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Planning Your Garden
The best way to secure wood edgings is to nail them to stout square pegs driven firmly into the soil.
In putting down edgings of every kind they should never be allowed to stand to a greater height out of ground than is necessary to form a barrier against rolling earth clods.
Garden Plans
IN THE following examples of small suburban plot gardens, mostly consisting of plans actually executed, I have applied the principles set forth in the foregoing pages. Each plan is drawn to scale, and accompanied by a scale of feet, and for clearness I have included only such details as are needed to indicate the general scheme of the garden. These examples may be closely followed whenever the conditions are the same as shown in the plans. It should be understood that for a given set of factors there are many possible arrangements, all equally good, so that personal taste and inclination may be allowed considerable scope, so long as the main principles of planning are observed. Considerations of economy may dictate the omission or modification of certain details, which the gardener will decide for himself. My primary object in presenting these plans is to elucidate the subject of garden design in a concrete form. If they should prove of use in individual cases, so much the better. It should be noted that each plan is made for a special aspect, and that it will only hold good for an aspect not greatly differing from that shown by the arrow with which the plan is marked. But, given the same aspect, the plan would serve for plots of similar proportions and dimensions, and with care to preserve due scale between details, for plots of larger or smaller size. Thus the plan (Fig. 78) might be applied to a plot of twice the length shown, by lengthening the central grass space and its associated borders, and leaving the features at such end the same as shown on the plan.
In all these examples the following points have been observed:
1. Grass is confined to compact areas, with means of access to them at more than one point.
2. Trees are placed so as not to cast shadows on the borders.
3. Principal borders are in full sun.
4. The summer house entrance is in shade or partial shade.
5. Symmetry in the main features of the plan is ignored.
6. Path space is reduced to a minimum, so far as is consistent with achieving a picturesque effect.
7. When grass space is divided, the two areas are not of equal size.
8. The vista from the summer house is made as interesting as possible.
9. No curves or angles other than right angles are introduced into the garden lines, except only where they may serve some useful purpose, as in Figs. 84 and 101.
