No. 6.
THE PURPLE AND YELLOW BORDER.
MARIAN C. COFFIN
and the Tulips in big masses, a hundred or more
of each kind planted in long irregular drifts magi-
cally blended. The composition is perhaps at its
very best at the time when the tall long stemmed
yellow Doronicums are also out and the lilac blue
Camassias are beginning to bloom, for the Doroni-
cums are scattered lightly between the Tulips, and
a group of Camassias at the back provides a dis-
tinct accent point. It is interesting to note that
in the fall the mood of the border has changed, for
then dwarf and tall Heleniums make it a bright
and bold corner.
When the Forsythias, that separate this border
from the blue border, are blooming their yellow
flowers bend down to meet deep yellow Daffodils
and fine white Arabis alpina which are growing
near by on the edge of the border. When flowering
shrubs complement the flower color, combinations
of rare interest arise and more charming oppor-
tunities in the use of shrubbery will open up when
once we appreciate more fully their value and
interest.
Soon after the Forsythia has leafed out, delicate
tinted tulips are scattered through the blue border
and in one corner there is a lovely blue mass of
Polemonium reptans. Later Linum perenne, blue
THE SMALL PLACE
Lupines, Anchusas, and Delphiniums carry along
the blue effect while Gypsophila, Anthemis kel-
wayiy Lilium svorzianum, and yellow Thalictrums
give touches of white, cream, yellow, and orange.
Here, the plants are arranged in large irregularly
interplanted clumps so that they blend the flower
masses together. Such treatment seems to hide
the plants out of bloom as they form drifts of
foliage to offset the plants in bloom. By such
methods the border seems always in full bloom
for there are enough plants of each variety to give
distinct effects.
In the pink border pink Lupines, pink Oriental
Poppies, pink Sweet William, Canterbury Bells,
and Hollyhocks follow one another in the spring
and early summer, later on there are pink Phloxes
and then Japanese Anemones give a delicate
fall effect, but perhaps the finest time to see the
pink border is at Tulip time. Then pink and
white Phlox subulata is making a bright edging
along the lawn and in back of it are the Tulips.
There are the brilliant rose Tulip "Clara Butt,"
the soft rose Tulip "Loveliness," the exquisite
dove-colored Tulip "The Fawn," and a few of
the curious Tulip viridiflora, called the "Green
Tulip." These are planted in broad masses
114
PROBLEM XI. No. 7.
THE PURPLE AND YELLOW BORDER WHEN TULIPS, DORONICUMS,
CAMASSIAS, AND GROUND COVERS ARE ALL IN BLOOM.
PROBLEM XI. No. 8.
THE PINK BORDER WHEN THE CRABAPPLES
AND THE TULIPS ARE IN BLOOM.
MARIAN C. COFFIN
where the border is wide and then they dwindle
into a thin ribbon where the border becomes nar-
row. It seems, though, that this double effect of
Tulips and ground Phlox is not enough, so a third
element is added. The Tulips "Clara Butt" are
planted in front of the Crabapple, Pyrus flori-
bunda, whose pendant branches droop to the
ground heavily laden with rose flowers. It is one
of the loveliest tree and flower harmonies. There
are many opportunities for such arrangements,
especially in the spring with all the abundance of
Almonds and Cherries, Crab apples and Dogwoods,
Amelanchiers and Hawthorns. This is a field of
artistic opportunity which we are just beginning
to grasp. Farther down the border when the white
flowering shrubs begin, there is another charming
combination when creamy yellow Iris pumila is
massed in front of a bush of Spiraa thunbergii
bent with delicate white sprays.
This white flowering shrubbery helps to make
the wood path which has its own little joys in shade-
loving flowers. It is particularly lovely when the
Foxgloves are out.
As the house is closed during midsummer and
early fall, the garden contents itself with a few
115
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late autumn effects and a slight winter interest,
so that all the attention can be centered upon the
spring and early summer bloom. In the main
garden the late Tulips make the first big showing,
and a marvelous one it is with the complementary
flowers of trees and shrubs and perennials, but the
early spring is not forgotten. It is well taken care
of in a place all its own, in the woodsy bulb bor-
der on the side of the house. There, Snowdrops
and Winter Aconite, Iris histrioides, Chionodoxa,
Grape-Hyacinth, Scillas, and the lovely lavender
Anemone blanda are used in goodly masses, each
group running into and mingling with the next.
The first real height of bloom comes, however, with
the crocuses when hundreds upon hundreds of them
are planted not in solid stiff masses but in broad
drifts that meander in graceful long easy curves
through the border. A little later come the single
star Daffodils planted in bolder streamerlike drifts.
Later still, about the middle of May, the Mertensia
virginica, the Virginia Cowslip, makes up the bor-
der's interest. This charming native has spires of
nodding bell-like flowers that are delicate lilac blue
that fades to soft pink.
Can we analyze this garden's charm? The
116
PROBLEM XI. No. 9.
THE WHITE BORDER.
PROBLEM XT. No. 10.
THE SHADY PATH.
MARIAN C. COFFIN
simplicity of the well ordered design, the nice
sweeping curves of the lawns, the carefully studied
background, the wide borders and the use of
flowers in luxuriant naturalistic masses, all help
toward its effectiveness. But necessary as these
elements are, they are only the foundations.
What is the elusive quality that makes a flower
garden, like a symphony, a masterpiece? Can we
define or describe the underlying meaning? A
garden, if it is to be considered as a product of
artistic value, must be a manifestation of distinc-
tive individuality, an expression of personality.
