![[Illustration II.: The plan of the place. The arrangement of the property (which is in New York) is determined by an existing woodland to the left or southeast of the house and a natural opening to the southwest of the house. The house is colonial, and the entire treatment is one of considerable simplicity. Wild or woodland gardens have been developed to the right and left of the entrance, the latter or entrance lawns being left severely simple and plain in their treatment. To the rear of the house a turf terrace raised three steps above the general grade of the lawn leads to a general lawn terminated by a small garden exedra or teahouse with a fountain in its center, and to two shrub gardens forming interesting and closed pockets of lawn. The stable and vegetable gardens are located to the south of the house in a natural opening in the woodland. The design is made by a professional landscape architect.]](http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/seadarie/II.png)
One cannot expect satisfaction in the planting and developing of a home area unless he has a clear conception of what is to be done. This necessarily follows, since the pleasure that one derives from any enterprise depends chiefly on the definiteness of his ideals and his ability to develop them. The homemaker should develop his plan before he attempts to develop his place. He must study the various subdivisions in order that the premises may meet all his needs. He should determine the locations of the leading features of the place and the relative importance to be given to the various parts of it,--as of the landscape parts, the ornamental areas, the vegetable-garden, and the fruit plantation.
The details of the planting may be determined in part as the place develops; it is only the structural features and purposes that need to be determined beforehand in most small properties. The incidental modifications that may be made in the planting from time to time keep the interest alive and allow the planter to gratify his desire to experiment with new plants and new methods.
It must be understood that I am now speaking of ordinary home grounds which the home-maker desires to improve by himself. If the area is large enough to present distinct landscape features, it is always best to employ a landscape architect of recognized merit, in the same spirit that one would employ an architect. The details, however, may even then be filled in by the owner, if he is so inclined, following out the plan that the landscape architect makes.
![[Illustration: Fig. 2. Diagram of a back yard.]](http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/seadarie/fig002.png)
It is desirable to have a definite plan on paper (drawn to scale) for
the location of the leading features of the place. These features are
the residence, the out-houses, the walks and drives, the service areas
(as clothes yards), the border planting, flower-garden,
vegetable-garden, and fruit-garden. It should not be expected that the
map plan can be followed in every detail, but it will serve as a
general
guide; and if it is made on a large enough scale, the different kinds
of
plants can be located in their proper positions, and a record of the
place be kept. It is nearly always unsatisfactory, for both owner and
designer, if a plan of the place is made without a personal inspection
of the area. Lines that look well on a map may not
adjust themselves
readily to the varying contours of the place itself, and the location
of
the features inside the grounds will depend also in a very large
measure
on the objects that lie outside it. For example, all interesting and
bold views should be brought into the place, and all unsightly objects
in the immediate vicinity should be planted out.
A plan of a back yard of a narrow city lot is given in Fig. 2,
showing
the heavy border planting of trees and shrubs, with the skirting border
of flowers. In the front are two large trees, that are desired for
shade. It will readily be seen from this plan how extensive the area
for
flowers becomes when they are placed along such a devious border. More
color effect can be got from such an arrangement of the flowers than
could be secured if the whole area were planted to flower-beds.
![[Illustration: Fig. 3. Plan of a rough area.]](http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/seadarie/fig003.png)
A contour map plan of a very rough piece of ground is shown in Fig. 3. The sides of the place are high, and it becomes necessary to carry a walk through the middle area; and on either side of the front, it skirts the banks. Such a plan is usually unsightly on paper, but may nevertheless fit special cases very well. The plan is inserted here for the purpose of illustrating the fact that a plan that will work on the ground does not necessarily work on a map.
![[Illustration: Fig. 4. Suggestion for a school-ground on a four-corners.]](http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/seadarie/fig004.png)
In charting a place, it is important to locate the points from which
the
walks are to start, and at which they are to emerge from the grounds.
These two points are then joined by direct
and simple curves; and
alongside the walks, especially in angles or bold curves, planting may
be inserted.
A suggestion for school premises on a four-corners, and which the pupils enter from three directions, is made in Fig. 4. The two playgrounds are separated by a broken group of bushes extending from the building to the rear boundary; but, in general, the spaces are kept open, and the heavy border-masses clothe the place and make it home-like. The lineal extent of the group margins is astonishingly large, and along all these margins flowers may be planted, if desired.
If there is only six feet between a schoolhouse and the fence, there is still room for a border of shrubs. This border should be between the walk and the fence,--on the very boundary,--not between the walk and the building, for in the latter case the planting divides the premises and weakens the effect. A space two feet wide will allow of an irregular wall of bushes, if tall buildings do not cut out the light; and if the area is one hundred feet long, thirty to fifty kinds of shrubs and flowers can be grown to perfection, and the school-grounds will be practically no smaller for the plantation.
One cannot make a plan of a place until he knows what he wants to do with the property; and therefore we may devote the remainder of this chapter to developing the idea in the layout of the premises rather than to the details of map-making and planting.
Because I speak of the free treatment of garden spaces in this book it must not be inferred that any reflection is intended on the "formal" garden. There are many places in which the formal or "architect's garden" is much to be desired; but each of these cases should be treated wholly by itself and be made a part of the architectural setting of the place. These questions are outside the sphere of this book. All formal gardens are properly individual studies.
All very special types of garden design are naturally excluded from a book of this kind, such types, for example, as Japanese gardening. Persons who desire to develop these specialties will secure the services of persons who are skilled in them; and there are also books and magazine articles to which they may go.