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COME INTO THE GARDEN

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK - BOSTON - CHICAGO - DALLAS
ATLANTA > SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., Limirep

LONDON » BOMBAY - CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltn.
TORONTO

Inviting and warning against intrusion at one and the
same time the arched gateway finds its proper place
wherever there is a definite change in garden motif—and
cannot be consistently introduced elsewhere in a design

COME INTO THE GARDEN

BY
GRACE TABOR

AUTHOR OF
“OLD FASHIONED GARDENS, “‘THH GARDEN PRIMBR,”
‘WVONDERDAYS AND WONDERWAYS THROUGH FLOWERLAND,”
“THD LANDSCAPH GARDENING BOOK,” ETC.

Illustrated
With Phctographs

Nem York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1921

All righta reserved

SD AS

Copyrgiaut, 1921,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1921

Printed in the United States of America

©c.a614985

A»
A

FOREWORD

It is appropriate to explain that in a book of
this character there may be an appearance of
inconsistency to the layman in the spelling of
plant names. The nomenclature of Bailey’s
Encyclopedia of Horticulture has been followed,
however, with the exception of the capitaliza-
tion of the names when they appear apart from
their botanical components. Personally, the
author believes a page presents a more agree-
able appearance to the eye when the names of —
such plants as may be referred to thereon are
not treated as proper names; and that it may
be read with greater facility and a less disturbed
sense of values as a consequence. For those
desiring to pursue further reading or study along
the lines of any particular chapter, a bibliog-
raphy of standard works dealing with each chap-
ter subject will be found at the back of the book,
just before the Index.

CHAPTER

I.
II.
Hil.
IV.

X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.
XX.

Part I
CONCERNED WITH MAN’S CONTRIBUTION

PAGH

ForEworD .. . SARA CLUE THERM A RAAT Be
THE GARDEN’S Prien IN Coe SEAR PH) 3
Position AND PLAN oF THE House ..... 10
DESIGNING WAG ARDENE A) ieuen ae SM nn ain) por
GraprEs, LEVELS AND Contours ...... 45
BounDARIES AND BounpDaRY TREATMENT .. . 60
Wauks, Patos anD GaRDEN ENTRANCES ... 76
GaRDEN ACCESSORIES AND ORNAMENTS ... . 89
Tue Puace Toat Is Aureapy StartepD. .. . 104
PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE ....... JLI18

Part II

CONCERNED WITH NATURE’S CONTRIBUTION
TREES AND THEIR Purpose . ...... .. 145
THE Use aNnp ApusE OF EVERGREENS ... . 156
SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS .... SCH GOEL BH ia 164
Fiowrrs or Aut Cummes AND SEASONS... _ 181
Vines, DecoratTIVE AND UseFuL .....-. 201
Roses AND THEIR SPECIAL CULTURE. ... . 212
WatER FEATURES AND WATER FrowrErRS . . . 232
Rock Garpens AND TuErR Pants . . . . .. 253
Witp GarpEns AND Winp Flowers... . . 267
FRUITS FOR THE SMALL GARDEN SNA CIEN SHR CA uEM IG totes
Tue VEGETABLE GARDEN ~~... .. . . «295
BIBBIOGRAPH VAN Tlie aia DaAChalheninisiuteilreiytete (oe

CONTENTS

D Bisping: Nail ey Ne) Wire Acad as UES AK Re ae UT OS apa OU

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ArcHEeD GATEWAY ... . . . . . . Frontispiece
An ARBORED ALCOVE .... .. . . Facing p. $2
A Bounpary WALL oF SimpLE DesIGN .. “ 60
EN KORWAT GARDEN, {51/70/00 cad) eh ee enn ie 92
Cumepine Rosrs on House. ..... “ 116

Tuer TREE—A DECORATIVE GARDEN FEATURE ‘“‘ 150

Arporvita ENcLosING A WATER-FLOWER

GARDEN Up snd shia ans ya eeu ee eT) ee DS
Dwarr AppLtE TREE AS A SHRUBBERY

ORNAMENT ae NN ee ieee NSS ELIZ
Mrxep BorvEr witH A WALL Backcrounp “ 186°
Grave VinE AND ARBOR EMPLOYED FOR

DECORATIVE PuRPOSES ...... “~ 210
Cumepinc Roses Over ARCHWAY... . “ 222
POOLING GARDEN (its) ite yp cateMconlite(oq cellar uthMnn eos
AMROCK GARDEN 1) /0\\')s A ccoelleiisit tenuis i. pene woe

GARDEN FLOWERS PLANTED IN NATURALISTIC
IVASHTOND Mite ice Mhtal tah cliheu men tanaaeenie ts sf Q72

Fruit TREE TRAINED AGAINST WALL .. “ 286
DECORATIVE VALUE OF CABBAGE .... “ 296

Come Into the Garden

> PART I

CONCERNED WITH MAN’s CONTRIBUTION

1—2

COME INTO THE GARDEN

“There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners.”’
— Hamlet.

CHAPTER I

THE GARDEN’S PLACE IN CIVILIZATION

ECOGNIZING the natural—and proper—ten-
R dency of those who practice any art to re-
gard that art as peculiarly important, and as a
consequence to exalt its service to the human
race until it alone seems responsible for human
progress, I am nevertheless obliged to assert
that here is the one art without which the afore-
said race could never have emerged at all from
primitive conditions! Moreover, it is also true
that without it—I am speaking to the broadest
concept of it—mankind would speedily lose
everything held dear, and would slip back into
a condition very much more difficult and more
dangerous to survival, as well as very much less
worthy, than that occupied prior to the more or
less well-known dawn of civilization.

4 COME INTO THE GARDEN

For what, after all, was that dawn? Where
did it break? And what were the first faint
streaks in the sky? That man’s first differ-
entiation from the animal came with the
fashioning of tools is sufficiently apparent not
to be open to argument, of course; but neither
this nor his subsequent rude architecture, nor
even the discovery and use of fire can be
said to have carried him very far forward on
the long road he has traveled, since savages
to-day employ as much. No, it was none of
these.

It was with the first deliberate planting of a
seed and cultivation of a plant that the darkness
of the racial night began really to lift. And it is
to the degree of his loyalty to this first great
science-art that man is a success or failure in the
world to-day!

Perhaps this seems the usual exaggeration of
the devotee; but need I do more than point out
the complete dependence of all creation upon a
reliable and regular food supply, to prove my
case? We have had too recent example of world
food shortage to forget altogether how real a
menace to every human being individually such
shortage may become within an alarmingly
short space of time, once production is aban-
doned. Wherefore we have writ large before us

PLACE IN CIVILIZATION 5

so that he who runs may read, the great and
universal obligation of stewardship, wherein
each one of us shares, to promote and foster this
art in all its branches.

The strongest of all instincts presumably is
the instinct of self-preservation—which is the
reason that the instinct to grow things lies so
deep in the human heart; for the latter is actu-
ally merely an extension of the former. Some
will say that they lack it altogether, I know;
and I grant at once that they seem to. But of
these—and to them—let me add that it has
never been my experience to find anyone lack-
ing it wholly, once they are given a chance to
know what a garden really can be, and can do
for them and to them as well as to the world in
which they live and have their being. It is the
pressure of other things that makes them im-
patient of Nature’s slow processes, or total un-
familiarity with the work, or misconception gen-
erally that accounts for indifference. Interest
never resists the appeal of the miracles of every-
day in the garden, when this has an opportunity
to assert itself.

The stewardship of which I have spoken de-
mands that it be given this opportunity; and
the active exercise of stewardship begins with
the establishment of every home, whether it is

6 COME INTO THE GARDEN

large or small. This is the truth that we ought
everyone to realize and be governed by.

Yet it is not enough that we act upon an in-
stinct of self-preservation alone, since this would
induce each household to be merely food pro-
ducers—which is neither practicable nor desir-
able at this late day. The analogy holds, here
as elsewhere, between gardening and architec-
ture; since we go a great deal farther now than
to provide ourselves just with shelter—the bare
necessity—in our exercise of the art of building,
so we have arrived at a time when the finer as-
pects of the art of gardening must prevail. Our
one great difficulty in this connection, however,
is our tendency to disregard the early, real pur-
pose of it and to devote ourselves to the finer
aspects altogether; which is as if we built our
houses without roofs because roofs are less in-
teresting and decorative and generally appeal-
ing than side walls and doors and fenestration.

The suggestion made by Bacon in his essay
on gardens has been quoted so often and univer-
sally that I long since foreswore its literal tran-
scription, yet it sums up so much of all that
there is to say introductory to the subject that
it is almost impossible to do without it! He was
so wholly right, and it is so true that, of the
twin arts of building and gardening, the latter

PLACE IN CIVILIZATION f

represents—and requires—the greater perfec-
tion. But we have been building stately for long
enough now to begin to garden finely; and we
are moreover as a nation coming to that self-
consciousness which inspires real effort in the
arts, in the desire to express itself. Hence we
are ready to produce something worthy in gar-
dens—and when I say worthy I mean just that,
In every sense and all senses of the word. We
are ready not only to assume the obligations of
our stewardship of such land as we acquire, but
we are ready to spare no pains to embellish and
make beautiful as well as to make productive.
We are ready at last to justify possession of our
bit of earth, inasmuch as we are ready to make
the most of it in the fullest sense.

Distinct from its aspect as a civilizing factor,
therefore, is the garden’s aspect as an evidence
of the progress of civilization. It established it
in the first place; and now it is the measure by
which it may be gauged. Crude people garden
crudely—this is as true of individuals as it is of
races—while people of high culture and highly
evolved discrimination and sense of harmony,
garden finely. By their gardens indeed shall
we know them; for a garden is surely the fruit
of its creator’s mind and will reveal the inner
man as nothing else he can make. Which is an-

8 COME INTO THE GARDEN

other striking thing about them—they will not
deceive nor give out a false impression. Hence
if it is desired to produce a certain impression
through the home and its gardens, it is neces-
sary to start in the very heart of things and be-
come what that impression signifies. In no
other way will it be possible to convince; we
must be, in other words, what we want our gar-
den to make us seem.

Happily this works both ways; for the garden
itself is the best means of becoming genuine—
of getting right oneself. Just why this is so does
not always appear on the surface of things—but
I suspect it is because everything dealt with in
the garden is so genuine, and because it is in it-
self such an elemental occupation. There is vir-
tue in earth contact and there is inspiration in
the observation of plant unfoldment, whether
we are mystical, empirical, or rationalistic in our
temperament—whether we believe it or not, in
short. And what is more, it works, whether we
believe it or not. So we have only to give it the
chance; the rest will come.

In its application to the individual and the in-
dividual garden all that I have just said re-
solves itself into one sound maxim for a starting
point, namely :—the garden is at once the oppor-
tunity and the achievement, the cause and the

PLACE IN CIVILIZATION 9

result. If this is understood nothing more need
be said in urgence of its claims; the rest will
come along in due season and order—helped per-
haps a little bit by the further content of this
volume. At least I hope so!

**A garden ought to lie to the best parts of the house, or
to those of the master’s commonest use, so as to be but
like one of the rooms out of which you step into another.”
Of Gardening.—Str Wn. ‘TEMPLE.

CHAPTER II

PosITtION AND PLAN oF THE HoUSsE

HERE are three points under which the loca-
tion and the layout of a dwelling should be
considered. These are its exposure for summer
and winter comfort; its place on the ground
with regard to the greatest economy and con-
servation of the same; and the distribution of
the space thus saved and conserved for the
greatest degree of efficiency and beauty. All
these three are almost, if not quite, equally
important. If there is any difference between
them, it is indicated by the order in which
they are named—but do not let this minimize
the importance of the last nor magnify the im-
portance of the first. To each should be given
such a measure of consideration and careful
thought that when a plan is finally adopted and
10

POSITION AND PLAN 11

the work begun, it may be with the certainty
that the very best is about to be accomplished
under all three heads.

Every plot of ground, however great or small
it may be—excepting the city lot which, leaving
no room whatsoever for choice, is of course not
now under consideration—affords just one
“best”? place for the house which is to take
shape upon it. And the location of this any-
where but in or upon this best place, is a mis-
fortune which no amount of ingenuity can ever
really overcome.

But the owner of the average building plot
never suspects it of possibilities of even the
tamest sort; consequently such a plot is never
treated expectantly, as it were. What it has
been, it is—and apparently is to go on being,
time without end. It faces north, south, east,
or west according to the direction of the street
whereon it fronts; hence the dwelling which
eventually occupies it also faces north, south,
east, or west accordingly. It fronts with the
front, has a kitchen at the back and a porch
displayed. Thus, limited by custom and con-
vention and the lack of a single degree of in-
dependent, individual thought, each average
house is practically like its neighbor and is
located on its plot of ground in practically the

12 COME INTO THE GARDEN

same wasteful way; and each average door-
yard has the same features—or lack of them.

Of course there are restrictions imposed
upon the purchaser of so-called improved
property, for his protection as well as his
guidance, and it is right that there should be.
But all of this, be it noted, is quite apart from
these restrictions and regulations. Beyond the
building line and the character and minimum
cost of the buildings to be erected, there is
usually little that is arbitrarily fixed in either
the opulent or humble colony. And this little
offers no insurmountable obstacle to doing what
is really best in disposing both house and
grounds—although the building line comes very
near doing so, without doubt. The elimination
of this fixed line, however, is not of course
possible or even desirable perhaps under our
present system of regulated building; but the
system itself is wasteful, vulgarly frank and os-
tentatious, and utterly destructive of garden
opportunities as well as of the fine instinct of
home reserve and privacy that is such a price-
less human asset.

We have not grown old enough as a nation,
however, to shrink from personal publicity; we
still cherish the infantile instinct to cry “‘hello!”’
to the passer-by, to lift up our possessions to his

POSITION AND PLAN 13

gaze—which will be flatteringly covetous if these
are striking enough—and shake them trium-
phantly before him with an exultant “see!’”’? So
we have the veranda-stage whereon our little
dramas are to be played before this audience;
and we plan all the settings around about to
capture the admiration of the street.

Consequently the suburbs of American cities
are said to be the most beautiful in the world—
to drive through. Could there be a more elo-
quent qualification of praise than that final
clause? I think not, when it is remembered
that these are colonies of homes, not public
parks. They are not for the man who drives
through. They are for the man who stays
there, and for his wife and his sons and his
daughters. Yet the streets are the most attrac-
tive part of them!

There are few at the present time, I grant,
who would have the courage to break away
from what has come to be a traditional style
or plan here, even if convinced of its advan-
tages, both ethical and material; yet I am
going to suggest what a colony which adopted
the other older and better ways might gain,
and the very real beauties which would remain
in its streets even though they were deprived
of their domestic panoramas.

14 COME INTO THE GARDEN

In the first place, every foot of his ground
is available to the man whose house forms a
part of his boundary walls and whose boundary
is walled. If he buys forty by one hundred
feet, he has forty by one hundred feet to use—
not forty by one hundred less forty by twenty-
five, or one quarter of the whole, which restric-
tions bind him to turn over to the street, to put
it as actual unvarnished truth. He has space
for flowers, fruits, and vegetables to an unbe-
lievable amount—unbelievable at least to those
who have never thought about it or figured it
out or tried it—and within his own garden >
beauty and interest and recreation and diver-
sion, instead of in the street.

It is a reversal that is very complete, for in-
stead of a front porch overlooking the throng
and the dust and invaded by both, figuratively
in the first instance, actually in the second, this
outdoor room will open at the rear—or side, de-
pending upon the proper weather exposure,
which must always be the determining factor
—and looks over the fruits growing upon the
wall, the green things everywhere, flowers in
their trim borders, a tennis court, perhaps, or
a bowling green, a pool in the sunlight where
water lilies bloom and gold fish rest in the
shadows, a hammock in the distance under

POSITION AND PLAN 15

the trees with table and chairs, and al fresco
breakfasts on fine mornings—where grocers’
carts and delivery wagons cannot adventure,
where all the privacy and lounging indolence
of indoors is possible, out under the blue in the
fragrant sweetness of a true garden.

Yet in the street there is the same cool shade
that there has always been, from trees along the
curb; the same refreshing strips of emerald turf
beneath them; a flicker of light and shadow in
the vines growing on garden walls and house
facades; gleams of color from blossoms in win-
dow boxes; and glimpses beyond into delight-
ful garden retreats—glimpses that are infinitely
more alluring than the endless bits of lawn that
stretch monotonously back from the sidewalk
to the inevitable clotheslines of present day
back yards. And finally there is restful unity
of purpose taking the place of what is to-day, at
best, lack of harmony and uncertainty—an un-
certainty that is inevitable when the appearance
and general efiect of each place from the ground
up is so dependent upon the general effect of its
neighbors, and of all the others in its block,
standing as they do in the open and all together.

I am inclined to think that we have departed
so far from the sensible, reasonable arrange-
ment practiced by older peoples—by our own

16 COME INTO THE GARDEN

ancestors here, indeed, in early times, as old
villages in many parts of the country still bear
witness—through a fundamental misconception
of the town, village, or suburban home, its pos-
sibilities and its limitations. We have not re-
cognized that it is definitely a type, alone and
by itself; as distinct as the city home; widely
different from the country home. Right here, in-
deed, is just where the most serious error has
slipped in, for all the effort has been to treat the
suburban grounds along the same lines which
the large estate admits, to build the suburban
house according to the same plans from which
the house in the midst of acreage rises.

So a kind of landscape gardening has been
attempted, in a loose fashion, to which boundary
fences and walls and many other rational fea-
tures have been sacrificed in the vain hope of
creating an illusion of the spaciousness and
splendor which the town or suburban place can-
not, in the very nature of things, possibly enjoy.
For it has its very definite limitations, fixed and
unalterable, of which it cannot be rid. Not until
these are recognized and, being recognized, are
turned to account in the distribution and orna-
mentation of its grounds, will its highest pos-
sibilities, both esthetic and practical, be realized.

But in the colony established upon the pre-

POSITION AND PLAN 17

vailing system of the present, the builder must
of course conform to colony restrictions and re-
quirements; which means that twenty-five feet
or thereabouts must be given up in front of the
dwelling—more perhaps, if the building units
are deeper and wider than fifty by one hundred
feet. This size, however, is a fair average, and
I have chosen it as the most typical plot for con-
sideration throughout. All that applies to it ap-
plies equally to the larger areas, up to and in-
cluding the quarter-acre unit, but with proper-
ties larger than this I have not considered it
proper here to deal, for they are in a class apart.
Of course a farm may be, and often is, as
truly suburban as any tiny cottage plot, but in
its special significance the suburban or village
home consists of from two to four selling units
or lots, each probably twenty-five by one hun-
dred feet in size. It takes seventeen of such
lots to make an acre, approximately, the exact
size of the latter being 43,560 square feet—or,
reduced to “‘real estate’” measurements, a tract
one hundred feet deep by four hundred and
thirty-five feet and a fraction over seven inches
long. One hundred feet by one hundred, or
four lots, is thus not quite a quarter acre.
There are two kinds of houses to choose be-
tween for the typical fifty by one hundred foot

18 COME INTO THE GARDEN

plot, which will leave the balance of the land in
the most advantageous shape. One is the very
narrow, long house extending far back; the
other is the wide and shallow house that covers
practically the entire breadth of the land. Of
these two the latter is preferable in one way, as
it leaves a fairly good sized rectangle intact be-
tween itself and the rear boundary. But here
the exposure must enter into the calculations—
for the long side of a dwelling ought always to
meet the sun and the prevailing summer breeze.
In the street running east and west the broad,
shallow house will do this, but on north and
south streets the long and narrow form, which
leaves the open space at one side, will usually
have to be adopted in order to secure the nec-
essary southern exposure.

I assume that southern exposure is univer-
sally necessary to secure breeze as well as sun,
inasmuch as it is so very generally so. There
are instances, of course, where this is not the
case, but-they are usually owing to purely local
conditions, topographical or otherwise, and are
too uncommon to be reckoned with here. Suf-
fice to. say that where such local difference exists,
it is only necessary to know from which direction
the prevailing summer winds are to be expected
and plan for these as well as for the sun.

POSITION AND PLAN 19

The essential thing is never to adopt any
plan, however convenient and interesting it
may be, that has not been developed with this
thought of exposure for your own particular
location particularly in mind; and the right
exposure for both comfort and health insured
in its working out. Which makes the ready-
made plan about as useful in most instances,
however meritorious it may be in itself, as noth-
ing at all. Only for what they may suggest to
the prospective builder are such designs worth
the effort or money spent on them; however,
as they are frequently thus a source of real in-
spiration, we must allow that they have their
value and a place in the world’s economy.

The entire design and the final effect of the
ground or garden treatment of any place will
depend, then, upon fixing the situation of the
house to the best advantage. Of course there
is no universal rule to govern this initial step,
but there are two fairly safe guides which might
be called near-rules. Here is the first: If the
long and narrow house be chosen—or demanded
by conditions—place it at the extreme side limit
of the lot and keep its width to twenty-five feet
or under. When I say at the extreme side limit
of the lot, I mean just that; cut off even the
eaves by choosing a design that permits such

20 COME INTO THE GARDEN

treatment, and put its wall exactly on the line.
Plan a basement service entrance on that side,
with all passages, storage spaces, and presses
on each floor likewise along its blind expanse.
It need not be a blind wall in the building of it
unless the next door dwelling makes this de-
sirable; but think out the plan so carefully
that the necessity for closmg up whatever win-
dows it may contain, should it arise, will work
no real disadvantage to the interior. For even
the narrow strip of land which would be sac-
rificed on the other side if the house were set
only a few feet from the line, is precious, mean-
ing as it does an absolute waste of anywhere
from one hundred and twenty to one hundred
and fifty square feet—according to the length
of the house—which should and might just as
well be conserved in one with the ground on its
sunny, living side.

And here is the second: Tf the other sort of
house is to be built, carry it all the way across
the lot, right up to one or both boundaries;
and make it as shallow as convenience and ex-
pediency will permit, keeping both its side walls
blind. There are two reasons for this very
radical obscuring of side walls and eliminating
of passage space at the sides, beside the reason
already mentioned in connection with the long

POSITION AND PLAN Q1

and narrow type of house. One of them is
the very much greater degree of privacy exist-
ing when an actual wall of wood or masonry,
instead of a transparent wall of fluidic ether,
separates two households, albeit the one is
only a foot in width while the other may be
five or six. The rooms whose windows open
upon such a space as this are neither light
nor well ventilated, while they labor under the
additional disadvantage of acoustic properties
that make conversation in them in tones above
a whisper decidedly indiscreet, except the top-
ics discussed be of the most general character.

The other reason is the doing away with
one of the most unpleasant and hopeless spots
around the suburban house—the gloomy, re-
stricted, chilly, and more or less damp space
at the sides, where under the most favorable
conditions only a little sunlight ever reaches
the ground, where nothing will grow, where
ice lingers when the grass is green everywhere
else, and where no one ever goes for anything —
—except perhaps the children to play, when
raw winds sweep through and it is too cold
for them there.

So much for practical considerations within
the limits of the lot and concerning the imme-
diate family whose home it is to be. And then

29 COME INTO THE GARDEN

there are the neighbors. Not what they think
—be emancipated from that, in connection with
home building at least—but how they and their
grounds and houses are actually to be affected.
Neighborliness is an old-fashioned quality to be
sure, almost lost to the city dweller, but it is a
very worthy one, nevertheless. Doubtless the
folks next door are queer—I think none have
ever been heard of who were not, indeed, al-
most suspiciously queer—but even this consti-
tutional eccentricity of theirs should not and
need not inhibit the true measure of neighborly
courtesy and consideration.

They are not of necessity hereditary enemies,
suspicions to the contrary notwithstanding; and
an actual application of the golden rule is pes-
sible in all ordinary cases, as well as a most
satisfactory standard of measurement. City
neighbors, living on either side of their party
walls or piled one above the other’s head, tier
on tier, may be less than nothing to each other,
but suburban neighbors are bound to play each
a very definite part in the other’s life. And
well begun is a great deal more than half ac-
complished in this complex relationship.

So, if the neighbors are there first, plan not
to impair their beginnings if it is possible.
Avoid an arrangement which will bring kitchen

POSITION AND PLAN 23

doors under living-room windows—here the
blind side walls again prove their advantage
by making such a catastrophe impossible—and
take care that trees or shrubs or arbors do not
cut off what is obviously a cherished view,
even if this embraces nothing more worthy than
the distant corner of a busy street. If that
sort of thing is what these neighbors like, that
is the thing they enjoy looking at; do not de-
prive them of it if it is possible to do the best
by your own place without doing so.

But on the other hand, never let a neighbor’s
misconceptions and bad taste be an obstacle to
doing the very best that it is possible to do
with the home that you are building. Put your
house where it ought to go, making it the form
and size and style that you require; screen
what may need screening; fence, wall, or hedge
the entire property — invariably — and never
plan any part or feature so that it is in any
way dependent upon the property adjacent.
This is not to say that two places may not be
delightfully developed through mutual conces-
sions and by means of a unified plan that em-
braces both; but even in doing this, they should
be kept distinct. For, however amicable the
relations between two families may be, there is
always the possibility of a change in one or

24 COME INTO THE GARDEN

both households that may change all the cir-
cumstances absolutely. Be courteous, be con-
siderate, make as generous concessions as friend-
ship may prompt—but be independent.

Of the division and use of the ground space
left after building there are only a few general
things to be said here, this being a subject for
more special discussion in subsequent chapters.
It is well for us to remember, however, that the
most delightful small gardens that have ever
been made have never been devoted wholly to
flowers and flowering shrubs. These are the
humble cottage gardens of the old world, which,
though ablaze with flowers, furnish their quota
of salads and greens, too, and of pungent herbs
and fruits. And there is no doubt that greater
thrift in gardening practice here would produce
gardens of much greater interest and beauty.

We are and always have been a nation of
wasters; nowhere is this more apparent than in
our handling of these small home plots. If we
could reform ourselves in this respect it would
be a great accomplishment from the esthetic as
well as the practical point of view. For it is
not so much a matter of money—although it
counts decidedly, in real cash—but a matter of
sound judgment; of good habits of order and
efficiency and usefulness; of quickening the fac-

POSITION AND PLAN 25

ulty of appreciation. Moreover, although we
have not needed to husband the natural re-
sources of this fine and fat land wherein we are
the fortunate dwellers, to any appreciable de-
gree, the time is not so far distant when we shall
be obliged to do so.

Gardening is arduous work, of that there can
be no question, nor to it a denial from any hon-
est person of actual experience. But gardening
among vegetables and flowers is no more ardu-
ous than among flowers alone—and [ think that
no one who has tried it will deny that it is a deal
more gratifying and satisfying. There should
be flowers of course, quantities of them; but
they ought never to crowd out the eatable
plants. Even the tiny garden of the suburban
home has room for several of the choicest of
these; and, with its house on the north so that
sunlight and protection are assured, and the
largest area possible is available for cultivation,
there is not a single reason for failure to round
out a useful as well as a beautiful garden.

Abandoning once and for all then the wrong
ideal which sees in the small-town home a coun-
try home in miniature, as well as the wrong idea
which regards it as impossible of improvement
from its barrenness; and taking all the points
which have been covered into consideration,

26 COME INTO THE GARDEN

balancing one-against the other, it seems to me
that we may almost declare it as an axiom that
its highest beauty will certainly be achieved
only when a sane utilitarian spirit is suffered to
guide; when efficiency leads and beauty follows
after to adorn. Neither need be sacrificed in the
least degree, if their relationship is understood
and kept true.

“Many things difficult to design prove easy to per-
formance.’”—SAMUEL JOHNSON.

CHAPTER III

DESIGNING A GARDEN

ARDENS as we commonly know them are not
Ls exalted to the dignity of being designed, for
garden is a term that is usually applied only to
that portion of the ground whereon vegetables
grow. But as a matter of fact it should not be
so limited, for rightly a garden is an inclosed
space planted with trees, fruits, flowers, or vege-
tables, or all four. So really the entire grounds
about a dwelling constitute its garden or gar-
dens; so it is as a garden that I am going to ask
you to think of them. It is these in their en-
tirety that are to be furnished with a design—
that is, that are to be planned and made orderly
and beautiful. And they must be considered as
a unit in order to accomplish this with the best
results.

There must be no slipshod treatment any-
Q7

28 COME INTO THE GARDEN

where, no ignoring of any portion, and no sep-
aration of one part from another. All together
the plot of ground must be considered, the front
yard, back yard, and sides, if there are sides.
Before a bush or tree or flower is planted, a plan
which holds all these somewhat separated parts
together into a well-balanced and consistent
whole should be adopted. This is necessary not
only from the esthetic point of view, but from
the practical as well, for only the most careful
planning will insure the needed space for the
various garden features; only such planning is
economical in the true sense of the word. It is
the arrangement of these features in accord with
the ideals of harmony and beauty—and economy
—that constitutes garden design.

A vast amount of theory has been promul-
gated with regard to this art, and hundreds of
years of controversy have illuminated or ob-
scured the subject, according to the nature of
the controversialists. But all the discussion has
left us very little indeed that is suggestive when
it comes to dealing with the most modern prob-
lem of all in gardening, the problem which is
now before us. It really seems that we must
solve it independently, Just as we are solving
the problem of the suburban house. Present
conditions must evolve something to meet

DESIGNING A GARDEN 29

their need. That a desire to do something
more definite than has been done is manifest-
ing itself proves this evolutionary process to
be in action, shows that we are making pro-
gress. Having at last learned something about
building, so that our houses are improving,
we are beginning to be ready to learn some-
thing about the finer art of gardening—as man
has ever done.

Already I have said that radical departures
are necessary in order to arrive at the most that
may be done with the small-town home. Until
this fact is recognized and acted upon, the end-
less lawns of these places will remain—fresh and
green and much better than some less agreeable
treatment might be, to be sure—yet tamely un-
interesting. That they are uninteresting, when
all is said and done, is most certainly demon-
strated by the refreshment which even the most
phlegmatic experience when, of a sudden, a real
garden comes into view in place of the few
shrubs and greensward so common. However
unsuccessful such a garden may be from the
artistic standpoint, it has interest, hence it pro-
motes real enthusiasm. It is to such treatment,
therefore, rather than to the conventional scat-
tered planting of a few trees and shrubs, that I
am going to direct attention, and with it I am

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I. Scheme for plot fifty by one hundred feet in size, with
a narrow house which leaves garden space at one side.

The house plan and garden plan are treated as a unit.
The garage is placed next the street, avoiding a long drive
and its consequent waste and disfigurement. The hall lies
between garage and house proper. The transverse axis of
the Living Room furnishes the first feature of the garden—
a broad terrace carrying the porch level to the side bound-
ary, and there screened from outside observation by a series
of rose-garland columns from which chains are suspended.
On these chains the roses are trained. The terrace is re-
tained by a dry, stone wall.

The entrance from the street to the house is on the axis
of the porch (A-B), which axis furnishes the further union
with the rest of the grounds by a path extending to a Wall
Fountain at the rear. This main entrance passes into a
small flower garden under a rose arch, which spans the
opening in the evergreen hedge—kept low—surrounding
this little garden. A sundial is set in the middle; the form
of the flower border is governed by the form of the steps
approaching the front door of the house. It is to be noted
that all this portion is on a lower level than the terrace
and porch, and that tall flowers planted before these
effectually screen them.

Disposed around the boundaries of the front portion are
eight dwarf fruit trees. Behind the terrace there is space
for a rose garden if desired, or for strawberries and salad
plants. A mass of small fruits behind this space divides it
from the section across the back of the plot, all of which
may be devoted to a little kitchen garden if desired.

The service entrance to the house is through the base-
ment by means of stairs at the side of the garage, screened
by a lattice. The second story of the house extends over
the garage and overhangs above these stairs, thus virtually
closing themin. A lift leads into the kitchen from the cellar
for the delivery of groceries, etc., and stairs lead up to a
grade door, giving access to the rear.

32 COME INTO THE GARDEN

going to deal; for the conventional planting is
so well known that time spent in advice con--
cerning it would be wasted.

First, let us take the attitude that the ground
plot, or plot of ground, right up to its bound-
aries, is a plane or flat surface whereon some
interesting motif is to be executed. Regard it
in the same way that the cover of a book or the
top of a box or any other sharply defined object
would be regarded, if it fell to your lot to orna-
ment such; disregard entirely at first the fact
that it is ground, that it is your suburban lot.

It is not necessary to be an artist, nor even a
student of design, in order to observe one or two
things concerning it which are fundamentals.
One of these is the presence of a border in all de-
signs of definite limitation. All-over patterns
lack the border, but other designs, if they are
good ones, do not. It may be only a broad line
or a series of parallel lines, but it is invariably
present when the design is made to conform to
a certain place and space and form, framing the
figures of it, holding them strongly together.
So a border must confine the design that is to
be executed upon the ground. What this border
is to be made of need not be considered just yet;
that there is to be an inclosure of one kind or an-
other, a definite and defensive barrier between

DESIGNING A GARDEN 33

the garden and the rest of the world, is enough
for a beginning.

Right here let me say that I cannot express
too earnestly the belief that nothing worth while
will ever be done with suburban or any other
gardens until we restore the fences and walls so
ruthlessly torn down and abandoned around the
latter quarter of the last century. Neither will
it be possible to accomplish much while our
highest inspiration is the work undertaken by
real-estate development companies. They were
responsible for this destruction of boundary
markings in the first place, in their endeavors to
make streets “catchy” by reason of their nov-
elty to persons passing through them, every
such person being of course a potential sale.
And because it is still the streets that the com-
mercial designer wishes to dangle as bait before
the undiscriminating, he will fight every effort
to restore privacy to private grounds and the
thrusting out from them of the public highway.

There is absolutely no incentive to really fine
garden work under the conditions which are to
him ideal, however, and as long as these are tol-
erated, the art will languish. Be sure of that.
Not until all places, without exception, are in-
closed completely—and have gates, too, at their
entrances, not merely unprotected openings—

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II. Scheme for plot fifty by one hundred feet in size,
using a house that extends across the land from boundary
to boundary, leaving garden space at the rear.

This house is Colonial in style, with garageand kitchen
gables on either end, facing the street. It is centered on
the land and the one axis serves to unite the entire scheme.
A fence surrounds this property, and from the house back
this is high enough to be a complete screen. Around the
front it is lower, allowing free view of the lawn, circled by
the entrance walk, which joins the short drive on its side.
Passing through the house onto the broad porch the simple
flower border opposite the house, backed by a low ever-
green hedge, conceals the sunken kitchen garden which oc-
cupies the rest of the space. A long but shallow arbor, open
on the inner side, with seats beneath it, encloses the rear.

At the end of the porch, back of the garage, is a bird
sanctuary, consisting of a tangle of berried shrubs with
some cedars, a bird-feeding station atop a high post, and
a bird-bathing basin.

Opposite this feature, at the other end of the porch, and
screening the path from the basement to the kitchen gar-
den, is a mass of small fruits, supplementing the six dwarf
fruit trees which line the walk at the front. Before the
garage is a shade tree.

36 COME INTO THE GARDEN

will the instinct really to make garden awaken
and really beautiful gardens appear.

With the border allowed for—mark off a space’
at least one foot wide all around for such allow-
ance, wider if you purpose planting a hedge—
the plan of the space inclosed by it is immedi-
ately before us. And here the personal equation
enters at once, large and influential. People are
divided, I find, into what I have secretly called
orderly and disorderly in the matter of taste
in gardens—secretly because disorderly seems
generally to imply reproach, although I do not
know that it does in this connection. In fact,
the disorderly type commonly regard the orderly
ones as offenders and apply the adjective to
them almost in the tone of an epithet. So it all
depends really on the point of view; but after
all, this is not pertinent to the question now and
here involved. What matters here is the choice
between regularity, symmetry, formality if you
will, and irregularity, complexity, asymmetry,
disorder in one sense—not actual untidiness but
lack of arrangement. Everyone of us will take
sides here, one way or the other; this is the big
personal equation that will influence all the gar-
den’s plan within the simple lines representing
its boundary.

With equally careful planning it might seem

DESIGNING A GARDEN 37

at first that neither system would have an ad-
vantage over the other, but there is a distinct
advantage in practical accomplishment lying al-
ways with the symmetrical arrangement. Walks
that follow straight lines leave no useless corners
and produce no wasted strips or crescents here
and there. Every inch of space counts for its
very fullest in the garden of mathematical pre-
cision. Moreover it is well to bear in mind con-
tinually the fact that whatever the natural taste
may be, whether it demands a measure of care-
less irregularity and repudiates positively the
symmetry and order which are to another the
highest form of beauty, or no, the limitations of
the space and of the surroundings impose cor-
responding limitations on individual garden
development.

In the interest of general harmony and seem-
liness, therefore, order of one sort or another
must distinguish even the irregular design.
Wilderness treatment is as out of place in town
environment as log-cabin architecture; and
though there may be the most secluded nooks
and idyllic retreats, there must be a certain
all-pervading neat precision. In other words,
limited grounds may show only to a very lim-
ited degree that element which we commonly,
though not very exactly, designate as infor-

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III. Scheme for a city plot measuring thirty by one
hundred feet in size. (This is one and a half city lots.)

Here a fireproof house has its garage and kitchen im-
mediately on the street; the main entrance to the house
itself is at the side of the garage and through iron gates
that lead to a tiled porch. The living room opens onto the
garden at its far end, while the dining room opens also at
its rear upon a paved court, in which is set an outdoor
aquarium. The house wall continues around the garden,
with shrubbery at one side, an arbor at the rear, and vines.
One ornamental tree is placed midway along the paved
walk leading from the court to a piece of sculpture at the
rear.

In connection with city gardens it is to be noted that, in
general, an arbor offers more secluded shade than a tree,
since beneath an arbor and its mat of vines no eyes from
upper windows may penetrate. Moreover, vines may al-
ways be found that will grow and shortly cover an arbor,
whereas trees will not always grow in the city—and even
when they will they are a long time about it.

40 COME INTO THE GARDEN

mality. They must conform to the general
spirit of order.

Rightly conceived, the garden is in the na-—
ture of an outdoor extension of the house.
Every house requires a certain amount of gar-
den treatment to make its presence on the face
of the earth anything but an impertinence; for
the hard and definite lines created with man’s
compass and square are antagonistic to every
impulse of nature and the natural outdoors, and
- must be led up to gradually and insinuatingly,
if harmony between man’s work and nature’s
is ever to be attained. The charm of the an-
cient house is largely owing to the loss of this
acute and hard precision of line and form oc-
casioned by its settling and yielding to Time—
a very subtle and inappreciable loss in the case
of well-preserved buildings, yet distinctly effec-
tive in the bringing together of artificial and
natural. Similarly, the thatch roof, either new
or old, is a wonderful harmonizer, partly be-
cause of its gracious lines and partly because
of its crude natural material, topping and over-
shadowing the walls that are so artificial.

From the house, therefore, the garden is to
work out in its several directions, to the outer
limits or boundary of the plot. Hence it is
from the house that the start must be made

DESIGNING A GARDEN 41

with the design; in other words, the house it-
self will furnish the first motif or form in the
design. And the principal doors or porches or
porch entrances or windows will furnish incep-
tive points from which the secondary motifs
will proceed. Just what form these shall take
and just how they shall be unified in spite of
their diversity, are things which each designer
must decide for himself—and for the particular
situation which he is at work upon. Now, there-
fore, we come to considering the design as ap-
plied to the ground, rather than to a flat ab-
stract surface of the given form.

Here we are at once quite beyond the realm
of certainty or rule, and only by the aid of
diagrams will it be possible for me to general-
ize even, with any chance of being understood.
Four designs, therefore, are shown; but in none
of these are more than the main features given,
it being my wish only to suggest here principles
for guidance which may be applied universally,
rather than actually to give detailed designs.

Starting with the house, zn detailed plan,
located upon the ground, the successive steps
in the working up of each design are explained.
That this natural development of the design
by logical steps requires the detailed house
plan is obvious; let nothing induce you to

Turer SHruBpBeRY Groups FoR DIFFERENT PLACES
PLANTING KEY

If situated in full sunlight:

ere

Mem orsy this ieesis\elelelelalsier Forsythia Fortunet
PM ODITEA Nea teveleicyolevei pis: « Spirea Van Houtter
3. Japanese barberry....... Berberis Thungbergit
4, Highbush cranberry......Viburnum opulus
5. Rose of Sharon.......... Hibiscus Syriacus
6. Hydrangea............- Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora
7. Panicled cornel.........- Cornus paniculata
8. Mock orange (syringa)...Philadelphus coronarius
9. Bush honeysuckle....... Lonicera Morrow
TOS Weutzia)-))s\sielelele)e)*e1-\5\= Deutzia Lemoinet
11. Common barberry....... Berberis vulgaris
ion Sheepberry)-icie-- e's ore Viburnum Lentago
If situated in shade: _
1. Silver bell.............. Halesia tetraptera
2. Tree hydrangea......... Hydrangea arborescens
3. Japanese barberry......- Berberis Thunbergit
4. Red osier........-.005-- Cornus stolonifera
5. Silky cornel............- Cornus Amomum
6. Regel’s privet..........- Ligustrum Ibota Regelianum
7%. Panicled cornel.........- Cornus paniculata
8. Sweet pepper-bush....... Clethra alnifolia
9. Maple-leaved viburnum. . Viburnum acerifolium
MOM Deut ziaiylelele\sleleveleleta ye): Deutzia Pride of Rochester
IN, Bees bo aooddoduooodoor Ligustrum Ibota
12. Indian cherry..........- Rhamnus Carolina

44 COME INTO THE GARDEN

omit the careful drawing of this plan, there-
fore, exact and to true scale, before another
line is drawn. It may seem an unnecessary ©
task at first thought to take such pains, espe-
cially if the house is built and you are thor-
oughly familiar with its layout; but house and
garden are to be a unit, each complementing
the other. Remember this; and remember that
the one preéminent means of unification is the
axis. Without an exact plan on paper no axes
are possible, however familiar you may be with
the house plan; hence no means is provided
for wedding the outdoors to indoors. Even the
single axis, however, which a window or door
or portico may furnish, gives immediate solidity
and the strength of unity. Keep the need of
this in mind and spare no pains to secure it.

