International studio (25.1905)

AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF A CITY GARDEN

front of the house offers itself for garden work, and
as this position is too public for occupation a pic-
torial effect adapted to the adjacent buildings and
suited to the shape and condition of the grounds
may be the .aim of the owner.
A clipped hedge defines, in trim greenery, the
confines of a city garden, concealing the stiff surface
of the fencing, yet responding to the architectural
outlines close at hand. If the hedge is a high one
the pleasure of seeing Nature's handiwork is limited
to those fortunate enough to pass through the gates.
In some towns a complete obliteration of fences
and hedging has been effected to throw the entire
locality into one general park. Each man's house
belongs to his neighbour, and no privacy within the
grounds is attained. At the other extreme is the
idea of an exclusive dominion over the plot of
ground, which is carried out by installing a high,
impenetrable fence and growing a tall, dense hedge.
Between these two methods there are happy ex-

amples where a simple iron fence is protected by a
hedge that does not shut away a visual participation
in the beauty of the interior gardening.
For the city garden, more than the one in the
suburbs or open country, has an altruistic attitude
towards humanity, unrealized, perhaps, by its
owner, and never entered in the statistics of philan-
thropies. Its cool greenness refreshes those "in city
pent," to whom Nature in her affluence is denied.
Its variety of growth is a concrete illustration of the
movement of the seasons, from incipient spring-
time to the departure of the leaves. Its systematic
arrangement amidst distracting elements is restful,
its aesthetic atmosphere diffuses refinement.
A more intimate, personal taste may be expressed
in the garden scheme at the rear of the city house,
although kept in accord with the surrounding archi-
tecture. A veranda that extended across the first
floor, opening from the dining room of the town
residence, was used for all the meals that were taken.

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