117
PROBLEM XII
119
PROBLEM XII
THE TERRACED GARDEN OF A COUNTRY PLACE, BY
ELIZABETH BOOTES CLARK, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
This property is located at Devon, Pa. The dimensions of
the garden are 36 x 80 feet
ROOKMEAD " is an old country place. Its
chief interest is centered upon the dairy
farm. The whitewashed farm buildings stand
close to the house, just on the other side of the
drive, and the fine Guernsey cows find pasture on
the broad sloping meadows that quite naturally
usurp the greater part of the grounds and give the
place its lovely rural character.
The house is low and old-fashioned. It is built
of the gray stone that has given the country around
Philadelphia its peculiar charm. The old drive-
way runs along the west of the house between
groups of tall trees. A sloping piece of ground in
front of the house is reserved as a kept lawn which
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is separated from the meadows by a white fence.
On the other side of the house, the ground sloped
off abruptly in an irregular double tilt that gave
the house an unfortunate and unstable look. Part
way down the slope a low retaining wall buttressed
the ground. Such an awkward slope would not
have appealed to the uninitiated as a good garden
site but to one interested in the nice readjustments
of grades such tilted contours are full of possibili-
ties. It was on or rather into this bank that
the garden was built in the fall of 1914.
The garden consists of two parts, a grass terrace
and below it a series of small flower-lined com-
partments. The old retaining wall forms one
boundary of the grass terrace. To conform with
the grade it decreases gradually toward the south
end and the terrace has a gentle downward slope
in the same direction. To establish its grade it
was necessary to cut away several feet of the slope.
To conform with this new condition, the wall was
underpinned, two feet at some places, eight feet at
others. The old wall, built many years ago of rough
stone with mortar of a brownish tone, is so fine a
piece of work that matching up the stone, copy-
ing the laying of the courses, and imitating the
122
PROBLEM XII.
THE PLAN.
ELIZABETH BOOTES CLARK
color of the mortar in building the new under-
structure demanded a certain nicety of feeling.
The old quarry that furnished the stone for the
house and for the old wall was unearthed on the
place and it yielded the stone for all the new gar-
den construction. The old spring house and out-
door oven, that stand beside the garden, are other
examples of this fine old stone work that gives so
much character to the place.
The retaining wall has given an interesting
opportunity for wall planting. Sometimes it is
pleasing to cover the entire wall with a hanging
carpet of varied color, but here the plants are used
only in a moderate way to soften the bareness of
the stone without hiding the wall. The wall is so
long, however, — about eighty feet, — that many
different kinds of plants are used in small groups.
The flowers are there, not to demand undivided
attention, but are to solicit momentary interest.
They are used, not as a dominant feature, but as a
decorative touch of color.
Cedars, Juniperus virginiana glauca, border the
other long side of the terrace. When they spread
into a continuous boundary, the terrace will at-
tain all the cool and shadow flickered charm of a
bowling green.
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In contrast to the quiet green of the terrace, the
garden is a study in full color. It is set parallel
to the terrace at a slightly lower level and consists
of three subdivisions. The central portion acts as
a thoroughfare. It is centered on the middle of
the terrace. It is in line with the curving steps
that run up to the porch. It is in line with the
gate that opens into the pasture. It is simply a
grass space enclosed by Arbor Vitae hedges. A
small blue green bowl stands in the grass for a
bird bath. Two chairs stand by the side of the
steps to the terrace. These chairs remind one of
the colonial Windsors but they are English. They
are designed especially for English weather for
after a shower the chair can be turned upside down
and be right side up to provide a clean dry seat.
On the sides of this green space are the two flower
compartments. The upper garden is two steps
above, the lower garden is two steps below it.
In this way has the difference in grade, uniform
with the terrace slope, been pleasingly dealt with.
The upper garden is mottled with shadow, the
lower garden is in full sunlight. The upper garden
has a background of tall trees that group them-
selves around the spring house, the lower garden
faces the sunny meadows and high up on a tall
124
PROBLEM XII. No. 2.
THE ENTRANCE FROM THE MEADOW.
PROBLEM XII. No. 3.
THE TERRACE.
ELIZABETH BOOTES CLARK
white pole a bird house stands outlined against the
sky. In the upper garden the flowers are of pastel
shades, in the lower garden the flowers are brighter
in key, blues that deepen into purple and the yellows
that tone to orange with a touch of pure white.
In the early spring the borders of both gardens
are fringed with Crocuses in mixed colors and
Daffodils and early Tulips. It is not, however,
until the later long-stemmed Tulips appear that
the gardens show their full color values. Then in
the upper garden, many varieties are woven into a
delicate color rhythm. There are pure white Tu-
lips, "White Queen," and pink striped "Picotee,"
silvery rose "Gretchen" and lilac rose "Mme.
Krelage." There are bright pink Tulips, "Clara
Butt," and salmon ones, "Inglescombe Pink."
There are golden Tulips, "Bouton d'Or," helio-
trope, "Dream," and "The Fawn" which is dove
colored. In the lower garden the bright shades
of Tulip gesneriana lutea and of "Inglescombe
Yellow" offset the quieter tones of "Dream," of
the slaty blue "La Tristesse," of the dark plum
colored "Philippe de Commines," and of the red
purple "Mrs. Potter Palmer." While the Tulips
are blooming the Columbines, scattered through
both gardens in mixed colors, are beginning to
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flower. A little later salmon pink Oriental Poppies,
"Mrs. Perry/' are flowering in the upper garden
and their bloom is followed by Canterbury Bells.
At almost the same time Spanish Iris are blooming
in the lower garden. On one side they are blue and
white, on the other side they are white and yellow.