The first three of these designs are not formal
in the sense of being symmetrical, it will be
noticed, though the second approaches sym-
metry. The reason for this is the lack of sym-
metry in the house plans from which they spring.
Always it must be house first; then, from this,
rationally and conveniently and harmoniously,
the garden.

“To sing the same tune, as the saying is, is in everything
cloying and offensive; but men are generally pleased with
variety.” —PLUTARCH.

CHAPTER IV

GRADES, LEVELS AND CONTOURS

HILE it is true that the usual flat surface
of an average plot offers few alternatives
in the matter of grading, it is also true that such
a place is not as devoid of interest and possibil-
ities as our accustomed and casual view of it
presumes it to be. For one thing, the unbroken
level is not imperative even on the perfectly flat
piece of ground; and for another, ground that is
perfectly flat is not as common as we fancy, or
as the appearance of most finished suburbs
would seem to indicate. It is our conception
of it as flat that is responsible for its becoming
so with the aid of shovels and barrows and
scoops and rakes—those flatirons with which we
smooth all the subtle little character wrinkles
and coy dimples out of the good brown earth.
This matter of grading—of ironing the face of
45

46 ‘COME INTO THE GARDEN

the earth out smooth—is an obsession which I
am tempted to believe leads to wilder extrava-
gances than any other in which a man may in-
dulge. And it afilicts all sorts of men. Thomas
Jefferson spent ten years in leveling a space eight
or ten acres in extent on the top of the mountain
where he built his home; and the sages of a vil-
lage whereof I wot not long since graded to a
level the entire town! Tons of earth from the
broad tops of gentle knolls were laboriously
hauled down upon the gracious curves of equally
gentle depressions—a feat that dressed many
of the roads with rich top soil and left much of
the land stripped to its barren clay subsoil and
as incapable as stone of supporting vegetation;
while the trees everywhere, on both upland and
lowland, were most of them killed, and the
entire section was robbed of its character and
all the claims to beauty and distinction which it
once enjoyed.

It seems to me that neither Mr. Jefferson nor
the authorities of this town could have stopped
to think; yet a hundred years and more have
intervened between them, and this age should
know better if the other did not. But the en-
deavor has always been and is to change what
creation itself has done with the earth. It seems
to be impossible for the majority of human be-

GRADES, LEVELS, CONTOURS 47

ings to look at a hillside with an eye to building
a house thereon, without immediately begin-
ning to calculate how the work of leveling will
improve God-given conditions. Even those who
are most truly lovers of nature, of rocks and
woods and wilderness, fall into the same line of
thought when it comes to a consideration of
domestic grading; and the suburban place ad-
justed to its site, when that site is the least bit
unruly, is the rarest of rarities.

Already the rule which I would establish in
handling grades is apparent, I think, without
being formulated; but if it is to be a rule it
must be expressed. I have always called it fol-
lowing the lead of the land. After all, this is
what we are bound to do, in the long run. We
may stir up a little dust here, and scratch off a
little there, but from the great lead of the land,
rising and dipping or stretching off to the hori-
zon as level as the sea, we can never, actually,
get away. And it is a waste of energy and time
—and beauty—to try.

Approach your individual problem without
preconceived ideas to befog its real demands as
well as its real possibilities. Then you will be
able to conceive a design or scheme for it that
will be actually a part of it, and of it alone, un-
influenced by this or that that has appealed to

48 COME INTO THE GARDEN

the fancy somewhere, sometime. If creation
has whimsically tilted the ground appropriated |
to your use at ever so steep an angle, that angle
should not only be accepted as a motif, but it
should be emphasized. Go farther than tolera-
tion—or resignation. Seize upon the extrava-
gance of a site always and make it the feature
of the place; develop the plan of both house
and grounds not merely to fit the situation but
to require it. There is a great difference in
spirit between these two—as great a difference
as always lies between negative and positive.
And as great a difference will show in results.
For example, the house and garden occupying
what has facetiously been dubbed a vertical
plot should be developed up and down—verti-
cally as well as horizontally. Different levels in
both should be emphasized, and may even be
exaggerated sometimes, by any device that will
tend to do this. Topping a height with tall,
straight trees, like poplars, is one means to this
end, while the use of a spirited architecture of
rising lines is another. Entrances to the house
at various levels which evolve of themselves in
adjusting to such a site contribute greatly to
the charm of the whole and create an interest
of the quaint and unexpected indoors and out,
as well as opportunity for the most delightful

GRADES, LEVELS, CONTOURS 49

garden schemes. A little more constructive work
out of doors is necessary in the making of re-
taining walls, perhaps, and steps, but these
once made are permanent, and the different
levels afford real gardening space.

Contrast such a treatment with the unhappy,
barren, uninteresting effect which is all that the
most carefully smoothed slope achieves, and
contrast its upkeep, too, with the difficulties of
maintaining such a slope, of keeping it grassed
and mowed—indeed of keeping it there at all
under the wash of heavy rains and the freez-
ing and thawing of winter—and there is not a
single point in favor of the latter. Yet so bent
upon leveling and smoothing are a great many
architects and their patrons too, that not one
house in fifty, big or little, do we find following
the lead of the land. Which is a pretty large
percentage of wrong beginnings and, taken in
the aggregate, a startling waste—as well as a
discouraging state of affairs to the landscape
architect, called in later. For the mistakes in,
and of, the house make the best work out of
doors impossible, as I think I have already
shown in the previous chapter. A garden, you
know, grows out from the house.

So start right. Find the lead and then follow
it—and until it is found do not take a step. For

50 COME INTO THE GARDEN

whatever the topography, there 7s a lead; and
though it may hide itself persistently, diligent _
consideration will reveal it. Hunts rise veri-
tably out of the ground, so it is the ground
that must be searched to find them. Keep in
mind that the object in all you do is to insinuate
your presence and handiwork into the presence
of the earth spirits and their handiwork so
gently and deftly and subtly that harmony will
never be disturbed; and realize that this may
be done only by accepting their mood as dis-
played in the chosen bit and adopting it for
yours—for the mood of your home. Do the
thing, in other words, that is obviously the logi-
cal thing, the thing that evolves easily and
naturally along the lines established back in the
ages when earth was plastic. Low ground or
high, flat or sloping, take it as it is; do as it
bids you.

Difficulties are at once apprehended at this
mention of low ground, I know; but there is
really no more reason for shrinking from frank
treatment in a hollow than on a hill. Bear in
mind, too, that unskilled labor can cart earth
from place to place and fill the hollow with the
hill, but surely intelligence and imagination
ought not to resort to methods so crude. Intel-
ligence and imagination should be able to pre-

GRADES, LEVELS, CONTOURS 51

serve the hollow and the hill and to find a way
to make both habitable and beautiful.

Where there is no complicating drainage to
consider, the sunken garden planned especially
for winter snugness perhaps, sheltered and
sunny, is obviously the solution. But where
water settles, something else must be done of
course. Yet the very last thing which ought
ever to be thought of in handling a natural
drainage dip is filling in. Such a situation is
never improved by filling, for water below the
surface is no real advantage, when it comes to
the matter of dry foundations, over water on the
surface. What, then, is to be done where water
stands?

Make the water difficulty a feature by con-
centrating on it and putting enough thought
into its treatment to earn and reap the reward
of a personal triumph and of individuality and
beauty in the garden. Find the key to the situ-
ation—and useit. Why isthe water there? For
no reason save that it settles from the surround-
ing surfaces; in other words, it drains in from
higher levels. Very well; make the drainage
more complete. Provide one spot at the lowest
point so much lower and deeper than all the rest
that the water will settle only in it—and make
this a swamp or bog garden. Or clear and exca-

52 COME INTO THE GARDEN

vate still more and turn swamp into pool, with
a stock of goldfish or commoner kinds as mos-
quito exterminators.

In this connection let me say that in order to
insure against mosquito breeding, every tiny
little water pocket among the grasses and the
mud at the margin of such a pool or pond must
be opened to the fish and kept so; and all over-
hanging branches of trees or shrubs must be
cleared away so there shall be no deep shadows
which they will avoid and so miss the larve.
The presence of mosquitoes around a well
stocked pool is a sure indication that one or both
of these requirements have not been met, for if
the larve are where the fish can get them, they
will do so. It is only when the fish are shut off
from them by grasses or shadows that they fail
in the mission assigned them.

The effect of topography upon garden design
is of course very great. Yet design, even upon
irregular ground, is governed in a general sense
by the same considerations which affect it else-
where, in spite of the great measure of liberty
which it must have in order to conform to the
ground’s undulations. For the axes are quite
as important whatever the contours, and the
border, framing and holding all together, is Just
as necessary. A design may be simple too—

GRADES, LEVELS, CONTOURS 53

even though it does not stay on one plane all
the time. But to work out a plan for grounds of
irregular surface, the irregularities must be con-
sulted and set down upon the drawing; other-
wise the plan cannot fit. It is, therefore, a little
less simple to design such a garden, and a topo-
graphical map is essential as a basis to work
upon, if any great irregularities exist.

This is getting rather too deep into techni-
calities possibly for the average amateur; yet
a contour map is a very simple thing, easy to
understand and easy to work upon—and not
indeed very difficult to make, although I shall
not ask you to go quite as far as that. For an
engineer’s survey should be made of land that
varies enough to affect house and garden de-
sign; then all the work can be planned exactly.
Such a survey reckons usually from a level pre-
viously determined by the general survey of the
town or county, but this does not matter. All
that matters is the mark of the lowest level,
which will be the lowest figure given, whatever
the situation may be. This mark may be 0 or
anything else; but everything that is not on its
level will be above it.

Contours at one foot ascend from this lowest
plane a foot at a time; that is, imagining the
land under survey to be submitted to an inun-

54 COME INTO THE GARDEN

dation, every rise of one foot in the waters shows
a water mark on hills and knolls that is at ex-
actly the same level everywhere, all the way
around. The wavy, irregular contour line on a
topographical map represents the plan of such
a water mark; and each one foot rise narrows
the remaining portions of dry land and widens
the spread of the (imaginary) waters, until at
last only little islands remain here and there,
whose topmost heights are something less than
a foot above the last rise. Obviously, where a
slope is very steep the contour lines fall very
close together when seen from above; where it
is gradual, they widen out.

Working on such a plan of the ground itself,
the plans for the house and for the garden may
be adjusted perfectly; terrace levels may be
calculated and terrace outlines fixed to take ad-
vantage of every gradation and variation. And
though there is always of necessity a certain
measure of excavating and reéstablishing of dis-
turbed earth coincident with building, and some
grading is imperative, these are reduced to the
minimum through the exact adjustment and
calculation possible. Moreover, the form and
size of garden divisions depend so greatly upon
varying levels, where these exist, that it is really
impossible to plan without them.

GRADES, LEVELS, CONTOURS 55

Land that is uneven of surface is more often
found clothed with scrub trees and undergrowth
than the commoner level and conventional plot,
probably because the cleared meadows of farm
lands which are the first offerings of the coun-
try to the suburb, were usually their level por-
tions, I suppose, while the hillsides were left un-
cultivated. And in this natural growth there is
another valuable suggestion for the garden, as
well as an actual beginning sometimes. For
even the most unpromising specimens already
established, if given proper care and attention,
have an advantage over trees and shrubs that
are introduced.

Preservation of such growth, however, is only
accomplished by the preservation of the grades
whereon it is fixed, for the surface levels above
the roots of trees cannot be appreciably changed
without great risk to the trees—a risk varying
somewhat according to the varieties represented
and the amount of the change in level, to be
sure, but always present nevertheless. Six inches
of soil added or six inches removed may very
easily prove fatal, while less is often the occa-
sion of a severe set-back or general decline from
which they recover very slowly and perhaps
never completely. This is because roots grow
at the depth which insures them the right de-

56 COME INTO THE GARDEN

gree of moisture, of warmth, and of air, and any
change in this depth seriously affects all three.
The removal of even a small amount: of earth
allows the sun to bake them as well as to draw
away the precious moisture from them. And
of course it increases the air supply as well—
dangerously.

On the other hand, the addition of earth
shuts this off, smothering them; and it upsets,
too, the moisture and warmth equilibrium which
is so carefully and nicely adjusted. So if trees
are to be preserved they must be allowed their
places undisturbed. No change of more than
two inches either way should be made in the
ground around them within the space covered
by the full spread of their branches, which is
the space occupied by the spread of their roots
—and even this is not desirable.

I have spoken almost entirely of grading and
grade treatment on irregular ground because
ground of this character naturally demands
more attention than ground which is level. But
there are one or two interesting possibilities on
even the level tract or plot that are all too sel-
dom realized. One of these is the terrace as
shown in the first design, page 30, another is
the terrace in the rear of the house, page 34.

There is always a measure of earth to be dis-

GRADES, LEVELS, CONTOURS 57

posed of when a cellar is excavated. Com-
monly this is hauled away from the place that
does not require filling to bring it to the cus-
tomary dead level; and this sometimes, if not
usually, is done at some expense. A terrace
effectually makes use of this instead—and varies
the uninteresting dead level most agreeably
into the bargain. Moreover it affords a vantage
point from which to look beyond the boundary
planting, just as did the ancient mount within
the medieval walled garden. And the terrace
approach to the house is of all treatments the
most effective, especially if for any reason it is
necessary or desirable to set a house high above
the ground.

The ramped walk is a pleasant feature alto-
gether too little known and adopted on the
small place, yet really possible anywhere. Why
this graceful slope does not more often take the
place of the steps which we so laboriously build
and climb I cannot imagine, unless it be because
the idea is generally unknown. Excepting at
the main and formal entrance from the street to
the house, this ascent is everywhere appropriate;
its suggestion of intimacy and ease, however,
bars it from the entrance at which strangers ap-
proach. It should never be carried out in stone
or cement or any artificial medium; but in the

58 COME INTO THE GARDEN

garden, where gravel or grass walks—preferably
the latter—are possible, any rise where steps
ordinarily lead from one level to the other af-
fords an opportunity for a ramp.

A grade of from thirty to thirty-five or -six
per cent. is the best, this being comfortable of
ascent and easily established and preserved.
That is, there should be an advance horizon-
tally of three feet or thereabout for every foot
of rise. And although this takes up more space
than steps in order to reach a given height, it
is space that can usually be spared without ap-
preciable disadvantage. Sometimes lawn the
entire width of a porch may effectively be
ramped up to the porch floor level and the porch
steps eliminated altogether. Opportunities for
charming and interesting effects will suggest
themselves, if this idea is given some attention
and its possibilities allowed to develop easily,
without being overdone.

When grading or terracing is to be done any-
where, go about it in the right way by removing
the top soil first to a depth of from six to eight
inches—more if this soil is deeper; the color will
tell you—over the entire area to be excavated,
and also over the area which is to be terraced or
ramped or altered in any way. Put this in a
convenient place where it will not interfere with

GRADES, LEVELS, CONTOURS 59

building and grading operations, but will be ac-
cessible when wanted. Then do the work of
grading everywhere, bringing all levels to with-
in six inches of their proposed finished sur-
face. When all this is done restore the top soil
to the top, spreading it evenly and a little deeper
than the six inches allowed over those areas
which have been built up, as these will settle.

I would advise retaining walls of stone or
brick invariably instead of sloping’ grassed ter-
races, both for their greater permanence and for
their superior merit artistically and practically.
A garden of the before mentioned vertical char-
acter may be broken, by means of such walls,
into levels that provide as much room for vege-
tables and flowers as any flat tract of the same
area; and at the same time the walls themselves
furnish space for a quantity of fruit—much more
of course than the single wall surrounding the
garden on a level site affords.

aes oa A garden cireummur’d with brick,
Whose western side is with a vineyard back’d;
And to that vineyard is a planched gate—”
—Measure for Measure.

CHAPTER V

BounDARY TREATMENTS

4 ne are three distinct forms of defense pos-
sible—the fence, the wall, and the hedge.
And of each of these there are several types; so
that something suitable to every type of house
as well as to every kind of situation may be
found. To choose just any sort of thing that
will keep out the intruding elements alien to the
perfect garden is therefore not necessary—and
is, further, not excusable. For harmony is as
important between house and grounds and
boundary treatment as it is between house and
grounds. A place which may be delightful when
inclosed with simple palings or a hedge may be
altogether overdone if a wall of brick or stone
defines its limits and protects its interior. Do
not regard time spent in examining into the
claims of the various features which may be
60

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BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 61

chosen for the boundary, therefore, as time
wasted; analyze each from every point of view,
and do not settle upon anything without know-
ing that it is the best thing for the place in
question.

Further, let me say that whatever is being
considered let it always be regarded as a pro-
tective barrier and never be regarded as an orna-
ment, in itself. Ornamental a well-designed and
well-built fence or wall, or well-kept hedge, as-
suredly may be and will be; but it is never for
the purpose of ornamenting that it is built—and
for an outer boundary especially the quality of
unobtrusiveness is the one to court. Within a
garden of a certain type, treillage and elaborate
latticework and fencing are appropriate, but
this sort of thing should never be used to separ-
ate private ground from the highway or from
adjoining lands. Whatever is ultimately dis-
covered to be the proper boundary treatment to
harmonize with the house and the grounds in a
given environment, therefore, is to be designed
finally with a view to keeping it in a low key and
never to attracting attention to it or to occa-
sioning remark at its striking character.

It is of course only possible to generalize in
somewhat broad terms with regard to the suit-
ability of the various kinds of boundary treat-

62 COME INTO THE GARDEN

ment to different styles of architecture and dif-
ferent environment, since many things enter in
to cause exceptions, now and then, to what may
seem a positive rule. But as a beginning it is
pretty safe to say that the hedge is, of all forms
of inclosure, better suited to the average non-
descript place than anything ‘else, because it
is, in itself, a compromise between the definite
elements of architecture and the indefinite qual-
ties of nature.

The deciduous hedge has this about it, more-
over, which recommends it; it insinuates itself
into a community without shocking the sensi-
bilities of even the most conventional adherent
of the real-estate style of landscape, for it starts
low and only gradually becomes the full-fledged
barrier that it is proposed to maintain. And
while it is growing to its fullness of height and
breadth and effectiveness, everyone grows ac-
customed to it and comes to accept it as a
matter of course; whereas, if a fence had been
boldly erected it would have seemed a piece of
impertinence to the entire neighborhood, so es-
tablished are most neighborhoods in the thought
that garden seclusion and privacy is a direct
affront to neighborly privilege.

So it is the hedge that shall have first place in
our considerations—not, be it understood, be-

BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 63

cause I accord it first place as a garden bound-
ary, by any means; but because it is so gener-
ally useful and so generally possible. It requires,
of course, to make it wholly effective as a pro-
tection, the reinforcement which a fence alone
will give, although if it is properly established
at the time of planting and properly cared for
thereafter, it is possible to develop it into an
impenetrable mass of close-set branches right
down to the ground. And of course nothing
short of this approaches the true ideal for a
hedge.

Perhaps no plant has ever had the vogue for
hedge purpose which the California privet en-
joys, and no plant has ever more deserved its
popularity. It is not because it is cheap, either,
that it is popular, though this of course partly
accounts for the wide use of it. But its great
adaptability to all sorts of places and all but the
extremely cold sections of the country, its rapid
growth, and the beautiful wall of living green
which it presents when rightly attended, play
quite as large a part in its popularity as its low
price. And even when it is killed out in a winter
of unusual severity—as much of it was during
the unprecedented winter of 1919-20—it comes
again from its roots, if cut back properly, and
renews itself within an astonishingly short time.

64 COME INTO THE GARDEN

The plants for a privet hedge should be pref-
erably three-year-olds at least, for these alone
will insure plants that are thick and well
branched at the grownd—which is almost the
most important thing about a plant that is to
go into a hedge. Set them nine inches apart,
and from one foot to two feet inside the actual
boundary line of the property they are to in-
close; and set them deep into the ground. The
simplest way to go about the work is to have
a trench dug some five or six inches deeper
than the roots of the plants; on to the bottom
of this spread well-rotted manure, then sprinkle
earth enough over it to cover it. Then set the
plants along in the trench, putting enough earth
over the roots of each as it is held in place, to
keep it there, but not filling in the trench until
all are set, when it can all be done rapidly.

When the planting is done, cut back the
plants to within two inches of the ground—
which, by the way, is the hardest thing about
the entife proceeding usually, for the novice
at any rate. And I will agree that to cut back
a perfectly good bush that is perhaps four feet
high and strong and well branched, until noth-
ing is left of it but the stumps of its branches
standing just above the surface of the earth, re-
quires some determination—and possibly more

BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 65

faith. It is the only right way to make a right
start, however; for any other way will produce
a hedge that is bare and weak at the ground
and that will, moreover, always remain so. For
it is only just below the point of pruning that
a plant sends up new growth; consequently if
it is pruned high, this new growth will be high
up, whereas if it is pruned close to the ground
the new growth will begin at the ground—where
it must be in order to produce a hedge that is
dense and thick from bottom to top.
Deciduous hedges should be sheared annually
at least, and the privet usually requires shear-
ing twice during the summer while it is estab-
lishing itself, since its growth is rapid and it is
important to shape it carefully during its early
years. And of its shape let me say very em-
phatically that it must always be narrower at
the top than at the bottom, if it is to maintain
its branches down to the ground and conform
generally to the ideal set for it. The Gothic
arch, slightly flattened at the apex, is the best
form possible, though the sides may slope in on
a straight line from bottom to top, if preferred.
The principle involved is simple; namely,
that the growth must be able to receive light
and air equally all the way to the bottom.
Only by making the branches above shorter

66 COME INTO THE GARDEN

than those below them, is it possible to insure
the latter their proper quota; and of course
this results in the in-sloping sides. A secondary
advantage of this form is the greater strength
of the hedge mass under weight of snow or ice
and its consequent resistance; for snow or ice
resting upon it is supported by practically all
of its branches instead of by only the top
branches, as is the case when a uniform width
is preserved and the top is flat.

The height to which a hedge of privet may
be carried is limited only by the height of the
shrub when left to its own devices; as this is
fifteen feet it is apparent that high and beauti-
ful living walls are possible through the use of
this variety. As a matter of fact, however, I
would not advise bringing it to more than ten
feet or even eight, unless on a large place and
under exceptional circumstances. In England
an upright narrow hedge only a foot in width
and from five to nine feet in height is sometimes
developed, and beautiful things they are; but
we have always to remember that our extremes
of heat and cold make it difficult to do many
things in America that English gardeners have
no trouble with. This is not to say, however,
that walls of privet of this height and width
are not possible here; but as with the more

BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 67

usual hedge, I would advise tapering them from
a width of two feet at least at the bottom to a
foot at the top and leaving the top rounded
rather than flattened.

In the early days of gardening here, the ar-
borvitz was much used for garden hedges; and
it is as good to-day as it was then. Fora hedge
of evergreen, indeed, it is hardly excelled, and
it endures shearing perfectly. But its shape
naturally is such that not a great deal of atten-
tion is needed to keep it in the desired form,
for it conforms to the lines of the Gothic arch
almost without touching the shears to it. When
used as a hedge, the plants should be set not
quite their width apart, whatever size they may
be. This will insure their becoming a solid,
dense mass as they grow. Pruning should be
directed to keeping them at the height decided
upon, and evenly sloping on the sides of the
hedge.

Prune evergreen hedges in June, preferably,
as they are then at the fullness of their seasonal
activity and will not suffer from the operation,
and will moreover soon clothe themselves with
their new growth, which will then conform to
the desired lines. Deciduous pruning or shear-
ing should be done in June and again, if neces-
sary, in August—the latter while the hedge is

68 COME INTO THE GARDEN

being formed. After this the midsummer work
will ordinarily be enough.

There are of course other plants available for
both deciduous and evergreen hedges, but I pre-
fer not to confuse the issue by dealing with them
here. Consideration of the hedge is not com-
plete, however, without reference to the use of
honeysuckle or actinidia supported by ribbon
wire or by any good strong wire fencing. Rib-
bon wire is the simplest to use, for it requires
only fastening to the posts as it is stretched,
while wire fencing requires a fence stretcher and
considerable work to erect it properly and per-
manently. Furthermore, it is doubtful if any
wire fencing is actually permanent, since time
does make inroads upon it even when it is
painted and well cared for. So the ribbon wire,
which is easily renewed, is again a better choice
unless absolute impenetrability is desired.

On posts set eight or nine feet apart, three
rows of this will furnish support for the vines
which will, in a very short time, provide a fine
and dense hedge—of an almost evergreen
character if of the honeysuckle, for it holds its
leaves throughout the winter in all but the se-
verest latitudes. Set the plants at every post
and two between; and see to it that, as they
grow, they are twined on to the wire and carried

BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 69

up as fast as they have covered the lower wires,
to the top one and along this. A little watching
and directing will rapidly form the growing mass
into almost as even a hedge as one of sheared
privet or arborvitze; and as each summer adds
the twining branches of its growth to those al-
ready established, such a hedge will thicken and
become a veritable wall of green which may be
trimmed enough with the shears to prevent its
being ragged.

For very high screens or boundary planting
on large plots the beech tree offers wonderful
possibilities, holding its leaves throughout the
winter as it does and adapting itself perfectly
to severe shearing and shaping. And as it
may be maintained at a width of perhaps only
four or five feet when its height is twenty or
more, its usefulness as a screen on a place of
limited size is apparent; for it takes up actu-
ally very little room.

Second only to the hedge in general suitability
and usefulness is the wood fence of one kind or
another, built in a manner to conform with the
style and the character of the house beyond it.
There are of course many fashions for this,
ranging all the way from the solid deal or plain
board fence of the city or large town back-
yard to the palings or picket fence of the trim

70 COME INTO THE GARDEN

New England village; but when anything apart
from the simplest design is approached, beware!.
Not that real variation in design may not be
considered, but that the unusual is, as I have
already warned, not to be selected if, by such
selection, attention will be drawn to the fence
before anything else is noted.

As a general rule there is a fence suited to
practically every house that is really architec-
turally good, even in the humblest way; but
further to generalize, I may say that the picket
fence, or palings, seems naturally to take its
place before the modest house of discreet and
unpretentious Colonial type, while the post-and-
rail fence demands a rather more spacious, wide-
spreading dwelling of somewhat the same char-
acter. One is, in other words, essentially the
town or village type, the other more especially
the farmstead type; and it is well to try and use
them accordingly. But this is not to say that
there may not be places in the close confines of
a town where the latter will produce a better
effect than the former—as for example before a
house standing high up on an eminence rising
directly from the street. In such a case, how-
ever, the eminence itself becomes in part the
barrier shutting off the highway; and the
fence topping it does not need to be of the

BOUNDARY TREATMENTS rl

close-set type in order to make the setting apart
complete.

Which prompts me to observe that it is after
all something of a psychological problem, this
whole matter of boundary barriers, as well as a
problem of actual protection. For it is neces-
sary to seem protected as well as to be protected
—but not to establish a sense of fortification in
doing this, since after all it is only against peace-
ful invasion that defense is being established.
To do enough without doing more than enough
is, therefore, a matter of real concern, and re-
straint is very necessary in the small garden.

Of high and latticed ornamental fences it
may be said that their function as screens is
perfectly legitimate and their use is to be en-
couraged if circumstances demand them; but
this is rarely on the street side of a dwelling,
since on this side none of the actual garden
features that invite to intimate use and com-
panionship will be located. And there is an
element of the bizarre in a fence of this char-
acter which strikes the beholder more forcibly
than we desire. They are dramatic—or even
melodramatic—and that is the thing we are
avoiding.

If a street exposure must be inclosed with a
high fence for one reason or another, a better

12 COME INTO THE GARDEN

selection than lattice topping therefore is a solid
structure of the simplest lines, capped with -
substantial coping and simply paneled, if de-
sired, the whole painted in conformity with the
house. In other words, duplicate the effect of
a wall, frankly; and do nothing to call special
attention to it. Such a fence, with a gateway
admitting a vista within, or a doorway through
it, if its height is sufficient for this, possesses
the qualities of dignity and permanence and
serious intent which instinctively are felt to be
seemly in the public aspect of a home.

Walls of brick or stone or plaster are of
course desirable above all else, providing house
and grounds generally are in keeping; but never
resort to a wall on any sort of place unless it
can be a continuation of one of the house walls
and thus come into existence naturally and
logically. This presupposes a house of masonry,
usually; yet not invariably, inasmuch as a wall
of stone or brick or even of plaster may per-
‘ectly well continue from a house foundation
wall of the same material, and thus preserve
unity with the house, though the latter is itself
built of wood.

For the city garden nothing can equal the
effect obtained by a continuance of the house
walls in this way, as we need go no farther than

BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 73

some of our own old Southern cities to discover.
In very crowded cities, indeed, such a wall be-
comes the larger part of the garden, since only
a fewkinds of plants will live in the atmosphere,
and wall tiles, recessed bits sheltering sculp-
ture, wall fountains and seats must provide the
color, interest, and beauty usually furnished by
them.

Variation in the height of a wall wherever
there is a real reason for it—that is, at a point
where the contour of the land or where a turn,
or a junction with some different section of the
garden, or some other element of change makes
it logical—is pleasing usually, and sometimes is
almost necessary; especially is this felt when a
wall entirely surrounds the grounds. One break
alone will suffice, many times; or even the vari-
ation that comes of a gateway. But this much
at least is needed to avoid monotony and the
sense of grim (overdone) defense. To extend a
wall some distance from the house at a consic-
erable height and then to decrease this height
is one way of achieving the necessary variation.

Of course a study of good examples is just
as essential to intelligent and discriminating
selection when it is a wall for the garden that
is under consideration as when it is the house
itself. So without regard to preconceived ideas

74 COME INTO THE GARDEN

or prejudices, go carefully over as many books
of good architecture, both landscape and build-
ing, as it is possible to lay hands on, before de-
ciding on any features that must be designed
and built. No one can know how limited his
knowledge is until he seeks thus to broaden it;
and certainly not until it has been broadened
is it possible to exercise taste and to select with
full appreciation of all the finer points involved.

A list of the best hedge plants for different
sections of the country is appended. Of fence
and wall materials I will say only that there are
two things to avoid. The first is the so-called
ornamental wire fence, the second is the con-
crete block wall—unless it is plastered and the
blocks obliterated completely. As a foundation
such blocks may serve but never as the final
wall surface. And as to the wire fencing, unless
it is used as the support of such a vine hedge as
I have earlier mentioned, it fails altogether to
give any sense of inclosure, since it allows all
the world to look in, if not to enter. And it
cannot, by the wildest stretch of the imagina-
tion, be regarded as beautiful in and by itself;
apart from pure utility, therefore, there can be
no reason for using it. And there can be no
reason whatsoever for using rails of gaspipe or
chains swung through iron posts, since these

BOUNDARY TREATMENTS 15

are neither good to look at nor good for any-
thing as an inclosure!

Hepcrt MarTeriast,
The Northern States:

Common privet....... LTigustrum vulgare
Amoor privet ......... Tigustrum amurense
Russian olive......... Eleagnus argentea
Arborvite ...........Thuya occidentalis
The Middle States:
California privet.... ..Ligustrum ovalifolium
Box-leaved barberry . . .Berberis buxifolia
Japanese yew........Taxus cuspidata
Arborvite...........Thuya occidentalis
The Southern States:
Evergreen privet...... Tigustrum lucidum
Tree box............Buxus sempervirens
English) holly7222)2):). Tlex aquifolium
Abelia..............Abelia grandiflora

VINES AS SUBSTITUTES

Hall’s honeysuckle .. ..Lonicera Japonica, Halliana
Actinidia............Actinidia arguta

“No line or compass traced its plan;
With frequent bends to left or right
In aimless, wayward curves it ran
But always kept the door in sight.”
—The Crooked Footpath—Houmes.

CHAPTER VI

Watxs, Patas anp GARDEN ENTRANCES

5) value of first impressions is too well
established to need expounding, so if I
merely call attention to the fact that here we
have the feature responsible for the first im-
pressions of a garden, the importance of walks
and entrances will not call for further emphasis.
Responsible in many ways too are these walks,
paths. and entrances; through the material of
which they are constructed they make one sort
of impression, through their form another, and
by reason of what architects call their scale
still another.

Material has been mentioned first because it
is, In one way, the most obvious thing, more
glaring when badly chosen, contributing in a
larger degree to a pleasant effect when well

WALKS, PATHS, ENTRANCES 717

chosen. But the obviousness of material should
by no means detract from a realization of the
importance of a walk’s form or line of direction
and its scale—although I personally feel that a
walk or path or even an entrance gateway may
be more comfortably tolerated when its design
and scale are altogether failures but its material _
suitable and harmonious, than when a very ex-
cellent design or plan is executed in the wrong
substance and thus thrown distressingly out of
scale.

Material and scale—otherwise proportion—
affect each other so intimately that they can-
not, as a matter of fact, be considered as things
apart; indeed, scale in one sense is altogether
dependent on material. For example, a grano-
lithic walk leading to the door of a shingled cot-
tage is out of scale even though its width be
kept down to the minimum, whereas a most
generous walk of gravel or even of bricks, loosely
laid, would not be, owing of course to the greater
harmony of material.

Sidewalks of cement along the highway are
unquestionably superior to any others, but with-
in the garden—which means within the bound-
aries of the plot, remember—they are in nearly
all cases quite hopeless. Indeed I cannot recall
a single exception. There is something so grimly

78 COME INTO THE GARDEN

uncompromising about cement, so public-seem-
ing—and so ugly when brought into close rela-
tion with grass and flowers and the garden gen-
erally—that it puts a blight upon beauty, how-
ever bravely one may seek to neutralize it.
Only by toning it down with a gravel space from
eight to twelve inches wide on either side is it
possible to qualify its glaring, garish, utilitarian
unpleasantness sufficiently to make it anything
but an offense anywhere within private grounds.
And even with this modification it should never
be used except for a main entrance, which is al-
ways conceded to be semipublic in its character.

The material par excellence for interior walks
is brick, laid on a bed of sand, this on a bed of
cinders. The old-time natural flagstones are
next in choice to the bricks, while gravel, prop-
erly laid, always makes a walk little inferior to
any. This latter must be carefully railed in,
however, as old garden beds were railed, to pre-
vent its scattering into the turf along its mar-
gins; or else the turf must stand well above it.
The latter is a more pleasing measure to insure
the confinement of the gravel, perhaps, and
quite as effective if the walk itself is well
crowned and good drainage at either side is
provided.

Across and through the garden, especially if

WALKS, PATHS, ENTRANCES 79

it be small, there is nothing so pleasing to the
eye and so generally a finish and ornament to
the design as walks of close-cut turf. That they
are wet after rain there is no denying; but so
too are walks of other kinds, and most other
things as well. The morning dew leaves them
reluctantly, some object, which must be granted.
But to my mind neither of these complaints—
nor both of them together—voices a sufficient
reason for not using them. However, where
they seem to, stepping stones of equal size and
regular form may be sunk into the turf regularly
and the effect practically unimpaired. Indeed
the stones themselves are charming, bedded in
the green, and may prove a real acquisition.
They should be regular where definite and regu-
lar lines prevail, only gardens of marked infor-
mality admitting the flat stones of all sorts of
shapes and sizes.

The arrangement and the form of walks and
paths are of course of the greatest consequence
in the garden design, from every point of view.
Naturally prominent because of what they are,
and bound to mark divisions, they should al-
ways follow leading lines; but note, please, that
this does not mean that leading lines should in-
variably be followed by a walk or path. Indeed
it is better to err on the side of restraint in the

80 COME INTO THE GARDEN

number of walks rather than to introduce too
many. But this is one of those nice little mat-
ters that will almost settle itself, if allowed to
do so without forcing.

For a walk or a path would never exist if
there were not, earlier than it, two objects from
one of which it was desired to pass to the other.
*“Where does this lead?” is the instant query
whenever and wherever a path meets the ram-
bler; which means really what does it lead to,
what lies at the end? Or in other words, why is
this path? Here if you please, is the whole thing
in a nutshell; and we realize at once that there
must never be a path or walk in the garden that
has no reason—no answer to that why and to
that what. It may or it may not go straight
to its objective point—its course will be deter-
mined by circumstances—but it must have the
objective; and it will work always toward it.

This brings us to a phase of walk layout that
has always been to me one of the most interest-
ing—a phase which I do not find often recog-
nized, even by those who have studied the
matter. I can give it no better name than the
instinctive direction—and this will need ex-
plaining I think. It is just what the name sig-
nifies; given, for example, an object in one place
to be approached from a point at any distance

WALKS, PATHS, ENTRANCES 81

from it, every creature making the trip will
choose, without stopping to think, a certain
course—and all will choose practically the same
course. Naturally we should expect this to be
the most direct, all creatures being constituted
similarly in that they are somewhat averse to
unnecessary effort; hence a perfectly straight
line between the two places. Actually, how-
ever, it almost never happens that a path fol-
lows a perfectly straight line—for which there
must be a reason.

Of course there is; and equally of course—
when one stops to think—it is a reason that has
its basis in that natural indolence just noted,
common to man and beast. For the straight
line is not usually the easiest way; and it is the
easiest way that is followed, even though this
must deviate from being the shortest for noth-
ing more consequential than an ant hill or a rank
tuft of grasses. The longer distance is invari-
ably less objectionable than the effort to sur-
mount even so small an obstacle; feet instinc-
tively seek the level.

This element must be permitted free rein in
planning walks, even in formal garden design,
if they are to provide really satisfying strolls—
and this is of course the ultimate purpose for
which such walks should always be designed.

82 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Not that they may take their own course un-
guided, wherever they may list, by any means,
but for their guidance the instinctive direction
should be kept in mind, and the conditions
which determine it should be provided, where
they will guide along the line predetermined by
the designer. Generally speaking, walks may
be put wherever they are desired: then, wher-
ever this may be and whatever their direction,
they and their environment must be so con-
trived as to make that direction seem instinctive.
Planting is usually enough to provide all the
guide to direction which even the most tortuous
path may need; and of course large garden
beds, devoted to vegetables and flowers, them-
selves offer obstacles around which clean turns
must be made in the regularly laid out garden.
Walks that are purely utilitarian need not be
so painstakingly worked out, for the utilitarian
walk provides its own reason and direction, and
that is all there is to it. Well proportioned and
of suitable material they certainly should be,
though; and planted and ornamented they as
certainly may be. But on all small grounds
their direction should never be interfered with,
for such interference wastes precious space.
Take for instance the service ways in the
four plans given; they do not use up an inch

WALKS, PATHS, ENTRANCES 83

unnecessarily, but go direct to the object at
which they are aimed. Moreover, they do not
give access to the grounds generally, any more
than the street does; and the scheme makes
them almost unseen — certainly unrealized —
from either the house or the garden.

Where the space between the house and street
is kept in lawn, it is an advantage usually to
carry the front entrance walk also in at the side
—for lawn space should be undivided wherever
possible. But where this cannot very well be
done, where it will sacrifice convenience and
directness and the point of instinctive entrance
from the street, this walk may be made a part
of the general design, as in Plate I, page 30:
thus its position is vindicated.

This point of entrance from the street, by the
way, is another of those subtle things which in-
stinct must govern—actual instinct in this case
and not artificially directed instinct, as in the
ease of the walk. For no trick will serve to fix
this point; it fixes itself, definitely and obsti-
nately. The direction from which a place is
approached has more to do with it perhaps than
anything else, but the position of the house
entrance complements this; so really it takes
the two in combination to work the matter out.
Again it is the impulse to save steps—the lazy

S4 COME INTO THE GARDEN

human nature in us—that is at the bottom of
the thing. Here we must let this impulse do its
work without interference; and there is no way of
doing this except to experiment, on the ground.

Given the house location, try approaching its
entrance—its porch steps, if it is reached by
porch steps—from the sidewalk, from both di-
rections. Try it a great many times, until the
turn is instinctive, and not thought about; get
others to try without their knowing it, and note
the point where the majority leave the sidewalk.
There may be two such points; in all likelihood
there will be, if the two directions of approach
are used—in which event a spot midway be-
tween them will probably be the right place for
the gate and the start of the entrance walk.
Yet this may not be it after all, possibly, for the
point indicated by those coming from the direc-
tion whence approach will most commonly be
made, as from trolley or station, may be more
true to the situation. Or if not this exact spot,
one nearer to it than to the other, rather than
midway between.

If for example the customary approach to the
place in Plate I, page 30, is from the left, then
no excuse that could possibly be invented would
serve to justify an entrance walk where that
plan shows it. Nearer to the left boundary than

WALKS, PATHS, ENTRANCES 85

to the right it would have to be, unless it solved
the difficulty as in Plate TI], page 34.

Here, then, is an influence from outside the
garden or grounds that must always be reck-
oned with in planning at least the main en-
trance walk. For of course its curves, if it have
them, and its general direction will be deter-
mined by its point of departure from the side-
walk. The formula of the general rule, so far
as a general rule may be formulated, therefore
is: never pass the house entrance to reach the
entrance to the grounds. Supplement this by
a rule to go as directly as possible from gate
to front door, especially on small grounds.

