A plan of a city lot is given in Fig. 44. The area is fifty by one
hundred, and the house occupies the greater part of the width. It is
level, but the surrounding land is higher, resulting in a sharp
terrace,
three or four feet high, on the rear, E D. This terrace vanishes at C
on
the right, but extends nearly the whole length of the other side,
gradually diminishing as it approaches A. There is a terrace two feet
high extending from A to B, along the front. Beyond the line E D is the
rear of an establishment which it is desired to hide. Since the
terraces
set definite
borders to this little place, it is desirable to plant
the boundaries rather heavily. If the adjoining lawns were on the same
level, or if the neighbors would allow one area to be merged into the
other by pleasant slopes, the three yards might be made into one
picture; but the place must remain isolated.
There are three problems of structural planting in the place:
to provide
a cover or screen at the rear; to provide lower border masses on the
side terraces; to plant next the foundations of the house. Aside from
these problems, the grower is entitled to have a certain number of
specimen plants, if he has particular liking for given types, but these
specimens must be planted in some relation to the structural masses,
and
not in the middle of the lawn.
The owner desired a mixed planting, for variety. The following
shrubs
were actually selected and planted. The place is in central New York:--
Shrubs for the tall background
2 Barberry, Berberis vulgaris and var. purpurea.
1 Cornus Mas.
2 Tall deutzias.
3 Lilacs.
2 Mock oranges, Philadelphus grandiflorus
and P. coronarius.
2 Variegated elders.
2 Eleagnus, Elœagnus hortensis
and E. longipes.
1 Exochorda.
2 Hibiscuses.
1 Privet.
3 Viburnums.
1 Snowball.
1 Tartarian honeysuckle.
1 Silver Bell, Halesia tetraptera.
These were planted on the sloping bank of the terrace, from E to D. The
terrace has an incline, or width, of about three feet. Figure 45 shows
this terrace after the planting was completed, looking from the point C.
Shrubs of medium size, suitable for side plantings
and groups in the
foregoing example
3 Barberries, Berberis Thunbergii.
3 Osier dogwoods, variegated.
2 Japanese quinces, Cydonia Japonica
and C. Maulei.
4 Tall deutzias.
1 Variegated elder.
7 Weigelas, assorted colors.
1 Rhodotypos.
9 Spireas of medium growth, assorted.
1 Rubus odoratus.
1 Lonicera fragrantissima.
Most of these shrubs were planted in a border two feet wide, extending
from B to C D, the planting beginning about ten feet back from the
street. Some of them were placed on the terrace at the left, extending
from E one-fourth of the distance to A.
The plants were set about two
feet apart. A strong clump was placed at N to screen the back yard. In
this back yard a few small fruit trees and a strawberry bed
were planted.
Low informal shrubs for front of porch and banking
against house
3 Deutzia gracilis.
6 Kerrias, green and variegated.
3 Daphne Mezereum.
3 Lonicera Halliana.
3 Rubus phœnicolasius.
3 Symphoricarpus vulgaris.
4 Mahonias.
1 Ribes aureum.
1 Ribes sanguineum.
1 Rubus cratægifolius.
1 Rubus fruticosus var. laciniatus.
These bushes were planted against the front of the house (a porch on a
high foundation extends to the right from O), from the walk around to
P,
and a few of them were placed at the rear of the house.
Specimen shrubs for mere ornament, for this place
Azalea.
Rhododendron.
Rose.
2 Hydrangeas.
1 Snowball.
1 each Forsythia suspensa and F. viridissima.
2 Flowering almonds.
These were planted in conspicuous places here and there
against the
other masses.
Here are one hundred excellent and interesting bushes planted
in a yard
only fifty feet wide and one hundred feet deep, and yet the place has
as
much room in it as it had before. There is
abundant opportunity along
the borders for dropping in cannas, dahlias, hollyhocks, asters,
geraniums, coleuses, and other brilliant plants. The bushes will soon
begin to crowd, to be sure, but a mass is wanted, and the narrowness of
the plantations will allow each bush to develop itself laterally to
perfection. If the borders become too thick, however, it is an easy
matter to remove some of the bushes; but they probably will not.
Picture
the color and variety and life in that little yard. And if a pigweed
now
and then gets a start in the border, it would do no harm to let it
alone: it belongs there! Then picture the same area filled with
disconnected, spotty, dyspeptic, and unspirited flower-beds and
rose bushes!
![[Illustration: Fig. 44. Present outline of a city back yard, desired to be planted.]](images%5Cfig044.png)
A plan of a city lot is given in Fig. 44. The area is fifty by one
hundred, and the house occupies the greater part of the width. It is
level, but the surrounding land is higher, resulting in a sharp
terrace,
three or four feet high, on the rear, E D. This terrace vanishes at C
on
the right, but extends nearly the whole length of the other side,
gradually diminishing as it approaches A. There is a terrace two feet
high extending from A to B, along the front. Beyond the line E D is the
rear of an establishment which it is desired to hide. Since the
terraces
set definite
borders to this little place, it is desirable to plant
the boundaries rather heavily. If the adjoining lawns were on the same
level, or if the neighbors would allow one area to be merged into the
other by pleasant slopes, the three yards might be made into one
picture; but the place must remain isolated.![[Illustration: Fig. 45. The planting of the terrace in Fig. 44.]](images%5Cfig045.png)
These were planted on the sloping bank of the terrace, from E to D. The
terrace has an incline, or width, of about three feet. Figure 45 shows
this terrace after the planting was completed, looking from the point C.![[Illustration: Fig. 46. Said to have been planted.]](images%5Cfig046.png)
Most of these shrubs were planted in a border two feet wide, extending
from B to C D, the planting beginning about ten feet back from the
street. Some of them were placed on the terrace at the left, extending
from E one-fourth of the distance to A.
The plants were set about two
feet apart. A strong clump was placed at N to screen the back yard. In
this back yard a few small fruit trees and a strawberry bed
were planted.![[Illustration: Fig. 47. An area well filled. Compare Fig. 46.]](images%5Cfig047.png)
These bushes were planted against the front of the house (a porch on a
high foundation extends to the right from O), from the walk around to
P,
and a few of them were placed at the rear of the house.