When considered as a mass, the flowers have, so
far, given a flat effect, but as summer approaches
perpendicular lines begin to predominate. In the
upper garden there are masses of pink Foxgloves
and lovely blue Anchusas with smaller groups of
the delicate pink Lilium krameri. In the lower
garden the Larkspurs emphasize the perpendicular
lines. In bloom with them are the white Madonna
Lilies, the orange Lilies, Lilium croceum, and yellow
Thermopsis. The familiar combination of Lilium
candidum with Delphinium is strong and pure, the
union of Larkspurs and orange Lilies gives a warm
and rich color harmony.
Then there is a slight lull until the Phloxes begin
to bloom. Lilac rose Phlox "Mme. Dutrie" and
soft violet Phlox " Wanadis" make a delicate union
for the pastel garden. Only pure white Phlox
"Mrs. Jenkins " and "Jeanne D'Arc" are used in
the other garden. Aconitum and orange Lilium
superbum carry out the color harmony of the lower
126
PROBLEM XII. No. 5.
THE BLUE AND YELLOW GARDEN.
PROBLEM XII. No. 6.
THE PASTEL GARDEN.
ELIZABETH BOOTES CLARK
garden for a time, but when the blue is lost in late
autumn, yellow and bronze Chrysanthemums are
left to carry along the bright part of the color
scheme. The upper garden adheres to pastel
shades during the early fall with pink and white
Japanese Anemones, pink and cream Gladiolus
gandavensis, and steel blue Sea Holly.
It is essential to describe the gardens together,
for, despite the fact that each garden makes a
distinct color impression, the two color schemes are
in harmony for the two gardens are complimen-
tary parts of one closely knit design. Their
unity is further emphasized by their strong struc-
tural similarity. They are alike in shape and
size. Each has a tiny grass center edged in quaint
oval outlines with dwarf Box. Each has its own
entrance from the terrace above. Each has a
little nook with a seat in it. These seats are long
low benches. They were found in an antique shop.
They are made of Irish bog oak that was petrified
through the action of water. They have no need
of paint so their natural soft brownish tone can
always be preserved.
The terrace and the garden seem perfectly at
home tucked in there under the wall. They are
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sunk so far below the house that even when the
hedges grow to full height the view from the house
across the meadows will be free and the garden
detail will not disturb the open feeling of the
meadows. They are easily reached from the dining
room and porch by two flights of steps, and so are
closely united to the house. Full of sunlight and
color, full of shadow and restful green, the garden
and terrace are quiet out-of-door rooms, a charm-
ing addition to the house interpreting in their own
peculiar manner the prevailing character of the
house. Such an achievement in garden art is due
to an intuitive feeling of fitness, to a sense of
"perfect placing" which gives to that which is the
object of infinite care and anxious thought the
appearance of perfect naturalness.
128
PROBLEM XIII
129
PROBLEM XIII
A SMALL PROPERTY WITH Two GARDENS, BY ELIZABETH
LEONARD STRANG, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
GROTON, MASS.
This property is located at Plymouth, Mass. Its dimensions
are 165 x 150 feet
IN the development of the small lot the attention
is best centered upon one important feature.
This feature should be in full sight of the house
and have a close relationship to it. It should
have individuality and worth enough to perpetuate
genuine pleasure in it. It should have elasticity
enough to offer a chance for the expression of
changing and growing interests. It should have a
distinct originality which will grow in the hands of
an ingenious designer directly out of some charac-
ter peculiar to the site itself.
These principles underlie the development of
this property. The unobtrusive low shrubbery,
still rather unconvincing in its newness, which is
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planted along the front of the house, together
with the quiet character of the house itself, con-
forms with the simple Plymouth street over-
shadowed by old Elms. The front of the house
has nothing of particular interest. The attention
is focused upon the garden in back.
In the beginning it was only a deep uninviting
hollow. Now it is an oval flower garden. In May,
1913, it was an unsightly dump, an ugly hole in
the ground. In August of the same year there
was a carefully arranged garden with abundant
bloom and color which convinces one of the effi-
ciency of a plan by which the work is carried
on skillfully and rapidly without the unnecessary
readjustments of haphazard and disjointed ideas.
Its oval shape and symmetrical treatment fit
naturally into its sunken position. Its full ex-
panse is seen in a semi-bird's-eye view from the
house. The path on the shorter axis of the oval,
centering on the central doorway and terminating
in the generous seat under the trees, binds house
and garden together. A path on the longer axis
meets it in a circle at the center, cutting the oval
into four equal parts. The main lines of the design
have a simplicity of which one cannot tire. They
have a strength which holds together all the
132
ROBLEM XIII.
THE PLAN.
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG
minor elements. For convenience in caring for
the flowers in the very wide borders a stepping
stone path describes an inner oval. In summer
it is almost lost in the thickness of the foliage
but in spring it strikes a minor chord in the
composition.
The flowers are arranged to carry out and
emphasize the design. The four parts of the oval
are so planted that at first glance they appear sym-
metrically correct. In early spring this effect is
gained by the careful distribution of early flowers.
Daffodils skirt the outer edge of the oval, Scillas
and Snowdrops, Primulas and Fritillarias are
planted between the stepping stones, early pink
and rose Tulips and Mertensias circumscribe the
circle, and lavender Darwin Tulips describe a
wider circle around them. A little later in the
season the effect of symmetry is continued by
dividing equally between the four parts masses of
Irises and Peonies, Phloxes and Japanese Anem-
ones, Asters and Chrysanthemums. Planted
in strong masses they give body to the borders.