Garden entrances themselves, or gates, have
even greater possibilities as regards first impres-
sions than walks. Indeed they may very nearly
make or mar a place, as far as its street aspect is
concerned, for they have a capacity for express-
ing very accurately the qualities which lie be-
yond them; curiously enough, they seldom err.
I have never found an inhospitable gateway
guarding a generous, warm-blooded man’s door-
way; neither have I ever failed to find the sort
of person I have learned to look for beyond the
arrogant, the mean, the splurging, or the silly
entrance. So let us look well to eur home-por-
tals; they are all-revealing.

86 COME INTO THE GARDEN

But first of all let us make sure that we have
them. No yawning intermissions in fence or
hedge, with nothing to close them, will do; nei-
ther will fine gateposts and gate, with no wall or
hedge through which they admit. Either de-
mands the other; and the garden demands both.
Each must be in scale with the other, too—and
with the house and the place generally as well,
conforming to its delicate balance quite as nicely
as the walks.

The adjustment of scale in building material,
whatever is being constructed, is so largely a
matter of feeling, however—of an extra sense—
that I hesitate to offer advice concerning it. If
one does not know, through this sixth sense, that
an iron fence does not belong around a plot oc-
cupied by a deep-eaved, shingled cottage; that
wire fencing is out of scale with buildings of
masonry; or that a hedge is a weak retainer
for large grounds and stone buildings, while a
dressed-stone wall overshadows a small place
and takes interest from wooden buildings, there
is little to be gained by telling him. For in
some other direction he will turn aside and deo
the wrong thing, it being impossible to foresee
all the unfortunate combinations which may
arise—or to foresee instances when the combi-
nation becomes intolerable that would, under

WALKS, PATHS, ENTRANCES 87

other circumstances, be permissible. Apply the
test of common sense and reason, however, and
rely upon its guidance, if the sense of propor-
tion is lacking. It will keep you within fair lim-
its either way.

Similarly common sense will prevent the
building of an airy lattice arch between stone
posts, or the erection of clumsy monstrosities of
birch or beech saplings, laboriously put together
but never solid, anywhere but in the wilderness;
even there they are not practical. Arched
gateways, rightly conceived and executed, are
charming, without a doubt, but the entire place
must be considered and its character must de-
termine whether such an entrance will add to
or detract from the ensemble. With the simple
cottage type of dwelling, a vine or rose covered
arch entrance is a delightful and appropriate
feature, but with a formal house such a gateway
is too ingenuous and childish to be appropriate.

The stiffer arch of living green, either privet
or hemlock, rising from an inclosing hedge of
the same, is better suited to this type, with a
trim paneled gate swinging from simple posts
beneath it. But for the place that is in no
sense quaint there is probably greater dignity
and appropriateness in the uncovered gateway
than in any sort of arched opening. It is the

88 COME INTO THE GARDEN

small and intimate garden that needs this more
distinctive setting apart, especially.

It is with walks and gateways as with so
many other phases of constructive garden work,
of making and adorning; the one great obstacle
to our accomplishing the best results always is
the tendency to minimize the value of each
seeming small feature. Once rid of the idea
that anything at all does not matter, the road
to progress becomes an open highway along
which we are bound to move, if we resolutely
refuse to be beguiled from it this way or that by
the trifling, the unreasonable, and the bizarre.
These are the pitfalls of the unwary and un-
discerning.

“Tyme passeth and speaketh not,
Deth cometh and warneth not;
Amende today and slack not,
Tomorrow thyself cannot.”

—Old Sundial Motto.

CHAPTER VII

GARDEN ACCESSORIES AND ORNAMENTS

W" have seen that the walks in and around
a garden must have an objective point,
must lead to something; and obviously that
something must be a distinctive feature, strik-
ing a sharp note in the design and focusing the
attention positively. This it is not possible for
vegetation alone to do; no specimen of tree,
shrub, or flower, however superior it may be as
a specimen, is distinct enough from all the rest,
in just the right way, to provide the needed
positive element. Hence garden accessories in
all their variations—the casinos, gazebos, ar-
bors, statues, fountains, columns, or whatever
they may be, of use or ornament.

In this briefly outlined purpose of these gar-
den attributes lies the guide to their positions.
It is at once plain that no reason exists for put-

90 COME INTO THE GARDEN

ting an urn, a statue, or anything else in the
midst of open lawn. No argument in the world
can justify such a position for any kind of ob-
ject, any more than it can justify putting a sim-
ilar object in the midst of a drawing-room floor.
Things of this nature are to adorn, not to mon-
opolize. True, a sculpture of merit deserves a
setting wherein all its beauties may be fittingly
enjoyed; but such a work demands its own
gallery or alcove, whether it be outdoors or in,
and only when an area sufficient to provide
this is available should an image or group of
such importance be used. For then the object
itself, not the garden, is the feature; the latter,
or that portion of it immediately about a great
work of art, is secondary—an effect obviously
to be avoided, where space is limited.

Let it not be understood that I am arguing
against merit, however, in garden statuary or
ornament, for of merit there can never be too
much anywhere—certainly not in the garden.
It is only the too ambitious conception that
should be barred from the garden which it will
overtop and render insignificant. Neither in
actual size nor in the idea expressed may orna-
ment ever assume greater proportions than the
thing it ornaments. Be sure that it has done
this, however, whenever it conveys the stronger

GARDEN ACCESSORIES 91

impression. If any garden accessory sends you
away with the thought “So-and-so has a fine
statue—or pool or garden house—in his gar-
den,” instead of, ““So-and-so’s garden is attrac-
tive with that statue—or pool or garden house
—where it is,” be sure that the object in ques-
tion is either ill chosen or ill placed.

But further than now and then an arbor or
summer house it seems difficult for us to pro-
gress, in all except the great gardens designed
and executed professionally—and wearing an air
too often of professionalism. And of course an
arbor or a summer house is something of an
achievement, in limited space; so more often
than not we do without even these. Perhaps it
is just as well that we do until we have learned
to use them, for certainly they are senseless
creations unless they are used. So, for that
matter, is a garden, too; the remedy lies not in
foregoing to make a garden, however, but in
learning to use it.

The great American front-porch habit is
largely responsible for our neglect of the real
outdoors, I believe, but a certain spirit of snatch-
ing at our idling rather than taking it deliber-
ately may be at the bottom of this. And then,
of course, our outdoor retreats have never been
made with the intention cf actually using them,

92 COME INTO THE GARDEN

hence they do not invite to occupancy—to
breakfast on pleasant mornings and tea on sum-
mery afternoons, to steamer chair naps or a hot-
day forty winks on a cool swinging rush couch.
Magazines and books do not find their way to
the uncomfortable-looking table tops—and in
short there is no reason for idling or resting
because there is nothing really to idle with or
actually to rest on. All these things are on the
front porch—or indoors, out of wind and
weather. And because there is no such ren-
dezvous in the garden or at the end of the
garden walk, the garden itself lies alone in sun-
light and in moonlight, under the dew and
under the pale mists and the sweet, cool rain
—and not one thousandth part of what a gar-
den really is ever comes home to one of us.

Casinos and summer houses let us have, there-
fore, by all means; but of the pergola, beware!
For pergolas, as they are so often seen and made,
are just another instance of our tendency indis-
criminately to seize upon and use—and abuse
—a novelty. The pergola in itself is not ob-
jectionable, but ignorant use has made Jit so,
and worse—made it ridiculous. Which is al-
ways an unfortunate state for even the most ad-
mirable thing to reach.

Properly speaking the architectural pergola or

Studiously avoiding the conventional this garden appro-
priately entertains the unconventional thatched shelter that
would not be in harmony with less casual surroundings

GARDEN ACCESSORIES 93

vine arbor is a transition from the house, out
into the pergola or vine arbor that is not archi-
tectural, or out into less architectural regions
generally. Pergola, be it noted, means nothing
more nor less than “‘vine arbor”; it is our own
false conception of the term that applies it only
to the timber and heavy column structure which
has found its detached way into gardens and
succeeded generally in getting where it does not
belong. Away out of doors and apart from
dwellings there should be no architectural per-
golas; here genuinely roofed structures are in
order, or else the simplest arbors. Only at-
tached to the dwelling, not merely against it
but leading from it, may architectural pergolas
be properly imtroduced.

Many gardens or garden sites which are too
small to admit a garden house or casino suffi-
ciently apart from the dwelling to be werth
while may yet afford space for this proper use
of the pergola. Where this is too ambitious for
the type of house and the grounds generally,
however, a seat under a tree is always possible
—or under a bower of vines—with an outdoor
table to keep it company. This much at least
should never be omitted from any garden—and
may be repeated as often, within the bounds of
reason, aS space admits or fancy dictates, to

94 COME INTO THE GARDEN

provide the greatest amount of encouragement
possible to the cultivation of the out-of-doors
habit—and the greatest amount of help in
breaking up the front-porech habit. Seats in
the form of a semicircle are especially agree-
able for groups, or if these are beyond the pos-
sibilities, in the form of a square open at the
side. Either is good, for either brings the occu-
pants somewhat face to face; thus they are con-
ducive to use because they are conducive to
conversation.

Comfort and use should be consulted pri-
marily in the construction of both arbors and
seats. None of the narrow, rail-bottom, rail-
back, unpleasant affairs so generally found in
the latter should ever be given any position
whatsoever. Firm balance, a smooth seat, and
an easy, smooth reclining surface for a back are
essential—and all three are perfectly simple to
attain without sacrificing the picturesque in the
least.

With the loitering places and the living spots
of the outdoors provided, lesser accessories make
their claim. Named in the order of their interest
I consider them to be: first, the bird bath, either
a pool or elevated basin or a very simple foun-
tain, if circumstances permit its being kept in
play; second, the sundial; third, the statue or

GARDEN ACCESSORIES 95

Herm; fourth, the column or, under conditions
where it may be suitable, the stone lantern of
Japanese extraction, or some similar object.
Arches I have purposely omitted for reasons
which will develop later; and bird houses find
their positions in trees or atop of posts inciden-
tally and not as special objects of consideration.
If I could have nothing else in my own garden,
I most certainly should have the bathing and
drinking place for birds. And the tiniest garden
imaginable need not be without it—this of
course assuming that there are no cats to turn
its delightful comedy into tragedy. Puss is an
adorable creature; still she is a feline, and we
have no right to lure songbirds into her zone.
Where there is a doubt concerning this very im-
portant point, therefore, the bath must be ele-
vated and guarded by a wire or sheet-metal
shield extending from beneath it, out around it
at least two feet on every side, and inclined
slightly up. This must of course have no outer
supports up which a cat might climb, but should
either be stiff enough to support itself or else
mounted on a frame purposely made for it. And
the bath should be placed in the open, with no
possible vantage point near enough for a jump
to be made clear of this shield, or from above.
Where cats abound, the basin on the wall

96 COME INTO THE GARDEN

needs protection from above as well as from
below, but such protection is easily given by a
canopy similar to the underneath shield. Both
may be dressed with vines if the ground is kept
open below and no communication between it
and the basin established. Unless these condi-
tions can all be complied with, however, elimi-
nate this feature altogether. It will be a verit-
able death trap until the birds learn their peril
and abandon it—and then its reason for being
at all is of course gone.

Many kinds of receptacles are offered or may
be secured for the basin itself; and ingenuity
and imagination will undoubtedly suggest others
that no one has ever heard of. Anything from
a soup plate to a marble font will serve—both
of these have, I believe, although neither would
be my choice. A shallow water space rather
than a deep one should be provided; and one
portion should be shallower than the rest, for
the tiny fellows and the young birds. Stones
that are flat and may be laid at an incline to
form a gradual descent, duplicate the condi-
tions of a brookside and please the birds; for
often they come for a drink and a wade when
they cannot stop for a dip.

A wooden chopping bowl, painted stony gray
inside and out, and sprinkled with sand while

GARDEN ACCESSORIES 97

still wet, was the inexpensive yet very effective
provision made in one garden that I have known
of. Such a water holder, mounted on a rough
pile of stones and buried to its brim in vines, is
as picturesque as a very much more elaborate
pool, and is of course lighter and easier to
handle than one of stone or cement. It may be
affixed very easily to a single post, if an elevated
position is preferable for it. It is a bath only
for the most informal type of garden, however,
a cottage garden in the true meaning of the
word. Elsewhere something more distinctive
may be needed. A simple cement basin comes
nearer to the requirements of the average sub-
urban grounds, without being in the least pre-
tentious. One may be made by pouring the
cement into a mold made of burlap, doubled
and tacked into the top of a barrel. The dip of
the cloth takes on a very graceful form, and its
folds imprint melon-like ridges on the outside
of the basin that vary its surface pleasantly.
Before the cement hardens the inside should
be worked out and hollowed and smoothed by
hand; and when the cement has finally set—
after an interval of about eight hours—the bar-
rel should be turned on its side and the basin
tipped out carefully, bottom side up. Then it
must be thoroughly wet down with a sprinkling

98 COME INTO THE GARDEN

pot, to prevent the surface from drying faster
than the inner part, thus overcoming the tend-
ency to crack. Finally it must be mounted on
a big stone bed, with small stones laid around
as needed to keep it erect and solid.

All basins of this simple nature, and even
more elaborate marble or terra-cotta ones, are
very easily and expeditiously filled by hand,
either with a hose or water carried to them in
a pail. Daily replenishing is usually sufficient,
though during dry weather a second supply is
sometimes necessary. It is possible to brush
the moss and slime from the stenes and the in-
side of the basin with a whisk broom often,
though this is not necessary. Mosquitoes need
not be apprehended, for the constant agitation
of the water would prevent their breeding if
the constant replenishing did not—but the lat-
ter of course does. Only stagnant water is the
Anopheles nursery.

Next to the bird bath, with its animation
and living interest, is the sundial—still, silent,
mysterious, In its eternal union with Time,
bringing its eloquent message in from eternal
space. Indeed, when I stop to dwell on its
awesome beauty and majesty, I almost feel that
the dial should take precedence over all other
garden features. Yet just because of this maj-

GARDEN ACCESSORIES 99

esty and a certain veneration which it com-
mands, I hesitate to put it in first place—in
other people’s gardens. It should only go where
it is wanted—and where it will not oppress;
yet it can ill be spared anywhere. Hence, if a
position is available in open and unobstructed
sunlight I always hope that the gardener will
be moved to set up in it this most ancient of
timepieces.

Bronze dials are of all the most permanent
naturally; but a dial of cement well made is
practically everlasting—and not beyond the
possibilities of amateur construction, if one
cares to take the trouble. The pedestal is im-
portant and, from the esthetic standpoint,
should be given as much consideration as the
dial itself, or more. For it of course looms up
in the garden vistas prominently. Solidity
is essential to it, and only a deep foundation
will insure this, as freezing and thawing affect
the ground to three feet or more below its
surface.

Of outdoor statuary and images there are a
vast number too dreadful to contemplate! Chief
among these are the cast-iron dogs and hunters
and swan and deer, and all the multitude of
monstrosities of this character that were scat-
tered extravagantly a generation or so ago,

100 COME INTO THE GARDEN

guarding front doors and gracing (!) the midst
of lawns. None is so benighted as to acquire
these things now, assuredly; but altogether too
many which have lasted over remain to afflict
long-suffering humanity. Their complete dem-
olition is the only solution of the aching prob-
lems which they create, for they came into popu-
lar favor in the black-walnut-and-hair-cloth era,
along with the Italian villa, a period growing
more famous—or infamous—for its execrable
taste, as we come more and more fully to real-
ize this.

Most garden makers, however, are spared
these iron zoological specimens, happily; so it
is a question of selection only and not of de-
struction first, when garden ornaments of a
plastic nature are to be considered. Personal
taste will naturally influence here, of course;
but if it can be restrained from more than in-
fluencing, if it can be held back and not allowed
actually to guide or finally to determine, the
results will usually be happier. This is not be-
cause individual taste in matters of art may
not be of the very highest order, but because
taste of even a high order may fail to take into
consideration all the difference in circumstances
and conditions which a garden environment
involves.

GARDEN ACCESSORIES 101

First of all, for instance, it must be kept in
mind that the garden statue will be fixed in its
position through all the weather vagaries of the
four seasons and during the garden barrenness
of half the year. Any figure that approaches a
representation of the altogether human, there-
fore, if clothed or partially clothed, will not be
pleasant to contemplate throughout the year,
for the very good though perhaps childish reason
that it will seem very cold and wet and suggest
discomfort too keenly, in storm. Imagination
makes us childish very often; and even repre-
sentations of the gods of the ancients are not
beyond thus impressing our human and com-
fort-loving side—if they wear drapery or cloth-
ing. Nudes, however, do not have this effect;
and of course satyrs and nymphs and the great
god Pan come under this general exception.

And then abstract conceptions rather than
incident should be chosen; and no better nor
more appropriate subjects can be found than
mythology offers. Best of all to my mind, for
general use, are Hermee—those graceful swelling
pillars surmounted by heads of varying charac-
ter, all representing the god Hermes originally,
but now frequently the likeness of satyr or faun
or nymph or just a fanciful head—that present
lines so pleasing when thrown into clear relief

102 COME INTO THE GARDEN

against a wall or background of live green.
The appropriate symbolism, too, of a Herm in
the garden, especially at the intersection of
walks at a turn, makes it an interesting as well
as a picturesque attribute.

The situations where a shaft or column, sur-
mounted by a classic capital perhaps or some
device of interest and beauty, may be placed to
advantage are very much less common than
those which will admit the Herm, for such a
feature is not suitable where a generally infor-
mal or careless scheme has been adopted. The
straight, clear lines of a column are distinctly
architectural and necessarily convey an impres-
sion of formality and dignity which must react
against the simple cottage type of garden to
the latter’s disadvantage, and which must also
subject the architecture of the house to critical
and very possible crushing comparison. The
column is indeed a very finished and elegant
object and must have finished surroundings.
Ordinarily I should advise against using it in a
small garden, although it is not a question of
size at all. The simplest garden design will
admit it, and the smallest space, if it is all de-
cidedly formal and accompanied by a house of
refined motif and real architectural merit.

Reverting finally to the arch—which has been

GARDEN ACCESSORIES 103

left to the last because, although it is in its pur-
pose an ornament, it is at the same time a struc-
tural feature—there is just one positive thing to
be said with regard to its position. An arch
should always be at a point of transition from
one part or phase of the garden to another—
and never anywhere else. In other words, re-
gard it as a door, and imagine that it leads
through a wall; then you will have a true idea
of the difference which should be apparent, be-
tween the parts which it connects.

This gives it a ratson @éire, and it at once
acquires the character and importance which
should distinguish it, however simple and crude
the materials of which it is constructed. Let
it mark an end and a beginning always; never
put it midway of a path or in the garden’s cen-
ter. Even though it leads through no wall
which obscures that which lies beyond, this
definite dividing function which is peculiarly
its own, this ceremonial leaving and entering
which it expresses, must never be taken away
from it. Subject to this one limitation and
necessity, it may be used with excellent effect at
almost any portion of the grounds or garden.

** God the first garden made, and the first city Cain.”
—CowLey.

CHAPTER VIII
Tue Pruace THat Is STARTED

HERE are of course a vast number of gar-

dens waiting to be made that cannot be
taken in hand from the bare ground up—and
here we confront special conditions and special
problems quite unlike those which are a part
of garden making where it has a more ideal
start. They are enough like each other, how-
ever, to make a general survey of them possible;
and general suggestions concerning them may
be more -helpful perhaps than an attempt at
detailed directions for their treatment might be.
The one thing is to approach the problem ex-
pectantly and confidently.

The process of building a place up is of course
the same, whatever the conditions, and succes-
sive steps follow each other whether the start

104

PLACE THAT IS STARTED 105

is made in the midst of a half-completed task
or at the beginning of the work. So the first
thing to be done with the place already par-
tially established is to determine just where a
start may be made—in other words, just which
steps have been irrevocably taken, and how
many may be retraced, if it seems wise to re-
trace, in order to reach the one farthest back
from which to inaugurate'the work. Assuredly
the plan and the position of the house are fixed,
beyond all possibility of change, which elimi-
nates the first step of all. The dwelling’s ex-
posure is thus settled and the convenient dis-
position of the ground about it, according to
the location of the doors and windows, its ser-
vice, and its social portion has probably been
made, or accepted as it has made itself.

The garden design, however, which is hardly
a design at all, is not unalterable; neither are
the grades; nor as a matter of fact are any of
the other attributes or features which follow in
orderly sequence, from the initial step of plan-
ning and choosing the position of the house.
Walks may be changed and arbors and all the
things of this sort; plants may be moved, even
very large ones, if the work is carefully and
properly done. Really the only step which is
not retraceable then is the very first, unless

106 COME INTO THE GARDEN

perchance a large tree has grown up in the
wrong place. But this we will come to later.

So all the way back to that first step we may
go, and thus make a beginning with the second
—the garden design. Of course this will be
greatly influenced by the work already done,
but after all it is not of necessity absolutely
determined in all its parts by this. And its
possibilities, though perhaps not as great as
they might have been with a different start, are
not by any means even hinted at in the usual
negligent acceptance of it as it stands. Witha
plan of the ground and the house in its place on
the ground, therefore, before us, let us begin the
work just 2s we would go on from this point if
it had been possible to start at the beginning.

The firstéthing in design is the border, quite
as truly now as in the other instances; so the
border allowance is the first thing to be laid off
on the plan. How much this shall be depends
on the border that is to be used, of course, but
an allowance of two feet all around will cover
wall and fruits, hedge, fence and fruits, or fence
and flower border; this may, therefore, be made
and the kind of an inclosure decided upon later.
Then to the actual design—which is to be uni-
fied, you will recall, and held together first of
all by giving it an axis from which to grow.

PLACE THAT IS STARTED 107

The house plan and the disposal of entrances
and windows and all similar features will fix this,
or will indicate its logical position. But the out-
doors must be taken into consideration, too, and
the most advantageous division of the ground
insured. An axis should also be so located that
it naturally invites the eye to follow its direc-
tion without obstructions to divert it. So here
again I must ask you to refer to a diagram (page
108), made in this instance from a house as built
on its plot—which was afterwards designed—in
a typical suburban development. The house is
34 by 40 feet, exclusive of porches, and its front
porch line is 25 feet back from the sidewalk. It
is 4 feet from its boundary on the west, which
leaves 12 feet at the other side, the lot being 50
by 100.

The entrance to the front in the original ar-
rangement passed straight from the sidewalk
to front steps. The old position of these is in-
dicated by dotted lines in the diagram—for al-
most the first thing which required doing was
their shifting. In their original position they
opened the porch up too freely to the street, as
well as necessitated an entrance walk in the
midst of the small space before the house. Both
of these were bad features, hence the change.

The whole place at best is cramped, and

Act

Ce ee es es A

108

iO Ore & OO To eH
oe nsiee ieyaliet er mish a =

V. Planting Plan.

Wall fruit trees, Verrier form.
Lattice with arched opening at X.
Wall fruit trees, palmetto form.
Flowers.

. Shade-enduring flowers.

Roses.

Sundial.

Steps down, arches over; on these a Dorothy Perkins rose
and Clematis.

Terra cotta bird bath, 10 inches in diameter.

Turf edging to all flower spaces.

Sweetbriar rose; rosa rubiginosa, Penzance hybrid.

Climbing honeysuckle; lonicera Halleana.

Boston ivy; ampelopsis V eitchit.

Grapes.

109

110 COME INTO THE GARDEN

the house, though fairly pleasant, is much
broken up, with absolutely no axial points. Of
course the ground outside it is also broken up ©
and disjointed; this would follow naturally, and
indeed is the case in almost all places of this
kind. The two things most imperative, there-
fore, if a garden of any real distinction is to
be expected, are something to give a sense of
greater space, and an axis that will pull every-
thing together—front and rear and side spaces,
and house and garden, too. Such a line and
only such a line will unify all these totally unlike
and unrelated parts.

The front-to-back axis of the wider space at
the side is the choice, although it cannot truth-
fully be called a “choice” as a matter of fact,
for it is really the only line from which any be-
ginning can be made. As soon as it is drawn it
vindicates its insistence, however, by instantly
revealing the key to the spaciousness which is
so essential. The entrance falls naturally on it
in the front; and then the far distance at its ex-
treme other end immediately suggests a place
for something which shall attract the eye the
moment the entrance is reached, and distract
it from the smallness of all the rest. As an
actual fact the sundial as shown is more
than 85 feet from the gateway where it is first

PLACE THAT IS STARTED 111

seen—a very creditable little vista for a small
garden. |

The house does not connect direct with this
long axis, but it is sufficiently united with the
garden generally through the lines of the broad
walk leading from this to its steps; also by the
locating of the bird bath at the point of inter-
section of the sitting-room axis with the trans-
verse axis of the dooryard. A lattice extending
across to the boundary at the rear and spanning
the main walk with an arch, further draws
house and garden together.

The entire garden is inclosed with a plastered
wall made on a wood and galvanized wire lath
framework, supported between brick piers.
This is level on top and runs from a height of
six feet in front to about eight in the rear, owing
to the pitch of the land. It starts at the front
corner of the house rather than on the boundary
line, thus allowing space for the service entrance
to pass along between the house and the bound-
ary. This brings the service gate admitting
to the garden at the rear of the house, where the
wall completes its course at the house corner
again and ends.

Here is the design in all its salient features,
simple, restful, unusual, and yet not in the least
startling. The most radical thing about it is the

112 COME INTO THE GARDEN

wall—and this will seem radical only for a little
while, for its economic service as well as its very
great charm will become apparent to all who see it.

Grades engage attention third on the list, so
the grading is the next thing to be looked into
here. Of course the dip of the land toward the
rear was taken neither account nor advantage
of, in the original smoothing down. It fell
away in an even slope from about the front
line of the house, with a lawn that was just
like any lawn anywhere. Earth enough to grade
to a level as far as the rear of the house where
the lattice crosses was obtained from the back
yard, on the railroad plan of cut and fill, the
cut just making the fill. This secured the drop
at the lattice which adds greatly to the interest
and beauty of the long vista to the sundial
standing on the lower level.

The first walks were granolithic; the present
walks are gravel with brick edging. The gate
is high and solid paneled except for a small
latticed space suggestive of the old-time wicket,
on a level with the eyes; its material is cypress
and it is stained to match the cypress shingles
of the upper part of the house. The lower
story of this, by the way, is plastered, and the
foundation is of brick; hence the plastered gar-
den wall on brick piers.

PLACE THAT IS STARTED 113

No arbor or summer house seemed desirable
here, as every bit of sunny space was wanted
for practical use. A seat by the sundial may
furnish a resting spot without shading any of
the precious fruit space along the northeast
wall as an arbor would have done. Yet a tiny
gazebo on this wall at the end of the walk would
not use up much space nor sunlight if one very
much wished to have it. Personally I am al-
ways in favor of some out-in-the-garden shelter,
but for those who do not feel that such a fea-
ture is absolutely essential to their happiness, it
is perhaps as well to omit it on a small place—
for it is likely not to be used, where there is no
enthusiasm for it.

The planting of this place is of the highest
economic efficiency, as the key shows. And it
may be truthfully said that at least fifty per
cent. of this efficiency is made possible by the
wall whereon the fruits are growing. Every
inch of this which is open toward the south
is covered with these, and the rear wall too,
which is reached only by the overhead and
western sun, has been planted experimentally.
No special drying yard or space for clothes
is necessary, as a clothes reel is used which fits
into a socket that is buried in a secondary
path of the rear garden. This folds up and puts

114

VI. Planting Plan.

The suggested treatment of a neighboring plot the same
size with a house of altogether different character is given,
for comparison. The owner’s desire in this instance is not
so fixed upon the growth of useful things, owing to his ab-
sence during a large part of the summer. The house is cen-
tered on the plot, consequently there is no need for estab-
lishing an axis. Consequently, too, the design is bound to
be symmetrical; hence symmetry is taken for its leading
note, and a still more perfect balance than already exists in
it is obtained by introducing the little Dutch garden in the
angle of upright and L at the rear. From this a walk, cor-
responding to the service walk opposite, leads to the ter-
race in front. A hedge six feet high encloses the entire
place, growing through and concealing a strong and im-
penetrable fence of galvanized wire. This hedge is carried
up and over the main gateway in a clipped arch, and ex-
tends in from this to form a low border along the walk to
the foot of the steps. Quite definitely the service yard is
set apart and screened with arborvitae, faced with a win-
ter shrubbery border; and a bronze piping Pan stands at
the rear on the axis of the living room, Dutch garden and
lawn.

1. Privet hedge, Ligustrum Amurense.
2. Flowers.

3. Dwarf fruit trees.

4. Faun.

115

116 COME INTO THE GARDEN

away in the laundry between times. So the
entire space at the rear of the house is an in-
tensively cultivated vegetable garden—and I
should not be surprised to see the similar area
in front given over to the daintier vegetables
some of these days, with flowers suitably orna-
menting its borders!

Not a tree has been introduced save the wall
fruits, nor are there any shrubs. In fact the
limitations of this particular place and of this
kind of place have been fully recognized and
made to furnish its keynote. Yet it is richer
by an inestimable degree in appearance, and in
fact, than dozens of garden plots its size; and
the interest and entertainment and pleasant
delight within its stout walls are as much as
one might find on many places containing acres.
Flowers border the long, straight walk its en-
tire length, yellow being the dominant color
opposite the house to brighten the shade al-
ways resting there. Currant and gooseberry
bushes flourish between this flower border and
the house, from the bay of the hall back to the
lattice. On the south side of the lattice, ex-
posed to the sun, is a grape vine nearest the
house, but next the wall there is a climbing
rose which covers the arch and waves greeting
to the outer world, where it peers above. A

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PLACE THAT IS STARTED 117

honeysuckle grows in the shadier corner that
faces the street, and ivy is slowly climbing the
shady portion of the wall here and there. Three
more grape vines spread themselves, one on a
trellis against the rear porch, the other two on
another against the rear of the house; and
honeysuckle and sweetbrier roses climb the
porch columns in front.

Between these two places, chosen as illustra-
tions, there are of course all manner of things
possible, even when a place has been started—
providing the conventional lack of garden is ab-
solutely ignored and all remembrance of it wiped
off the slate. It is this which most seriously
hampers the development of all small gardens.
Until we rid ourselves of it, therefore, we need
not expect to do more than has been done—
we need not indeed expect to have gardens
at all, but only grounds.

*From yon blue heaven above us bent,
The gardener Adam and his wife,
Smile at the claims of long descent.”
—The Lady Clara Vere de Vere—Txennyson,

CHAPTER IX

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE

Planting

aes anyone may bury the root end of
a shrub or tree or any kind of vegetable
under a mass of earth and do it thoroughly and
completely, the operation of restoring to its na-
tive element vegetation which has been up-
rooted is not by any means successfully accom-
plished with such interment. Roots must not
only be covered—they must actually be re-
stored, as far as possible, to just the positions
which they originally occupied; to the same
depth in the soil and to the same perfect con-
tact with it.

Perhaps it would express the truth more viv-
idly if I were to say rootlets instead of roots, for
it is the rootlets that are of the greatest im-

118

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE © 119

portance. Take care of these and the roots will
take care of themselves—almost. For every
tiny, hair-like root filament is a hungry little
mouth, and the greatest tree is as dependent
upon these as the humblest little annual, its
massive woody roots being actually no more
than anchors.

Contact with the food is the first mechanical
essential to feeding, in either the vegetable or
animal kingdom. The food of plants is taken
in solution from the earth; in other words it is
a liquid diet strictly, and it is absorbed through
the delicate walls of these tiny, soft, tender
little feeding rootlets, then passes up along the
canal (which runs through even the tiniest)
into the larger rootlets whence these spring,
and so on, up and up until the main “trunk
line” is reached; and then still up into branch
and twig and leaf, every part receiving due pro-
portion of its particular requirement as the
transit is made. Finally, through the leaves,
the water, strained of its organic and mineral
content, is transpired and returns to the at-
mosphere. In the course of a single summer
day an ordinary tree will yield fifty gallons of
water—perhaps much more—under the insis-
tent heat of the sun. And vegetation generally
is calculated as transpiring from forty to one hun-

120 COME INTO THE GARDEN

dred gallons of water to every pound of dry
growth.

All plants as they grow, establish the equilib-
rium between their tops and their roots which
this astonishing fact shows to be so important,
so that the latter draw up just the right amount
of water to supply what the former transpire.
And this equilibrium must be matntatned—which
brings us to the first consideration incident to
the work of planting, namely, the cutting back
of tops to meet the root loss that is always un-
avoidable. It is not always easy to judge just
what the latter has been, when stock is received
from a nursery; yet careful examination of the
roots will usually make it fairly clear—and a
little more vigorous pruning at the top than
seems absolutely necessary is always wise.

For instance, if one-quarter of a root system
has been injured, one-third of the top should
be sacrificed rather than one-fifth; for branch
and leaf will make haste to put forth and eateh
up with the roots that overbalance them, where-
as an insufficient root system, over-drained by
too much top, cannot be made up so quickly
and will cause the whole plant to languish and
weaken, just as an underfed person or animal
weakens, making it an especially susceptible
subject for disease to attack.

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE = 121

Cut away all damaged roots in the first place,
and trim all stumps smooth and clean of slivers
and loose fibers, that there may be no place for
fungus to lodge or decay to enter. Then cut
away a little bit more, proportionately, at the
top, taking care to preserve the character of |
the plant always, whether much or little is
taken off. Branches cannot be snipped off here
and there regardless of everything except get-
ting rid of them, but selective pruning must re-
duce the plant everywhere equally. Usually it
is possible simply to cut all branches back the
requisite amount, but in the case of trees which
progress distinctly by means of a leader—as
the Lombardy poplar and the maidenhair tree
or Gingko—the leader should not be cut. If it
is, the tree’s character is destroyed, even though
it makes the noblest efforts to overcome the
injury—for the ideal long, straight bole, unin-
terrupted from earth to tip, is impossible to
restore once it has been tampered with.

Occasionally an entire branch will need to
be removed, although nursery grown trees that
have been well cared for will seldom show such
superfluous growth. Where two branches rise
from the trunk at the same point, one must al-
ways come out—and sometimes this result of
gross negligence is found, even in nursery stock,

122 COME INTO THE GARDEN

for there are many nurseries unfortunately
where lax methods prevail. Two such branches
with their double weight and consequent strain
weaken the tree as they grow to maturity and
invite a split at that point as the years ad-
vance. Remove the one which will least im-
pair the tree’s symmetry—and in removing it,
cut away down level with the bark of the trunk,
and leave no stump whatsoever.

Plants that have been packed and shipped al-
ways come out of their wrappings with roots
very much compressed, naturally. Work them
out carefully and into their natural positions in
so far as it is possible to do so, before under-
taking to plant them. Immersing them in water
will soften and so help to restore them, if they
persist in their constrained positions, providing
a broad enough vessel is available. A wash tub
will serve usually. Let them drain after such
a bath, however, until the rootlets shake freely
apart, otherwise it may do more harm than good
by interfering with the free sifting of earth in
and around each.

This is always to be the aim in planting—to
surround every rootlet with earth, just as it was
surrounded when it crowded its way through the
soil where it first grew; to bring earth particles
into close contact with it on every side, that it

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE 123

may feed freely and uninterruptedly. In order
to do this there must not be a great amount of
moisture in the soil when planting is done; for
moist earth packs in chunks rather than sifts,
not only leaving rootlets hung in its midst but
tearing many of them from the plant by reason
of its weight. Therefore choose a dry time rath-
er than a wet one for planting.

Holes must be dug to the full size of the
spread of the roots after these have assumed
their normal position, and to six inches below
the depth of the deepest of them. Remember
that roots grow at their tips, out and down, just
as branches grow out and up; see that these tips
are turned down, therefore. I speak of this par-
ticularly because there is always a tendency to
shirk when it comes to making a hole the full
depth required and full size all the way down;
indeed I think I may say that I have never
found a gardener, amateur or professional, who
did not exhibit this tendency to a very marked
degree. So I am perfectly certain the average
beginner is not going to prove an exception—
for he is pretty sure to be in a hurry and to want
results, not work. It will not do to cheat, how-
ever, nor to assure oneself that it cannot matter
much. The depth at which roots have estab-
lished themselves below the surface is the depth

124 COME INTO THE GARDEN

at which the right amount of air and of surface
heat will reach them—and their restoration to
this depth, particularly at their sensitive and
growing tips, is absolutely essential.

The extra depth of six inches to which the hole
is excavated is to be filled in with a mound or
pyramid shaped cushion of good soil and well
rotted manure, if the latter is available. If not,
the soil alone will do, well stirred and loosened
so that the lowest rootlets may quickly and
easily penetrate it. Make this mound of the
right slope and form to conform to the down-
ward and outward sweep of the roots; then place
the specimen upon it and jounce it up and
down gently, that it may bed itself naturally
upon the yielding earth cushion. Make sure
now that the plant stands with the earth mark
on its bole—or branches if it is a shrub—exactly
level with the surface of the ground, and guard
carefully against planting it either higher or
lower than it stood originally. A straight board
or stick-long enough to lie on the ground and
span the hole, put across it close up against the
plant, will show exactly where the surface is
coming when the hole is filled. If this is not at
the right point, lift the specimen out and add
earth or take it out as circumstances require.

Be careful—scrupulously careful—about all

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE = 125

these little things; they count. When just the
right depth is secured and all the roots are ad-
justed over the earth cushion around the en-
tire plant, with none turned under or up at the
tips for lack of space to lie straight out, begin
filling in with the light and richer top soil,
throwing it into the pockets and crevices which
will show around and within the root mass,
and firming it down and in against the root-
lets by hammering it gently with a roundheaded
stick. An inverted broom handle is excellent
for this.

It is safe and right to do this packing down
of the earth or tamping much more firmly than
the beginner usually thinks proper, for even
with the greatest care there will still be tiny
interstices here and there where rootlets will go
hungry. So do not be apprehensive of over-
doing it, unless the soil is moist and heavy—
that is, like putty or dough. Do not plant at
all however when soil is in this condition; it
takes an expert to do that, and even he runs
chances of failure.

But of course earth should not be beaten
down into a state resembling cement, however
dry it is. The idea is simply to overcome the
looseness which follows its turning over and
stirring about, and to settle it at once, instead

126 COME INTO THE GARDEN

of waiting for it to settle itself, establishing by
so doing close contact all around the feeding
roots. While this tamping and filling in is being
done, the specimen should be continually jolted
lightly up and down to induce further settling
of the earth into obscure pockets and under-
neath and around roots that are beyond reach.
Thus gradually it will sift into place, if the work
is not hurried or slighted, and an almost com-
plete restoration of the plant to its original con-
dition will be accomplished.

As soon as roots are covered and the plant
is fixed, the delicate part of the operation is
done. The earth should continually be firmed,
however, as it is thrown in, by treading it down,
until only a saucer-like depression over the en-
tire hole remains. Stop right here and fill this
with water. It may take a pailful, perhaps
less; more is hardly necessary, although it will
do no harm. Pour it in around the edges,
gently, so the earth will not be washed back
or to one side, and let it have time to settle
gradually. When it has all disappeared, fill in
the remaining earth, not packing it, however,
save with slaps of the shovel broadside. Leave
at the last a half inch sprinkling of loose earth
on top as a dust mulch to retain moisture.

This completes the actual planting; the sea-

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE — 127

son of the year will determine whether or not
anything further must be done. If it is spring-
time, this is enough, but if it is fall a mulch of
straw or leaves eight inches deep or more must
be made ready to cover the entire area dis-
turbed as soon as frost enters the ground. This
must be retained by branches or loose sticks
laid over it, until frost finally leaves again, in
the spring; and instead of watering the plant
later in the summer, keep the natural moisture
in the ground by tilling the entire space lightly.

Planting may be done either in spring or fall,
with but few exceptions. Cone-bearing ever-
greens are not usually handled at either sea-
son, however, August and early September be-
ing the accepted time for moving these. The
broad-leaved evergreens, such as rhododen-
drons, are most successfully moved in the
spring; and thin barked trees, such as the
birch or beech, are likely to suffer when shifted
at any other time. Personally I prefer fall for
all other general planting, owing to the more
settled weather conditions which prevail, and
the even temperature and warmth of the soil
at that season. In places where severe win-
ters are the rule it is not advisable, however,
neither should it ever be undertaken on land
that is cold and wet.

128 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Evergreens, both cone-bearing and _ broad-
leaved, must have a little space all to them-
selves, for their treatment is very special and
they are very risky things to handle out of the
ground. Never buy them unless you are as-
sured that they will be dug with a ball of earth
clinging to their roots, which will be properly
burlaped as soon as the specimen is lifted from
the ground and carefully packed to assure its
remaining in place in transit. Do not open this
packing until the hole to receive the plant is
dug to the proper depth and a little larger than
the earth ball and is ready to receive it, with no
manure uncovered, but with a sifting of fine
earth over any that may have been used to pre-
vent the roots from coming in contact with it.

Then cut the stitches which hold the burlap,
lift the plant into the hole still inclosed in it,
and finally work it down gradually on all sides
and under the earth ball, being careful to keep
this intact if it is possible to do so. To this end,
evergreens must never be shaken and jolted as
deciduous plants are, but should be held still
while the fine top soil is sifted around and
tamped under and against the ball of earth
about their roots. This tamping should be very
firmly done indeed, underneath and then grad-
ually up and around the sides. The burlap is

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE — 129

left in the hole and buried—for being vegetable
matter it will ultimately disintegrate.