The monotony of absolute conformity is avoided,
however, by subtle gradations of color made
possible through the abundant use of many
named varieties. Moreover, no exact symmetry
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is attempted in the placing of the many other
flowers that are used in small quantities to lighten
the strong mass effect.
A balanced arrangement of flowers is quite
rigidly adhered to in the borders on either side of
the short path. Throughout its length, English
Daisies and early Tulips make a continuous border
in early spring to be followed by Forge t-me-Nots.
In back of them is a row of salmon pink Sweet
William whose June flowers are replaced by the
later bloom of Heliotrope and pink Stock. The
white and pink Peonies in back of the Sweet
William in the nearer borders are substituted by
the yellowish blush Paeony canari farther away.
A balanced effect is also felt in the arrangement
of the flowers on either side of the longer path.
Bordered by Alyssum saxatile and Arabis, Adonis
and white Wild Geranium, Carpathian Harebell,
Statice, and Sedum, the edge is kept in almost
continuous bloom. The varying greens and gray
greens of the foliage add a special interest to
these compact matlike ground covers. In back
of this edging of dwarf flowers, Iris "Queen of
May," Iris pallida, and Iris "Purple King" range
from soft lilac pink through lilac to deep purple.
At the circle the symmetry is most strictly
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG
carried out. This is done to focus the attention
upon the central point and so bind together the
many motives of the flower design. The planting
is arranged in a series of inscribed circles. In the
first ring early Mertensias make a complete circle
with blue flowers that fade to pink. These are
replaced later on by deep purple Pansies. During
July this tier is made effective by eight (Enothera
missouriensis placed at the points where the
paths converge into the circle. Their large bright
yellow flowers make a brilliant showing, especially
striking in front of the deep purple of Japanese
Iris. In the second ring Iris "Purple King"
continues the color effect of the purple Pansies.
In the third ring are Peonies in deep pink and
rose. Each Peony is encircled by a dozen pink
Tulips whose early flowers have disappeared by
the time the Peony has opened its foliage. In the
fourth ring are the purple Japanese Iris. With
them the circular treatment fades into the masses
of Phlox which help to develop the oval outlines
of the garden.
It is obvious that in such a garden the continuity
of bloom is most carefully developed. Early Tulips,
Daffodils, Darwin Tulips and Irises, Peonies and
Sweet Williams, Foxgloves, Larkspurs and Phloxes,
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Japanese Anemones and Asters, and Chrysanthe-
mums give successive bloom. Coming into flower
one after another with varying lengths to their
periods of bloom they are closely interwoven and
used in big masses they form the major succes-
sion of bloom. Complementing them is a minor
succession. Bright yellow Alyssum, pure white
Arabis, blue Mertensia, pink Bleeding Heart, yel-
low Trollius make a spring medley of bright
color. Columbines and yellow Day Lilies accom-
pany the bloom of German Irises, Dictamnus and
Campanulas that of the Peonies. Purple Viola
cornuta, snow-white Achillea "the Pearl," and filmy
Gypsophila accompany the flowering of the Lark-
spurs. Yellow Anthemis, pink Sedum spectabile,
blue Statice, and purple Veronicas are in flower
while the Phloxes are blooming. Pink Snap-
dragons supplement the delicacy of Japanese
Anemones, salmon pink annual Phlox continues
to bloom late into Aster time, and Calendulas
are still fresh when the last Chrysanthemum
has faded. Supplementing the major succession,
these scattered color notes, sometimes strong,
sometimes very delicate, heighten the interest
in the changes that come from week to week.
Special attention has been given to color in this
136
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG
garden. Not a single harsh or disturbing color
note can be found. Only the clearest of yellows,
the softest of pink and rose shades, the quietest
of lavender, blue, and purple, and harmonizing
whites are used in this elusive pattern of color.
Succession of bloom, color harmony, and arrange-
ment are subtly interwoven. Thus analyzed the
garden illustrates the difficulties and the pleasures
of its designing. It makes clear the reason for
many failures, the source of its many delights.
It is as easy to enumerate the flowers planted
in a garden as it is hard to describe the elusive
effects that are attained. It is as simple to
explain the underlying principles of the garden's
composition as it is difficult to analyze its charm.
A flower garden is a transitory evanescent thing.
Without constant, patient, and intelligent care the
whole charm of a garden like this one, dependent
on so many interrelated details, is lost in a year's
time. This garden has the frequent supervision of
the designer. This means not only that she can
see that it is kept up to the color scheme and
arrangement as she divined it, that she can foretell
and forewarn lapses in bloom, winter failures, and
seasonal mishaps, but she can arrange and com-
plete, substitute and devise new color effects in
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minor details which will give new interest to the
garden without disturbing its old vigor and its
stable and constant arrangement.
The oval is Box bordered and then girt by a ten-
foot strip of gravel. Although we had carefully
studied the plan of the entire layout beforehand,
we had been altogether unconscious through-
out the long and minute inspection of the oval,
that the gravel strip was a turn-around. A turn-
around is so much a matter for practical considera-
tions, a flower garden is so much a striving for an
ideal, and the two seem so antagonistic that they
are almost always placed entirely apart from one
another. It is at best, even for so small a place
where the drive turn is in little use, a difficult
problem and a combination which is to be avoided.
In this case, however, the harmonizing of these
two opposing factors strikes not only a clever and
original note in garden composition but shows a
serious understanding of garden art.
Besides developing the principal feature of a
place there is often a possibility of combining
with it a number of other scenes of special charac-
ter. By the addition of the neighboring property,
138
PROBLEM XIII. No. 4.
AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE INFORMAL GARDEN.
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG
space for a lawn and an informal garden was
acquired. The property was bought in two
parcels — the lawn area came into possession only
recently, the informal garden was planted at the
time the formal garden was laid out.
The lawn is bordered by a woodsy plantation.
The Rhododendrons and Hemlocks, opposite the
porch, are flanked by groups of Black Alder and
Viburnum dentatum. Fragrant Sumac and Maple-
leaved Viburnum, Cornus paniculata, Cornelian
Cherry and Red Twigged Cornel, Barberries
Rosa multiflora and Mountain Ash, Viburnum
Carlesi, Laurel, and Ilex glabra, which is a charming
and little known variety of Holly. They unite
to form a planting with fine autumn and winter
effects. Spring wood flowers, Ferns and Asters,
Azalea vaseyi and Oriental Poppies, Lilium Han-
soni and Snakeroot, form interesting color inci-
dents for the heavier shrub planting.
The informal garden occupies a narrow irregular
strip of sloping land in back of the lawn. One of
the long paths of this garden is a continuation of
the longer axis of the main garden. The rose arch
which acts as entrance to it frames a long vista
down the path. This minor garden is subordinated
139
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to the main garden but it is related to it. It is as
informal as the other is formal. It is left to the
lax attention of odd moments instead of to the
diligent care and constant supervision given to
the main garden. It is as unsymmetrical in design
and planting as the other is symmetrical.
Japanese Quinces and Bush Roses, old-fashioned
Sweet-scented Shrub and Bush Honeysuckles,
fragrant Mock Oranges and Weigelas are scattered
through the ample beds to obstruct the view across
the garden.
Many flowers grow rampant in the borders and
encroach upon the paths with their spreading
foliage. There are Hepaticas, ,Wind Flowers,
Bloodroots, and other spring wild flowers. There
are Snowdrops and Lilies-of-the-Valley, double
Buttercups and Snow-in-Summer with lovely gray
foliage. There are spring bulbs, Narcissus and
Tulips, Spanish Iris and Fritillaria meleagris (the
speckled Guinea-hen Flower). There are summer
bulbs, Madonna Lilies, Gold-banded Lilies, nodding
Japanese Lilies, and brilliant Tiger Lilies. There
are many-colored Gladioli.
A few Oriental Poppies blaze forth their scarlet
all alone amid dark green foliage; Lychnis and
Monarda, Heuchera (the Coral Bell) and Lobelia
140
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG
(the Cardinal Flower), each has a special place
where its color will not hurt more delicate shades
or be hurt by them.
There are delicate filmy flowers like Gypsophila,
Galium, and Statice and tropical-looking plants
like Yuccas. There are all kinds of Campanulas,
Harebells, Bell Flowers, and Peach Bells. There are
all kinds of spiked flowers, pyramidal Foxgloves,
spires of Larkspurs and Monkshoods, Hollyhocks,
and coarse-leaved Physostegia with spikes _of
gaping flowers, some purple, some lilac, some
white. There are sturdy Anchusas with azure
flowers, decorative Shasta Daisies, flat-headed
Anthemis, and luxurious Phloxes. There are
feathery plumes of Thalictrums and odd Sea
Holly with blue thistle-like globes on blue stems
with spiny blue-green foliage.
There are summer wild flowers, Orange Milk-
weed from the sandy roadsides, white Eupatoriums
from the fields, strong yellow Mulleins from stony
hillsides, and delicate Evening Primroses. Large
white Boltonia asteroides, tall reddish purple New
England Asters, and sturdy Yellow Heleniums
make strong autumn color.
There are all kinds of annuals, Ageratum and
Scabiosa, white Petunias and blue Nigellas, He-
141
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liotrope and Cosmos, purple Pansies and brilliant
orange Zinnias, pink annual Larkspurs and salmon
pink Phlox, lemon yellow and orange Marigolds
and Mignonettes, Snapdragons and lovely scented
Stocks. Pots of tender flowers, sweet smelling
Lemon Verbena and Rose Geranium, are plunged
in the ground.
It is a place for old-fashioned plants and favor-
ites, flowers of odd colors and curious shapes. It
is a medley of color, a spot full of fragrance. Little
surprises are at every turn, unexpected flowers are
found in hidden corners. There are blind paths
where steps have to be retraced through little
flower tangles. It has absorbed in a very short time
the indescribable old-fashioned quality of a colo-
nial garden.
142
PROBLEM XIV
PROBLEM XIV
AN OLD PLACE ON LEVEL GROUND — REDESIGNED, BY
CHARLES N. LOWRIE, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
NEW YORK CITY
This property is located at Columbus, Ohio. Its dimensions
are 250 x 400 feet
IT becomes more and more necessary, as houses
crowd closer together in a city, to consider
each property as a unit in itself, and to dis-
regard all heterogeneous outside objects. To do
this satisfactorily it is important to hide the
close proximity of neighboring houses. The mak-
ing of the boundary is, therefore, very essen-
tial. Here, the boundary is doubly fortified. A
brick wall is built around three sides of the
property with a hedge on the front, for a green
hedge forms a much pleasanter boundary along
the street than a wall. Inside wall and hedge
is a planting of trees and shrubbery which
disguises their stiff lines, gives height to the
145
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enclosure, and affords pleasant variation in color
and form.
The location of the old house and of existing
trees determined the development of the front part
of the grounds. The attractive lawn on the east
side of the house gains its interest through the
careful grouping of trees and the good shape of the
curving plantations that form the boundary. On
the west side of the house there is just room enough
for a drive. It enters from the street on the very
edge of the property and curves slightly on the
way to the porte-cochere. This is an excellent
arrangement, for a drive on a small property ought
to be merely a convenience and take up as little
room as possible. It plays, however, an important
part of the layout as a friendly entrance to the
house and is to be as attractive as good lines and
planting can make it.