Leave a depression just as in filling in about
deciduous plants—in this instance it will be a
ring, however, at the circumference of the earth
ball, instead of a saucer—into which pour water
gently that it may leach down and complete
the welding of earth particles together. Finally,
fill this depression and spread a mulch of pack-
ing or of straw or litter over all the surface
above the roots. This is to prevent scorching
by the direct rays of the sun, as well as to con-
serve all the moisture possible—for evergreens
generally are planted in August, when the sun
is hot.

Transplanting

Of course all planting is transplanting, in one
sense; yet we ordinarily consider the speci-
mens which are shipped to a place from a nur-
sery as “planted” only, while local growth is
regarded as “transplanted.”’ Hence the oppor-
tunity which this transplanting affords is my
only one to say anything about the uprooting of
a tree, shrub, or other specimen, although it is
quite as essential an element of successful gar-
dening to know how to unplant as it is to know
how to plant.

130 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Patience is the greatest of virtues, and most
virtuous of handmaidens in all gardening—but
nowhere so necessary as here. Yet nowhere is
she so likely to elude the gardener as when he
stands, anxious and eager and baffled and per-
spiring, before the feeble plant which he is bent
on transferring to another spot, and which is
equally bent, in its own inert plant way, on
staying where it is. Clutching the earth fran-
tically, but secretly, it refuses to be budged—
and the struggle is one surely calculated to make
or break character. The one hope of the toiler
is to take time, thereby retaining patience—but
even then it is a fierce trial more often than not.
I am saying all this that you may be prepared—
fully prepared—and hence may approach the
task warily and with a chance of victory, moral
as well as physical. For the man who has never
tried to unplant an established growth, and who
attacks the proposition unwarned and unsus-
pecting, needs sympathy—and has mine.

Begin at the tip of the roots; that is, begin
taking off the earth at the circumference of the
plant’s circle rather than at its center. This cir-
cumference can be pretty accurately determined
by the spread of the branches, for these usually
reach outward above ground about as far as the
roots do below. A crowbar or pickax should

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE © 131

be used to loosen the soil, with interludes of re-
moving this with spade or shovel. Work always
sidewise to the plant and parallel with the line
of root growth; which is of course, generally
speaking, outward from the center like the
spokes of a wheel; or else work with back to the
plant, until the root tips have been uncovered
anyway. This avoids cutting across the roots
and saves a much greater percentage of them
than the more careless method of working
around the plant, facing it.

Gradually its hold may be loosened by tip-
ping it forward and back and lifting on it
gently, as the soil is continually picked apart
and scraped away from between and beneath
the roots. Follow all long roots away and down
as far as may be necessary to free their tips,
and never yank at the plant or use violence
to liberate it. A strong, steady pull, with per-
sistent loosening of the earth where the strain
shows its hold to be strongest, will bring the
tenderest root fibers out uninjured, whereas a
quick jerk will snap even great woody growths
in two.

Once out of the ground, root pruning and top
pruning, as already directed, should be _ per-
formed; and immediate replanting is of course
most desirable. If this is not possible for any

182 COME INTO THE GARDEN

reason, put the plant in a shady place out of
the wind and cover the roots with enough earth
to prevent their drying out. Thus heeled in a
thing may lay for days without suffering.

Pruning

Only generalities may be given here, for this
is a subject which grows somewhat compli-
cated as one goes into its special phases; hence
it requires special treatment. Probably the one
thing which needs saying most emphatically
and reiterating again and again with regard to
pruning is:—do not prune at all unless you know
exactly why you are doing it and exactly how
to do it for that particular purpose. Nature
herself will attend to a good bit of this work and
with far better effect than man, misguided.

Very little pruning should ever be necessary
in the ease of ordinary trees and shrubs. Leave
them to grow in their own way, removing only
dead or injured wood in the spring, when failure
to make leaf growth reveals this to you; thus
the true character and beauty of each kind of
tree or shrub will develop unhampered. Rub off
the little adventitious buds which appear on
the trunks of trees as soon as they appear,
never letting sprouts grow either along a trunk

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE _ 183

or at its base. These are robbers, for they are
always of rank, lush growth that takes up more
of the tree food on its way to the leaves and
branches above than would seem possible.

There are two principles involved in pruning
which must be understood and remembered, if
the work is to be done intelligently. These are
fixed by the system of growth common to all
plants—that is, growth at the tips or extremi-
ties. Branches lengthen, branchlets lengthen,
and new branches form always by means of
terminal or tip buds, and all growth is invari-
ably carried on in this way. The run of sap is
always to the plant’s remotest part, and inter-
mediate growth is taken care of incidentally
rather than primarily. If a terminal bud is
injured or destroyed, therefore, the sap, coming
strong and full to the point where it was, stimu-
lates the buds next below it into abnormal ac-
tivity and these make haste to rush out into
branches, each striving for the place of leader
until one finally does gain an advantage which
nips the others because it then appropriates the
leader’s share of nourishment.

Removal of terminal buds, therefore, will al-
ways thicken growth rather than thin it; so in
pruning to thin out remember that it is not
enough to do less than remove an entire branch

134 COME INTO THE GARDEN

at the pomt where it rises. On the other hand,
where heavier growth is desired, tips enly should
be cut away, thus inducing many branches.
Cut down to the point whence you wish the
thicker growth to spring, for it is always from
near the ends of the stubs that the branches
will put forth; and prune always just above
outstanding buds, to imsure open growth and
free center.

The best time for pruning generally is when
activity is at the highest point, but before
growth has advanced sufficiently to cause waste
through sacrificing it—hence in the spring, just
as buds are bursting or about to burst. Wounds
made at this time quickly heal, and the full
effect of pruning for thicker growth is immedi-
ately gained. Spring flowering shrubs should
not be pruned, however, until after they have
finished blooming, otherwise their bloom will
be lost.

This matter of the healing of wounds is a most
important ene—as important to a tree as toa
man. For an unhealed wound is an invitation
to disease which may ultimately destroy the
plant, more especially if it happens to be a tree.
But in spite of all that has been said and written
with regard to the amputation of branches from
trees, practically every community shows scores

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE = 135

of freshly made improper cuts. Why it is that
most people seem unable to bring themselves to
cut through a limb at its very base, clean down
at the trunk from which it springs, I cannot im-
agine; but for one tree properly pruned by such
close cutting there are fifty, perhaps twice that
number, showing unhealed stumps all the way
from half an inch to four or five inches long.
There is just one right way to cut a branch,
large or small, from another branch or trunk;
that is, to lay the saw which is to do the cutting,
flat against the trunk, and thus make a cut so
close that practically all traces of the branch
removed are smoothed away. Such a wound
will be larger around than we are accustomed to
see, to be sure, but its diameter is of no real
consequence. The point is to make its surface
so flat and smooth and easily covered that the
bark—or skin—will quickly grow over it; and
this it will often do in an incredibly short time,
leaving sometimes a hardly perceptible scar.

Insects and Pests
The San José scale is now so common that pre-
ventive measures are advisable even though its
presence is not actually discovered on one’s own
trees and shrubs. ‘The lime-sulphur wash or
the kerosene emulsion, both of which may be

136 COME INTO THE GARDEN

purchased ready prepared and diluted and ap-
plied according to directions which come with
them, are the most satisfactory and effective
remedies for holding the scale in check. The
fact that the former is a fungicide as well as an
insecticide makes it doubly valuable. Neither
should be used excepting on absolutely dormant
vegetation, however, for they may injure soft-
growing parts irreparably.

Either will prove perfectly satisfactory, how-
ever, if used carefully according to the instruc-
tions. And I prefer to use a fungicide as well as
an insecticide whenever possible, for fungi are
more subtle and less easy to conquer than any
insect. Of course bordeaux mixture may be
added to all insect sprays, but this is usually
done later in summer when vegetation is in full
leaf. For all fungous diseases it is the early and
constant preventive treatment that counts.
There is really nothing that can be done, once a
disease is established within a plant’s tissues.

Scale insects are likely to escape attention
unless one is on the lookout for them; but worms
and plant lice are unpleasantly in evidence
whenever they are present, hence they need not
be treated unless actually seen. A common soap
spray will make short work of the latter, pro-
viding it reaches them all. It may have to be

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE _ 137

used with great persistence to get rid of them
all, however, for they multiply with fearful
rapidity and each one must be drenched with
the liquid in order to exterminate them. For
these belong to the same general class as the
scale insects—the class which feeds on the plant’s
juices rather than on its tissues, and cannot
therefore be poisoned directly, but only by
contact.

Use one-quarter of a cake of any common
laundry soap to four gallons of water, dissolving
by heat and applying hot and on successive days
until none of the insects alive are to be found.
Leaves curling down or back are a pretty sure
sign of their presence, for they infest the under
side, which, drying out under their persistent
little bills, shrinks and rolls back. Worms, on
the contrary, eat plant tissue always, hence may
be poisoned directly. For these arsenate of lead
is preferable to paris green or any other direct
poison; it comes in prepared forms.

Directions for the use of sprays and poisons
of all kinds should always be followed scrupu-
lously, both as to proportion to be used and
the time to do the work of applying; for even
a day or two earlier or later than the stipulated
time may make all the difference between suc-
cess and failure in combating any particular

138 COME INTO THE GARDEN

pest, while lack of care in apportioning a poison
may mean the loss of an entire year’s growth
at least, if not death to the plant so injured.

There is one insect which I must particularly
say a word for, while I am on the subject, how-
ever; that is the bee. There are no better
servants in the garden than these velvet-clad
little pages, and their liberty to go and come
unharmed should always be assured. Without
them we should have very little fruit and few
vegetables, and it is a cruel mistake to sup-
pose that it is the bees’ visits to a flower that
cause it to fade. The bees are attracted when
the pollen is ripe because they are needed then
to transfer it from flower to flower. As soon
as pollen is ripe and falls, the petals fall, for
then the flowers’ work is done and the forma-
tion of fruit is assured. So it is coincident with
the bee’s visit that the petals fall, or immedi-
ately following it; but the visit itself neither
hastens this nor affects the life of the flower in
the least. Do not try to drive away or destroy
honey bees, therefore—as I have known some
to advocate.

Fertilizers

Never use a fertilizer because it has benefited
someone else’s garden; it may not be good for

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE 139

yours at all. Generally speaking, we put too
much faith in fertilizers and too little in good
care: and many a garden starves for lack of
the tillage which would conserve moisture and
so make available the plant food with which
the soil is loaded, rather than for lack of the
food itself. What is called a complete fertilizer,
however, which simply means a fertilizer com-
bination consisting of the three principal fertil-
izer elements in the proportion of one part
nitrogen, two parts phosphoric acid, and three
parts potash, may usually be used on ordinary
soil to the garden’s advantage. Fancy mixtures
and wonder workers, however, are a waste of
time and money—and faith.

In addition to fertilizer, or rather as a pre-
liminary treatment, sour soils need lime. Heavy
soils are lightened by it, too, and as sour soils
are invariably heavy, it serves a double pur-
pose when applied to these. It changes the
soil in such a way that the plant food in it is
more readily taken up. Coal ashes are excel-
lent to mix with earth that is sticky and heavy
or stiff and cold, though they have no fertilizing
value. But they lighten such soils and make
them friable and more gracious. Stable manure
is as good as any fertilizer that can be obtained,
wherever it may be turned into the ground by

140 COME INTO THE GARDEN

spading; but never use it on a lawn under any
circumstances, for the weed seeds which it con-
tains will work more ruin in a single season than
can be undone in many, if ever. Sheep manure
only is suitable for lawn fertilizer; stable ma-
nure is fit only for the garden, where it can be
used literally zn the earth.

Lawns

The growth of a thick rich turf carpet is
never a matter of exceptional soil nor of much
enriching; rather it is a matter of careful me-
chanical preparation of the soil in the first
place, of selection of proper seed to suit the
peculiarities of the site, if it have peculiarities,
in the second, and of proper care third and
finally. Nothing can be done with subsoil ex-
cavated from the house cellar and piled upon
top of the good top soil in grading after build-
ing operations are completed; on the other
hand, very rich soil is as likely to be a disad-
vantage as not, in that it stimulates to so rapid
a growth that there is not sufficient root de-
velopment to withstand drought. But any or-
dinary soil, even a poor soil, offers opportunity
for as fine a lawn as one could wish, if a proper
start is made.

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE 141

Whatever the conditions, deep working is the
first step, with an application of lime anywhere
except in a limestone region. Allow from sixty
to sixty-five pounds to a plot 25 by 100 feet in
size. When the general surface has been leveled
after working over to a depth of eight or ten
inches or even more, seed freely, using only seed
from the highest grade nursery or seedman.
Buy always by weight, never by dry measure;
and get the selected, recleaned seed. It costs
more than the chaff and sweepings which make
up the cheaper grades, but it is more than worth
the difference. Allow between six and seven
pounds for a space 25 by 100 feet.

The six weeks from the beginning of April on
are usually the best for sowing a new lawn, al-
though fall sowing is a great advantage if one
can be ready for it by the end of September.
Within five or six weeks from the time of sowing,
if this is done in the spring, the first clipping
should be done, providing all conditions have
been favorable. This seems very soon perhaps,
but it is this early cutting which helps to make
a dense and compact stand eventually.

Grass should never be cut shorter than two
inches on either new or old lawns, for its roots
are left unprotected from the scorching sun
when it is shorter than this, and this means that

142 COME INTO THE GARDEN

dry weather or very hot will burn it sere and
brown. Mow often, even as often as every
fourth or fifth day if necessary to keep at this
height, especially on a new lawn; and never
rake away the clippings. They form the best
possible mulch and fertilizer, and are so short
when mowing is done as often and as regularly
as it should be that they sift down among the
standing grass immediately and are lost to sight.
Reseed all bare spots every spring and take out
weeds as fast as they appear, peppering with
seed the space which is thus left bare, what-
ever the season. This is the sort of care and
watchfulness that achieves perfection with the
minimum of labor, promptness being its chief
feature.

PART II

CONCERNED witH NaTURE’s CONTRIBUTION

143

*T think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

*“A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth’s sweet, flowing breast;

“A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

“A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

“Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

“Poems are made by fools like me,
7 39
But only God can make a tree.
—Trees—Joyce KiLMEr.

CHAPTER X

TREES AND THEtrR PuRPOSsE

jh Gea permanent of vegetable forms, trees
demand our first consideration when plans
have progressed far enough to let us think about
the actual planting of the garden; for all its
animate and growing features depend upon
whether the decision is for or against trees—and
upon the placing of them if it is the former.

It seems contrary to almost sacred tradition to
145

146 COME INTO THE GARDEN

say a word which may be interpreted as actu-
ally against the use of trees; yet I feel that I
must warn the owner of the small place in the
very beginning that there is a pessibility of the
negative decision being better in his particular
ease. Sucha place has its opportunities at best
only through the most careful conservation of
its restricted spaces; hence trees very easily
may become an extravagance in that they use
up more, proportionately, than they give. A
very delicate balance between all the parts and
features of such a garden must be established
and maintained, if its greatest and best oppor-
tunities are to be realized.

But this hardly means that there shall not
be a single tree; rather it means that often
there shall be no more than a single tree—and
that there shall never be many trees on the
typical suburban place. For if there are many
there can be nothing else. Trees are exacting
both above and below ground—as becomes their
importance and dignity—and the lesser growth
must wait on them and keep its distance, with
few exceptions. Which is another proof, if an-
other were needed, of the folly of attempting to
plan a small place in the landscape style. For
the things which, like trees, are essentially ef
the landseape, and essential to a landscape gar-

TREES AND THEIR PURPOSE 147

den, cannot in close quarters take the place in
perspective which should be theirs. They will
always overshadow on a small place—literally
as well as figuratively—the entire conception,
if an attempt is made to introduce them in num-
bers and in a natural arrangement.

It is not trees in the aggregate and in their
sublime forest aspect, therefore, that we may
consider here; but trees as individuals and in
the closest domestic relation. So the first ques-
tion, naturally, will have to do with that rela-
tion. What is it to be—the purely polite and
zsthetic, or the practical and utilitarian? In
other words, shall the selection be for shade
and ornament, or for fruit?

This is another of those questions which per-
sonal preference must decide. Almost any fruit
tree, excepting the apple, may be used with
quite as good effect pictorially anywhere as an
ornamental tree. The apple alone, as usually
grown, is too irregular in its form to be ad-
mitted to the formal environment of a small
garden. It is something of an effort to wrench
the mind free from traditional shade trees, how-
ever, and as yet there are not many small gar-
den examples to show the possibilities of such
emancipation, or to furnish encouragement to
the uncertain.

148 COME INTO THE GARDEN

All town streets will of course always be
planted with ornamental trees, quite properly;
but for all those small gardens where trees are
possible, I cannot feel that the purely orna-
mental are quite as suitable, as a matter of
fact, as the more truly domestic trees which
have companied with man so many ages. The
latter suit his immediate environment more
completely, consequently they suit the very ar-
tificial conditions which his presence en masse
creates, very much better than oaks and elms,
beeches and hickorys, and all the forest royal-
ties possibly can. However strange it may
seem to us at first to think of using fruit trees
altogether, there is, too, most ancient and ex-
cellent precedent for them rather than orna-
mental trees, in such planting. Indeed our
present practice is very modern—almost wholly
of to-day—and prevails only where man has
not yet learned values and where proportions
are distorted.

But whatever the choice, the first and most
important thing to be settled about a tree, on
small grounds especially, is its location. This
is influenced by several things, some with an
elusive tendency to wait until the tree planter
has done his work before presenting themselves.
The thought of shade and inviting summer cool-

TREES AND THEIR PURPOSE 149

ness is probably uppermost, for one thing, when
trees are being considered, which is quite right
and natural. But the maximum shadow and
shelter from sun and heat are not by any means
always attained in the way that seems most
likely at first thought. For the impulse is usu-
ally to shade the dwelling; whereas it is the
arth from which heat is reflected into the
dwelling that should be shaded, rather than the
building.

Shutters will provide for the house itself,
its windows and doors, infinitely better protec-
tion from the sun than trees can give, for shut-
ters admit every vagrant breeze, however in-
dolent and languid it may be, while leafy
branches deflect and break up even valiant at-
tempts of the wind to a considerable degree.
The right position for a tree is far enough from
the house to admit the air, therefore, but near
enough to shade the ground about it where
otherwise the sun would beat with its fiercest
heat during the hottest hours of the day-—a
position which is best determined usually out
of doors, on the ground itself, at midday, rather
than on a plan.

Almost any upright object will serve as a
guide to the shadow’s direction, which is the
main thing to know. One’s own shadow will

150 COME INTO THE GARDEN

show this, of course, but as it is sometimes
necessary to get some distance away in order
to calculate various phases of the effect, it will
be found more expeditious to use a stake five
feet or more long, instead of to rely on this.
Such a stake, representing the bole or main
trunk of a tree, will give the middle of its
shadow and will at the same time show the
tree’s position definitely in its perspective rela-
tion to windows and the house generally, thus
indicating its possible effect on air currents.

The maximum heat of the day during the
heated period is usually between eleven and
three o’clock—hence it is the tine of shadow
between these hours that should be thrown on
the midst of the area that it is desired to shade.
But the other sultry hours need not be uncon-
sidered by any means; and often a tree may
be so placed that it will afford much more
protection than seems possible, or than would
be possible if its shadow were required over a
porch or door or window. The shadow, of
course, travels around the tree; it best serves
our purpose when the tree is so placed that it
travels in the general direction of the expanse
which we wish to shade.

The kinds of ornamental tree from which
choice may be made for the type of place to

bia ay ¢

de nant

reerreat

tae

No worthier motif than a tree can be found to inspire a
feature that shall distinguish the garden, for the importance
of a tree within the garden invariably demands emphasis

TREES AND THEIR, PURPOSE 151

which we are confining ourselves are not so
many that there need be difficulty in choosing.
The picturesque cannot be admitted, consist-
ently; only trees of orderly growth—the well-
behaved, conventional, and seemly members of
the tree race—will look at home and harmonize
with the sharply defined limits of suburban cul-
tivation. Curiously enough, although we have
many native to this continent which, properly
grown, would fulfill these requirements, exotics
are largely used where small trees are desired,
Japan and China furnishing the most of them.
There seems to be no good reason for this ex-
cept the fact that the trees of Japan are re-
markably free from annoying blights; and that
our insects do not seem to relish them as well
as,they do home-grown provender—two advan-
tages that make them highly desirable for the
ordinary garden, without doubt.

Still I do not feel that we should neglect the
material which is at hand when much of it is
of such fine quality and rare beauty—and no
more susceptible to blights and bugs than the
Japanese stock. And I have made it a rule not
to use exotics when native growth that would
serve as well was obtainable. Many times it is
not to be had, however, for few nurserymen
will work with native trees as they will with

152 COME INTO THE GARDEN

foreign—or as the nurserymen of Japan have
worked to attain the superlative merit with
their native material which there is no denying
it possesses. We do not know, as a consequence,
what possibilities we may have here.

There is, however, the hop tree or wafer ash
—Pielea trifoliata—less than twenty-five feet in
height often, never more, neat and clean cut;
the mountain ash—Sorbus Americana—evenly
round headed and trim, reaching thirty feet
and having great clusters of scarlet berries
gleaming among its green in late summer and
autumn; the shadbush or service berry—Ame-
lanchier Canadensis, also Amelanchier Botryap-
zum—the former sometimes reaching fifty feet,
the latter stopping at twenty-five or thirty; the
cock-spur thorn—Crataegus Crus-galliu—twenty-
five feet tall, and carrying dull red fruits all
winter; and the fringe tree—Chionanthus Vir-
ginica—twenty to thirty feet high and branch-
ing low on its trunk, yet nevertheless a tree and
not a shrub. Then there are the two small
maples—Acer spicatum and Acer Pennsylvani-
cum—the mountain maple and the moosewood
or striped maple, the first rather bushy and
about thirty feet in height, the second short of
trunk but less bushy and forty feet high; all
these at least are available and are very gen-

TREES AND THEIR PURPOSE 153

erally carried by first-class nurseries now. And
finally, at the end of the list so that it may
never be overlooked or forgotten, our peerless
dogwood, the tree that is unrivaled by any other
flowering tree in the world—Cornus florida.

With this array does it not truly seem that
there is very little reason or excuse for going
beyond our own boundaries for small trees with
which to furnish our most diminutive gardens?
It is only a matter of knowing and choosing
right—and of being a little less ardent in the
pursuit of novelty.

Just why trees or shrubs which have foliage
which is abnormal in one way or another should
appeal so strongly to popular fancy has always
been a problem beyond explanation or solution.
T suppose it may be for the same reason that
human and animal freaks in the circus side-
show draw; just one of those twists in human
nature that cannot be accounted for. But even
those of us who love to shiver at the sight of
monstrosities would hardly be willing to keep
company with them day in and day out and
have them perpetually before us. Why, then,
are we willing to tolerate, and eager to acquire
for our own, similar variations from the type
in the vegetable world? Only because we do
not quite realize the truth about these varia-

154 COME INTO THE GARDEN

tions probably, hence do not appreciate what
we are inflicting upon ourselves and upon our
neighbors.

All of which is apropos of the craze for vari-
colored foliage, for the golden this and the silver
that—and the blue spruce. Growing in the Ht-
tle groves of its kind as Nature scatters it, or
here and there on the banks of western streams,
this tree is an interesting, beautiful and attrac-
tive species; but brought into the dooryard and
set down under the windows it is almost invari-
ably out of key with everything in sight. And
so far from being impressive after its youth is
past, its symmetrical beauty of form is early
lost and it becomes ugly and unsightly.

Be sure that the normal type of vegetation
is the only safe type to plant—safe because per-
manent, and truly beautiful because normal; do
not let the promises of any person, interested or
disinterested, avail to break a resolution to stick
to this. When in doubt about anything, or al-
most persuaded, yet not certain of the effect that
will result, do not buy. Test the fitness of every
specimen introduced by the good stiff test of
logic and common sense.

It is with the adornment of outdoors precisely
the same as with the adornment of indoors;
deep, quiet tones extend lines and distances as

- TREES AND THEIR PURPOSE 155

well as produce an effect that is full of repose,
permanent and restful. Masses do the same,
as opposed to the nervousness of scattered treat-
ment and its consequent clutter.

Just as a room with plenty of simple, broad,
unornamented spaces is refreshing and like a
tonic after an interval spent in the curio-col-
lection type of apartment, so is a garden free
from all bizarre effects when contrasted with
the nurseries of vegetable color marvels which
some are deluded into planting. Purple forms
of beech tree and barberry bush are practically
the only variations from typical foliage color
which are tolerable; these two are indeed very
beautiful in the right place, as a matter of fact.
But remember that restraint is always safer than
extravagance, and that the small garden is per-
force denied many things which a larger place
may indulge.

“In winter, when the dismal rain
Comes down in slanting lines,
And Wind, that grand old harper, smote
His thunder-harp of pines.”
—A Life Drama—ALEXANDER SmitTH.

CHAPTER XI
Tue Usk anp AsBuss or EVERGREENS

| X yirn the desire to maintain cheer of living

green around the home during the winter
I wish to say at once that I sympathize wholly,
inasmuch as I shall appear to be, for a little at
least, opposed to what very evidently seems to
great numbers of people the only way of secur-
ing what they want. Bear with me however,
and let us see if there are not better ways than
the common practice of misusing infant ever-
greens, to this end.

For that is all that the most of the small ever-
greens we see used in massing around buildings,
are—small because young and not grown. And
they are not, of course, shrubs, though some per-
sons call them shrubs when urging that they be
grouped against the foundations of a building

156

USE AND ABUSE OF EVERGREENS 157

for winter effect. But a shrub is a distinct kind
of growth; never the immature form of any
tree. And because there are true evergreen
shrubs it would seem that we should be careful
and not misapply the word to young cone bear-
ing trees—otherwise trees of the great botanical
order Conitfere.

To come at once at the heart of this misappli-
cation and misuse, I contend that, whatever its
size may be when it is set out, a tree is a tree
for all that—hence to be situated as a tree and
not as a shrub. That is the first point. The
second is that the individuality of each kind of
cone-bearer is so distinct, so positive, so assertive
that we should recognize the futility of any at-
tempt to bring it into harmonious relation with
other kinds, under a system of grouping such
as we find so effective when we deal with shrubs
or even with certain deciduous trees. Ever-
greens indeed belong to a totally different class
of vegetation from any other and demand to be
thought of differently and to be used under a
different concept; in which connection it may
be interesting to say that they are regarded by
some authorities on plant biology as a really
passing race.

That is, they belong with a past age—are
the remnants of it perhaps—and show now, to

158 COME INTO THE GARDEN

those who understand, the characteristics of
their struggle to survive the changed conditions
of the present and a certain desperate effort to
adapt themselves and thus to escape extinction.
When it is remembered that there have been
mighty groups of animals, of men, and of many
forms of vegetation that are no longer to be
found anywhere on the earth, it is not difficult
to realize that this process of extinction may
perfectly well be going on right under our eyes.
Indeed, why should it not be? What is more
probable?

All of which makes the conifer more interest-
ing, and certainly to be treated with the greatest
consideration and a better understanding than
leads to its use haphazard as “shrubbery” to
hide a cellar wall. Yet to hide our cellar walls
with something that will be effective winter as
well as summer, we often wish; and this brings
me to the consideration first of evergreen shrubs.
For there are many of these, every one beauti-
ful and some bearing beautiful flowers or beau-
tiful fruits; and of course they lend themselves
to the foundation massing which is so desired,

perfectly well.

Which is not the case with the trees; for of all
the great cone- bearing class there are really
only two suited to the small garden. These are

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USE AND ABUSE OF EVERGREENS 159

the arborvitse, which is sometimes called white
cedar, and the red cedar—the first being Thuya
occidentalis and the second Juniperus communis.
Out of the countless nursery varieties of these it
is possible to get a considerable variation in ap-
pearance—if this were desirable. But variation
of this character is exactly what the best stand-
ards of planting avoid, for reasons which I will
try to make clear, though standards are some-
times difficult things to explain definitely. Just
why one thing is good while another is bad
positively defies expression in words, now and
then.

But in general I think a safe guide in garden
standards is the sense of repose. No design or
planting which is not restful and unobtrusive,
is good; and no design that is dominated by con-
trasts is either of these. Above all else indeed a
garden must have unbroken mass—not kaleido-
scopic variety; and it must be true mass, else
it will almost certainly degenerate into mess.
The groups of small evergreens of which I spoke
at the beginning of the chapter, for example, are
called masses by their advocates and admirers
—and they are of course a mass of evergreens.
But they are all different in kind; therefore they
are not what I term a true mass. To be this the
group must be confined to one variety only,

160 COME INTO THE GARDEN

must be a mass of junipers or arborvites or
pines or firs; then it has continuity and dignity
and repose.

With no class of vegetation is this distinction
so aggressive, if I may put it that way, as it is
with evergreens, although it is always apparent
and decidedly in evidence to the discriminating
observer. A mass of shrubbery is better for
being made up of six or seven kinds instead of
fifteen or twenty; a group of deciduous trees
likewise must be limited in varieties if it is not
to look like a collection instead of part of a
landscape; and flowers lose in effect in inverse
ratio to the number of colors and kinds which a
single mass contains. But in none of these is
there such striking disharmony as in a group of
many kinds of evergreens, partly because the
former are not confined when growing in the
wild to groups containing only one variety, per-
haps, while evergreens almost invariably are;
largely because the individuality of evergreens
is so much more marked that two kinds in com-
bination never blend in the slightest degree, as
deciduous growth does. On the contrary, each
specimen stands apart, however close it may be
put to its neighbors, protesting and indignant
at the affront which such treatment imposes.

While the small garden may be allowed two

USE AND ABUSE OF EVERGREENS 161

kinds of deciduous tree, therefore, such as the
single dogwood or single wafer ash and an oak
mentioned in the last chapter, it should never
entertain more than one kind of evergreen—or,
more strictly speaking, conifer. Several of this
one kind may find space, of course; but however
large the number possible, never allow but the
one variety. My own preference is for the
arborvite as being more generally suitable in
every way to small quarters. It may attain a
height of fifty or sixty feet at maturity (they
are seldom to be found this size), but even at
this height it remains narrow and therefore does
not usurp space required for other things, or for
open air and sunlight. And it possesses much
beauty to recommend it and is a sturdy, hardy,
thrifty specimen. The Siberian variety is pre-
ferred to the native by some, as it is less likely
to burn under the winter sun and show dead
places as a consequence, when planted in a
hedge. I have found the native (Thuya occi-
dentalis) quite as satisfactory for general plant-
ing, however, and its taller, slimmer form is
more to my liking; but that is of course a mat-
ter of personal taste. (The Siberian variety is
Thuya occidentalis, Wareana.)

The red cedar or juniper is our one best
material for effects inspired by the Italian

162 COME INTO THE GARDEN

cypress; and it is useful also wherever an
arborvitze might be used, inasmuch as it has
the same columnar form. In texture it is more
ethereal than the arborvitz, even while it is
darker and duller in color; and as it ages it
loses its lower branches and gradually becomes
broad topped and picturesquely irregular and
distorted. Wherefore, though this is not char-
acteristic until long after its youth and even
middle age are passed, it cannot be used where
an absolutely permanent pyramidal or columnar
form is required, as the arborvite can.

Of the small and interesting conifers from
Japan and China that are constantly becoming
more available as the stock sent out by the
Arnold Arboretum—whence practically all of
these have come—is built up by those growers
fortunate enough to have acquired it, it must
be said that they do seem to meet the desire for
diminutive material that will not outgrow its:
surroundings. But with these, as with all others
of this-class, be counseled to avoid mixing. If
the retinospora is chosen, use only this and of
one variety. It will make a fine, dense screen
too high to see over, if this is needed, or it will
mark the points of the design if such marking
seems desirable. It too is, as a matter of fact,
a juvenile form; but as it is somewhat re-

USE AND ABUSE OF EVERGREENS 163

strained from attaining normal size by selection
in propagating, and is further affected by the
struggle to adapt in order to survive the chang-
ing conditicns of which I have spoken, the
retinospora will not become a tree such as the
arborvite or juniper.

“Go down to Kew in lilac-time, in lilac-time, in lilac-time;

Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from Lon-
don!)

And you shall wander hand in hand with love in sum-

mer’s wonderland;

Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn’t far from Lon-
don!).

—“Go Down to Kew in Lilac-time’”—A.FrRepD Noyes.

CHAPTER XII
SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS

rT is the common habit to think of and make
I use of shrubs—almost never of shrubbery.
Which is all the difference between a nursery
and a garden picture, in the last analysis. For
shrubs individually have not the pictorial qual-
ity; indeed I think we may very safely say
that neither has anything else that goes to the
making of a garden, alone and by itself. Soli-
tary growths may become splendid and perfect
specimens, but their very perfection destroys
their picturesqueness. So I am going to ask you
to banish completely the thought of the lilae

bush or the snowball in the midst of the door-
164

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 165

yard and to acquire a new conception of this
kind of garden material. Not that we are to
make an end of these fine old-timers themselves
by any means; but we must learn more about
their kind than we possibly can while they as
individuals occupy the mental foreground, ob-
scuring all else.

In the first place there are several important
requirements in the garden scheme which shrub-
bery alone can meet. Screens are needed,
sometimes to obscure something which lies be-
yond the boundaries, sometimes for the seclu-
sion of the place from uninvited inspection from
without, and again for the hiding of utility
features in one part from the more elegant
portions. No individual shrub, however, will
provide an effectual screen—for to be effectual
a screen must conceal the thing which it is meant
to hide so completely that no suspicion of its
_ presence will arise as one looks in its direction.
The screen that falls short of fulfilling this re-
quirement is worse than a failure; it is an aggra-
vation, permitting as it does a suspicion of the
thing hidden and rousing curiosity accordingly.

Apart from its function of screen making,
shrubbery provides one of the best flowering
mediums that the garden may enjoy—and the
hard pressed busy gardener as well. For with a

166 COME INTO THE GARDEN

proper selection of shrubs, uninterrupted bloom
throughout the summer is practically secured,
with no further effort than the initial planting.
Let it not be understood that I am quoting this
in favor of shrubbery because other garden ma-
terial is too much trouble to care for, under the
usual circumstances of the all-the-year home. I
am not at all in sympathy with that attitude,
as I think I have already made plain; but there
are many times legitimate reasons for the gar-
dener’s inability to spend much time in his gar-
den. It is this situation which is met by the
things requiring little care, making a garden
and flowers possible where otherwise all would
be barren.

Obviously if flowers throughout six months
in summer are to be enjoyed, there must be at
least six different kinds included in a shrubbery
planting, as no kind can be expected to bloom
over a month. Asa matter of fact, no kind will
bloom that long, and six shrubs would leave
gaps, however carefully they were chosen.
Eight or ten must be combined to get flowers
from April to September; but as the best stand-
ard of planting requires many of a few kinds
rather than a few each of many kinds, a group
of ten shrubs each different from the other is
not to be considered as a possibility for an in-

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 167

stant. We must either be satisfied with bloom
somewhat interrupted, or we must greatly in-
crease the number of individuals planted.

Which of these alternatives is chosen will of
course depend on the amount of space which
may be given over to shrubbery. A much larger
group numerically may be used than was pos-
sible under the old way of planting where every
shrub stood alone to give it room to grow into
a specimen. For a distance between individ-
uals of from two to three to four feet is ample,
the latter being a maximum that is rarely used
excepting along the edge of a border, or well in
the background where large shrubs are furnish-
ing the high growth. The general average
throughout a shrubbery mass should be from
two and a half to three feet.

It has been my experience that this close
massing 1s more nearly an insurmountable ob-
stacle to the average planter than any other of
the innovations which gardening, treated as an
art, require him to accept. Perpetually the ob-
jection is raised that the individuals in a mass
will not do well; that they will be crowded
and lose their shape; that they will not show.
Not doing well I find usually includes the two
latter in its broad generality and is not a refer-
ence to the shrub’s health and nourishment.

108 COME INTO THE GARDEN

However that may be, though, there is not the
slightest chance of shrubs planted in this close
company not doing exactly what they should
in the matter of growth; of their not becoming
just the shape which best suits their position
and the artist-gardener’s general purpose; and
not showing to the fullest degree desirable and
conformable with the scheme. Indeed, close
company with its consequent mutual protection,
is more in accord with Nature's scheme of things
always than scattered planting.

In this connection it may be said that al-
though the exigencies of the small place demand
a great deal of restraint in the handling of the
garden material, shrubbery is the one thing
which simply cannot be subjected to formal
treatment with satisfactory results, but must be
used as Nature uses it. Certain shrubs lend
themselves readily enough to the carrying out
of more or less formal lines, to be sure; but
shrubbery collectively, being in its very nature
broadly -pictorial, must be picturesquely dis-
posed. The aim should always be to produce
with it a mass—an impenetrable thicket of in-
terlacing boughs; and as a matter of fact shrub-
bery rightly massed will be almost as effectual
a screen in winter, with its branches bare, as in
summer when they are in full leaf. Forget that

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 169

such a thing as a shrub exists; regard the indi-
viduals only as components of a blossom-strewn,
colorful thicket. Look at them in the aggre-
gate; never separately.

It is as a frame to the lawn spaces, hence as a
boundary planting usually, that the use of
shrubbery is satisfactorily possible on a small
place. Heretofore I have not laid emphasis upon
the point which must now be considered—a
point involving one of the great principles which
underlie all kinds of planting and garden ar-
rangement, namely the open center and massed
boundary—preferring to leave it until it was
arrived at naturally in the development of the
subject. In the disposal of shrubbery we first
come face to face with it, in close quarters.
Trees would have brought it if we had been con-
sidering places larger than the typical size to
which we are restricted, although trees need not
be quite as persistently shoved back to the
lawn’s outer limits as shrubs. Indeed they can-
not be, if shade requirements are to be met, al-
though actually their distribution about a dwell-
ing to shade the ground from which heat re-
flects in summer, amounts really to a massed
boundary of one part of the lawn, when con-
sidered from the lawn’s center.

A tree or two or three may advance, however,

170 COME INTO THE GARDEN

here and there, quite well out into the lawn, if
the latter is spacious; but the shrubbery mass
must not, except in so far as the undulations of
its foreline, determined in plan when the design
is made, carry it. This foreline or meeting line
of shrubbery and lawn is most successful when
its likeness to a rugged shore line is closest, the
water being represented by the lawn while the
shrubbery mass corresponds to the land. In-
lets and promontories mark such a shore, and
lawn “inlets” and shrub “promontories” are ex-
actly the effect most desired and desirable in
shrubbery planting. Study the conformation of
such a bank: here and there are gentle slopes
down to the water’s edge. These will be suc-
cessfully reproduced by low-growing and almost
prostrate shrubs, planted in the fore of the taller

varieties. Elsewhere, masses sometimes detach
themselves and tumble down and out a bit from
the parent headland. Here is the guide which
shows how detached specimens may be planted
at the prominent parts of the border—of which
there should be only a very few, however.

It is distinctly apparent that this sort of thing
cannot be carried out, except on a very limited
scale, within the fifty by one hundred foot plot,
if anything else is to find room in the garden.
True, a very pleasing border of shrubbery is pos-

Such little trees as this dwarf apple are excellent material
to incorporate with shrubbery mass anywhere in full sun-
light, for both in flower and fruit they are ornamental

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 171

sible even in this space, if it is prized above all
else; and even with such a border there may
still be opportunity for some flowers. But great
restraint must govern, obviously.

Generally speaking, too little thought is given
to the dreariest time of the year in planning the
garden. Summer is fair and gracious and pleas-
ant enough without much coaxing or cajoling;
but late autumn and winter, and raw, muddy,
early spring are rude and gloomy and sullen and
sulky more of the time than not—yet rarely a
thought of conciliation is given to them. Winter
garden effects are hardly worth calculating in
the summer home, of course, but village homes
generally are for all the year rather than for its
garden season only. Therefore the winter sea-
son should be as definitely included in making
plans as the summer; if need be I would advise
sacrifice of the latter a little in order to favor the
former.

Shrubbery furnishes the great medium for
winter beauty in the garden, with perhaps a
touch of evergreen planting to give depth. The
shrubs which, by means of colored bark or per-
sistent berries, contribute most to the winter
phase of garden making, however, are not the
shrubs which furnish the choicest blossoms in
summer—or that furnish bloom over the longest

172 COME INTO THE GARDEN

period. It is this to which I had reference in
suggesting the sacrifice of summer in order to
favor winter. A liberal use of what we may call
the fine winter-effect shrubs will curtail the
number of summer-effect varieties that may be
planted, but I feel that the gain in winter more
than compensates the small loss in summer. For
other things will furnish summer flowers, even
though the continuous shrub bloom is given
over, but nothing save the certain shrubbery
masses selected for it can give to winter the
warmth and cheer which lie in these for the
year-around home.

The rhododendron is probably the best known
of all the broad-leaved evergreens—and almost
the last one that should be used next, or near
to, a building, I hasten to add. For of all the
things comprising this great class it is the most
essentially wild in every sense of the word.
Not that any of them take enthusiastically to
domestication—they have to be catered to
meticulously—but at least they fit themselves
into its setting harmoniously. But the rhodo-
dendron cannot, for ungainliness. It does not
sulk and it blooms and grows; but it always
seems to me like some great, wild, unlettered
cow-puncher (which all cow-punchers I know
are not!) booted and spurred and in full regalia,

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 173

trying his utmost to entertain and be enter-
tained in a fashionable drawing-room. It is no
derogation of either the man, the drawing-room,
or its other occupants that his efforts are unsuc-
cessful and that his growing self-consciousness
makes them more rather than less so. Similarly
with the rhododendron; no finer or more beau-
tiful plant exists than it, in its proper environ-
ment—which is the half shade of open woods—
but away from this environment its actual
beauties are diminished, and what remain are
so obscured by its awkwardness and obvious
consciousness of being out of place, that they
hardly count.