The old brown stone houses of the seventies
do not lend themselves happily to garden set-
tings, nor was there then any understanding of
the garden as an intimate part of the house so
there was no attempt to establish the new garden
near the house. Happily the tall growth of existing
trees that help to make the garden setting hide
the house from the garden. The only connection
146
PROBLEM XIV.
THE PLAN.
CHARLES N. LOWRIE
between house and garden is a curving path. This
path connects with two other paths which are at
right angles to one another, a short east and west
path which has a tea house at its eastern end
and a long north and south path at the end of
which the pergola is seen through an avenue
of flowering Crabapples. This long path forms
an axis line through the center of the property.
The separation of the house and its garden and
the seeming disregard of attempting to establish
a unity between the house and the layout of the
grounds is explained by the fact that, at the time
the grounds were developed, it was the expectation
of the owner to remove the existing house and to
place a new one so that its axis line would conform
to that of the centrally located path.
This long path divides the property into two
equal parts. On the west side is the service portion,
the road to the garage, the hedge-bounded vege-
table garden, laundry yard, and the orchard. On
the east side is the social part, the formal garden
with its rose center, the tennis court, the play
lawn with its fruit trees, the tea house, and the
shady informal path which connects tea house
and pergola and then with a curve which dis-
guises entirely its intention turns into the court in
H7
THE SMALL PLACE
front of the garage. It is an essential of good
planning that the service part be cut off and
entirely hidden from the garden and yet there
should be easy access between them. In fact
it is essential to have easy communication be-
tween all the various parts of the grounds and
there is an added interest if in the leisurely in-
spection of the grounds there need be no retracing
of steps.
In choosing the site for the garden it is interesting
to note that the existing orchard and old trees were
not disturbed. In order to relieve the flatness of
the property of its monotony, several slight changes
in level were made in the garden design. The
Box bordered Rose beds in the center help to
emphasize the sunken garden effect and the peren-
n;al borders around them form a transition be-
tween the low Roses and the tall trees behind.
All the main paths are of gravel but these in the
formal garden are of grass. Such changes inmate-
rial help to make attractive gardens. The seats,
vases, and statues in the garden are the owner's
own collection and although it is difficult to ar-
range for so many different objects so that they
will fit together the simple broad formal design
of the garden, the simplicity of the pool, and the
148
THE LONG PATH.
PROBLEM XIV. No. 5.
THE PERGOLA.
CHARLES N. LOWRIE
frame of trees make a quiet setting for them. The
tea house, too, is built in a dignified classic style
for this reason.
It is interesting to note that all the ornamenta-
tion has been reserved for this formal garden as
it is the center of attraction. The rest of the
grounds are kept quite simple. The fruit trees
were part of an old orchard and show how nicely
such existing material can be woven into the
design. The pergola is the center of interest in
the orchard and it forms a quiet informal loung-
ing place. It is built in a simple modern style
quite different from the tea house. Side by side
in the same garden they would be incongruous
but placed as they are in no connection with one
another they both fill their places well.
In the shrubbery and trees that bound the
various subdivisions there are many interesting
details of planting: there is a continuous succession
of bloom, much contrast of foliage texture and
bright winter color. It is this color of fruit and
branches in deciduous plant material which pro-
vides so much of the winter effectiveness of a
garden quite independent of the evergreens that
so often dominate and overbalance it but here
the evergreens have been used sparingly except in
149
THE SMALL PLACE
the boundary plantings where White Pines and
Hemlocks make a permanent screen and are an
effective background to the color of shrub and
flower.
150
PROBLEM XV
PROBLEM XV
A HILLSIDE PROPERTY IN A NEW ENGLAND TOWN, BY
PRENTICE SANGER, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT,
NEW YORK CITY
This property is located at Fitchburg, Mass. Its dimensions
are 300 x 600 feet
THE sharp and peculiar double tilt of the prop-
erty to the south and to the west, the dis-
tant view of the hills to the southwest, and the
position of house and barn were the conditions
which determined the solution of this problem.
The demand for a garden on the south side
necessitated an arrangement of terraces to suit
the steep slope and the northern position of the
kitchen wing and of the new garage placed on the
barn foundations determined the rearrangement
of the drive.
A "home-ground" is an organism in which the
subdivisions, while serving their own peculiar
functions, are united into one harmonious whole.
THE SMALL PLACE
It is, therefore, not merely a problem of orna-
mental planting, as it is often supposed, but a
solution of practical conditions molded into a
skillful design and supplemented by a planting of
decorative value.
The front lawn is kept quite simple and in
harmony with the character of a New England
town. The old trees just inside the wall which
extends along the street give abundant shade
and a finished appearance to the planting. The
stiff line of the wall is broken by masses of
Laurel under the trees. Two old Maples for-
tunately placed on either side of the entrance
path make an unusually fine setting for the gate-
way. The tree and shrubbery planting which
frames in the south side of the lawn disguises
somewhat the steep slope and has an added value
in helping to enclose the flower garden, screening
it from the street.
The drive is a frank piece of necessary construc-
tion. It takes the place of an old drive which had
described a semicircle in front of the house with
two entrances on the street. This had made a
considerable mass of gravel not pleasant to look
i54
PROBLEM XV.
THE PLAN.
PRENTICE SANGER
at and brought the drive very near the garden
side of the house. Both these objectionable
conditions were obviated by the new drive. It is
on the extreme northern side of the lot so that it
does not encroach on any other part of the grounds.