So as a first rule in the use of this particular
shrub let us say that it shall never be placed
against or even very close to a building, unless
that building is situated actually in a wood and
all the conditions around it are naturally wild
or duplicate the wild completely. I do not
deny that now and then there are to be found
instances of its use in the midst of small conifers
against a building where its awkwardness is not
so in evidence; but these are rare, and not,
moreover, permanent, since the conifers will
crowd in against the shrub in time and need
thinning, or the whole will need replanting.

Further, there are so many things better than

174 COME INTO THE GARDEN

rhododendrons for use about a building, and
there are so much better uses of the rhodo-
dendron, that there is no valid reason for this
misuse of it. Leave it to its wild, sweet will;
naturalize it under trees and you will find noth-
ing in the world lovelier. Is it worth while to
sacrifice its beauty when treated thus, to gratify
the (mistaken) desire for it beside the door or
against the house foundations, because it is
evergreen? Decidedly it is not—for its beauty
in the natural environment of woods is startling
beyond everything else and one of the choicest
dramatic elements available to the landscape
architect.

By which you will gather that the small gar-
den is not the place for it, no doubt; let me go
further and say that nothing but the wilderness
is the place for it. Where we can naturalize it
in its beloved woods as we do any other wild
flower in its favorite haunt, there let us use it
in as great quantity as possible; or where we
can mass it in rich banks and billows under the
shade of great trees to form lovely glades in an
estate park, let us do so; but not otherwise.
For other situations we have other and better
material, no more beautiful intrinsically to be
sure, but more suitable.

Bear in mind invariably that the garden ideal

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 175

is not horticultural above all else. It considers
instead the picture that is being created—and
extraordinary specimens do not contribute to
that harmony of ensemble which is the essential
thing. So, however remarkable a shrub may
be in bloom and other individual characteris-
tics, in its garden aspect it must have the added
quality of being a good mixer—unless it is to
make one of a collection grown for the sole pur-
pose of ascertaining how magnificent specimen
plants may become, which is altogether another
proposition.

There are ten distinct evergreen shrubs that
are obtainable—that is, they are offered by
nurseries—which I would recommend as suit-
able wherever an evergreen mass is desired.
They are, in their alphabetical order, Abelia
(bush arbutus), Andromeda (lily-of-the-valley
shrub), certain Azaleas, Calluna (Scotch hea-
ther), certain Cotoneasters, Daphne (garland
flower), Evonymus, certain Ilex (holly and ink-
berry), Kalmia (mountain laurel), and Mahonia
(Oregon grape). To undertake a description
of each here is not necessary, but of their han-
dling in general I may say that they require to
be dug in the nursery and shipped with a ball
of earth held firmly about their roots, just as
evergreen trees are dug. And they like a soil

176 COME INTO THE GARDEN

in which forest leaves are decaying constantly,
providing it with the acid that vegetable ma-
ter of this sort alone will furnish—which these
plants all require.

The relative positions which these shrubs
should occupy toward each other, and the dis-
tances between them, are the same as with de
ciduous material. The tallest are the Jlexr Ma-
honta, and some Cofeneasfers; the next are the
laurel and Andromeda and the others are still
lower, down to the almost prostrate growing
Cotoneaster microphylla.

Of them finally it is perhaps well to say that
they are expensive material; but if they are
selected of a size to be really effective they will
produce an effect as immediate as any other
evergreen. Otherwise they will not produce a
fimshed effect as soon as deciduous material,
since they are of much slower growth. More-
ever, while they are growing, it will not do to
fill the blank spaces between or around them
with other shrubs or even with lush growing
annuals, for these will choke off light and air
from them and retard their own progress almost
altogether. These things considered, however,
there is no reason why evergreen shrubs should
not be as freely used in the small garden as in
the large, and with delightful effect.

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 177

But this broad-leaved evergreen group, lovely
though many of its members are, does not sur-
pass in winter beauty, in my opinion, the vi-
brant warmth of the barberry’s scarlet fruits,
quivering the length of every branch, nor of its
tangle of red-brown twigs; or the great cymes
of the high-bush cranberry which nod aloft de-
fying sleet and snow until spring brings forth
the young leaves to crowd them out of their
way; or the deep burgundy of the cornel
branches laced against the snow; or the bright
hips and glowing color of the wild-rose mass.
The broad-leaved evergreens, too, such as rho-
dodendron and laurel and andromeda, require
certain soil conditions for successful growth,
but the shrubs just named will grow anywhere
practically, in any soil and situation.

Roses are shrubs, of course—but none of the
hybrid double roses should ever find their way
into the shrubbery. There are several lovely
shrubbery roses available for such massing,
either in groups made up of themselves alone,
or mingled with a general planting; but these
are never the double rose of the florist. At
most they are only semidouble, usually they
are single. The great roses of the rose garden
—the hybrid teas and perpetuals and all the
fancier’s kind—are artificial products of cen-

178 COME INTO THE GARDEN

turies of culture which have quite outgrown the
common general garden and must always have
a place to themselves. Note that these are
never ornamented with the rich and brilliant
berries or hips which make the wild rose and the
other single roses such things of beauty and joy
in winter. This is the penalty of doubling. The
plant is rendered sterile and incapable of pro-
ducing fruit.

Boxwood is another shrub growth that is in
a class apart from all the rest. It is the one
plant of this class that, unless used as a hedge,
is preferably planted alone rather than in a
group. We seem to have lost the knack of
handling it effectively nowadays, however, and
even the boxwood hedge is almost never seen.
Its slow growth is probably in a large measure
the reason for this; and it is of course an ex-
pensive species, compared to the general run
of shrubs. But one well-placed specimen of
boxwood should find a place in the garden, even
though it comes as a very tiny bush in the
beginning. For not another plant in the world
has such an air about it as this exquisite old
aristocrat—and it suits formal or informal
schemes equally well, even as gentlefolks tact-
fully set things and people at their ease, wher-
ever they may go.

SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 179

Ten Suruss ror ALL-suMMER BLoom with CoLtor or FLowers
AND Heraut at Maruriry

APRIL

Forsythia Forsythia Fortunes Yellow 8 feet
May

Flame azalea Azalea calendulacea Orange Git
Spirea ' Spirwa Van Houttes White Sie
Lilac Syringa vulgaris White, lilac 12 “
Jon

Weigelia Diervilla floribunda Crimson Ginire
Mock orange Philadelphus coronarius White 1K) Ye
JULY

New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus White Sig
Butterfly bush Buddleia variabilis Veitcht Lilac Si
AvausrT

Giant elder Sambucus maxima pubescens White 10 “
SepreMBEeR

Rose of Sharon Hibiscus Syriacus White, etc. 10 “

The above bloom approximately in the months named, and hold their
flowers usually long enough to leave no intermissions, hence this selection
will give as nearly uninterrupted bloom all summer as it is possible to
achieve.

Ten EverRGREEN SHRUBS

Winterberry* Ilex glabra White 8 feet
Laurel Kalmia latifolia Pink Shit
Azalea Azalea indica alba White Sis:
Oregon grape* Mahonia aquifolium Yellow 64
Spindle tree Evonymus Japonicus Greenish Giyies
Fire thorn* Pyracantha coccinea Lalandi White Giit
Andromeda Pieris floribunda White Bnet
Cotoneaster Cotoneaster Simonsi White Aue
Lily-of-Valley shrub Leucothoe Catesbaei White Sunes
Scotch heather Calluna vulgaris Pink, white ANAND

Evergreen shrubs are not planted primarily for their bloom, which in
some is inconspicuous. Those marked with an asterisk have highly decora-
tive fruits, however, so their evergreen quality is not their only charm;
aud several have very lovely flowers as well.

180 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Tren Surups ror SHADY PLACES

Cornelian cherry Cornus Mas Yellow 10 feet
Panicled dogwood Cornus paniculaia White Suis
Silky cornel Cornus Amemum White tae
Regel’s privet Ligusirum Tbota Regelianum White Se
Hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens White Se
Sweet pepper-bush Clethra alnifelia White So
Deutzia Deuitzia scabra White ey ss
Snowberry Syumphoricarpos racemosus Pink 6vs
Japanese barberry Berberis Thunbergitt Yellow aos
St. John's-wort Hypericum densiylorum Yellow 4 3%

Ten SHRuss with ORNAMENTAL FRuIts

Turquoise berry Symplecus paniculata Blue berries 10-20 feet
Christmas berry Photinia villosa Scarlet TQs ‘ss
Buckthorn Rhamnus Frangula Red to black Yara
Red chokeberry Aronta arbuitfolia Red Ta
Cornel Cornus Batleyt White 10; “
Spice bush Benzoin odoriferum Red 10;
Burning bush Evonymus alatus Orange and red Ss
Gray alder Ilex levigaia Scarlet Suns
Withe rod Viburnum casstnotdes yey
8 a“

Barberry Berberis vulgaris purpurea Purple

“Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.”
—WoRrRDSWORTH.

CHAPTER XIII

FLOoweErRS OF ALL CLIMES AND SEASONS

I is, I know, a reversal of the order which the
garden beginner’s enthusiasm takes to wait
until everything else has been disposed of before
coming even to the consideration of flowers.
But if I have succeeded at all in developing
through these pages the garden idea, as I con-
ceive it, you will appreciate by this time that
the garden is the thing, and that all that goes
to make up the garden is secondary—even the
trees and shrubs and flowers. Of course there
would be no garden without vegetation; but
our custom has always been to work from the
vegetation backward—a practice which never
can give the harmoniously balanced and beau-
tiful final result that the more logical method of
181

182 COME INTO THE GARDEN

working up to the vegetation, from the bare
ground, assures.

So the garden and house are designed as a
unit, and all that enters into this design is con-
sidered and worked out before the plants are
thought of. After all this is done, after the
house and the garden are carefully and thor-
oughly built, then the place as a whole stands
ready for furnishing, the indoors with its kind,
the outdoors with its. Large pieces of furniture
in the house, then the smaller, and then the
purely decorative material; trees out of doors,
next shrubs—and finally the flowers. Thus we
come to them fully prepared to place and group
them worthily, and to treat them as they deserve
to be treated.

The times when they are so dealt with are all
too few, unintentional though our sins of omis-
sion are; as a consequence, the effect of the
flowers which we do grow is not one-hundredth
what it might be. For we should have not only
the beauty of the flowers themselves to delight
us, but the beauty of the garden design—the
garden scheme as a whole, picked out and
quickened by them. They are, indeed, the
garden craftsman’s colorful gems, his inlays of
rich enamel, his mosaic chips, to be imcorpo-
rated into his design as these jewels and bits of

FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 183

enamel or shell or what not are assembled under
the hands of workers skilled in the crafts which
employ them.

Everyone knows of course that there are,
generally speaking, two kinds of flowering plants
—those which live over from year to year, and
those which must be raised every year from
seed sown in the spring; or perennials and an-
nuals, according to garden terminology. A
third kind which escapes the attention of the
beginner very often is the biennial, a plant
which is raised from seed one spring, grows to
maturity the first summer, lives through the
winter, and blossoms and matures its seed the
second summer, dying when fall comes—not of
the cold but because its life cycle is over.

These lap-overs are an exasperating kind of
plant to my mind, and if it were not that some
of the loveliest of flowers are among them I
think I should never admit them to my garden;
for each year young plants must be raised and
wintered over if next year is to have its quota
of blossoms; yet the space in the garden occu-
pied by the blossoming plants is not available
until after the season is over, of course. So
somewhere there must be a nursery for the
young stock. Annuals on the contrary, brief
though their span, require no coddling, but may

184 COME INTO THE GARDEN

almost always be sown in the spring where they
are to grow; and they blossom and take them-
selves out of the way with no confusion—which
habit has its distinct advantages.

Annuals, biennials, and perennials each have
their superior points, however, and each have
their place in garden making. Only the plants
which are already there when spring wakes
the world are really worthy such a garden as
each should be working for, however. Here
and there a clump of the others may come in as
the summer days lengthen and a bit of spare
room shows itself; but let them be entertained
as guests only, in the spare room; do not take
them permanently into the family.

For the temporary flowers or annuals are
only temporary; they grow rapidly and luxuri-
antly after they start, it is true, and blossom
freely. But they are not there at all during
the wonderful weeks that follow the March or
April reveille—and a garden barren at this
time is no garden! So plan for the hardy last-
ing plants, the crocus and daffodil, the iris and
peony and phlox and day lily, tall hollyhocks
and low columbines, blushing lupines, pale
baneberry, and twinkling starwort. And ban-
ish the salvia, the geranium, the fearful coleus
—this not a flower but favored as flowers are

FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 185

and more strident than any—the canna and the
elephant’s ear. The presence of these never
adorned anything; their manners are too
shocking.

Which brings me to the matter of flower beds,
these being usually the medium of display for
overbearing flowers of this type. I am glad that
the two are associated; glad that no one has
ever dreamed of doing such a thing as plant a
round bed of hollyhocks, or of any other fine
old garden aristocrat, in the midst of a lawn.
For of all gardening offenses the flower bed is
surely the worst—the type of deadly and un-
pardonable sin—the murderer of harmony and
beauty and repose.

Such strong condemnation seems unneces-
sarily severe, perhaps you say; but when the
outrage which design suffers by having a de-
tached, meaningless unit dropped into the midst
of a fine and open space is added to the outrage
inflicted upon an expanse of lawn by cutting its
heart away to make room for flaunting garden
courtesans, and all this is multiplied, who shall
say how often, by our instinct for imitation led
by the fear of being original, strong language is
demanded. Better no flowers at all than a
flower bed; there is at least no affront in the
blankness of the unadorned—and it is peaceable

186 COME INTO THE GARDEN

if nothing more. The places for flowers in a
garden are very much like the place for gems in
a fine piece of jewelry. All the design leads up
to them in a way—and yet no part is neglected
for them, or because they are expected to focus
attention. This is exactly the ideal to adopt in
placing flowers in the garden design. With it in
mind, serious mistakes will never occur.

Many things will influence the selection of
varieties and colors after the locations are de-
termined upon, and not until these are deter-
mined can definite choice be made. Of course
it will be possible to make provision usually for
any special thing which it is desired to have,
but the general conditions of the garden as to
soil and exposure must be met by using plants
which prefer these conditions. This is a phase
of gardening that is perhaps the hardest for
early enthusiasm to accept patiently, for it does
seem that there should be some way to make
anything grow that one very much wishes to
have. And there usually is, of course, but it is
often a very laborious way and one requiring
knowledge and skill to follow. So the beginner
will-be much wiser to forswear the things his
heart is set upon, if these are not naturally
adapted to his garden conditions, until such time
at least as he is no longer a beginner and his

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FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 187

garden is well furnished in the main with things
that will grow easily therein. Then, if he still
longs for that which Nature denies, it will be
time to experiment, and the whole place need
not suffer in appearance as a consequence.

But there are a great many more kinds of
flowers than any garden can possibly hold, and
much that is lovely must be excluded. Indeed,
more will have to stay out than may come in,
for flower masses—that is, masses of one kind
of flower—are as essential to good effect as mass
generally. A border along a wall or walk may
be mixed—usually should be in fact, in order to
secure bloom through all the season—but of
each species composing the mixture anywhere
from three to a dozen or twenty specimens must
be planted, depending of course on the size and
habit of the individual.

Just here let me call special attention to the
little planting diagram, which illustrates a prin-
ciple which should be carefully observed in
planting any mixed group or border. Where a
clump of one species or variety meets a clump
of another, a sharp line of demarkation must
never be allowed. Instead, an effect of each
tapering off into the other, secured by scattering
together the two, not regularly at all but as
they would be likely to mingle if self-sown in the

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This section from a flow-

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ue) aT shows one kind of plant
i represented by an open ring
q O° 4 : and the other by a black
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spot.

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Diagram showing inter-
mingling where groups
meet.

FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 189

wild, should be the aim. Observe any field of
daisies and buttercups, of clover and daisies,
or of any common wild growth, and you will
find a perfect model. Masses of each will stand
by themselves, crowded in places, thin else-
where, and finally giving way gradually to the
other, with here and there a fugitive specimen
venturing quite beyond its kind into the other’s
preserve. Follow this idea generally in the bor-
der, and indeed in all group planting whether
of flowers, shrubs, or trees. A single specimen,
such as peony or boltonia, may stand alone and
independent now and then of course, but ordi-
narily everything should be massed—and the
masses should meet graciously.

Color seems to be a stumbling block some-
times, whatever way it is considered. But this
is because it is over-considered or not really
considered at all, I fancy. An idea that because
it is color in flowers it will take care of itself
and because Nature seems to use it carelessly
one may do the same, is too prevalent for one
thing, while a lack of boldness is characteristic
of another school of specialists. Colors that are
inharmonious are inharmonious anywhere and
in any medium; and Nature only seems to use
color carelessly. She is a consummate artist be
it remembered, and can do with dash and im-

190 COME INTO THE GARDEN

punity things which we must beware of attempt-
ing until we have learned enough of her tech- .
nique to have acquired facility.

Certain plants are notorious offenders in the
matter of color without doubt, and furnish com-
binations which should be avoided like the
plague. Preéminent in this class stand the mix-
tures of zinnias that are usually seen; and phlox
is a notorious offender with its salmon and ma~-
genta shades. Yet magenta is a wonderful color
—properly placed. Elimination of any color
therefore is only the negative side of color pos-
sibility, and its positive side is capable of most
delightful development.

As a general guide to the use of colors, it is
well to fix the three primary colors in mind and
the combinations which form the secondary
colors. The primary colors (old style) are pure
yellow, pure red, and pure blue, as of course
everyone knows. These are primary because
they may not be further dissected into com-
ponents, each standing by itself as a basic unit.
The secondary colors are scarlet, purple, and
green, and these are each made up of two of the
primary or basic colors, and no more, theoret-
ically at least—yellow and red forming scarlet,
red and blue forming purple, and blue and yel-
low forming green. An actually pure color is

FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 191

almost unknown as a matter of fact and prob-
ably is unknown in Nature. For pure colors
are not pleasant to the eye; their brilliancy
needs tempering to make them endurable.

Ordinarily two primary colors should not be
used in groups that immediately adjoin, but a
progression from one primary color to another
by way of their secondary color, is always pos-
sible and very effective if well carried out.
Pure blue may progress to pure yellow by means
of green—foliage of course takes care of this—
and pure blue to pure red by means of purple.
This last you see allows space for the shades of
magenta; but the plants to furnish these must
be carefully selected, since in some the color is
muddy and ugly.

Such a progression should not be too abrupt,
but should move in several steps when possible,
from primary to secondary and thence to the
succeeding primary. And then, supplementing
this as a general guide, is the proportioned use
of complementary colors. These are the pair
of colors made up of any primary color in com-
bination with the secondary, of which it is not
a part—as red and green, yellow and purple,
blue and scarlet. Primary and secondary are
said to be complementary to each other because
if united they would—theoretically—compose

192 COME INTO THE GARDEN

pure light, which we most nearly represent by
white. Of course pigments themselves do not
actually produce white, because they are not
pure vibrations of light, but that is another
matter and does not concern us when we are
dealing with a thing as tangible as the colors of
flowers and vegetation generally.

The three sets of complementary colors vary
in the degree of harmony between them. To
meet this variation they must be combined un-
equally, the proportion varying according to
the combination. Yellow and purple offer less
difficulty than the other two and may be used
in the proportion of about one part of either
to two parts of the other. Flowers of certain
irises give examples of this combination, also
pansies.

Red and green come next, but with this com-
bination we are not called upon to deal, Nature
taking care of green very much better than we
could if it were left to us. Note, however, just
by way of illustrating the point of proportion,
that the red or the green is always very much
in the ascendant when this combination occurs.
Red berries among green foliage show probably
not more than a one-to-ten proportion of red to
green, while scarlet flowers generally either re-
verse this by concealing a large amount of their

FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 193

foliage, or do not reduce it at most below a one
part red to seven or eight parts green.

Blue and scarlet are the really difficult mem-
bers of the trinity to handle, for some mysteri-
ous reason. It is a combination which may be
avoided of course but we are not seeking to
get around these things. Therefore we must
find the way to make it tolerable. This lies in
keeping its proportions even farther apart than
the red and green combination requires. In-
deed, either the blue or the scarlet must be
practically nil save on close inspection.

White flowers may of course break up the
most unfriendly elements, but I do not fancy
a resort to this means as greatly as some. For
white, of course, can only separate, never unite.
Progression around the circle is the only path
to real union, never doubt that; and a garden
whose color scheme is based upon this pilgrim-
age is a garden of the greatest distinction, qui-
etly and richly beautiful and filled with wonder-
ful shades and tones. Whereas the common re- °
liance upon white to break up inharmony re-
sults in a brusque, disjointed, and sometimes
most unsatisfactory effect. Moreover, white is
itself too beautiful to be relegated to the thank-
less role of buffer between warring factions!

There is one other way out of color difficul-

194. COME INTO THE GARDEN

ties which I must not neglect to mention—a
way that makes many of the difficulties only |
apprehended after all, and never actually met.
This is the different time of bloom of the plants
used. Colors that clash are seldom or never
seen in‘a natural tangle of wild flowers for the
simple reason that the flowers which would
furnish unhappy combinations of color do not
blossom at the same time. Take this into con-
sideration in selecting and ordering.

So color really need not be perplexing—
even with all its nice distinctions. Do they
seem too nice? And does the garden planting
seem an appalling task with so much to be kept
in mind? Actually it is much simpler worked
out in the way suggested than any haphazard
thrusting in here and there of this and that can
ever be; for nothing is harder work or more
confusing than trying to plant flowers in this
way. And the distinctions, far from being
overly nice, are perfectly obvious when the idea
begins to take shape—and color—outdoors in
the garden.

The diagram appended, but more especially
the plant lists, may furnish first aid to the be-
ginner of a rather more direct nature than it is
possible to offer in any other section of selective
garden work. To annuals comparatively little

FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS 195

space has been given; but raising annual flow-
ers is hardly gardening in the true sense—in the
lasting sense which we are considering here.
And as the tendency is toward these plants and
away from the permanent ones anyway, I do
not feel that their merits need dilating upon so
much as their disadvantages.

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196

Puantina Kny For a Sunny Location

TD ato: esi aesbalahennistnrit Narcissus pseudo-Narcissus
DROUTISI is si aistiousieeteranrabanateuops lieu Iris pallida speciosa.
SMISEONIVs Orica tunteusehniateh ian an atols Paonia officinalis rosea.
AN Peonys (white) nasser sieleriie -ronia officinalis alba.
BM MLUILD IDE) si) sstaratrrataierst ait aelarals Lupinus polyphyllus Moerheimi.
(ul Gav Kad ae MESH S eemte, Ale aaa Cc A Phlox, ‘Miss Lingard.”
7, Columbine................. Aquilegia Canadensis.
Shy Wankspums canis cies ees Delphinium.
RMA DOR ae asecibeeltaa sieheteyarsieys Phlox.
LOND ayy sh aia selacyeatvercie: aussie Hemerocallis flava.
MADRE rasta tesaietacgtatieksaarabssakiseaes Lilium speciosum rubrum.
I MMVETOUMICAN ae aa usesiaieinstaredercdatths Veronica longifolia subsessilis
US) Plantemililyirncecds oe .. .Lunkia subcordata.
TAB elli flowers ailscteacleisys) siete sel Campanula pyramidalis.
LD DOLMOMLA Acs said tesoavevctscelsir Boltonia latisquama.
16. Snake root. See coecse ss Cumictfuga sumpler.
17. Hardy pelea ; .... Aster Nove Anglia.
18. Mardy chr vannthertucay ae ey Chrysanthemum (pompon).
For a Saapy Location
TE TD Hoth Ann eas qin Bi Narcissus pseudo-Narcissus.
DMV SRE VOD ae aicicetens treats Trillium grandiflorum.
BRU ARIUD UO OMe tle seercialete scien els Saxafraga cordifolia.
4. Wind flower. .............- Anemone sylvestris.
5. False Solomon's bea) ..Smilacina racemosa.
Ci], LMaloy Sn cea nae Hiclerercecie loci Phlow divaricata alba grandiflora,
Ta BANEDELLY ican aearsoe is oni ‘Acta spicata.
8. Cardinal flower.............Lobelia cardinalis.
9. Meadow sweet............- Spirea palmata elegans.
HOSED a valli sic a tear cie ck tytn een’ Hemerocallis flava.
WR OR GUI ya errccecente naceaielsretoe Trycirtus harta.
11%, WiloyalslaXefole Shoo oa anne oo doc Aconitum napellus.
1G}, Labnaientiey Ihikies i5 ob aneoe cabo 6 Funkia subcordata.
Ta Bluetbells ee laeieils ele eiete's Mertensia Virginica.
il, Abayabiyn jomalle, ono goo enoeuc Spigelia Marilandica.
16H Snakeiroote scr 4. .....Cimicifuga simplex.
17. Native aster.............Aster corymbosus.

18.

Globe flower........ .......Trollius Asiaticus flore croceo,

197

198

COME INTO THE GARDEN

List or FLOWERS FOR Aa CoLor PROGRESSION

Bird’s eye
Blanket flower
Chrysanthemum
Tickseed
Beard tongue
Cardinal flower
Phlox

Phlox

Aster

Astilbe

Poppy
Windflower
Aster

Bell flower
Gas plant
Larkspur
Bugle

Tris

Lupine
Speedwell
Day lily
Foxglove

Adonis vernalis
Gaillardia grandiflora

Chrysanthemum (pompon)

Coreopsis lanceolata
Penstemon Torreyt
Lobelia cardinalis
Phlox ‘‘Coquelicot”’
Phlox “Etna”
Aster alpinus
Astilbe Davidti
Papaver orientale
Anemone Japonica
Aster Nove Anglie
Campanula persictfolia
Dictamnus fraxinella
Delphinium variety
Ajuga Genevensis
Iris

Lupinus polyphyllus
Veronica longifolia
Hemerocallis flava

Digitalis lanata

Spring 12 ins. Yellow
Summer 30 “8
Autumn 30 is to
Summer 24 <

Summer 4 feet Scarlet
Summer 3 s
Summer 30 ins. to
Summer 30 ss

Summer 5 feet Red
Summer 4% “
Summer 30 ins. to
Autumn 2 feet
Autumn 44 “ Purple
Summer 2 ss
Summer 30 ins. to
Summer 414 feet

Spring 8 ins. Blue
Summer 18 +
Summer 414 feet to
Autumn 2 °

Summer 3 feet Yellow
Summer 3

The transition through green is, of course, accomplished by foliage.

TWELVE PLANTS FOR A Pink GARDEN
In their order of flowering

Spring beauty Claytonia Virginica Trailing April, May
Tris Tris Britannicus 2-3 feet May, June
Peony Peonia officinalis rosea 2-3 “* May, June
Mullein pink Lychnis coronaria 2 feet June, July
Sweet rocket Hesperis matronalis 2S June, July
Catehfly Silene Shafta 5 ins. June, Sept.
Hollyhock_ Althea rosea 5-6 feet July, Aug.
Phlox Phlox pan., Artazis 2-3 “ July, Aug.
Rose mallow Hibiscus Moscheutos 5-6 “ Aug., Sept.
Stonecrop Sedum stoloniferum 6 ins. Aug., Sept.
Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum 2-3 feet Sept., Oct.
TWELVE Puants For A BLUE GARDEN
In their order of flowering

Blue bell Mertensta Sibirica 114 feet April, May
Bugle Ajuga Genevensis 8 ins, May

Iris Blue varieties 2-3 feet May, June

FLOWERS OF ALL SEASONS

199

Speedwell Veronica gentianoides ies 0 May, June
Italian Alkanet Anchusa Italica 3-4 “ June on
Larkspur Delphinium belladonna BAe June on
Giant bellflower Platycodon grandiflorum Za June, Oct.
Bellflower Campanula calycanthema 4-5 “‘ July, Aug.
Stokes’s aster Stokesia cyanea PA July, Oct.
Bush clematis Clematis Davidiana 3 August
Speedwell. Veronica longifolia 93) August
Aster Aster laevis 3-4 “ Sept., Oct.

TweELve Best ANNUALS FOR Quick EFFEcTs

Floss flower Ageratum
Madwort Alyssum
Annual phiox Phlox Drummondi

Annual coreopsis Calliopsis

Snapdragons Antirrhinum
Annual asters Asters
Carnations Marguerite type

Sweet sultan
Chrysanthemum Garden type

Marigold Tagetes varieties
Annual larkspur Delphinium ajacis
Stocks Matthiola varieties

Centaurea imperialis

TWELVE ErrectivE PERENNIAL CoMBINATIONS

Delphinium belladonna
Campanula Medium, rosea

Hemerocallis flava
Phloz, ‘‘ Miss Lingard”

Lupinus polyphyllus
Heuchera sanguinea

Polemonium ceruleum
Papaver nudicaule

Liatris pycnostachia
Asclepias tuberosa

Digitalis grandiflora
Lychnis Chalcedonica

Physostegia Virginica
Scabiosa Caucasica

Blue, white 6 inches
White Giites
White, pink, etc. Nf) 20
Yellow, crimson, brown 15 ‘“
White, etc. agi
Various Various
Various 18 inches
Various 3-4 feet
White, yellow, etc. PAN:
Yellows PAu
White, pink, lilac 216-3 feet
Various 1-2 “
Clear blue 6 feet
Pink 3 feet
Lemon yellow 30 inches
Pure white 2 feet
Blue ei
Coral pink Nine
Bluish purple Divine
Yellow 1 foot
Rose purple 5 feet
Orange 30 inches
Straw yellow 3-4 feet
Orange-scarlet 2-3 ‘
Pink 4-6 ‘
Lavender Zi

200 COME INTO

Salvia Pitchert
Polygonum Compactum

Penstemon barbatus Torreyt
Hypericum Moserianum
Lythrum roseum superbum
Stokesia cyanea alba

Veronica longifolia subsessilis
Polygonum compactum

THE GARDEN

Gentian blue
White
Scarlet
Deep yellow
Rose pink
White

Deep blue
White

4 “
18 inches

4 feet
2 ae

3-4 feet
18 inches

3 feet
15 inches

Phlox, ‘Frederick Passy,” “la Vague,’’ ‘“Eclaireur,” and “Champs
Elysee,’”’ furnishing a color progression from palest mauve to deep rose-

violet.

“Tram, indeed, is gone with all its Rose,
And Jamshyd’s Sev’n-ring’d Cup where no one knows;
But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields,
And still a Garden by the water blows.”
—Rubaiyat of Omar Knayyam.

CHAPTER XIV
Vines, Decorative AND USEFUL

Veale more quickly than anything else unite
a house with the ground, hence they are the
first things which may and should be planted,
rather than the last, although the latter has been
more generally the custom. They give finish to
the most barren place in a single summer, and,
rightly handled, afford an amount of shade equal
to years of growth of trees—besides furnishing
very beautiful bloom if the purely ornamental
kinds are used, or an abundance of fruit if the
grape is included. Moreover, all this is done
with the very least use of ground space; where
there is room for nothing at all literally, in the
way of a garden, there is still room for a vine,

or for several.
201

202 COME INTO THE GARDEN

With vines as with all other garden material
I would suggest the useful always in goodly pro- _
portion; yet there are a few that are purely or-
namental which it seems quite impossible, and
actually is unnecessary, to do without. One of
these is the honeysuckle—Lonicera Halleana—
with its ravishing odor that saturates the nights
and days during its period of bloom, bathing the
senses in delight. Another is the wistaria—
Wistaria Chinensis—that for pure beauty is un-
rivaled by any other climbing plant and by few
indeed of any kind. And still another, for shade
and sturdy, clean thrift, is the kudzu vine—
Pueraria Thunbergiana—a marvel of rapid
growth and of loose and graceful yet overlap-
ping green, that throws a perfect shade without
being too dense and heavy in effect. Finally
there is the Boston ivy —A mpelopsts tricuspidata
or A. Vetichi—which is and always will be with-
out a rival for covering walls, when a close and
somewhat formal growth is desired. For this
does no injury to the walls, its flat little disk-
fingers simply sticking tight by some process
peculiar to themselves and never carrying it
under nor around shingles or boards or bricks.
I do not find, either, that this vine harbors
dampness if planted on open walls as it likes to
be, where there is a sweep of wind and sun.

DECORATIVE VINES 203

Which brings us to the question of vine location
in general—an important question if the preju-
dice which many cherish against the use of
vines at all upon a dwelling is to be met.

We must first realize that there are two kinds
of vines, broadly speaking; the tight, close
climbers like Boston ivy and the true ivies—
Hedera—and the loose, open climbers like wis-
taria and honeysuckle. This difference is due
to the difference in climbing habit, the close
climbers being those which attach themselves
to the surface up which they ascend and liter-
ally grasp it hard and fast, while the loose climb-
ers twine themselves around anything which
they may find to embrace and work their way
up more negligently. The former do not of
course need anything but a wall to help them
rise, while the latter are utterly dependent upon
some medium of ascent such as a trellis—or a
wire or rope.

The kind of vine, according to this division
between them, will have much to do with fixing
its proper use. Obviously the loose and conse-
quently more airy growth which allows free
circulation beneath it would seem to be better
suited to wooden buildings than the compact
and tight growing disk climbers. But both
kinds should be kept out of the angles of all

204 COME INTO THE GARDEN

buildings whether they are made of wood or
masonry, for vines not only suffer themselves in
such recessed locations, but they are distinctly
a detraction from the appearance of a place
when so situated. For neither corners nor the
apex of angles should ever be obscured by
planting; they must be left clean and open if
the building is to retain character and strength.
Either flat wall composing such an angle
may be trellised for the support of one of the
open climbers, however, with good effect, if the
vine is planted well out on the wall and not at
or near the inner corner. And trellises them-
selves are very charming ornamental features
on the outside of a building, when well designed
and executed. An especially picturesque effect
results from the use of them horizontally above
the windows of the lower floor. So placed,
they afford opportunity for very much ex-
tended growth to every vine on them; and
indeed two or three plants, carried by means of
an upright trellis to these transverse supports,
will creep along and do the work of twice or
thrice their number in a tracery of airy branches
against the background of the house.
Honeysuckle is particularly suited to this
method of trellising, for its lower growth is
usually light anyway, while its top growth is

DECORATIVE VINES 205

correspondingly heavy. Consequently it does
best when it is encouraged to go on at the tips.
and given some help to this end. The shower
of fragrance which it constantly pours forth
from an elevated position, too, makes this my
favorite way of using it—for it fills upstairs as
well as down, indoors as well as out, with its
sweetness.

To share this lattice with the honeysuckle
plant a clematis or two—not so near it that
they intermingle, but near enough that there
may be bloom and sweetness over a longer
period. The Japanese variety that is so univer-
sally grown—Clematis paniculata—flings abroad
its foaming mass of white bloom in August,
after the honeysuckle has finished, save for here
and there a fugitive clump of blossoms. It also
is not only deficient in lower growth, but weak
as well; hence its ascending trellis must be very
strong and immovable that it may not whip
about and be injured at the ground.

The vines which are planted to give shade to
a porch or any portion of a house fulfill their
purpose infinitely better when carried up to a
projecting support over which they may clam-
ber than when simply grown to form an upright
wall or screen of vegetation. This old way of
closing in with them as if they were curtains

206 COME INTO THE GARDEN

shuts out the light as well as the sun, excludes
much air, and of course cuts off any view which
there may be. A light trellis at the cornice
line, projecting two or three feet and suspended
from chains from above or supported on brack-
ets, leaves, on the contrary, unobstructed way
for light and breeze and outlook and gives a
charming open, woodsy effect of green and
leafy roof, in place of the shut-in restraint of
the flat screen. Wistaria trained to such a sup-
port is delightful, for its great racemes of bloom
then hang pendulous overhead. Flat-leaved
vines also, such as the kudzu vine or the grape,
lend themselves well to clothing this kind of
extended framework; but clematis and honey-
suckle and lighter vines generally will not be
so satisfactory, although the common wood-
bine or Virginia creeper—Ampelopsis quinque-
folia—is fairly good.

Where this outstanding support is not pos-
sible, or not fancied, and the vines may there-
fore only travel up before a porch, confine their
growth to the columns and leave the open
spaces between these open—unless the planting
is for the express purpose of forming a screen.
For vines should be treated as the drapery of
the plant world and caught back so that their
supporting column or whatever it may be is

DECORATIVE VINES 207

fully realized. Never let them obscure entirely
the object which they depend upon, even though
that may be only a little common arbor ever so
crudely built. Here and there a line to show
structural definiteness should always remain
uncovered; if it does not, a shapeless lump
is all that in time will be discernible—a kind
of elephantine monstrosity without grace or
beauty. When any garden retreat gets thus
deeply buried, it ceases to be a pleasant place
to loiter, which is of course the very worst thing
that can happen to it and to the garden wherein
it stands. For usableness is above all else the
one attribute which must never be lost.
Flowering vines generally are more advan-
tageously placed away from the dwelling than
against it, both for the full enjoyment of them
from its windows and porches, and for the better
care of the vines themselves, especially those of
certain species. Honeysuckle and wistaria are
exceptions to this, but of these only the latter
is at all showy in flower. Climbing roses es-
pecially are not good subjects for house planting
because practically all roses, to be kept in prime
condition, must be sprayed frequently. Of
course spray cannot reach both sides of a plant
which is exposed only on one; and equally of
course spray applied to the rose against the

208 COME INTO THE GARDEN

house will surely be applied to the house also—
and trickle down in ugly streaks and stain it.
Limit the planting against the house therefore
to the Boston ivy, wistaria, honeysuckle, and
clematis, with a kudzu vine if there is a large
space to be covered.

All of these may be used, or only one or two;
whatever the number of plants required, how-
ever, do not go above these five named species
unless a screen is wanted instead of shade, as
may sometimes be the case. One of the best
vines for use under these circumstances is the
five-fingered akebi—Akebia quinata. Its merit
lies in its particularly clean and rather evenly
overlapping loose and graceful leaves, which
form an impenetrable barrier to the vision that
may seek to penetrate from without, making at
the same time a grateful and attractive object
to look upon—which a screen should always be.

Boston ivy I should always plant to clothe
foundations and broad, unbroken spaces on a
building. Keep it within bounds, however, and
never let it round off corners nor hide window
frames, columns, or other structural features.
Indeed this is the one vine which should never
approach a supporting member, for it clothes
everything it grows upon so completely that the
shape of it is quite concealed and becomes ac-

DECORATIVE VINES 209

cordingly clumsy.. Only the loose and airy
growth that twines should be planted where sup-
ports of any kind are involved. This leaves
their form fully revealed always, even though
festooned and garlanded.

For planting about a summerhouse almost
any favorite may be used. Fragrance there
certainly should be, which either honeysuckle
or clematis or both may furnish; then there is
the showy trumpet creeper—Tecoma radicans—
which ought to be given space somewhere. No-
where is it better than on an arbor, for its
vivid flowers are seen to the greatest advantage
amidst a mass of green such as the tangle about
such a structure affords. Here, too, there should
be at least one rose; add to this the crimson-
glory vine—Vitis Coignette—for its beautiful
foliage and coloring, and the combination will
be delightful at all times of the summer and fall.

Arbors and pergolas are the home of the
grape, and so on these there is. no reason nor
excuse for not combining utility and beauty.
No other foliage has greater claim to regard
than the leaf of the grape, no bloom is more de-
liciously fragrant, nor is there anything more
beautiful than the clusters of fruit as they ripen,
depending overhead. So whatever the style of
an arbor may be, grapes may and should be

210 COME INTO THE GARDEN

used on it, likewise on the arbor’s Italian cousin
—or brother—the pergola. Nothing else is
truly suitable and appropriate.

Of annual vines there is only this to say; the
place which gives space to them is sacrificing
permanent beauty to very little gain in even
present effects. For good hardy vines, planted
in the spring or fall, will grow almost as much
in their first summer as any annual. Forty to
fifty feet in a single season is the average growth
of the kudzu vine, with a capacity for surface
covering that is immense, each long extending
branch sending out side shoots and spreading
to an unbelievable degree. And the other hardy
vines which are useful for shade or screen are
none of them slow growing. So there is nothing
gained by introducing the annuals, save where
they will not conflict with, or hinder, the peren-
nial growth.

The real gain in time and effect comes through
getting vines set out the instant building opera-
tions are over. Indeed they need not be over
altogether; all that is necessary to admit vine
planting is a cleaned up base line about the dwell-
ing—and sufficient protection to the vines after
they are in the ground to keep them from being
trampled. Stakes driven around them will do
this; and lumber may be lying about and work-

DECORATIVE VINES Q11

men may come and go without doing a bit of
harm, or hindering the establishment of vines
thus forehandedly started, in the least. Given
a chance thus to get to work just as soon as the
ground is available for them, it is astonishing to
see what they will accomplish by the time the
place generally is graded and finished and ready
for the rest of the planting. And not only the
dwelling, but every building large or small may
have its allowance of these widely useful plants.
They are the one kind of growth that no place
can do without, whatever its magnitude, and
that every place may enjoy, however tiny it be.

“Begin the art of finding peace,
Beloved: it is art, no less.
Sometimes we find it hid beneath
The orchards in their springtime dress;
Sometimes one finds it in oak woods,
Sometimes in dazzling mountain-snows;
In books, sometimes. But pray begin
By finding it within a rose.”
—Wih a Rose, to Brunhilde —Vacnet Linpsay.

CHAPTER XV

Roses AND THEIR SPECIAL CULTURE

F all things the rose is the most adaptable,
O so whatever the style or the size of a garden
there are roses suitable for it—roses that are
shrubs, others that are climbing and will grow
where there is room for nothing at all, and still
others that require as exclusive possession of
their particular situation as the haughtiest vege-
table. Which is not the far-fetched simile that
it may appear, since I know of nothing that is
more exacting than almost any vegetable at all!
Do we not give them free rein and eater to all
their little fads as if they were royalties—as in-
deed they are?

212

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 213

And so are some roses. But not all, happily.
Whatever the size of a garden therefore I re-
peat, and wherever it may be, roses of one kind
or another are to be anticipated and planned
for and prepared for. Hence a knowledge of
the rose in its variously embodied forms is de-
sirable if not essential. I am therefore going
to begin at the beginning—not of the rose’s
history, for that is too far back in the dim
past, but at the beginning of the knowledge and
understanding of roses as we have them to-day
available for gardens.

This beginning has to do with the classes of
roses; and when these classes are understood
many of the questions that puzzle the casual
observer of the flower’s peculiarities—fancied—
will be answered. There are, in the first place,
roses from practically every part of the northern
hemisphere, “‘from the mountains of Mexico to
Hudson’s Bay, from the coast of Barbary to
Sweden, in Lapland and Siberia, from Spain to —
the Indies, China and Kamschatka.” Half the
species have been found in Asia and of these a
little more than half are natives of Russian do-
minions and the country adjoining; one comes
from Persia, fifteen come from China and two
of these also are found in northern India, to-
gether with four others found only there.

214 COME INTO THE GARDEN

The parents, grandparents, great-grandpar-
ents and so on of our present-day garden roses
are not all of these, by any means; and yet when
one attempts to follow the geneological lines of
almost any individual, or even class, back to
their inception, it almost appears that they must
be! For rose enthusiasts from away back of the
days of the Greeks and Romans have been at
work raising roses and intermingling species,
until it is practically impossible, even for the
most careful and patient botanist, to sort out
which from other. So it all resolves into famil-
larizing oneself with about half a dozen present-
day classes—unless further study of the subject
is made just for the fun of knowing.

These classes are the Hybrid Perpetual, the
Tea, the Hybrid Tea, the Rugosa, and the Wich-
uraiana. There may also be a speaking ac-
quaintance with the Multiflora and the Noi-
sette, but this need not be worried about in the
beginning. Indeed these classifications may be
lumped off in two general sections, according to
natural habit, and one labeled summer flowering
and the other summer-and-autumn flowering.
Yet it is not enough to adhere to these two di-
visions; for in buying plants and tending them
and indeed in handling them at all, it is really
necessary to know with a fair degree of exacti-

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE ~ 215

tude what their family tradition and inheri-
tance is.

The first mentioned—the Hybrid Perpetual
group—boasts an almost endless number of hy-
brids, derived from crossings and recrossings and
intercrossings of various hardy roses, and very
beautiful indeed are the most of them; but to
the novice in rose culture I always feel it best
to call attention to just one thing characteristic
of this class—namely, that it is not perpetual in
the sense of blooming continuously. Usually
the significance of the name is supposed to be
something of this sort, whereas it probably re-
fers to the hardiness of the plants, which
are truly perpetual or constant, as all hardy
plants are, regardless of the severity of a
winter.

Do not therefore buy Hybrid Perpetuals, or
H. P. roses as they are commonly termed, under
the impression that they will be perpetually in
bloom. A few in the class are distinctly more
abundant bloomers than the class as a whole;
and some blossom fugitively a second time, after
an interval of rest following their bloom at the
usual season of rose flower, generally in June.
But very few indeed bloom throughout the sea-
son. All are perfectly hardy however, and grow
in any climate without protection. Hence they

216 COME INTO THE GARDEN

are highly desirable and never to be omitted
from the garden.

The Tea roses are a group derived from the
China or Bengal rose, delicate in habit of
growth and actually blooming every month all
through the summer. In passing I may say
that the distinct fragrance of tea which charae-
terizes them appeals to the imagination, since
they are from the same parts of the world that
furnish the fragrant brew. And this will help
the unfamiliar student to remember where they
come from. For the hint of that fragrance, not
infrequently combined with what we regard as
the true rose odor, spells Tea ancestry in any
rose, anywhere; which is something to be re-
garded with interest, since Tea ancestry may
insure the persistent blooming that distinguishes
the pure Tea rose.

Which brings us to the roses par excellence of
to-day—the Hybrid Tea or, reduced to common
speech, the H. T. roses, a great class of really
glorious quality, produced by crossing roses in
the Hybrid Perpetual group with roses in the
Tea group, to the everlasting improvement of
each. That is, the hardier blood of the Hybrid
Perpetuals stiffens up the Teas, as it were, and
gives the offspring the endurance necessary to
make them hardy, while the ever-blooming qual-

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE Q17

ity of the Tea rose contributes to the Hybrid
Tea this tendency to flower all summer through;
and so the result is a hardy or very nearly
hardy, ever-blooming rose that is sometimes tea
scented, sometimes rose fragrant, and sometimes
a combination of both.

As to this matter of fragrance let me say
right here that the rose that lacks it is, to my
mind, not to be held eligible for any garden. For
the rose is, above all other things, a flower to be
grown for the purpose of cutting and the enjoy-
ment of the individual that comes with this close
contact. And while form and color are delights
to excite the greatest admiration and pleasure
in the observer, it is the sweetness of the flower
after all that ravishes the sense and transports
the being. Red roses are richest in this fra-
grance, pale roses most delicate or lacking it
altogether, and yellow roses or roses bordering
on that shade, most mysteriously odorous of tea.

Of the Rugosa class and the others mentioned
I shall speak later; those just described I want
to consider while they are fresh before us—the
manner of growing them and the methods of
handling them generally—for these are the three
classes from which the most of roses grown in
rose gardens, come. In the first place, how
ought they to be used in the garden? And then,

218 COME INTRO THE GARDEN

as a second question, how may they be adapted
to the limited opportunities of a limited garden?

Answering the first, they ought never to be
used as we use shrubs because they are not
shrubs, however shrubby certain ones may be
in their habit of growth. (The Rugosas are
shrubs and used as such, as will be seen when
they are considered.) ‘These roses are cultivated
plants in the fullest sense of the word, and there-
fore plants requiring cultivation, And this
brings us te the necessity of planting them only
where cultivation is possible; in other words in
places specially prepared for them, where their
peculiar needs may be easily met and invariably
regarded. ‘They may not be scattered here and
there nor intermingled with shrubs nor utilized
as a screen nor massed as a border planting
nor any of the other things that may be done
with some things. They must be individually
planted for their own sake alone, precisely as a
cabbage or a cauliflower is planted—and tended
accordingly.

Obviously therefore, the place for roses is in
a rose garden; and there is no gainsaying this,
however difficult it may sound. Is it difficult,
however? Not unless it ismade so; for, after all,
a rose garden need not be large and it need not
be set apart by any walls or barriers of extraor-

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 219

dinary character. All that it really needs is
recognition as a rose garden, and a habit of
thought that accepts its existence and its some-
what different concepts as proper and to be
granted. It need be nothing more than one
unbroken plot set apart for these plants, if this
is all that is possible—what we might call a bed
if that term and thought were not utterly taboo
in the right conception of the garden. Such a
little garden space given over to the rose is
better expressed perhaps by the term rosary;
but terms do not greatly matter of course if the
thing itself is right.

The essential is that every rose plant. shall
be easily reached—shall be accessible from the
ground without stepping upon the loose, culti-
vated earth of the bed—that every plant shall
be free from interference from every other plant
in the assemblage, and that there be no inter-
ference below ground from the roots of trees or
shrubs growing near by, nor overhead by reason
of their shade. The great rosarian and good
Dean Hole tells those who look for advice that
“the rose garden must not be in an exposed
situation. It must have shelter but it must not
have shade. No boughs may darken, no drip
may saturate, no roots may rob the rose.”

Further than this it only remains to say

220 COME INTO THE GARDEN

roses require precisely the same almost daily
cultivation of the surface of the soil above their
roots that vegetables require. Provide them
with such a garden all to themselves or with
such a rosary as will furnish all of these things
and you have done all that may be done—and
you will have roses accordingly.

The kind of soil which is suitable for the Hy-
brid Perpetual and Hybrid Tea roses is prae-
tically the same, except that the latter have not
the same taste for clay admixture that the for-
mer have. It can hardly be too rich and heavy
for Hybrid Perpetual roses, but Teas and Hy-
brid Teas will do better if such a soil is made
lighter and warmer by having a portion of sand
worked through it. When it comes to the actual
mixing of a soil, follow the proportions of one
part well decomposed stable manure to three
parts of good rich loam or vegetable mould such
as woods earth represents. This does not mean
that a special soil must be made up in order to
grow roses; but this is the ideal which ought to
be approximated as nearly as possible, in order
to grow the best roses. The soil of a good vege-
table garden, or such soil as will furnish a good
vegetable garden when it is worked up, is per-
fectly all right for roses, when suitably enriched
with manure.

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 221

Many times advice is given to dig all the soil
out of the proposed rose beds to a depth of two
feet or more and replace it with soil specially
mixed and worked over for the purpose. Under
some circumstances this should be done; and
where it is done, be sure that no part of the work
is slighted. Have the space to be planted ex-
‘avated to the proper depth—two feet to thirty
inches at the least, for roses are deep rooted
plants and the purpose is to provide perfect
drainage below their roots—and as the exca-
vating is done, pile the sods, the top soil, and the
subsoil in separate piles.

Once down to the level decided upon, the
floor of the excavation should be loosened up
well with a pick and a layer of stones, cinders,
broken bricks, or gravel—any permanent drain-
age material—spread upon it from three to five
or six inches in depth. Upon this throw in the
subsoil, mixed with one quarter its bulk of well-
decomposed stable manure—from cow stables,
preferably—then put in the sod, which should
be broken up thoroughly and also mixed with
one quarter its bulk of manure; and last of all
fill in with the top soil into which no manure
need be mixed. This final layer may come
three inches above the adjoining earth, for when
the space finally settles, under the action of the

229 COME INTO THE GARDEN

elements, it will be a little less than level with
the unworked ground around—which is pre-
cisely what it should be to catch and hold the
moisture when it rains.

It is not necessary to go to this great pains
always however, and for the gardener who has
average soil to work with I would not suggest
it, unless his ambition is to grow something ex-
ceptional in the way of roses. For as I have
said, roses will almost certainly grow practically
anywhere, and if you will remember that the
Hybrid Perpetuals will not do well in a light
soil—that they do positively require a heavy,
strong, clay—and that Hybrid Teas will do best
in a light soil, but that both require absolutely
perfect drainage; that both need a root-bed
made up of at least one-quarter its bulk of thor-
oughly decomposed stable manure (but that
this must not have lain out in the open and so
lost its enriching elements), you will be sure of
success. Examine the proposed site of the roses,
use common sense to bring it to the proper con-
dition, and then proceed.

As they are larger and stronger growing
plants Hybrid Perpetuals are usually set further
apart in the beds than Hybrid Teas, the proper
distance between them being two and a half feet
while between the Teas and Hybrid Teas it is

Whether trailing over a bank or supported as here, climb-
ing roses are one of the most dramatic elements in all
the world of flowers as well as one of the least capricious

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 223

only necessary to allow two feet. If a double
row is to be planted in a bed—and more than a
double row is not advisable, since every plant
must be accessible from the outside of the bed
—a width over-all of four feet will make it pos-
sible to set the plants nine inches from the edge
of the bed and the required distance apart;
they may be staggered instead of planted di-
rectly opposite each other and enough space
gained on a bed of ten feet in length for at least
two extra plants. I do not like the effect as well
however as I do when they are placed evenly
along the two sides and opposite—and the gain
is after all inappreciable.

So much for the roses of high culture, which
give us the glorious double and exquisitely
formed flowers we commonly visualize at the
mention of the rose. That they are the result
of high culture, that they are truly patricians
with an almost endless line of noble blood back
of them we have only to examine the wild roses
of the different parts of the world to see. For
in the uncultivated rose “the corolla is com-
posed of five heart-shaped petals, which consti-
tute the rose in its single or natural state’”’—as
who does not know, since they grow wild every-
where in our country as well as in most others.

The wild roses of different parts of the world

Q24 COME INTO THE GARDEN

vary however, quite as much as the races of
men; and the wild rose of Japan, Corea, and
Northern China is so much more beautiful than
any other and so much finer in every way that
it occupies a place quite by itself in the rose
world. This is the Rugosa or Ramanas rose, in-
troduced to the western world about 1885, and
immediately firing the imagination of rose grow-
ers and horticulturists in Europe and America,
who foresaw in future hybrids from it the ideal
perfectly hardy and continuously blooming roses
they had so long sought to produce. This of
course was the beginning of the Rugosa group.
Of these possibilities suffice to say that cer-
tain splendid roses already offered bear out
their expectations and stimulate their endeavors
further; but these are not of as great interest to
us here and now as the type itself, and its several
variations that still maintain the characteristies
of the original. It is a delightful shrub, notwith-
standing it is a rose, and perfectly at home in
the midst of a shrubbery mass where its splendid
foliage, rich green in color and deeply rugose or
creased and wrinkled, furnishes an unusually
vivid element. Its large pink or white single
blossoms (or semidouble as they are in some of
its variants) are produced freely in early sum-
mer and at intervals all summer; that is, there

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 225

are usually blossoms here and there over a bush,
all summer long—and the fragrance of even a
solitary flower is sufficient to be noticeable in
passing the plant. Its scent indeed is excep-
tional in that it seems to be so abundant without
being strong. In which connection it is in-
teresting to know that it was used a thousand
years ago by the Japanese court ladies in the
preparation of a perfume; and it has always ap-
parently been accorded recognition in its native
land, and been high in favor.

As a natural hedge the rugosa rose is splendid,
where there is space to allow it free growth.
The individuals sucker freely, however, and
cover a space fully four feet wide, hence
should not be used where space is limited. But
no shrubbery border ought to miss its excep-
tional contribution; and it can as a matter of
fact be kept in check by pruning back very
much as any sheared hedge is pruned. Handled
in this way it becomes an absolutely impene-
trable thicket, owing to its spines and its habit
of suckering—that is, throwing up endless
shoots direct from the roots, as the lilac does.

The wichuraiana rose came to us in 1893 also
from Japan, introduced by the late Jackson
Dawson of the Arnold Arboretum; and it is the
progenitor of a great number of the loveliest

226 COME INTO THE GARDEN

climbing roses in the world—the Wichuraiana
group—produced by our hybridizers through
crossing it with Teas and Hybrid Perpetuals.
Of it authorities say that it does well in all sorts
of situations, which is literally true; and inas-
much as it and its offspring are climbers, there
is the added feature of its requiring space ver-
tically instead of horizontally, to recommend it
to the smallest garden.

Furthermore, nothing ever ails roses of wich-
uraiana parentage—and insects never seem to
care to devour them. Their foliage is invari-
ably glossy and even without the flowers the
plants are highly decorative—which cannot be
said of the hybrids of the Multiflora group,
another developed about the same time from the
multiflora rose, introduced also from Japan.
The well-known crimson rambler is an example
of this class, remarkable many of them in florif-
erousness but nearly all marred by suscepti-
bility to mildew and the depredations of in-
sects. Among climbing roses therefore always
look for wichuraiana parentage and avoid mul-
tiflora parentage—unless proof of foliage quality
throughout the season in one of the latter is
available.

The Noisette roses are a much older class—
three generations older indeed—distinguished

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE Q27

by being clustered in flower. Their origin was
about 1814 and curiously enough American,
though it was Louis Noisette of France who sent
them out first and for whom they are named.
They started with a hybrid between the tender
China or Bengal rose and the equally tender
musk rose; and of them it is enough to say that
some of the finest yellow roses are in this class

but that they are not more hardy than the
‘Tea rose.

No chapter on roses is complete without
reference to the wild roses of our own United
States, which offer material for shrubbery plant-
ing and for naturalizing in wild situations, quite
unrivaled. There is first of all the prairie rose

-rosa setigera of the botanists and nurserymen
—which grows six feet high and has long, droop-
ing canes that are loaded with the clustered
single pink blossoms for two or three weeks at
a time, since they do not open at once but suc-
cessively.

Then there are the six-foot rosa lucida with
solitary bright pink flowers and warm. red-
brown stems in winter that are most decorative,
with bright red hips or pods scattered along
them; rosa humilis that is usually only halt
the height of the first which it otherwise closely
resembles; rosa nitida which is again half the

228 COME INTO THE GARDEN

height of the preceding—in other words scarcely
more than a ground cover, for which it may be
used with exceptional effect on rough banks and
wherever a semiwild growth will be suitable;
and rosa Carolina, which grows to a height of
eight feet and has pink flowers in corymbs.
There are of course others, but they are not
sufficiently important to be mentioned.

One may therefore choose almost any kind of
rose garden, sure of finding material just among
roses with which to plant it exclusively. Or he
may combine the different types into a grand
ensemble of roses which shall demonstrate the
flower’s infinite capacity for adjustment to vary-
ing situations the while it provides a garden of
extreme individuality and delight. Or he may
shelter a doorstep with a single climbing rose,
or plant a fence with these, in variety. There is
indeed practically no limit to the possibilities
with this lovely and justly designated queen of
all flowers, which has been beloved of all races
of man and cultivated from the very dawn of
eivilization.

It has enemies in the form of disease and in-
sects: but these are not difficult to control and,
once the routine of maintenance in a rose garden
is established, it becomes instinctive to spray
as precaution—which is of course what insures

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 229

healthy plants and superlative blossoms. For
the roses of a general character however (as dis-
tinct from the Hybrid Perpetuals and Hybrid
Teas) spraying is rarely required, since the really
good varieties of both climbers and shrubs are
rugged enough to withstand all sorts of attacks.
It is not possible to go into all the details of
either spraying or pruning here, however; but
a list of authoritative books on the rose will be
found at the end of the book, which will pro-
vide explicit directions for the least as well as
the greatest of rose garden operations.

I must say this, however, as to pruning: cut
your roses as freely as you will—all of the Hy-
brid Teas and Teas as well as the others, though
it is less important with them—because the rose
always blooms upon new wood; in other words,
its flowers are borne on branches that have risen
during the current summer. Pruning (of any
plant) induces the formation of new branches to
take the place of those sacrificed, therefore free
cutting—which amounts to pruning—of the
rose induces constant formation all through the
season of just the wood necessary to insure
more blossoms. And in cutting the flowers,
cut with as long stems as possible without
sacrificing undeveloped flower buds, in order
to induce the new wood to form low down on

230 COME INTO THE GARDEN)

the bush and thus avoid making it over heavy
at the top.

A ROSE DIRECTORY

This list includes the choicest in each class
in the various colors. All but Rugosa and H. P.
roses should be given some protection through-
out the northern zone of the United States,
which may be said to extend to the latitude of
the southern shore of Lake Erie; below this to
the northern boundary of Tennessee the Tea
roses need protection, but from this latitude
on south—except in the cold mountainous re-
gions—no protection is necessary. The Rocky
Mountain region generally, north or south, is
not suitable to roses of any kind, though there
may be spots favoring them here and there.

Hyprip PERPETUAL

Gen. Jacqueminot Red

Anne de Diesbach Red

Magna Charta Rose carmine

Mme. Gabrielle Luizet Pale pink

Margaret Dickson White

Frau Karl Druschki White (lacks fragrance).
Yellow Frau K. Druschki Yellow

Hysprip Tra

Chateau de Clos Vougeot Heavy scarlet
Edward Mawley Crimson

Gen. MacArthur Scarlet

Los Angeles Flame pink

La France Silvery pink

ROSES AND THEIR CULTURE 231

Queen of Fragrance Pink
Florence Pemberton Blush white
Viscountess Folkestone Cream white
Bessie Brown Ivory white
Mrs. Aaron Ward Yellow
Duchess of Wellington Yellow
CLIMBING
Excelsa—Hybrid Wichuraiana Scarlet (use instead of Crimson Ram-

bler always)
Climbing American Beauty—H. W. Deep rose

Bess Lovett—H. W. Bright red

Dr. W. Van Fleet—H. W. Pink

Silver Moon—H. W. White

Aviator Bleriot—H. W. Yellow
Gardenia Yellow to white

SuruBBy Roses

Roseraie de l’Hay—Hybrid Rugosa Dark red; very fragrant

Belle Poitevine—H. R. Pink; free bloomer

Conrad Ferdinand Meyer—H. R. Silver pink

New Century—H. R. Flesh pink, double and large

Nova Zembla—H. R. Pure white; abundant

Blanc double de Coubert—H. R. White, semi-double, large, long sea-

son

“There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet,
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet.”
—The Meeting of the Waters—Moore.

CHAPTER XVI

WateR FEATURES AND WATER FLOWERS

OTHING that we may have in a garden is
N as temperamental as water: nothing will
change the whole mood of a composition so
definitely as it may be changed by the manner
in which this element is handled. It introduces
moreover, however it may be handled, a lively
interest which accompanies nothing else. But
it must be keyed to its surroundings even more
thoughtfully than the other elements of the
garden, just because it is so vivid and tempera-
mental. Wherefore let us examine its two op-
posing aspects and analyze them.

In one it is animated and lively and gay, per-
sonifying activity of the highest degree; in the
other it is subdued, placid, the very essence of
repose, pensive and even melancholy under cer-

tain circumstances. Obviously here is a wide
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WATER FLOWERS 233

range of choice, and just as obviously a choice
must be made. For except under very unusual
conditions these two aspects cannot be success-
fully combined. That they are both very often
seen together in elaborate gardens is no argu-
ment for the propriety of using them thus, nor
for methods that ignore all nicer subtleties of
harmony.

Water in motion, curiously enough when we
stop to think of it, does violence to its own pro-
foundest law; for water is, by its very nature,
static. It seeks its level—which is rest. Hence
nothing can be more agitated, more ill at ease
in a sense, than the rushing, tumbling stream or
the plunging cataract; just as nothing is more
expressive of force irresistible than the spurting
jet or playing fountain, though the latter may
be as a matter of fact an expression of a certain
contentment which the stream is denied, inas-
much as it merely dances at its level, otherwise
its place of rest.

Yet neither the jet nor the fountain of gentlest
play will produce the serenity which is, in the
last analysis, the very heart and soul of the kind
of garden desirable to live in. Only the pool
will do this; for the quiet pool is above all at
peace—satisfied—resting, pensive, setting up at
the first glimpse of its shining surface the mood

Q34 COME INTO THE GARDEN

of reverie. Its still waters engender a reflective
quiet of spirit that will pervade the whole
garden, brooding over it to its eternal serenity
and enchantment. On the other hand however,
always be on guard against emphasis laid too
exclusively upon this quality lest the calm be-
come moodiness, taking on a somber character
in some way. Reflections which the water
catches have a deal to do with this. Be sure
therefore that it is sunlight and not shadow
which lies upon it—in other words, choose a lo-
cation for a pool always in the open and never
beneath the shade of trees. An overhanging
branch may be permitted, for its reflection; but
never more than one-third of a water surface
should be in shadow, regardless of a pool’s size
and of whether it is formal or naturalistic in
character.

In the small garden it is necessary to choose
between water as the garden’s dominant feature;
or setting apart a portion of what may already
be very limited area for a tiny water garden; or
being frankly playful and introducing a verita-
ble toy pool secluded where it can be a little sur-
prise—surprise being one of the garden’s most
valuable assets, by the way. Let us never lose
sight of this, whatever feature is being con-
sidered. Not that it is ever desirable to be

WATER FLOWERS 235

melodramatic nor to astonish through bizarre
efforts, but wherever some charming bit may
be come upon unexpectedly in an unforced,
natural manner the whole garden will gain im-
measurably in interest.

This necessity for water to dominate or else
be set apart and hidden lies in the character of
the element itself, and is unavoidable. For if a
pool is exposed to view throughout the entire
area of the garden, it focuses interest no matter
what other features are in evidence, and even
though it is not large. So it is always a question
for the individual to decide—whether water will
be an adjunct or the feature of his garden; pro-
viding of course it is the small garden of the
type dealt with here throughout. Whichever
choice is made however, interest in the pool it-
self must never distract from the necessities of
its surroundings nor beguile into a belief that
the pool alone is quite enough. A rich back-
ground is necessary, this being the general back-
ground of the garden of course, where the pool
is allowed dominance, but narrowing to the
planting and features which seclude the water,
where it is set apart.

This background must be supplied with refer-
ence to its importance in the general scheme
both from without and within—and also in the

236 COME INTO THE GARDEN

indirect aspect in which reflections in the water
will present it. There are the skyline, the color,
and the marginal line, as these repeat in the
water; and they are sometimes quite as vivid
in their inversion as in their actuality. The pool
indeed may very well be considered as exactly
doubling the garden’s loveliest effects, since
there is within its depths a persistent de capo
presenting every theme with nuances differently
shaded. Its reflections are truly therefore as
much a part of the garden as the plants and
flowers which provide their substance.

As with all the other elements in the design
of the small garden, the pool that makes no ef-
fort to be naturalistic will best suit its environ-
ment. Frankly a basin to hold water that is
artificially provided, it still has opportunities for
grace and beauty in its form; that this form
shall frankly express its true character rather
than endeavor (in vain, inevitably!) to create
an impression of being a natural product, is
the only thing possible unless all sincerity is
sacrificed.

No one has come thus far along the garden
way with me, I am confident, without realizing
that the ideal which it is my contention should
ever be set up and persistently striven for, in
garden concept and garden design, is straight-

WATER FLOWERS 237

forward sincerity. Where a pool truly natural
is possible—and by truly natural I mean abso-
lutely without any interference by man except
to the extent of building a dam possibly, to hold
back the waters of a little stream, or excavating
a bog or natural drainage basin where surface
waters collect, until such basin is deepened suffi-
ciently to hold water throughout the season—
naturalistic treatment of its margins and of its
planting will follow as a matter of course under
this ideal. But where a pool is built, even
though the building is not done with cement, in
form and marginal finish and general treatment
let it be honestly wnnaturalistic.

This does not preclude the use of grass mar-
gins any more than it need involve wide and
ugly copings of concrete, for turf may be car-
ried right to the water’s edge of a square, round
or rectangular pool quite as well as to the edge
of one of irregular shape. Moreover it need not
involve a set and formal treatment of the garden
generally; for there is a vast difference between
frankly admitting our human part in a garden,
through its design and ordered and orderly
beauty, and emphasizing our presence by
making every feature aggressively eloquent of
ourselves and our dominion over inanimate
materials.

238 COME INTO THE GARDEN

The construction of a garden pool may or
may not involve a considerable outlay, not
merely according to its size but according to the .
method employed and also the source of the
water supply. If this has to be piped from a
main it is one thing, if it comes from private
supply upon the place it is another, and of
course if it is available from a spring or spring-
fed rivulet or stream, it is still another. Most
common is the first named; and the manner of
piping into the basin as well as of constructing
the latter is therefore more generally typical.
The bottom of the finished basin need not be
more than two feet below the surface of the
ground and a thickness of six inches is sufficient
for this. Hence an excavation three feet in
depth is enough, since it allows full six inches
for a cinder-bed upon which to build the bottom
of the pool. It is not supposed always to be
necessary to start with such a foundation; but
it is very safe to do so.

Both bottom and sides of a concrete basin
should be reinforced with strong wire netting,
wire lathing or bars—the latter are necessary
only for large tanks where the walls are eight
inches in thickness—placed so that it comes in
the middle of the concrete when this is poured
in. And the sides of small pools should slope

WATER FLOWERS 239

in from top to bottom, outside as well as inside,
as a precaution against heaving by frost, this
slope giving the cross section of the finished
basin something the appearance of a huge un-
covered vegetable dish.

Large pools must have thick walls and be
frost resistant; and even in these it is better to
slope the walls outward from bottom to top.
For in the event of water freezing in them dur-
ing an extreme winter, the expansion is given
opportunity by the greater width at the top for
upward play, and this insures the walls holding
without cracking.

The water should flow in at the side at the top
and be taken out at a central vent into which a
standpipe is sometimes inserted to maintain the
overflow level. I must confess that I dislike this
method however as unsightly, and prefer a side
overflow; and as it is never supposed that either
intake or overflow shall be rapid, there is no
reasonable objection to it. The vent at the cen-
ter, where the floor of the pool may be slightly
depressed, is of course to be retained in order to
make complete drainage easy when necessary,
with a close fitting plug or cap closing it at other
times. For very tiny pools, however, surface
filling with a hose will suffice and the water may
be dipped out when it is advisable to clean the

240 COME INTO THE GARDEN

bottom. As a matter of fact, however, such
cleaning is seldom needed, since a bottom cover
of gravel ought always to be spread above earth
if this is placed directly in the pool for the pur-
pose of growing plants therein; and this gravel
should remain undisturbed throughout the sea-
son at least.

A small pool may be made by digging out the
earth in the form of a deep saucer—oval, rect-
angular, or round as desired—instead of making
side walls that are definitely vertical. Such an
excavation as this slopes gradually down to the
requisite depth and actually becomes a big
saucer of concrete, when finished; for the four
to six inch layer of this is molded directly onto
the ground and rests in the depression quite se
cure from frost action. Make the wall gradu-
ally increasing to the greater thickness as it
reaches the lowest point; and make its descent
as steep as you choose, providing you avoid an
actually flat bottom. For all concrete pools
the proper proportion is one part cement,
two parts sand and three parts broken stone
or gravel.

Of water plants there are a great number; and
many kinds. The water-lily is of course the
best known of all, for it grows in all parts of the
world and is one of the loveliest. Always re-

WATER FLOWERS 241

member, however, that water as a feature of the
garden must be itself in evidence and not ob-
scured by growth upon its surface. Which is by
way of reminding that great restraint is needed
to hold enthusiasm in check when it comes to
planting a pool or water garden; for if it is
large and roomy, the natural feeling is that
it will accommodate a considerable number
of plants, and if it is small it will at least
afford opportunity for raising one’s own water-
lily!

This is as likely as not what it will not do,
however; for there are few things in the plant
world as huge, considering their root-hold, as
most water plants. It takes very little space
comparatively to afford a water-lily support, the
allowance per plant in cubic feet ranging from
four to ten—the latter being for the tender kinds
which are more luxuriant growers than the
hardy varieties. This, being interpreted, means
a box of earth from two feet square by one foot
deep to three by three-and-a-half by one foot.
But a plant growing in a box of this size will
cover a water surface ten by ten feet; hence in
a pool no larger than this there is actually no
room for even a single ordinary water-lily if the
water itself is not to disappear! There is happily
however a pygmy variety from Japan that may

242 COME INTO THE GARDEN

be grown in close quarters, if the gardener simply
cannot live without one.

Instead of water-lilies however there are
several charming aquatics less rampant in
growth and of long extended bloom, available
for modest pools. One of these which eannot
fail to be a source of great pleasure is the water
hyacinth, the weed which put an end to navi-
gation on a southern river years ago but which
above the frost line can never be a menace, even
if it escape from cultivation, since it is tender
and killed back by winter. There are two vari-
eties of this, one bearing lavender-blue flowers,
the other blossoms of a rosy-lilac. The former
needs to be planted in soil under four to eight
inches of water, but the lilac-flowered variety
(which is the pest) is a true floating plant and
needs only to be placed on the water. It will
take root of itself however, if the water is not
more than six or eight inches deep and there is
sarth at the bottom; and as it blossoms during
July -and August when other flowers are not
abundant, it is highly desirable.

It may be grown also in an ordinary tub half
filled with earth and filled to the brim with
water; and if no other attempt at water gar
dening seems desirable or possible, here is an in-
teresting variant of it that may entertain if one

WATER FLOWERS 243

has no more than a windowsill as a garden site;
or such tub may be sunk into the ground in any
sunny spot in ever so large a garden. The rapid
growth of the plant is easily overcome by the
simple expedient of taking out as much as neces-
sary as often as necessary; and for over-winter-
ing, a broad bowlful indoors is a most desirable
mass of living green for any room.

Another suitable plant is the water poppy,
also tender and needing to be kept in a tub in-
doors in winter. Its preferred submergence is
under the same depth of water as the water hya-
cinth—six to eight inches—and its leaves and
flowers also float. The latter are yellow and
suggestive of the poppy, and they are abundant
and continuous all summer. And a third charm-
ing water plant is the water snowflake which
has small white flowers with petals like an os-
trich feather. This requires water four to eight
inches deep, and must likewise be kept in the
house in winter.

When it comes to a consideration wholly of
water plants as garden material, separate and
distinct from the pictorial contribution of the
element in which they grow, the use of tubs sunk
into the ground has much in its favor, especially
for the small garden. They are easily acquired,
for the first thing; each one takes care of one

Q44 COME INTO THE GARDEN

plant; and the water-flower garden is thus
capable of expansion or contraction on the unit
system. No system of piping is needed either
to carry water into them or away from them,
since they may be filled to overcome natural
evaporation with a hose running a gentle stream,
while they are taken up bodily and emptied as
may be desirable. In such receptacles half or
two thirds full of the proper soil, on which a two-
inch layer of clean white sand is spread to pre-
vent the water with which the tub is then filled
from becoming turgid and muddy, it is possible
to grow many of the loveliest water-lilies, which
are botanically distinguished by the name
nymphea, and all of the lotus, which are nel-
umbium. These last do not float their flowers
nor their leaves upon the surface of the water,
but lift them clear of it from three to five feet
and send their great flowers up higher yet on
very strong stems.

Because of this habit of growth, nelumbiums
are distinctly not to be used, even singly, where
the water effect is intended; for nothing will
keep them within bounds. They have the true
tropical capacity for quick and assertive growth,
and though they will not endure the northern
winter out of doors—the tubers are dug up and
taken inside in the fall—they advance so boldly

WATER FLOWERS Q45

as soon as they begin growing after planting
out, in May, that nothing else stands a show in
competition.

Interesting these plants are without doubt,
although the true lotus of Egypt—the sacred
a blue-flowered
nymphs coerulea—which seems
unquestionably to have been the plant Isis is
supposed to have pointed out to the people as
fit for food. Its petals have been found in
mummy cases while its leaves and flowers are
shown repeatedly in ornament. Even the in-
terest in nelumbiums from the legendary point
of view abates therefore, in the light of under-
standing; and there seems to be not a great
deal to recommend them to the garden of to-
day, since they are such strident specimens.

In addition to plants of an aquatic character,
all pools should have subaquatics in them to
aerate the water. The best of these for small
gardens are washington grass—Cabomba viridi-
folia—or eel grass—Vallisneria spiralis. One
plant of either to every twelve to fifteen square
feet of surface on a pool two feet deep will
be sufficient. And of course with these as
with all other aquatic growth, thinning out
must be constantly resorted to if the plants
grow unduly.

246 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Finally, there should be fish—goldfish prefer-
ably, since they are like nothing less than darts
of flame beneath the waters of a pool—but any
small fish will serve the purpose of keeping down
the mosquito larve, providing there are no
shaded corners and obscure little spots into
which the fish cannot or will not penetrate.
Naturally in the tubs of which I have spoken,
where plants are grown that hide the water al-
together, a condition of shade prevails through-
out; and in these it is extremely doubtful that
fish will thrive. Not that they are averse to
shade, but they must have a modicum of light
and assuredly plenty of air. Therefore, even
when growing plants wholly for themselves, it is
well to keep a little of the water’s surface ex-
posed either by crowding the vegetation back
or cutting it away as it encroaches too much.
The allotment of fish is a pair per tub or pool up
to twenty feet square, with a pair added for each
additional twenty-foot square unit. This is not
to say however that more than this number may
not be introduced; but twenty-five are enough
to stock a pond seventy-five by one hundred
feet in size.

All water-lilies require still water; therefore
when it is necessary to replenish a pool wherein
they are growing, be very careful that no com-

WATER FLOWERS Qa7

motion is made. A small stream allowed only
to trickle in at the edge, is the proper way to
bring the water level up when this has been low-
ered through evaporation. And of course this
makes it apparent that even the most gently
playing fountain is not to be considered as a
proper place for them, though I have seen them
thrive where water merely overflowed not much
more than a drop at a time from a brimming
tazza in the middle of a pool. I would not ad-
vise even this much activity however, where ab-
solute certainty is desired. Absolutely still,
warm water under full sunlight is invariably the
best.

The soil in which water-lilies are to be planted
may be any good garden earth enriched with
one fifth its bulk of well-decomposed manure,
preferably from cow stables; or with one quart
of bonemeal to each bushel of soil. Planting is
accomplished by simply pushing the root, which
is a rhizome, or elongated banana-like form, into
the soft mud-earth in a horizontal position and
deep enough just to cover the crown or growing
tip. To hold it in place until growth has started
a stone may be laid upon it; this should be
clear of the growing tip however. Of course
in practically every instance of planting in a
small pool or a pool of concrete, the roots are

248 COME INTO THE GARDEN

set into boxes of earth and these are then sunk
into the pool; but in natural pools or pools
of a naturalistic character, without cement ©
bottom, the rhizomes may be planted directly
in the earth. |

If they require wintering indoors take them
up as soon as frost has touched the leaves and
replant in tubs indoors until their leaves have
ripened off. Then the roots may be dried out
and stored in moist sand where they can be
kept at a temperature of about 60° Fahrenheit.
Hardy varieties however need no care unless
the depth of the tank is not great enough to
insure its not freezing at the bottom if the water
is left in. If you cannot be sure of this, it should
be drained and the basin filled with leaves with
boards over them to hold them in place; or, if
the plants are set in boxes, the boxes may be
drained and brought indoors into a cool cel-
lar or covered up anywhere out in the garden
securely enough to keep frost out.

Early in this chapter I spoke of excavating
low ground to make a pool where before only a
bog or swampy place may have been. This is
not an opportunity often found within the
limits of the small garden or the village or town
community. That it may sometimes present it-
self however is sufficient reason for a word more

WATER FLOWERS 249

about it. Regardless of the conventional, and
of the advice of well meaning but unimaginative
people who are unable to see such a condition as
anything but a low, unhealthy, miserable place,
consider well the possibility of overcoming all
the drawbacks of it by simply adopting its sug-
gestion and going it several better.

The task of draining and filling a bog is one
of the most thankless as well as most uncertain
that can be undertaken; for there are as likely
as not springs at the bottom—literally—of the
whole thing. If you proceed in the other direc-
tion however, it is practically impossible to go
wrong; for the deepening of the lowest portion
will inevitably drain into this the moisture from
the higher ground around, and whether the
water is from springs or from the surface only,
it will be provided with a limited basin into
which it will settle and remain. And this in
turn will provide your garden with a most un-
usual and altogether delightful feature, with the
accompanying opportunity of growing plants
and flowers denied to the commonplace site lack-
ing this element. Even if the water disappears
during midsummer, you may still have most of
the things here listed; for all save the aquatics
themselves will accommodate to temporary lack
of water. For of course when this lack occurs

250 COME INTO THE GARDEN

on the surface there is still moisture below and
in the ground, since all drainage is into such a
basin.

AVAILABLE MATERIAL

These are plants suitable for association with
water in the garden, or use in low, moist places.
The selection comprises those in each class that
have a distinct need of very moist conditions,
and if they are used in naturally wet ground
they will need no especial attention. If used
near artificial pools, where the ground is not
naturally moist, make some arrangement by
which overflow will provide the proper condi-
tions for them.

TERRESTRIAL PLANTS

SHRUBS
Groundsel tree Baccharis halimifolia 3 to 10 feet
Sweet pepper bush Clethra alnifolia Sah oe
Marsh Mallow Hibiscus Moscheutos Shine
Elder Sambucus racemosa TO Sal 2m
Button-bush Cephalanthus occidentalis BUG Sb)

BamMBoos AND GRASSES

Dwarf bamboo Bambusa viminalis 2 feet
Bamboo Bambusa Metake 6 to 10 feet
ue Bambusa Simoni TIS PAO) SE
Plume grass Frianthus revenne LOW see
Eulalia Eulalia gracillima univittata ye BW

Fountain grass Pennisetum Japonicum SOND hae

Swamp milkweed
Goat’s-beard
Tree Celandine
American senna
Shell flower
Thorough-wort
Bowman’s root
Tris

Water flag
Japanese iris
Cardinal flower
Meadow rue

Mauve meadow rue

Meadow beauty
English cowslip
Moneywort

WATER FLOWERS

HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS

Asclepias incarnata rosea
Astilbe Arendsi

Bocconia cordata

Cassia marilandica
Chelone glabra
Eupatorium celistinum
Gillenia trifoliata

Iris ochroleuca gigantea
Iris pseudacorus

Iris Kempferi, all varieties
Lobelia cardinalis
Thalictrum adiantifolium
Thalictrum dipterocarpum

For Grounp Cover or Marcin

Rhexia virginica
Primula veris
Lysimachia nummularia

251

3 feet

21% to 3 feet
7 to 8 feet

3 a“ 4 “a

2 feet

2 ae

3 “6

3 to 4 feet

3 feet

11% to 2 feet
4 feet

9 inches
6 oe
Trailing

AQUATICS AND SUBAQUATICS

For Tuss anp SMAuL Poots

Nymphea pygmea
Nymphea pygmea helvola
Nymphea odorata minor
Nymphea cerulea
Limnocharis Humboldti
Hichornia crassipes major
ry azurea
Limnanthemum indicum
Limnanthemum Nympheoides
Vallisneria spiralis
Cabomba viridifolia

Japanese water-lily
Miniature water-lily
Blue lotus (tender)
Water poppy

Water hyacinth

Blue water hyacinth
Water snowflake
Villarsia

Eel grass or wild celery
Washington grass

White

Yellow

White

Blue

Yellow
Lilac-rose
Lavender-blue —
White

Yellow
(Subaquatic)

For Naturauizinc In Deep WatER

Common water-lily Nymphea odorata
Large-flowered water-lily Nymphea odorata gigantea
Cape Cod pink water-lily Nymphea odorata rosea

White
White
Pink

252 COME INTO THE GARDEN

TENDER DayY-BLOOMING

(All blue varieties are in this section)

Cape blue water-lily Nymphea Capensis Sky-blue
Nymphea Daubenyana Light blue
Nymphea Zanzibariensis Blue-purple

TENDER NIGHT-BLOOMING

(Gorgeous and profuse-blooming, these remain open on dark days)

Nymphea Dentata White
Nymphea Deaniana Pink
Nymphea Devoniensis Red

Nymphea Jubilee White-pink

How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckoned, but with herbs and flowers!”
—The Garden—ANDREW MARVELL.