It takes up the least possible space but gives
generous room for turning. It is in close and
direct communication with service court and
garage. Near the entrance of the drive on the
lawn side Prairie Roses and prostrate Junipers
spread their branches over outcropping rocks.
On the other side the pendant branches of For-
sythia and the graceful growth of Spiraea bring the
taller shrubbery down to the ground. At the back
a trellis divides the drive from the service court.
It is always well to screen the service court from
the rest of the grounds but it is a pity to hide too
much a building so charming in exterior as the
garage. It is not often that we find so much
architectural consideration given to a subordinate
building on a property. The garage has two
entrances and ample room for two cars besides the
usual outfit rooms. The barn's stone foundation
upon which it is built forms good storage room
below and provides a large additional space in
back, on the garage level, for an open balustraded
THE SMALL PLACE
platform useful for cleaning the machines. The
small grove of old White Pines is especially pic-
turesque in relation to the garage which it shades.
The service court is also used as a laundry yard.
This combination is excellent economy of space for
small properties.
From the service court a narrow service road
runs between vegetable plot and formal garden to a
side entrance. The main street is so very steep
that it is desirable to have even a slightly less steep
service road. The rose garden is treated more as a
cut-flower garden than as a garden for ornamental
purposes. In this capacity it subordinates itself
to the main garden and ranks more with the
vegetable garden. The vegetable plot is at so
much lower level that although it is in easy com-
munication with the rest of the grounds it stands
quite apart. The service road and the steep grade
so effectively divide the vegetable and rose gardens
from the grounds immediately around the house
that while they are molded into the general
scheme it would be quite possible to omit them
entirely without losing any sense of the general
unity which the arrangement of lawn, drive,
service court, and garden gives to the grounds.
The extreme western portion of the property —
156
ROBLEM XV. NO. 2.
THE TURN-AROUND.
PROBLEM XV. No. 3.
THE SERVICE COURT AND GARAGE.
PRENTICE SANGER
only partly indicated on the plan — is again at so
much lower level than the vegetable garden that
it has no connection at all with the "home-
ground." Houses could be built on it without
disturbing the view of the hills. For this reason
the landscape architect advised selling this portion.
The subdivision into lots would give five fifty-
foot lots of good depth. The plot is, however, not
on the market but presents at this time a forest of
baby White Pines.
The steep slope on the south side of the house
became the site for the garden. Such abrupt
changes in level put strict limitations on a prop-
erty but they are welcome factors in garden
making. In making use of such a property a series
of artificial levels becomes necessary. Terraces
offer great variety in treatment, but in their mak-
ing the cost of digging out and filling in of soil is
a practical element that is weighed in the balance
with the artistic elements of the design.
Here, the highest level is the lawn in front of
the living room, the second level is a green parterre,
and the lowest level is the formal flower garden.
Along one side of the lawn is a planting of Abies
concolor, Juniperus prostrata, and Rosa nitida.
157
THE SMALL PLACE
These are particularly interesting in autumn and
winter when the red of the Rose stems makes a
contrasting note with the gray green of the Spruce.
Juniperus tameriscifolia, one of the numerous
forms of the prostrate Juniper, plays a delightful
little part at intervals against the brick steps of
the piazza.
Between the lawn and the parterre is a wall sur-
mounted with a balustrade. Below the wall is a
flower border. The parterre is the intermediate
space between the house terrace and the sunny
flower garden. Three stairs with accompanying
paths lead down through it to the garden.
The boundary of Abies concolor and Rosa nitida
on the lawn is continued with Ghent Azaleas
against Arbor Vitae on the parterre and with Pyrus
atrosanguinea against White Spruce in the garden.
The Hawthorn hedge which encloses three sides of
the garden is another interesting feature. In back
of the Hawthorn hedge evergreen and deciduous
trees are massed into a heavy plantation and
disguise somewhat the irregular slope of the
ground as it drops away from the garden level.
They form a generous boundary for the garden.
The varying green of White Spruce, Cedars, Scotch
Pine, White Pine, and Hemlocks makes a pleasant
158
'ROBLEM XV. No. 5.
THE TERRACE AND THE GARDEN.
•ROBLEM XV. No. 6.
THE POOL.
THE SEMI-CIRCULAR SEAT.
PROBLEM XV. No. 8.
THE GATEWAY.
PRENTICE SANGER
contrast with the flowers, while the flowering
trees, Amelanchier, Redbud, Dogwood, Locust,
Yellow-Wood, Horse-Chestnut, and Catalpa, add
to the bloom and color of perennials.
The privacy gained by a good enclosure is very
essential in the success of the garden as an out-of-
door room. The large semicircular seat on the
west side of the garden is a very inviting place from
which to view the flowers. When the Hemlocks at
its back are tall enough to throw the shadow of
delicate boughs across it, it will grow in charm and
seclusion. Opposite to the seat is the pergola.
It is fortunate in its position in front of the
heavy evergreen planting. As soon as the vines
begin to cover it, it will sink into its right place
and be a shady retreat from which to look out
on the sunny flower borders. There is a seat op-
posite the central stairway to the garden. It is
quite delicate in effect, especially in contrast to
the large seat. It is rather suggestive of an indoor
settee while the large seat has the solidity more
frequently found in stone construction than in
wood. Careful arrangement of seats to provide
vantage points for the leisurely inspection of the
flowers is important in the design of this size.
The four central flower beds form the borders
THE SMALL PLACE
for the lawn space and for the pool in its center.