CHAPTER XVII

Rock GARDENS AND THEIR PLANTS

HERE are four distinct kinds of rock garden;
or perhaps it is better to say that there are
four ways in which rocks and stones are used
to provide special conditions wherein only
special plants will grow, the rocks being utilized
equally with the vegetation to produce an effect.
The first alone is entitled to be called a rock
garden, the second is a wall garden, the third a
stone or flagged garden and the fourth, which is
not a garden at all, is the rockery. Of this last
I will say in passing that garden effect is really
unthought of in connection with it, since it is
essentially a botanist’s or plant collector’s speci-
men cabinet, in which his treasures are pre-
served (and maintained alive) even as the geolo-
gist’s are stored in a wooden cabinet in his
library or laboratory.
The rock garden is perhaps the most im-
253

Q54 COME INTO THE GARDEN

portant—at least it is less often possible, since
natural disposition of a terrain is essential to it,
therefore it is rare; and rarity gives importance. .
Of it there is first of all this to be said: it is
above all the result of making the best of things,
of accepting and adapting to difficulties instead
of seeking to overcome them. Or this is what it
seems tobe! Actually a true rock garden results
from seizing a wonderful opportunity and using
all the cunning of which man is capable not to
impair in the slightest degree its advantages,
while at the same time further ones are created
so artfully that they seem also to have happened
quite by the accidents of nature.

No people in the world perhaps equal the
Japanese in work of this sort (but let me say
right here, and emphatically, that in general the
so-called Japanese gardens seen in this country
are not examples of this work, nor an exposition
of the consummate garden art of Japan!), which
requires the closest observation of natural forms
and of minutest detail, coupled with the pa-
tience and the skill in handling both rocks and
plants that reproduces these forms absolutely.
Unless we are willing to carry the work of imi-
tation to the same high degree of perfection
reached by the Japanese gardener, who gathers
the mosses from around a bowlder when he is

ROCK GARDENS 255

about to appropriate the bowlder itself, and
keeps these in such a way that he puts them
back down around and against and on it in
just the same relation they originally held, with
every patch fitted accurately to its proper neigh-
bor, we are bound to fall short of the exact and
wonderful naturalism that is alone excuse for
attempting to be natural.

It follows moreover, where this sort of thing
exists, or is brought into existence by artistry
so finished, that it must be dissociated from
every hint of a contrary element. Therefore it
is not only seclusion from the vision of the out-
side world that a rock garden demands, but that
deeper seclusion that belongs to the heart of na-
ture, as it were; the seclusion of the mountain
top or of the deep, wild glen—a something more
than outward hiding, a real inward solitude.
Hence for the perfecting of a rock garden it must
not only be undreamed of from without but it
must leave the outside world undreamed of,
from within.

Within the limitations of a small place, this
is a thing seldom possible to achieve. | Where-
fore it appears that the rock garden is not, usu-
ally, within the possibilities of any but the larger
places—unless an inhospitable and unfavorable
scrap of land is acquired, which may become a

256 COME INTO THE GARDEN

rock garden throughout with a suitable dwelling
in the midst, the whole secluded from the com-
moner elements of the world without. Now —
and then a small garden may have a corner or
an end descending abruptly enough to allow of
its being planted out with shrubs and trees and
made the site of a small rock garden; and of
course there are here and there individual op-
portunities which cannot be foreseen or guessed
for realization of all the ideals outlined.

It would be idle to go on, therefore, in an at-
tempt to consider all kinds of possibilities; so
of the best site it is enough to add to the out-
line already given the advice never to attempt
to construct a rock garden where natural con-
ditions do not suggest this kind of garden above
all others—do not in fact seem to say clearly
that no other kind is possible. Where the earth’s
great rock skeleton does not approach suffi-
ciently near the surface to be recognized, it is
distinctly an artificial enterprise that drags in
some of its parts from elsewhere and leaves
them wholly or partly exposed. It is indeed
so artificial that it offends the finer sense
of harmony and produces, almost invariably,
exactly the effect of their having been dragged
in!

So much for where rock gardens do and do

ROCK GARDENS 257

not belong. Now a word as to handling the
ready-made site—the rocky ledge, or the bow]l-
der strewn hillside, or the glen with a stream at
its bottom perhaps. In general, let everything
alone; where this cannot be done—as in the
pathway by which one may thread between and
over the rocks—make it seem to be a coinci-
dence that rocks have arranged themselves con-
veniently. Do not build a path of definite and
uniform width, but rather provide a casual way
by which advance may be made safely and con-
veniently; where steps are necessary, let them
be separated at some distance if possible rather
than brought together in a single flight. Repro-
duce the twistings and indirect amblings of the
negligent walker, who invariably sets his feet
along the easiest way whether he is going uphill
or down; turn abruptly around the face of a
bowlder or at the blank wall of a high rock
against which the path seems, as approach is
made towards it, to end. Do all of the things
as a part of the rock garden which you would
naturally do on a mountain ramble, in other
words; for it is to provide such ramble, with all
its unexpected twists and turns and delightful
surprises, that the rock garden exists—partly.

By which it will be seen that this is one of the
most elusive and difficult forms of garden mak-

258 COME INTO THE GARDEN

ing. Do not let this deter from it, however,
where natural opportunity is yours; and do not
let the broad garden ideal which is here pre- .
sented minimize the opportunity that just a
single group of rocks, big and little perhaps, may
hold for an actual rock garden in miniature.
Where such a group rests, naturally deposited
or naturally uncovered by the action of the ele-
ments, there is the suggestion for something
special and delightful of which the gardener
should be bold enough to take advantage. For
it is not size that makes a rock garden any more
than any other type; and though I have said
that few small places boast the natural charac-
teristics that inspire this treatment, I do not
mean that the smallest presentation of the motif
shall be disregarded, wherever it may offer.
The planting of a rock garden is, to a certain
extent, always experimental. The plants that
haunt such spots are by nature elusive, many of
them; and it does not diminish this quality
to raise them in captivity. I do not mean by
this that they lack hardiness or strong consti-
tutions; they possess both to an unusual de-
gree in most cases. But they are all that the
word elusive implies—temperamental, captious
perhaps; who shall say? To have read Maeter-
linck’s careful Intelligence of the Flowers sug-

ROCK GARDENS 259

gests these things, and more. And certainly it is
well established of alpine plants generally that in
some places they will grow exuberantly while in
other places, seemingly no different in the least
detail, they will not. One must plant and try
—and if at first you don’t succeed try again!
Rock gardening is therefore somewhat ex-
citing; and that it does take fairly a gambling
hold upon its devotees must be admitted.
Whatever the final intention may be, it is best
to begin with the easily grown rock plants—
distinctly not of the class known as alpines but
just common, good - natured, easy - going and
obliging little creatures, usually anxious to
please and eager to live. True alpines are, as
their name implies, plants of the mountains;
some indeed are of the mountain-tops, away
above timber line. Their culture is one of the
highly specialized branches of garden interest
that enthusiasts delight in; but this is not the
sort of interest that promotes the finest garden,
in the general sense—for one may be ever so
profoundly interested in plants and yet have no
garden worthy of the name, since the concep-
tion of a garden that the artist-gardener cher-
ishes is always the answer to every requirement
rather than to any one or two. |
The wall garden wherein the stone ledges of

260 COME INTO THE GARDEN

a wall—that is preferably built against the face
of an earth bank to retain this—are planted with
such plants as delight to grow under the condi- .
tions thus provided, offers possibilities that are
very welcome where space is at a premium.
Such a wall becomes indeed a garden on end—
in the vertical plane—where a garden on the
horizontal plane may be altogether out of the
question. And as with all kinds of rock or stone
work, plants of unusual charm because of their
unfamiliarity and uncommon use, furnish the
planting material. |

In the construction of such a wall there is one
thing to be kept constantly in mind: there
must be what gardeners call clear root run from
the earth pockets in the wall into the earth
against which it is laid. Such root runs need not
be straight of course, but they must be present
throughout all portions of the wall and between
each stone, practically. All plants will not send
their roots back into the main body of earth, to
be sure; but a great many—and some of these
small, at that—will do so. It is not unusual in-
deed for them to reach eighteen or twenty inches
with the thread-like filaments that they put forth
in the search for creation’s everlasting neces-
sity—food. Furthermore this contact between
the earth pockets and the mass of earth behind

ROCK GARDENS 261

~ the wall maintains the moisture in the former
more evenly, as it makes them really extensions
of it rather than detached portions. Very often
no earth whatsoever will show in the cranny
where a plant sets up its abode, the root hold
being wholly back of the stones.

The stone or flagged garden is first cousin to
the wall garden, differing in being horizontal for
one thing, and in having well-opened interstices
between its stones as these rest on the earth, in
which low, spreading, trailing plants find place.
As these overrun the stones here and there and
fill the earth spaces with their tufty greens and
various interesting forms, an effect altogether
simple and quaint and lovely results; and for
intimate and close relation with a dwelling such
a garden, entered directly from a room perhaps
and inclosed with a low wall, is one of the out-
of-the-ordinary things worth having. Quite as
effective in another way is it as a remote feature
hidden away from the house and from every-
thing else, to be come upon unexpectedly and
loitered in—under the shade of over-hanging
trees perhaps, or of vines held aloft by some
simple form of arbor.

To come again to the rockery, too often mis-
taken especially in the generation going by, for
an ornament—as well as mistakenly called a

262 COME INTO THE GARDEN

rock garden—let us consider it first as to what
it is, and then as to where it should be put. I
have already said something about its real pur-
pose and meaning—enough perhaps; but lest
T seem to have condemned it out and out I wish
to add that, where there is a collector or a
botanist to inspire its presence or actually to
need it, it is as legitimate a feature of a garden
as anything else. The great trouble has been
that its innate ugliness has never deterred from
giving it a prominent place—all too often the
center of an otherwise pleasant lawn.

That a stone pile is ugly, when it is artificially
piled upon level ground where no hint of stones
exists and when it takes the form of an absurd
pyramid, there is no denying. I doubt indeed if
it could take any other form and be anything
else—but that is beside the question. Our con-
cern is with finding a way to deal with it that
will permit having it in a garden if it is desired,
without detracting from the beauty of the whole
and without renouncing even to a slight degree
our cherished principles and concepts. There is
of course one way to do all of this, and only one;
that is to set apart a place for it, and even to
emphasize this setting apart, at the same time
seeing to it that not until entrance is made into
the space is its feature suspected. It must not

ROCK GARDENS 263

be seen from any point outside; but the inclo-
sure may be made in a fashion that will pique
curiosity and interest so greatly that the im-
pulse to see what it contains is irresistible.

Thus instead of minimizing a feature ordi-
narily ugly, and accepting its ugliness shame-
facedly, as it were, its merit apart from outward
appearance is asserted and its perfectly legiti-
mate claims to recognition are pressed. And
the garden acquires something interesting and
amusing and instructive, instead of losing in
quality and beauty.

Assuming that the form of rockery to be built
is the common low pyramid, surround it at a
sufficient distance from its base to provide gen-
erous walk space, with a hedge that shall be-
come a high wall of green, through which a door-
way shall give entrance from without. By door-
way I mean an arched opening through it, in-
stead of merely a break in the planting as com-
monly allows passage to a walk—an opening
over which the hedge is carried just as a high
wall is carried straight along, regardless of en-
trance through it. Outside of this hedge masses
of shrubbery may quite disguise the round
temple form, if so desired; or the entire form
may be revealed as an axial feature at the end
of a long path, perhaps. It is capable of several

264 COME INTO THE GARDEN

interpretations as far as these details are con-
cerned; and thus interpreted there is nothing
faintly akin to the horror of the old rockery.
anywhere discoverable.

It is not invariably necessary to resort to the
pyramid of stones, however, for these separate
rock pockets which provide just the special
conditions that plants from the opposite ends
of the earth require. Sunken rockeries are some-
times built, with steps leading down into them
and planting at the top of the banks that hides
them completely; a circular form may be used
also, either with or without a mound at the cen-
ter, around which the walk passes. Such a one
sometimes is made wholly on the surface of the
ground, and sometimes is wholly lowered into
the ground; in either case a small goldfish basin
or bird pool at the center will increase the in-
terest, especially to the average visitor who is
not a botanist or collector. There is in fact no
rule against making even the simplest rockery,
built, for the sole purpose of growing special
plants, as attractive as ingenuity and imagina-
tion permit; but even when it is thus handled,
remember that it is still a showcase, and as such,
entitled to the special distinction (if it seems
more considerate to put it this way) of a place
by itself. It is a wholly unnatural feature;

ROCK GARDENS 265

never attempt to naturalize it, and never at-
tempt to bring it into the ensemble. Neither
can be done nor even attempted without disas-
ter all the way around.

In planting either a rock garden, a wall gar-
den, or a rockery always bear in mind that ex-
posure is of the greatest importance. Never put
plants on a bank exposed to the south if they
belong to the list of those succeeding under
northern exposure. This often accounts for a
specimen remaining alive only as long as it takes
to plant it. For though it may seem only a
small point it is vital—as will appear readily
enough when one recalls how long a patch of
snow will last on the north side of a hedge or a
fence or mass of shrubs, as compared to one on
the south side. The continuous direct rays of
the sun are as fatal to those plants that have
been evolved in shade or part shade as shade
and its accompanying chill are to the sun-loving
plants; and this is not altogether on account of
the heat involved but because of all the accom-
panying phenomena.

PLANTS FOR ROCK AND WALL GARDENS

NortHERN EXPOSURE OR IN SHADE
Prostrate and Carpet-like

Starry grasswort Cerastium arvense White
Woolly grasswort Cerastium tomentosum s§
Bugle weed Ajuga reptans Blue

266

Moss pink
Arenaria
Maiden pink
Ground-hele

Saxifrage
Cuckoo flower
Thrift

Red baneberry
White baneberry
Ri Wild Columbine
Snakeroot
Harebell
Bishop’s cap

Douglas’s Clematis

Pasque flower

Phlox subulata

Arenaria montana
Dianthus deltoides
Veronica officinalis

Erect

Sazifraga Virginiensis
Cardamine pratensis

Armeria maritima

Actea spicata, rubra

Actea alba

Aquilegia Canadensis

Asarum Canadense

Campanula rotundifolia

Mitella diphylla
Clematis Douglasii
Anemone patens

COME INTO THE GARDEN

White, pink, mauve

White
Red
Pale blue

White
Pink, white
Pink

White
White

Red, yellow
Brown

Blue

White
Lavender
Lavender-pink

SouTHERN EXPOSURE OR IN SUNLIGHT

Hoary speedwell

Creeping speedwell

Wall pepper
Live-forever
Stone-crop
House-leek
Rock cress
Dryas

Bellflower
Butterfly weed
Barrenwort
False miterwort
Tunica
Madwort

Prostrate and Carpet-like

Veronica alpina
Veronica repens
Sedum acre
Sedum ternatum
Sedum hybridum

Sempervivum tectorum

Arabis albida
Dryas octopetala

Erect

Campanula Carpatica
Campanula rhomboidalis

Asclepias tuberosa

Epimedium macranthum
Epimedium Musschianum

Tiarella cordifolia
Tunica saxifraga
Alyssum sazatile

Evergreen candytuft Jberis sempervirens

Blue or violet
Bluish white
Yellow
White
Yellow

Pale red
White

White

Blue

Orange
White or red
Yellow
White

Pink

Yellow
White

“Here is the place where Loveliness keeps house,

Between the river and the wooded hills,
Within a valley where the Springtime spills

Her firstling wind-flowers under blossoming boughs;

Where Summer sits braiding her warm, white brows
With bramble roses, and where Autumn fills
Her lap with asters, and old Winter frills

With crimson haw and hip his snowy blouse.”

—“Here is the Place... .’—Mavison CawEIn.

CHAPTER XVIII

WILp GARDENS AND WILD FLOWERS

HERE is perhaps no better definition of the
lo wild garden than the simple statement that
it reproduces Nature with her own materials.
As distinguished from the naturalistic garden, it
does not entertain hybrid forms nor improved
forms of any plant, nor does it admit—in its
rigid interpretation—plants from another clime.
It is composed wholly of aboriginal species and
kinds, in other words; hence it is the one gar-
den that, once established, may be left to itself
—save for such elimination of weeds as all
gardens must have, occasionally. In one way it

may be said to seize the materials at hand and
267

268 COME INTO THE GARDEN

reject all others; but this would presuppose
material at hand and would imply that a wild
garden can only be created where conditions |
generally are wild.

Of course this is not absolutely true, for a
kind of wild garden may be set up almost any-
where; that is, wild flowers may be domesti-
cated and induced to grow in a bricked-in, shut-
in, city plot. But note that this is not after all,
a wild garden, but rather a wild-flower garden
—which is a distinction expressing a great dif-
ference. For a wild garden reproduces the spirit
of the wilderness in every part and is not, as a
matter of fact, dependent upon its flowers for
its effect—though these must, of course, bear
out the concept and harmonize with it. And
thus a wild garden can have no design, as such,
and must happen by chance to a large degree.
Close study of wild groupings and of possible
effects by means of combinations as these occur
in a natural state, together with an unusually
deft hand for imitation, are the essentials to
success in the creation of a true wild garden;
and further than to point this out and to offer
a few general suggestions I cannot pretend to go
in helping (on paper) to the realization of this
type of garden.

Many cultivated plants will run wild, as the

WILD GARDENS 269

saying is, if they are given a chance in congenial
environment. That is, they will forge ahead
and crowd out every other kind that is less
adapted to the situation and less aggressive, and
will multiply until they finally take complete
possession of the space that they covet because
of its congeniality. Yet this does not fit these
plants for use in the wild garden any more than
it makes them truly wild; for it is an unques-
tionable fact that plants long cultivated have
taken on an elusive something—comparable per-
haps with the finish that culture brings to man
—that sets them out of harmony with wilderness
conditions in a subtler way than the mere asso-
ciation of ideas could involve.

By which it appears that there is more to this
subject of wild flowers and wild gardens than
at first meets the consciousness; which makes it
the more interesting and worth looking into.
But it is something which each must find out
for himself, after a certain point is reached; so
without going further along this line I will only
say that the wild garden, as a definite concept
in garden making, involves a certain sense of law-
lessness and struggle in the vegetation gracing
it—not struggle carried to the point of positive
destruction as in a state of nature, but stopping
just short of this. The bountiful and aggres-

270 COME INTO THE GARDEN

sive growth of the plants in a wild garden is held
just within bounds by the gardener, as a matter
of fact, who sets limits and maintains fair play
by force of his authority, in order that he may
enjoy a greater number of kinds assembled to-
gether than would otherwise be possible within
the prescribed limits. That this is what the
gardener does in any kind of garden—no more,
no less—simply indicates further that it is the
way in which these plants are assembled, quite
as much as the kinds of plants, that we have to
consider. Their associations are equal in im-
portance to themselves, and the disposition and
character of paths, trees, shrubs, stones and
every possible element must be in harmony—
the whole conveying a sense of solitude and
really virgin retreat.

It is manifestly impossible to hypothesize all
the circumstances, places or conditions that will
invite the development of a wild garden. Such
conditions exist sometimes in the midst of seem-
ingly the most uncordial spots and again they
are absent when it seems perfectly logical to ex-
pect to find them. In general I may say that
very often it is the place that seems pretty hope-
less from the gardening viewpoint, that may be
properly devoted to the creation of a wild gar-
den. Sometimes it is the grade irregularities

WILD GARDENS Q71

that discourage endeavor, sometimes rough
ground configuration generally and perhaps the
presence of large trees and of undergrowth.
Building plots at the edge of woods or sidling
down into a gully may be suited to nothing else
but a wild garden—probably will be; but this
is not to say that now and then a plot that is
neither of these may not have in and about it
other elements that make it congenial ground
for this treatment.

One must judge for himself; always with the
ideal of accepting Nature’s suggestion however,
and never with the purpose of forcing the issue.
Certainly all connection with tamed or culti-
vated lands must be avoided; and certainly
there must be no hint whatsoever, within a wild
garden, of any of man’s usual enterprises. If
these two conditions can be met anywhere, the
wild garden will not be an anachronism; but
if, by reason of any element in the surroundings
of a place, such absolute sequestration is out of
the question, the wild garden should be aban-
doned for a concept in harmony with unyielding
conditions.

This is no more than is true of the rock garden,
or of a water garden on naturalistic lines. It is
indeed the one thought reiterated perhaps to a
wearisome degree, in every chapter—that there

272 . COME INTO THE GARDEN

must be harmony between the garden concept
and all outlying conditions, unless outlying con-
ditions can be obliterated. And this is nothing -
more nor less, of course, than recognizing the
moods of nature and of earth, and adopting
them by adapting to them. Where it is pos-
sible to run counter to outside conditions by
shutting them out completely—and desirable
perhaps, as a walled garden in the heart of city
congestion—it may of course be done; and with
results that count above all others sometimes,
in the way of refreshment and solace. But as
we are here concerned with the typical rather
than the exceptional, I must not only rigidly as-
sert the limitations, but presuppose them; which
I can do in a broad sense only by demanding
generally harmonious conditions or such seclu-
sion as I have described.

Starting with the materials which are at hand
—assuming that the site and conditions invite
the wild garden—the whole procedure becomes
an enterprise of almost moment by moment in-
spiration; for one thing suggests another, and
these in turn reveal possibilities of still another,
and so it goes. I am not going to deal so much
with the entirety, therefore, as with the possible
materials which will compose it; the trees and
shrubs, the earth corrugations, the stones and

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WILD GARDENS 273

stumps, mosses, lichens, and the flowers—last,
but neither least nor most.

Of trees there must be enough for partial
shade at least, and if it is wholly shady it will
be no disadvantage. Given a site otherwise
suitable, minus trees, the first thing to do there-
fore will be to introduce these; not a great
number perhaps, but enough to shelter and
seclude a portion of the space. And these trees
will necessarily be native kinds, and of these
not a wide assortment. Mingled together trees
grow in the woods, to be sure; yet within
small space there will be only two large grow-
ing kinds perhaps, with some lower growth,
such as dogwood beneath them. Keep to this
standard, using any trees native to the section.

Of wide distribution are maples, beeches, the
ash, the oak, the hickory, the sassafras, the elm,
the tulip tree, the wild cherry, plum, thorn,
and birch; and any one of these may be chosen
therefore. Inasmuch as the wild cherry, the
sassafras, and certain of the birches are perhaps
less esteemed as landscape material, these are
less often seen in artificial plantings and are con-
sequently in closer association with wilderness
in our thought; so choice might well fall on one
or two of these. Wild plum in a suitable variety
and, thorn will serve as underplanting, prefer-

274 COME INTO THE GARDEN

ably placed to give the effect of being pushed
back from the central glade or more open
space.

Trees cannot be set out however until the
various natural advantages and disadvantages
of the land itself have been considered and their
treatment decided upon. Where rough ground
exists the best course usually is to let every-
thing alone as nearly as possible, as in the
natural rock garden. But here also, as in the
rock garden, it is sometimes possible and highly
desirable to emphasize what actually is only a
very slight feature, thus turning it into a strik-
ing one.

Thus a bank may be created where only a
slight dip exists; or a tree growing pictur-
esquely away from the perpendicular through
some mischance may be brought into promi-
nence by stripping away growth that obscures
its peculiarity. A stump offers opportunity for
evolving sometimes a seat, sometimes a natu-
ral bird basin; a dead tree trunk standing in-
vites a native vine like the clematis of our
woods, or the wild grape or woodbine or bitter-
sweet—or fallen it may become a chief feature
by disposing it a little differently if need be, to
make it a seat or to bridge a depression. The
suggestions lying in the place itself and in such

WILD GARDENS Q75

objects as may be found therein alone can de-
termine these details, obviously.

Stones scattered about may be assembled, not
to form a rockery by any means, but to con-
form to such a general scheme as a bird basin
or a seat or a campfire site may involve. For
although the wild garden should be eloquent of
solitude and have the virginal quality I have
suggested, it is of course understood that this
remains to it because of the finished artistry
with which such things as seats and shelters and
bird basins are developed and introduced and
not because they are omitted. It should not
lack anything that may enhance its entertain-
ing charm; but it must remain wild in aspect
notwithstanding. It is the use of materials that
are found on the spot that helps largely in this;
but unless they are used with such cleverness of
imitation that it hides cleverness and allays sus-
picion of imitation, they will still fall short of
producing the desired result.

Under most conditions conceivable I would
not advise such a thing as a retaining wall of
stone to hold up a bank in a wild garden. Yet
if this will improve a situation and if it can be
built so naturalistically that it will take on the
appearance of Just a mass of rocks pushed up
trom below, against which the earth has seeped

276 COME INTO THE GARDEN

in in the slow processes of time, there can be
no objection to using it. Of course it will not
be of the type seen in other kinds of places; and
if a tree of crooked aspect can be planted in a
crevice of it, so much the better.

The use of stone is an art in itself—particu-
larly the use of it to produce natural effects.
Without going into the kinds which it may be
desirable to assemble together and the kinds
which should be excluded, it is enough to say
that stones from below the surface of the ground
are not usually weathered to the degree neces-
sary for the best results. Select, therefore, from
on top of the ground, or from a creek bed; and
consider color combinations and the delicate
tones which fungi bring to them more even
than you consider form. There will always be
found a way to get stones together, whatever
their form; but nothing will alter the raw effect
of stones that have not been exposed to the ele-
ments. And of course seats or bird basins in
the wild garden ought never to be of artificial
material. Make these things of stones or of
stumps or fallen trees, as suggested—or else do
not have them at all.

For the wild garden it is not possible to de-
termine as exactly as a planting plan involves,
the position of plants—therefore it is practically

WILD GARDENS Q77

impossible to make such a plan, or to work to it
if it is made. But the space can be laid off in a
general way, according to exposure, shade, and
soul conditions or character; and on these plot-
tings it is well to write in the kind of plants that
may be used. For example, none of the heath
family—of which rhododendrons, laurel, the
huckleberries and azaleas are familiar members
—like an alkali or limestone soil; certain other
wild flowers prefer cool roots but sun on their
heads; still another lot will have none of it at
all, while there are many who rejoice in nothing
save the driest and hottest places available.
Plot the garden space out and mark it with just
these key words—“shade,” “hot sun,” “part
shade,” “lime,” “acid,” “wet.” Then you are
ready to begin selecting either from the cata-
logues or from the woods themselves, the plants
that are to go into it.

If you go to the woods, always exercise re-
straint in gathering material, unless they are
woods that will soon be obliterated altogether.
From such localities there seems justification for
regarding it as a rescue of doomed plants instead
of wanton disregard of forest law to take as
many as possible into the shelter of a wild gar-
den—but certainly not from anywhere else.
Either buy from the specialists who grow this

278 COME INTO THE GARDEN

class of material, or else take only a specimen
here and there, and then with due regard to
doing the ones left no injury. For although the
wild flowers that will naturalize in the garden
are sturdy and sometimes rampant growers, it is
true that the choicest are elusive and highly
susceptible to injury and that, through the care-
lessness of collectors who injure perhaps an en-
tire stand in taking a specimen, many are
rapidly becoming extinct.

It is possible and of course highly desirable
to carry bloom throughout the spring, summer,
and autumn with just wild flowers, although we
do commonly associate them with the vernal
season especially. This is perhaps because the
first comers find us more eager for signs of awak-
ening vegetation, while later on so much engages
attention there is no time for all. Of the plants
given, the season of bloom is given also, together
with the preference for sun or shade—where
such preference exists—but I have made no
special distinctions as to soil, since all except
the heaths will accommodate themselves usually
to ordinary conditions below ground.

Of these it is understood that leaf mold such
as they dwell in when growing wild, formed by
the annual deposit on the ground of the leaves
of the forest—which also serve as a general

WILD GARDENS 279
mulch during the winter to keep out the cold,
and a root mulch during the summer to keep
out the heat from the roots—is their require-
ment, with never a bit of lime nor of commercial
fertilizer used around them. ‘To superinduce the
acid soil which they revel in, the waste from a
cider press is sometimes resorted to, and with a
high degree of success apparently. This cannot
be used on the surface of the ground of course,
but may be turned in as manure is, and well

covered; and the plants set out afterward.

PLANTS FOR THE WILD GARDEN

Spring AND Karty Summer FLownmrs ror SHape

Adder's tongue
Anemone (wood)
Arbutus
Bollwort (or
“Wild oats’’)
Bloodroot
Bunchberry
Clintonia
False Solomon's seal
Foamflower
Golden seal
jround lily (or
Wake-robin)
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Liverleaf
May apple
Milkwort
Mitrewort (fringed)
Pappoose root
Partridge berry
Pipsissewa

Rue

Brythronium Americanum
Anemone quinquefolia
Epigea repens

Uvularia grandiflora
Uvularia perfoliata
Sanguinaria Canadensis
Cornus Canadensis
Clintonia borealis
Smilacina racemosa
Tiarella cordifolia
Hydrastis Canadensis
Trillium erectum
Trillium grandiflorum
Arise@ma triphyllum
Hepatica triloba
Podophyllum peltatum
Polygala paucifolia
Mitella diphylla
Caulophyllum thalictroides
Mitchella repens
Chimaphila maculata
Thalictrum diotcum

Yellow 6 inches
White ay St
Pink Prostrate
Yellowish 15 inches
Pale yellow 10))3)**
Pinkish white 8 ‘

White Sse
Green-yellow 2 feet
Greenish white 3 “

White 12 inches
Greenish-white 10 “
Purple Laing
White ant
Purplish green 12 ‘“
Lavender Oi
White Sivas
Rose-purple Goins
White Glues
Yellow-green 2 fect

Pinkish white Trailing
White 6 inches
Purplish 2 feet

280

Saxifrage
Shooting star
Shortia

Snakeroot (Canada)
Snakeroot (Seneca)

Spring beauty
Toothwort
Violet (blue)
Violet (downy)
Violet (wild)

Sazifraga Virginiensis

Dodocatheon Media
Shortia galacifolia
Asarum Canadense
Polygala Senega
Claytonia Virginica
Dentaria diphylla
Viola cucullata
Viola pubescens
Viola Canadensis

Late SUMMER AND AUTUMN

Aster (blue)
Aster (white)
Aster (panicled)
Aster (smooth)
Baneberry (red)
Baneberry
Bugbane
Coltsfoot

Cowslip (Virginia)

Dog fennel
Gentian (closed)
Solomon’s seal
Twisted-stalk

Aster cordifolius
Aster divaricatus
Aster paniculatus
Aster levis

Actea spicata, rubra
Actea alba
Cimicifuga racemosa
Galaz aphylla
Mertensia Virginica
Aster ericoides
Gentiana Andrewst
Polygonatum biflorum
Streptopus roseus

White

Purplish

White
Brown
White
Rose
White

COME INTO THE GARDEN

12 inches
TSo is

6 «
Low

12 inches‘
Low
10 inches

Blue-purple 1@ °°

Yellow

10 a

Purplish white 12 “

FLOWERS FOR SHADE

Blue

White
White, purple
Blue-violet
White
White
White
White
Purple
White

Blue
Greenish
Rose-purple

4 feet, bushy
3 feet, slender
3-6 feet
2-4 feet, slender
2 feet
18 inches
3-8 feet
12 inches
2 feet
3 feet, bushy
15 inches
12 ac
18 “ce

SPRING AND EarRLy SUMMER FLOWERS FOR SUNLIGHT

Dutchman’s breeches

Iris (dwarf)
Tris (crested)
Lily (meadow)
Lupine
Pink-root
Squirrel -corn

Dicentra cucullaria

Tris verna
Iris cristata

Lilium Canadense
Lupinus perennis
Spigelia marilandica
Dicentra Canadensis

White

8 inches

Violet-blue nee,

Blue-white Ba tie
Yellow-red 2 to 4 feet
Blue B Waa d nu
Red TSO y Oe
Green-white 8 inches

Late SUMMER AND AUTUMN FLOWERS FOR SUNLIGHT

Bedstraw
Butterfly-weed

Button snake-root

Cardinal flower
Compass plant
Goldenrod

Galium boreale
Asclepias tuberosa
Liatris scariosa
Lobelia cardinalis

Silphium perfoliatum
Solidago Canadensis

White 1 to 3 feet
Orange 2 feet
Rose-purple 2 to 4 feet
Vivid red Qi ais
Yellow RO ry Sl
Yellow 4 feet

Goldenrod

Goldenrod (fragrant)

Great lobelia
Joe Pye weed

Lily (Turk’s cap)

Lily (wood)

Milkweed (swamp)

Oswego tea

Allegheny plum

Appalachian tea
Azalea (smooth)
Azalea (clammy)

Bayberry
Great laurel
Hazelnut
Laurel

Red osier
Rhodora
Shadbush
Sheep-berry
Witch-hazel

WILD GARDENS

Solidago nemoralis
Solidago odora
Lobelia siphilitica

Eupatorium purpureum

Lilium superbum

Lilium Philadelphicum

Asclepias incarnata
Monarda didyma

SHRUBS

Prunus Allegheniensis
Viburnum cassinoides
Azalea arborescens
Azalea viscosa

Myrica cerifera
Rhododendron maximum
Corylus Americana
Kalmia latifolia

Cornus stolonifera
Rhododendron Canadense
Amelanchier Botryapium
Viburnum Lentago
Hamamelis Virginiana

Yellow
Yellow
Light blue
Purple

Orange-red
Red-orange
Rose-purple

Scarlet

Any soil

Any soil
Part shade
Moist places
Sandy soil
Shade

Shade or sun
Shade

Shade or sun
Moist places
Shade or sun
Part shade
Moist, shade

281
2 to 3 feet
3 feet
2 to 4 feet
4“ 10‘
Sieh Ontine
2 feet
94). Bs 02
2 “ee 3 “6

12 to 15 feet
@ iy
8 970)
4 AS ee
4 feet

6 to 30 feet
Siw oaa
BS Oath
8 feet

3 “

12 to 15 feet
20 “ 30 ‘
25 feet

‘*Prayer and praise in a country home,
Honey and fruit; a man might come,
Fed on such meats, to walk abroad,
And in his orchard talk with God.”
—Of an Orchard—KatuarinE TYNAN.

CHAPTER XIX

GARDEN Fruits or TREE AND BusH

6 Rea are many times good and sufficient
reasons why a garden shall not be planned
to produce vegetables, notwithstanding all there
is to be said of obligations and responsibilities
—and this I am perfectly willing to grant. But
there is never any reason why even the tiniest
garden shall be unproductive in the matter of
fruit—and nothing that can be planted yields
such generous returns on the money, time, and
space devoted to it. Furthermore, no fruit
that can be had from the markets ever equals
in quality the fruit that may be grown in the
private garden, for the simple reason that com-
mercial growers never raise the choicest vari-
eties. It is with fruits, when grown commer-
cially, as with vegetables; certain requirements
282

FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDEN 283

must be met, owing to the exigencies of ship-
ping and storing and what not, and flavor and
quality must be sacrificed to these else the rais-
ing of fruit for sale would not be profitable. It
is no exaggeration therefore to say that no one
knows the true flavor of a really fine apple or
peach who has never picked one of the superla-
tive varieties from the stem and eaten it on
the spot!

Of all the fruits of the northern hemisphere
the apple is justly the most popular, since it is
the most abundant, most permanent, and most
useful to the greatest number. An apple has
two-thirds as much nutriment as a potato; and
down to the very last bit of skin every one is
usable, for even windfalls and imperfect speci-
mens will yield a delicious beverage and as fine
a vinegar as can be produced. Apples the year
around are possible, by selecting the right va-
rieties; and this is true of even the small gar-
den, since the dwarfed trees may be used in
these. Fortunately the nurserymen of this
country have learned how to grow these dwarf
forms—importation being at present prohibited;
and they will of course continue to grow them,
for the demand for them grows apace.

Standard apple trees require to be set from
thirty-five to forty feet apart; that is, a stand-

284 COME INTO THE GARDEN

ard tree’s spread is estimated to be that at
maturity. It will occupy, in other words, about
one thousand square feet. As a dwarf tree oc-.
cupies but fifty square feet—they require to be
set no more than eight feet apart, hence this
amount is taken as the diameter of their circle
—it is apparent that twenty dwarfs might be
set in the space of a single standard. We may
reduce this twenty per cent to allow for waste
space, and set the number at sixteen. Depend-
ing upon the variety, the tree’s age, and the
season, standard apple trees yield from twenty
to thirty-five bushels of apples a year, on the
average. Dwarf trees, well tended and brought
up to their maximum, will produce when ma-
ture from two to three or more bushels an-
nually. Therefore it appears there is not only
the advantage of having several varieties but
actually of quantity of fruit, favoring the use
of dwarfs. The actual saving in space is not,
moreover, shown by these figures, for dwarf
trees may be planted in rows and in restricted
areas where a standard tree could not be used
at all. Indeed they are useful as shrubbery, if
no other space is available in which to put them.
But remember always that they require proper
care and pruning and spraying. —

The only fruits available in dwarf form are

FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDEN 285

apples and pears. But the other tree fruits are
not of such large growth as the standard apple
tree, even the largest—the cherry—taking on
more the character of an ornamental tree in
those varieties which attain any considerable
size. This, in fact, may very well be used in place
of a purely ornamental tree for shade, since it will
thrive without the special attention other fruit-
ing trees need. And inasmuch as cherries are
increasingly difficult to obtain in quantity from
market, of late years, and as they make really
splendid trees as they age, I would most cer-
tainly advise planting at least one of the old-
fashioned pie cherry trees, invariably.

It is with the rarer fruits, however, that the
greatest personal rewards lie, for the private
garden. Peaches are of course obtainable in
market, but never in choice varieties. Plums
sometimes appear, but of doubtful quality; nec-
tarines and apricots are unknown save here and
there—yet how delicious they are, and how
easily grown too, as a matter of fact! Wherever
peaches are hardy, both apricots and nectarines
are; but as they also are naturally early bloom-
ers, the great difficulty in growing them is the
premature start that they make under our pre-
cocious springs. The trees themselves are not
lalled, but annually their fruit buds are; for

286 COME INTO THE GARDEN

starting to swell the instant the warm sun of
late winter shines on them, they are nipped by
the frost of early spring.
The only means of overcoming this general
tendency is to select a site for trees of this
species which is unfavorable to the very early
development of their flower buds. It is never
the warm corners that they should have, with
full sun, but the chilly places and northern ex-
posure. This does not mean of course that full
exposure to the roughest winds of winter is
proper, but it does mean that the tendency to
coddle must be inhibited. Perhaps the best
place for either the apricot or the nectarine is
trained in the old-world fashion on a garden
wall or the side of a building. But this should
never be of southern exposure. Rather let it
be west or north, with protective branches of
evergreens set up, if it is the latter, to screen it
from the strongest of winter winds—or even a
screen planting of evergreens inclosing the site
at some distance to protect it from hard winds
at any time. This is indeed a wise protection
of all fruits of the stone class—save the cherries,
which are hardy enough to endure anything.
_ Peaches, apricots, and nectarines require
practically the same soil, being close relatives;
this should preferably be light and sandy and

As the twig is bent the tree is inclined whatever it may
be—wherefore a fruit tree growing on a wall is easy to
acquire providing a proper start is made early in its life

FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDEN 287

not over enriched. In fact strong and rich
lands are a disadvantage, since they promote a
luxuriant growth of wood and top and the
strength of the tree goes into this at the expense
of fruit. Not much manure is to be applied,
therefore, at any time; but always potash in
the form of hardwood ashes, and phosphate in
the form of ground bone, these two elements
being the special foods which build up strong
wood and fruit and nourish flowers.

The nectarine is a smooth-skinned fruit re-
sembling a plum very much more—to the lay-
man—than it resembles a peach. It is of the
latter species however, regardless of appear-
ances—for nectarines have been grown from
peach seeds and peaches from _ nectarines
through the process scientifically distinguished
as bud variation; which is proof conclusive. Its
flesh is yellowish green, very tender and of
sweet, rich flavor; and there are of course differ-
ent varieties as of other fruits. Like the peach
these are early and late, the former ripening in
August usually while the latter are perhaps ten
days to a fortnight later. Apricots are one of
the most decorative of trees in flower, one va-
riety being grown in Japan—their native land
—just for its bloom. They like a soil that is a
little heavier than the peach and nectarine

288 COME INTO THE GARDEN

thrive on, but otherwise their requirements are
the same. The fruit, familiar enough in its
dried form, is deliciously sweet and delicate
when eaten from the tree. It comes moreover
between the cherries and the peaches, when gar-
den fruit is scarce.

Of all fruits in the world the quince is to me
the most beautiful in bloom—and one of the
loveliest in fruit and one of the most delicious,
when properly handled. One or two quince
bushes backing a shrubbery border—or as many
as there may be space for—furnish a display of
bloom more gorgeous than anything else of the
same size or same period; and indeed more gor-
geous than almost any shrub, at any time.
Great single pink blossoms like wild roses, cov-
ering every branch until they look more like
huge bouquets than like shrubs or bushes, dis-
tinguish this from everything else; and the only
thing comparable to a quince bush in bloom is an
apple tree—or perhaps a flowering dogwood.
The fruit is of course quite impossible to eat in
the raw state; but as it is one of the most de-
licious of all when properly cooked (and that
means cooked slowly until it is the color of rich
port wine) its failure to tempt from the tree may
very well be regarded as an advantage—espe-
cially if the situation is exposed!

FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDEN 289

Fruit trees benefit by cultivation and atten-
tion quite as positively as do vegetables or
flowers, even though they will grow after a fash-
ion, and bear fruit, without it. With the
dwarfed trees it is essential, since the severe
pruning to which these are subjected during
their early years—and annually as well, since
pruning alone will keep them down to the proper
buds and branches to insure a good yield of
fruit—depletes their vitality, and only studied
feeding will overcome this. Where it is possible
to place fruit trees along the boundary of the
vegetable garden, preferably on the north side
in order that they shall not deprive the vege-
tables of full sun, this is an excellent place for
them; for it makes very little extra tillage neces-
sary, since they benefit by all that is done for
the vegetables, as well as by the fertilizer ap-
plied to the garden space.

The bush fruits lend themselves to wall or
fence training in a way that is almost never
taken advantage of, unfortunately. By allow-
ing space for them flat against the garden wall
or a boundary fence, a great number may be
accommodated without interfering in the least
with anything else. Blackberries and rasp-
berries are naturally in need of support, and
their long canes are never better supported than

290 COME INTO THE GARDEN

when fastened against the flat surface of wall or
fence. This also keeps them from reaching out
in the exasperating fashion they have, to hook
themselves upon the unwary passer-by; and as
the plants must be gone over annually to remove
old wood, and to take out weak new wood—
leaving about six canes to a plant—the labor of
fastening the branches up is really nct to be con-
sidered as an extra. They must be handled
anyway.

Currants and gooseberries may be grown be-
tween the rows of fruit trees in a garden made
up wholly of fruits; or they too may take their
place along a boundary. Currants do better in
shade, hence are especially suited to under-
planting between trees. Gooseberries like par-
tial shade, but do better if this falls on them
during the hottest part of the day from a build-
ing rather than from trees; hence they are not
quite as well for planting in the midst of trees,
though it may be done. Both of these fruits
prefer a deep, rich, moist, cool soil; and to in-
sure this coolness at their roots it is always well
to mulch them during the summer with grass
clippings, especially in the warmer sections.
~ Grapes should always be used as abundantly
as possible, for in addition to being a highly
valuable food, they furnish one of the most or-

FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDEN 291

namental shade plants that there is, properly
supported on arbor or trellis. And they may be
grown of course where nothing else finds room,
if space is so restricted; give a vine root-hold
and a porch or vertical trellis to climb on, and
it will do the rest.

Each section of the country has of course
varieties of every fruit that for one reason or
another are preferred there. To advise for all
sections therefore is obviously impossible; but
I have chosen a few of each of the standard
fruits which are of finest quality where they
will grow, as an example of the choice I would
suggest. In any section it is always well to
have a list gone over by the nearest Experiment
Station, in order to be sure of its suitability for
that particular region; but always explain, in
requesting them to do this, that it is quality you
are seeking and not varieties which will excel in
productiveness alone.

CHOICE VARIETIES OF FRUITS

APPLES

The soil in which apples do their best is inclined towards clay,
but in the private garden practically any good average soil will
be perfectly all right. A hillside provides desirable conditions
for an orchard, usually, owing to the better drainage. Apples
must always be sprayed to keep them in good condition.

292 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Summer Varieties Fall Varieties Winter V ariettes
Red Astrachan Duchess of Oldenburg Winter Banana
Yellow Transparent Gravenstein Stayman’s Winesap
Karly Harvest McIntosh Red R. I. Greening

Northern Spy
King
PEARS

A rather hard clay soil suits pears better than any other, as it
is desirable for them to make their growth slowly in order to in-
sure strong fiber in their wood. Pears require spraying also.

Early Medium Late
Wilder Seckel Anjou
Clapp’s Favorite Winter Nelis
PEACHES

Light sandy soil is best suited to the peach and to its close rela-
tives, the Apricot and Nectarine. Spraying is necessary to keep
these in health and insure perfect fruit.

Early Medium Late
Greensboro Globe Stump the World
Belle of Georgia Early Rivers Stevens Rareripe

APRICOTS
Alberge de Montgamet Moorpark
NEcTARINES
Early Violet Elruge
CHERRIES

Sweet cherries prefer a light, rather dry, but retentive soil.
Sour cherries like more moisture and will do well in the heavier
land.

Sour Sweet
Montmorency Robert’s Redheart
English Morello Windsor

FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDEN 293

Pius

Practically any good soil suits the plum, though if it inclines
toward heavy it may be more favorable. They produce larger
fruit, it is claimed, when mulched as they like moisture retained
at their roots. The Japanese varieties are inferior in flavor
though very prolific. For the private garden therefore I do not
advise them.

Purple Red Yellow
Apple Bradshaw Imperial Gage
Fellenburg Lombard
Damson

QUINCES

These should be sprayed the same as apples and pears, as the
same insects attack them, causing wormy or distorted fruit. Any
ordinary soil suits them.

Meech’s Prolific Champion
CURRANTS
Red White Black
Fay’s Prolific White Grape Black Naples
Perfection
GOOSEBERRIES

These require high and abundant fertilizing.

Downing Josselyn Red Jacket
RASPBERRIES
Red Black
St. Regis (everbearing) Plum Farmer
BLACKBERRIES

Eldorado, Early Harvest; also the Lucretia Dewberry, the
Himalaya berry and the Loganberry.

294 COME INTO THE GARDEN

GRAPES

Any good soil suits the grape, but extra feeding and mulch will
improve it greatly—especially if water is supplied at the roots.

Red-purple Blue-black White
Lindley Worden Niagara
Brighton

“The sturdy seedling with arched body comes,
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.”
—Putting in the Seed—Rosert Frost.

“Could I but show to you the cabbages which mine own
hands have planted in my garden at Salona, you would no
longer urge me to relinquish the enjoyment of happiness
for the pursuit of power.’’—D2vuocletian’s answer to Maxi-
mian when urged to resume the Imperial purple.

“He who sows the ground with care and diligence ac-
quires a greater stock of religious merit than he could
gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers.’”—The
Zend-Avesta—ZoOROASTER.

CHAPTER XX

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

ND here at the last we come to the first
kind of garden that was made—whether we
speak in the figurative language which places
stern necessity Just outside the gates of Eden and
consequent upon a certain lady’s misadventure
with an apple, or in the more prosaic terms of
anthropology. For man planted and tended
food plants ages and ages before he dreamed of

troubling himself with tending a rose—or even
295

296 COME INTO THE GARDEN

an apple tree or a berry bush. Apples grew
wild on many a tree, and berries on wild bushes,
and were his for the picking; but turnips and.
cabbages and all that sort of thing had to be
watched over and guarded from prowling beasts,
as well as from over-admiring neighbors as the
tribe inereased. So it was with such as these, if
not with these themselves, that he first busied
himself.

Speaking of which it is perhaps of interest, in
connection with the serious consideration of the
vegetable garden which befits our time and
generation, to note that the aboriginal form of
the cabbage—brassica oleracea—which grows
wild on the sea cliffs of western and southern
Europe and the chalk cliffs of the English Chan-
nel, and which is the progenitor of all forms of
cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and sprouts, was with-
out doubt an important article of food in the
diet of the barbarians first occupying these re-
gions; for ‘““when history begins it had already
been transferred to cultivated grounds and had
begun to produce dense rosettes or heads of
leaves.”

This great plant family—Brassica—is in-
digenous indeed throughout the temperate re-
gions of the old world, and includes all the mus-
tards and the turnips as well as the cabbages;

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THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 297

hence it is a logical inference that accords it
patriarchal honors among all the tribes that
have been drawn upon to contribute to our food
supply—whether we individually cherish a taste
for it in any of its forms, or not. And it is
further one of the most important vegetable
families of the present; and will always so re-
main beyond peradventure.

The introduction of the potato, this hemi-
sphere’s great sixteenth-century contribution to
the world’s food sources, did of course reduce
the almost complete dependence of Europeans
upon the turnip as a staple of their own diet,
however much they still required it for their
stock. Yet while John Winthrop was Governor
of the New England Colony it was the latter
that still held first place. And as a matter of
fact the potato did not come into general use
until about 1800, in the northern part of the
world, at any rate. Native to South America,
as is the sweet potato also, it is surely one of the
whims of fate that brought it to these shores by
way of the Spanish adventurers, who first took
both kinds home to Spain! And “Spanish po-
tatoes”” they were, these good white potatoes
loved by all the world to-day, for a long time;
and for long were a “despised root” according
to one old authority.

298 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Do I digress? Seemingly—but deliberately,
let me confess. For we have too generally
shifted the vegetable garden into the discard;
if it has been considered at all. It is despised,
in short, instead of being honored; and I aim to
see it restored to its proper elevation in the
general garden concept. For if this is not done
by those whose opportunities have developed in
them discrimination and taste, and recognition
of values as well as the sense of responsibility,
it will fall more and more under the ban in the
minds of that great mass who advance only by
imitation—and who imitate the least admirable,
more often than not. So to the end that it
may be thus elevated, I have gone afield to point
out its ancient lineage and its true aristocracy.
It occupies indeed the place of touchstone in
modern gardening, by which sincerity shall be
revealed as well as gauged. Let this never be
forgotten.

Let us moreover never confuse this obligation
to produce—and to apportion land so that the
productive garden is accorded a worthy place—
with the cost, in money terms, of the product.
We have learned—or we have failed!—that it
is not the money that food costs, but the food
that counts in the last analysis. To be able
to show actual food returns is therefore of far

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 299

greater Importance than to show advantages in
cost reduction, since production is the real basis
of economic advance in any field of endeavor,
and never the cheapness of the product.

It is understood, therefore, that I do not urge
the vegetable garden as a feature of any place
for the (problematical) results in saving money
on vegetables; but that my urgence is based on
that stewardship which I mentioned in the be-
ginning. The determination to give a good ac-
counting involves the neglect of no part—and
least of all the neglect of so vital a part as the
vegetable, or in the older terminology, the
kitchen garden. Remembering that for long it
entertained all that there were of flowers, and
these only because they were used in flavoring
or for distillation, we may easily restore its an-
cient prestige by restoring these—if it seems
necessary to do this. But introduced in the
right way and in the right relation in the gen-
eral design, I contend that the modern kitchen
garden needs nothing more than an understand-
ing of its place and purpose and of its harmony
with all the rest, to restore it to its own.

It must be approached practically however;
and as the most impractical method of handling
it is to overdo it, it follows that the most prac-
tical approach is the one that will insure doing

300 COME INTO THE GARDEN

just enough—if such a thing is possible. Tests
have resulted in establishing that itis. It is in-
deed quite as possible to estimate how much.
of each thing will be wanted during an entire
year as it is to figure out an allotment of fuel;
and further, to go back from this, and on the
basis of estimated yield ascertain the number
of hills or rows or plants of a given kind neces-
sary to produce, within a few quarts or pounds,
the required amount. Let us not start with
generalities, therefore, but rather by determin-
ing first how much is wanted of each thing, and
how much must be planted to yield this amount.
Then keep the kitchen garden within these limits.

As a starting point we may take the three
hundred and sixty-five days of the year which
are to be supplied with materials for three meals
each, per person. I will suggest eighteen stand-
ard vegetables to draw on, exclusive of salads,
onions, and potatoes. These are beans, beets
cabbage, carrots, celeriac, corn, cucumbers, egg-
plant, kohlrabi, lima beans, okra, parsnips, peas,
salsify, summer squash, spinach, tomatoes, and
turnips. If allowance of one vegetable at din-
ner in addition to potatoes is made, it will
mean a little more than twenty servings of
each one of these during the year—or of course
forty servings if two meals are being allowed for.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 301

This brings the estimate to the point where
each household must answer for itself the ques-
tion of a “portion.” It varies of course with
different households and individuals; yet it is
no great problem in mathematics to arrive at
it, for any. If three bunches of beets, for ex-
ample, or twelve ears of corn, are provided for
a ménage of six persons, it means that two
beets or two ears of corn are a single portion;
wherefore the twenty portions of the year will
be forty beets and forty ears of corn. Going
thus through the entire list of vegetables that
are to be planted, it is easy to arrive at ap-
proximately the proper total of every one; and
from this the necessary amount for any house-
hold is discoverable by a very simple sum in
multiplication.

A tabulated list of the vegetables suggested
is given, to aid in arriving at an estimate of the
amounts to be planted—which of course in its
turn determines the space to be devoted to the
entire project. It is not based on a single serv-
ing of each vegetable on twenty days of the
year, but upon the doubling of this—that is,
upon serving each one forty times. And of
course it is to be understood that the perishable
vegetables which cannot be canned are to be
used during their season, while those which

302 COME INTO THE GARDEN

may be preserved are put away against the sea-
son when nothing is available from the garden.
As to the list itself, if put to practical usage,
favorites may be increased in quantity, while
those that do not recommend themselves are
correspondingly decreased.

QUANTITY OF VEGETABLES TO PLANT PER PERSON

On the basis of eighteen kinds, each of which shall be served forty
times during the year. At least one half of all produced, with the
exception of the root crops, is to be canned or dried for winter.
Production is to be kept up by close picking, which induces further
bearing. All vegetables (except parsnips and salsify, which re-
main in the ground to be frozen in order to bring them to their
full flavor) should always be picked before fully mature, to be at
their best. The length of rows given is of course approximate.

Amount Space to Distance

Vegetable Needed Plant Apartin Rows
Beets 80 plants 25 feet 4 inches
Carrots SOs 95 Ss Asya
Turnips 400) SS 1214 “ a ae
Parsnips QD) 20 {i ze
Salsify so.“ OyiSs Bl
Beans (pole) 20 quarts 2 hills 3 feet
Cabbage 5 plants 8 feet 18 inches
Corn 80 ears 25 al Ig)
Peas 4 pecks 60 “f Gini
Kohlrabi 80 plants 25 i) Ae i
Tomato 90 fruits 3 plants 3 feet
Eggplant Oia Pili Sha
Squash NO) 9 1 vine hills 4 feet
New Zealand Spinach 5 pecks 20 feet 18 inches
Okra 10 quarts a) 2 feet
Lima beans LOW 4 hills poles 3 feet
Cucumbers 90 fruits 3 hills hills 4 feet

Celeriac 80 plants 25 feet 4 inches

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 303

It is a point of great importance to select
varieties of each kind that will give the greatest
yield consistent with highest quality, in small
space. I speak especially and emphatically of
this because the most prolific varieties are
usually of the market gardeners’ “quality””—
which means that actual quality has been sac-
rificed to four things that market gardeners
must have—or believe they must have—above
all else, namely: earliness, shipping substance,
tremendous yield, and fine appearance. If fine
flavor accompanies these, it is so much gain; if
it does not, it matters not to the commercial
grower! In choosing seeds therefore avoid those
kinds of which it is said they are favorites with
truckers. Seek quality first and after this
abundance—and forget the rest.

Without going over the devious ways by
which the conclusion has been arrived at, I
will say that six hundred square feet of ground
will produce, under intensive cultivation, all
the vegetables, including potatoes, that one
adult will require for one year. As the latter
vegetable occupied one third of this space—in
the tests—it follows that four hundred square
feet will suffice if potatoes are not to be grown;
wh?ch reduces itself to a plot of ground twenty
by twenty feet in size. Adding to this a fair

304 COME INTO THE GARDEN

percentage for wastage, we may say that
twenty-five by twenty-five feet is a generous
unit per person, as the basis for estimating
the amount of land it will be necessary to cul-
tivate and give over to vegetables in maintain-
ing a kitchen garden consistent with the de-
mands of any given household. If potatoes are
to be included in the list of vegetables grown,
it is of course proper to grow them all together
(in rows running the longest way of their sec-
tion for convenience in tillage) on a separate
allotment of two hundred square feet or a plot
ten by twenty feet in size, for each individual.
In the preparation of the ground for the
kitchen garden the advantage of using only the
smallest area consistent with the needs of a
household begins to be apparent. For both
labor and fertilizers are concentrated, and the
ground benefits accordingly—as well as the gar-
dener. It is from every side therefore the part
of wisdom to reduce the problem to its lowest
common denominator; and to locate the space
which is to be devoted to this extremely inter-
esting and worth-while project where every ac-
tivity connected with it will be best and most
conveniently served. Wherefore it appears that,
in the beginning, one must consider every end;
and, as I have earlier and repeatedly pointed

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 305

out, must design all together and with due re-
gard for every part.

Of actual vegetable culture it is not, perhaps,
my part to say a great deal here, yet of the ap-
proach to this phase of garden making I may
appropriately speak, since it is a part of general
garden operations. Briefly, the steps to be
taken are five in number: the measuring off
of the plot and staking out, with allotment for
paths and for any special features that may be
intended; the applying to the ground thus set
apart of fertilizer, preferably in the shape of
well decomposed stable manure; the plowing
‘or spading up, during which this is turned
under; the application to the upturned and
broken ground of a dressing of lime; and finally
the harrowing or raking of all this surface until
it is broken and fine and mellow for the recep-
tion of the seed.

‘Of the first—the staking out of the ground—
let it be remembered that primarily it is to
grow vegetables, and to grow them of the finest
quality and to the highest point of develop-
ment, with the least expenditure of effort. It
must be brought to the point of highest effi-
ciency, in other words—which implies that the
gardener who tends it shall be able to manipu-
late his tools with perfect freedom and shall not

306 COME INTO THE GARDEN

have his efforts impeded by any outside con-
siderations. This demands the elimination of
what some so enthusiastically recommend as
an ornament to the vegetable garden; namely,
the flower border. For a border of flowers
crossing the ends of the vegetable rows means
that, in passing from row to row with his wheel
hoe, the gardener must always be hindered by
the necessity of avoiding them. Even though
he does not work with a wheel hoe—but how
shall that be!—he still must watch his step as
he approaches the end of each vegetable row, if
the flower border is allowed.

Unquestionably the best vegetable-garden
layout does not admit a border of any kind,
unless this is wholly outside of the vegetable
space, as in the case of its being on the outer
side of a walk which extends around the gar-
den. Such a walk is excellent; for crossing the
ends of the rows it affords just the turning space
which the gardener needs, whatever implement
he is handling. Whatever the garden space,
therefore, secure if possible this feature of a
walk at the ends of the rows. If these are more
than fifty feet in length it is well also to break
them by a walk midway; for of some things con-
siderably less than fifty feet of row will serve
ordinarily. Avoid unusual forms in the layout

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 307

of the space, and always plant in rows rather
than in beds. There ought of course to be a
seed-bed space; and also space for hotbeds and
coldframes, if full provision is to be made for
the best work. But these are all assembled
along one end or side, with the permanent veg-
etables for their neighbors—such things as as-
paragus and rhubarb—and so do not break up
the main portion of the garden. This avoids
interference with the permanent things when
plowing is done, and preserves the units of the
garden in the proper and efficient manner.
Whatever may be said, or may have been
said at any time by anybody, of other fertil-
izers, nothing will ever supersede stable manure.
Green manures should be used also, in the form
of cow-peas, vetch, or rye, sown broadcast when
the garden is harvested, to be plowed under
with the coming of spring again; but the short-
season of growth which intensive gardening al-
lows these is not sufficient to provide, through
them, all that the ground needs. Of commer-
cial fertilizers always remember that, though
they do what is claimed of them in many in-
stances, they do it at tremendous expense to the
land—and their use must be constantly carried
on, once it is adopted. Whereas in countries
as densely populated as China, farming and gar-

308 COME INTO THE GARDEN

dening of the most intensive character have been
practiced for thousands of years without a par-
ticle of these synthetic plant foods.

Ground bone, dried blood, and such products
are not in this class of course. It is to those
combinations of chemicals by which many—
including many who should know better—set
such store, that I refer. If land is well manured
annually, lightly limed annually, and worked
deeply before planting, and constantly on top
after vegetation makes its appearance, it will
produce without the stimulation which chemi-
cals give it; and it will not become exhausted,
no matter how many crops are taken from it,
nor how abundant these may be.

The vegetable garden space ought never to
receive less than four inches depth of manure
each spring—and more in the beginning if it is
poor land. This should be applied evenly as
early as possible (not however in the autumn
before!) and of course plowed under, or turned
under by spading if it is a small garden plot,
as soon as the ground is in condition to do this
work. The best way of deciding as to when this
time has arrived is to walk onto the ground and
‘see whether it packs or not. As long as it is
““mud”’ or even wet enough to be pressed down
and printed by the foot, it is too wet to be

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 309

touched—and too wet to be walked about on,
as a matter of fact. For nothing will work more
lasting damage for the season than such packing
of the garden soil into lumps in the spring.

Clods formed in this way simply cannot
be eradicated all summer long, since they will
take on almost the hard baked character of
bricks. Actually the ground is not ready for
working until a handful of it, squeezed ener-
getically, crumbles apart when the hand is
opened. Never let the forehandedness of an-
other drive this from mind—for the garden that
is not worked until it is fully ready, nor planted
until the ground is warm and mellow, will grow
enough faster to catch up with, and often to
pass, the garden that is worked a little in ad-
vance of the safe season.

Plowing or spading, whichever method is
used to break the ground up in the spring,
should be deep—eight inches at least, twelve if
possible. The latter is I know, even in agricul-
tural operations, a greater depth than is usually
considered possible; but if ground is worked
over by hand, it is quite possible—and though
it may be difficult, it is worth the effort, in al-
ternate years at any rate. For a deep seedbed
means plenty of deep moisture for the growing
plants; and moisture deep down is food, since

310 COME INTO THE GARDEN

only in liquid form is it possible for them to take
nourishment at all. If ever so great efforts are
made in the way of providing them nourishment.
therefore, and this one thing of keeping the
moisture in the ground to hold it in solution is
neglected, they must starve.

After the plowing comes the lime—and annu-
ally, enough of it to cover the ground lightly.
Never be beguiled into a generous application
one year in the hope of saving work the next;
but put it on every year, in the proportion of
about five pounds to one hundred square feet.
Spread it as evenly as possible; and then pro-
ceed to the harrowing or raking which shall in-
corporate it with the soil at the surface, and at
the same time shall break up all lumps and
fine this upper layer until it is ready for the
seed, and for the cordial encouragement of the
tiny rootlets that must needs penetrate it in all
directions when the seeds sprout.

Finally, let me urge orderliness in the planting
of the seed. It has been said to me by a few
successful gardeners—successful in that they
are able to raise a great many things by spread-
ing them over a great deal more land than is
necessary—that straight rows and care in the
matter of sowing seed are all nonsense. But
such measure of success as comes with disorder

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 311

comes because of the abundance of nature and
never through the intelligence of the gardener.
And this is not the kind of gardening that we
of to-day can be satisfied with. The kitchen
garden deserves as much care to make it beau-
tiful through perfect order, and through exact
lines which express such order, as any other
kind of garden or section of the garden. Dis-
regard of these features is largely responsible
for its disrepute, as well as for the slovenly care
that it so often receives. Wherefore, observa-
tion of them will scatter both the indifference
that results in neglect, and the disdain that
scorns the finer attributes of appearance; and
thus we shall not only bring the vegetable gar-
den into its proper place of honor, but we shall
add to all the rest that a garden means a happy
consciousness of obligations discharged even as
they are continually reimcurred.

312 COME INTO THE GARDEN

“Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener’s work is done upon his
knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands
and pray
For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away!
And the Glory of the Garden tt shall never pass away!”
—The Glory of the Garden—Kipuine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER

®
Part I

I. Tas Garpven’s Puace in Crviiza Tron |
History of Gardening in Eng-

land

AMHERST

An Bvevclonetin of Gardening Lovpon
Old-fashioned Gardening
Gardens Ancient and Modern .

TABOR
DENT

TI. Fosrrion AND PLAN or THE HovusE

Village Improvement.
The Home Grounds, Ballon
. CorNELL UNIVERSITY

361

The House lnables erica

Economic Study of Farm Lay-

out

Town leanne feaee piece
and Possible

TII.-VIII. (inclusive)

Landscape Gardening Studies
Landscape Gardening

Home
Books

Landscape

Gavienie

FARWELL

. Purnam, Publisher

CorNELL UNIVERSTY

Tricas

PARSONS
Roor & KeLiey

. Tar GarpEN PREsS

The Ideal Ganien PF
How to Plan the Home Graunde
Practical Landscape Gardening

IX. PLANTING AND

MAINTENANCE

Manual of Gardening suit:
Four Seasons in the Garden .
Amateur Gardencraft
The Pruning Manual

THOMAS
Parsons
CrIDLAND

Barney
REXFORD
RExFroRD
BaILey

314 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Part II
CHAPTER
X. TREES anp THEIR PURPOSE

Manual of the Trees of North

America . SARGENT
Care of Trees . FERNOW
The Romance of Our Tees . WILSON

Field Book of American Trees
and Shrubs . Ane

Key to Trees

Our National Horestel Gane

. Marrarws

Coxtuins & PRESTON

study) BoERKER
American Rates! Meee dumber
study) . . GrBson
XT.-XII.
Same as under III.-VIII.
XIII.-XIV.
A Woman’s Hardy Garden. . Ety
Home Floriculture . RExFoRD
The American Flower Garden . BLANcHAN
Let’s Make a Flower Garden . Rion
Color Schemes for the Flower
Garden . JEKYLL
Hints on the Ghontiag of iBulbe DREER
Continuous Bloom in America . SHELTON

Annual Flowering Plants, Bul-
letin 1171 UVR hs
My Garden

. CoRNELL UNIVERSITY
. WILDER

XV. Roses anp THEIR SPECIAL CULTURE

Roses (historical) . . ;
The Practical Book of Outdoor

Rose Growing d
American Rose Society Annuals

. PEMBERTON

. THomas

XVI. Water Features anp WatER FLOWERS

Water Garden .

(Issued by DREER)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Water Lilies and How to Grow
Them . . :
The Book of Water ndlatn.

The Wild Garden

XIX. Fruits roR THE SMALL GaRDEN

The Principles of Fruit Growing

Bush Fruits . :

The Principles and Buactice of
Pruning tise

XX. Tae VEGETABLE GARDEN

Vegetable Gardening .

Home Vegetable Garden

The Home Garden . .

The Book of the Home Condition

The Principles of Meaty
Gardening

Aso FOR GENERAL REFERENCE:

Diseases of Truck Crops and
Their Control
Manual of Fruit Insects

Injurious Insects

Spraying of Plants

Garden Guide

The Garden Primer Glaton
tary work) :

Garden Steps (Clomentary be
children) .

The Complete Garden Guaverial
for all sections) .

Johnson’s Chuan?
ary

Dicer!

315

- Hus & ConarD.

BiIssErT

XVII. Rock GarpENs AND THEIR Pants
Rock Gardening for Amateurs .

THOMAS

XVIII. Witp GarpENS AND WILD FLOWERS
. RoBINsON

BatLrey
CaRD

. Karns

. GREEN
. RockKWELL

REXFORD
FULLERTON

BatLrey

. TAUBENHAUS
. SLINGERLAND &

CrosBy

. KANE
. LOoDEMAN

Dre ta Mare
TABOR

Coss

. Taytor

. JOHNSON

INDEX

Abelia, 75, 175

Acer, 152

Aconitum, 197

Acta, 197, 266, 280
Actinidia, 68, 75
Adder’s tongue, 279
Adonis, 197

Ageratum, 199

Ajuga, 198, 199, 265
Akebia (akebi), 208
Alder, 180

Alkanet (Italian), 199
Allegheny plum, 281
Alpines, 259

Althea, 199

Alyssum, 199, 266
Amelanchier, 152, 281
Ampelopsis, 202, 206
Anchusa, 199 :
Andromeda, 175, 176, 179
Anemone, 197, 198, 266, 279
Annuals, 183
Antirrhinum, 199
Aphids (plant lice), 136
Appalachian tea, 281
Apple, 147, 283, 285
Apricot, 286, 287
Aquilegia, 197, 266
Arabis, 266

Arbor, 89, 93, 209

Arborvite, 67, 75, 161, 162,
163

Arbutus, 279

Arbutus (bush), 175

Arch, 103, 111

Arenaria, 266

Ariszeema, 279

Armeria, 266

Aronia, 180

Asarum, 266, 280

Asclepias, 266, 280, 281

Ash, 273

Ash (mountain), 153

Aster, 197, 198, 280

Astilbe, 198

Azalea, 175, 179, 277, 281

Baneberry, 184, 197, 266,
280

Barberry, 75, 177, 180

Barrenwort, 266

Bayberry, 281

Beard tongue, 198

Bedstraw, 280

Bee (honey), 138

Beech, 69, 127, 148, 273

Bellflower, 197, 198, 266

Bellwort, 279

Benzoin, 180

Berberis, 75, 177, 180

318 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Biennials, 183
Birch, 127, 273

Bird bath, 94, 95, 96, 97

Bird’s eye, 198

Bird house, 95
Bishop’s cap, 266
Bittersweet, 274
Blanket flower, 198
Bloodroot, 279
Bluebells, 197, 199
Blue spruce, 154
Bog, 248, 249
Boltonia, 189, 197
Bordeaux mixture, 136
Border, 187

Boston ivy, 202, 208
Boxwood, 75, 178
Brassica, 296
Brickwork, 78, 112
Buckthorn, 180
Buddleia, 179
Bugbane, 280
Bugle, 198, 199, 265
Bunchberry, 279
Burning bush, 180
Bush arbutus, 175
Bush clematis, 199
Bush fruits, 289
Buttercup, 189
Butterfly shrub, 179

Butterfly weed, 266, 280

Button snakeroot, 280

Cabbage, 296
Cabomba, 245
Calliopsis, 199
Calluna, 175, 179

Campanula, 197, 198, 266

Candytuft, 266

Cardamine, 266

Cardinal flower, 197,198, 280

Carnation, 199

Casino, 89, 93

Catchfly, 199

Caulophyllum, 279

Ceanothus, 179

Cedar (red), 159, 161

Cedar (white), 159

Cement, 77, 112

Centaurea, 199

Cerastium, 265

Cherry, 285, 292

Cherry (wild), 273

Chimaphila, 279

Chionanthus, 152

Chokeberry, 180

Christmas berry, 180

Chrysanthemum, 197, 198,
199

Cimicifuga, 197, 280

Claytonia, 198, 280

Clematis (bush), 199, 266

Clematis (vine), 205, 208,
209, 274

Clethra, 180

Clintonia, 279

Clover, 189

Coal ash, 139

Coleus, 184

Color, 189, 190, 191, 192

Coltsfoot, 280

Columbine, 184, 197, 266

Column, 89, 102

Compass piaat, 280

INDEX

Conifers, 156, 162, 173
Coreopsis (annual), 199
Coreopsis (perennial), 198
Cornel, 177, 180
Cornelian cherry, 180
Cornus, 153, 180, 279, 281
Corylus, 281

Cotoneaster, 175, 176, 179
Cow-peas, 307

Cowslip (Virginian), 280
Cratzgus, 152, 179
Crimson-glory vine, 209
Crocus, 184

Cuckoo flower, 266
Currant, 116, 290
Cypress, 162

Daffodil, 184, 197

Daisy, 189

Daphne, 175

Day lily, 184, 197, 198

Delphinium (annual), 200

Delphinium (perennial),
197, 198, 199

Dentaria, 280

Deutzia, 180

Dianthus, 266

Dicentra, 280

Dictamnus, 198

Diervilla, 179

Digitalis, 198

Dodocatheon, 280

Dog fennel, 280

Dogwood (cornel), 153, 161

Dryas, 266

Dutchman’s breeches, 280

Dwarf fruit, 115, 283, 284

319

Eel grass, 245
Elder, 179
Eleagnus, 75
Elm, 148, 273
Entrance, 85, 10?
Epigea, 279
Epimedium, 266
Erythronium, 279
Eupatorium 281
Evergreens, 127, 128
Evonymus, . 175,
180
Exotics, 151
Exposure, 18

179,

False mitrewort, 266

False Solomon’s seal, 1977,
279

Faun, 115

Fence, 69, 70, '71, 72

Fertilizer, 138, 307, 308

Fire thorn, 179

Flag-stone garden, 261

Floss flower, 199

Flower beds, 185

Foam flower, 279

Forsythia, 179

Fountain, 89

Foxglove, 198

Fringe tree, 152

Fruit lists, 291, 292, 293,
294

Fungicide, 135

Funkia, 197

Galax, 280
Galium, 280

320 COME INTO THE GARDEN

Gaillardia, 198
Garland flower, 175
Gas plant, 198
Gateway, 87, 112
Gazebo, 89, 113
Gentian, 280
Geranium, 184 _
Giant bellflower, 189
Ginkgo, 121,

Globe flower, 197
Goldenrod, 280, 281
Golden seal, 279
Goldfish, 246
Gooseberry, 116, 290
Grape, 116, 209, 290
Grape (wild), 274
Grass, 141
Grasswort, 265
Gravel, '78

Great laurel, 281
Great lobelia, 281
Gronnd-hele, 266
Ground lily, 279

Hamamelis, 281
Harebell, 266
Hazelnut, 281
Heath family, 277
Heather, 175, 179
Hedera, 203 ;
Hedge material, 75
Hemerocallis, 197, 198
Hemlock, 87
Hepatica, 279
Herm, 95, 102
Hesperis, 199
Hickory, 148, 273

High-bush cranberry, 177

Holly, 75, 175

Hollyhock, 184, 185, 199

Honeysuckle (bush), 28, 75,
IIe

Honeysuckle (vine), 202,
204, 207, 208, 209

Hop-tree, 152

House-leek, 266

Huckleberry, 277

Hydrangea, 180

Hydrastis, 279

Hypericum, 180

Iberis, 266

Tlex, 175, 176, 179, 180

Indian pink, 197

Inkberry, 174

Insecticide, 136 —

Insects, 135, 136, 228

Tris, 184, 197, 198, 199,
280

Ivy (English), 203

Jack-in-the-pulpit, 279

Joe Pye weed, 281

Juniper (Juniperus), 159,
161, 163

Kalmia, 175, 179, 281
Kerosene emulsion, 135
Kitchen garden, 304, 311
Kudzu vine, 202, 208

Larkspur (annual), 200
Larkspur (perennial), 198,
199

INDEX

Laurel, 175, 176, 179, 277,
281

Lawns, 140

Leucothee, 179

Liatris, 280

Ligustrum, 75

Lilac, 164, 179

Lily (lilium),
281

Lily-of-valley shrub, 175,
179

Lime, 139, 141, 310

Lime-sulphur spray, 135

Live-forever, 266

Liverleat, 279

Lobelia, 197, 198, 280, 281

Lonicera, 202, 207

Lotus, 245

Lupine (lupinus), 184, 197,
198, 280

Lychnis, 199

197, 280,

Madwort, 199, 266

Mahonia, 175, 176, 179

Maidenhair tree (ginkgo),
121

Maiden pink, 266

Manure (stable), 139, 140

Manure (green), 307

Maple, 152, 273

Marigold, 200

Marilandica, 197

Mass planting, 167

Matthiola, 200

May apple, 279

Meadow sweet, 197

Mertensia, 197, 199, 280

321

Milkweed, 281
Milkwort, 279
Mitchella, 279
Mitella, 266, 279
Mitrewort, 279
Mock orange, 179
Monarda, 281
Monkshood, 197
Mosquito, 98, 246
Moss pink, 266
Mountain ash, 152
Mullein pink, 199
Myrica, 281

Nectarine, 286, 287
Nelumbium, 244
New Jersey tea, 17°
Nymphea, 245

Oak, 148, 161, 273

Oregon grape, 175, 179

Ornamental trees, 148, 150,
273

Oswego tea, 281

Pappoose root, 279
Partridge berry, 279
Pasque flower, 266
Peach, 285, 286
Penstemon, 198
Peony (pzxonia), 184, 189,
197, 198
Perennials, 183
Pergola, 92, 93, 209
Pests, 135, 136, 228
Philadelphus, 179
Phlox (annual), 199

322

Phlox (perennial), 184, 197,
198, 199, 266

Photinia, 180

Pieris, 179

Pink-root, 280

Pipsissewa, 279

Plan (garden), 30, 34, 38,
42, 106, 108, 114

Plan (house), 20, 30, 34, 38,
108, 114

Plantain lily, 197

Planting, 118, 188, 196

Plant lice, 186

Platycodon, 199

Plum, 273

Podophyllum, 279

Polygala, 279, 280

Polygonatum, 280

Pool, 235, 238

Poplar, 121

Poppy, 198

Potato, 297

Privet, 63, 64, 75, 87, 115,
180

Pruning, 65, 66, 67, 121,
122, 182, 229

Prunus, 281

Ptelia, 152

Pueraria, 202

Quince, 288

Red osier, 281
Retinospora, 162, 163
Rhamnus, 180
Rhododendron, 197,
174, 177, 277, 281

173,

COME INTO THE GARDEN

Rock cress, 266 f
Rockery, 261, 262, 2€3
Rock garden material, 265,
266 :
Root system, 120
Roots, 118
Rose classification, 214
Rose (climbing), 116, 117,
207
Rose hip, 178
Rose (hybrids), 177
Rose lists, 230, 231
Rose (wild), 177
Roses:
China or Bengal, 216, 226
Hybrid Perpetual, 215
Hybrid Tea, 216
Multiflora, 226
Native wild, 227, 228
Noisette, 226
Rugosa, 217
Soil for, 220
Tea, 216
Wichuraiana, 225
Rue, 279
Rye, 307

Salvia, 184

Sambucus, 179

Sanguinaria, 279

San Jose scale, 185

Sassafras, 278

Saxafrage (saxafraga), 197,
266, 280

Scale insects, 186

Screen planting, 165

Sculpture, 90

INDEX

Seat (garden), 93

Sedum, 199, 266

Seed, 141

Sempervivum, 266

Service berry, 152

Shadbush, 152, 281

Shade, 148, 149, 150

Sheep-berry, 281

Shooting star, 280

Shortia, 280

Shrubs, 153, 160, 165, 179,
180

Shrubs (evergreen),
176, 177, 179

Silene, 199

Silphium, 280

Smilacina, 197, 297

Snakeroot, 197, 266, 280

Snapdragon, 199

Snowball, 164

Snowberry, 180

Soap spray, 137

Soil (alkali), 277

Soil (sour), 139

Solidago, 280, 281

Solomon’s seal, 280

Sorbus, 152

Speedwell, 198, 199, 266

Spice bush, 180

Spindle tree, 179

Spirea (spirzea), 179, 197

Spraying, 229

Spring beauty, 198, 280

Squirrel corn, 280

Starwort, 184

Statuary, 94, 99, 100, 101

Statue, 89, 90, 91

175,

323

St. John’s-wort, 180

Stocks, 200

Stoke’s aster (stokesia), 199

Stone-crop, 199, 266

Stone, use of, in garden, 275,
276

Streptopus, 280

Subaquatic, 245

Sundial, 94, 98, 110, 113

Sweet pepper-bush, 180

Sweet rocket, 199

Sweet sultan, 199

Symphoricarpos, 180

Symplocos, 180

Syringa, 179

Tagetes, 200
Taxus, 75

Tecoma, 209
Thalictrum, 279
Thorn, 152, 273
Thrift, 266

Thuya, 75, 159, 161
Tiarella, 265, 299
Tickseed, 198

Toad lily, 197
Toothwort, 280
Transplanting, 129
Trellis, 204
Trillium, 197, 279
Trollius, 197
Trumpet creeper, 209
Trycirtus, 197
Tulip tree, 273
Tunica, 266
Turquoise berry, 180
Twisted stalk, 280

324
Uvularia, 279

Vallisneria, 245
Vegetable garden, 116
Vegetable list, 302
Veronica, 197, 198, 199,
266
Vetch, 307
Viburnum, 180, 281
Vines (annual), 210
Violet, 280
Virginia creeper, 206
Vitis, 209

Wafer ash, 152, 161
Wake robin, 197, 279
Wall, 72, 73, 111

Wall fruits, 113, 116
Wall garden, 260
Wall pepper, 266
Washington grass, 245

COME INTO THE GARDEN

Water garden material, 250,
951, 252

Water hyacinth, 242

Watering, 126 =.

Water-lily, 240, 241, 246,
Q47

Water poppy, 242

Weigelia, 179

White flowers, 193

Wild oats, 279

Windflower, 197, 198

Winterberry, 179

Wistaria, 202, 207, 208

Witch-hazel, 281

Withe rod, 180

Woodbine, 206, 274

Woods (plants from), 277,
278

Worms, 136

Yew, 75

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