The oblong shape of the pool conforms with the
rectangular outline of the garden. It is interesting
to note that the pool is so constructed that the
grass can grow to the very edge of the water. The
effect is particularly good in preserving the sim-
plicity of the lawn. The central beds are com-
paratively low and broad in appearance; the long
side borders give an enclosing high effect.
A certain balance and unity in the flower dis-
tribution is essential for a formal garden but the
mixed herbaceous borders give a welcome infor-
mality to the straight lines of the paths and beds.
The riotous and continuous bloom of many varie-
ties is very effective when the garden is viewed
from above and adds an interest to the close
inspection of the flowers when one comes un-
expectedly upon scattered groups of them.
The garden is an intimate part of the house,
especially of the living room. Its sheltered posi-
tion, its comfortable seats, its shady nooks, its
bright color draw one out of the room. The unity
between house and garden is so close, despite the
difference of level, that it is not appreciated that
the garden was built first and the house then re-
built with the garden in view. The stereotyped
1 60
PRENTICE SANGER
arrangement of rooms in the old house, necessary
in days when all the "best" rooms had to face the
street, was changed so that the large homey living
room could face upon the garden.
161
INDEX
B
Boundaries, 7, 20, 21, 29, 30, 49,
55. 57. 65, 66, 75, 89, 97, 123,
130, 145. 154. 158
Bowling green, 123
Bulbs in the flower garden, 8, 68,
in, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116,
125. 133. !34, 135. HO
Bulbs, naturalized, 90, 95, 116
Colonial garden, 142
Colonial forecourt, 41
Color in the garden, 9, 68, 92, no,
125, 137
D
Doorway garden, 41
Drives, 4, 69, 96, 138, 146, 154
Drying yards, see Laundry yards
Entrances, 18, 30, 40, 64, 74
Entrance walks, 31, 74
Evergreens, 5, 6, 9, 20, 21, 23, 30,
33, 48, 49, 50, 51, 90, 92, 98, 99,
130, 149, 154, 157, 158
Evergreen walks, 88, 90
Ferns, 5,- 34
Flower gardens, 7, 23, 42, 58, 68,
87, 102, 107, no, 122, 132, 139,
148. 157
Flowers along walls, 40
Flowers and shrubs, 12, 24, 79, 90,
II3.H5
Flowers in the garden, 8, 9, 23, 24,
25, 43, 68, 87, 102, 103, 107, 108,
109, in, 112, 113, 114, 115,
125, 126, 127, 133, 134, 135,
136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 159,
1 60
Flowers, naturalized, 5, n, 34,90,
116
Flowers under trees, 5, 34
Flowers, wild, 5, 34
Forecourt, 41
Fountain, wall, n
Fruits, small, 59, 78
Garden, Colonial, 142
Garden in winter, 9, 25
Garden, outside, 36
Garden, wild, 12, 33, 34, 69, 102,
139
H
Hedges, 30, 32, 64, 76, 86
House and garden, unity between,
128
House walls, planting along, 5, 21,
22, 47, 56, 65, 74
Laundry yards, 20, 57, 70, 78,
147. 156
163
INDEX
Lawns, 7, 20, 22, 29, 32, 49, 56,
65, 74, 75, 87,95,97, 100, no,
121, 139, 146, 147, 154, 157
Paths and walks, 19, 33, 35, 58,
77, 79, 88, 90, 95, 107, 132, 139,
147
Pools, 43, 87
R
Rock plants, 12, 33, 79, 192
Rocks, 56, 73, 79
Roses, 31, 77, 78, 103, no, 148,
155, 158
Roses, climbing, 21, 42, 48, 64,
66, 74, 79, 87, 1 10, 139
Seats, 32, 43, 86, 88, 124, 132, 159
Service parts of the grounds, 12,
20, 57, 59, 70, 77, 78, 96, 147,
155, 156
Shrubbery paths, 80, 81, 89, 91
Shrubs along house walls, 5, 6, 21,
22, 47, 48, 66, 74
Shrubs along walls, 5, 7, 40, 77
Shrubs for lawn enclosures, 7, 20,
21, 22, 49, 56, 65, 66, 75, 97, 101,
139, H6
Shrubs in boundaries and borders,
5, 12, 20, 21, 48, 49, 50, 58, 66,
67, 74, 80, 81, 99, 100, 101
Shrubs in flower, 24, 50, 91, 92,
113,115
Shrubs in the flower garden, 9, 23,
24, in, 113, 115, 140
Shrubs in fruit, 101, 102
Shrubs in woods, 33, 34, 69
Shrubs, special effects with, 101,
102, 157, 158
Shrubs, value of deciduous, 79, 149
Specimens, use of, 18, 22, 24, 109
Steps, 1 8, 32, 42, 64, 128, 158
Steps, planting in, 33
Terraces, 10, 31, 32, 76
Trees, as individuals, 5, n, 12, 19,
40, 48, 65, 75, 78, 87
Trees in boundaries, 48, 49, 50,
75, 90, 98, 99, 112, 123, 130,
150, 157, 158, 159
Trees in the flower garden, 42,
112, 115, 159
Trees, planting under, 5, 33, 34,
69
Trees, street, 65
Vines, 6, 11, 40, 47, 57, 65, 66, 67,
74, 77, 87
W
Walks, see Paths
Wall fountain, 1 1
Walls, 3, 5, 10, n, 18, 20, 40, 87,
88, 122, 123, 145, 158
Walls, planting on, n, 40, 87, 123
Wild garden, 12, 33, 34, 69, 102,
139
Woods, small, 33, 69
Woods, plants for, 5, 33, 34, 69
164
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