Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-04-22
A MODEL DWELLING.
Uncle Sam to Build One at
Arlington.
Hints On Beautifying Houses and
The Planting and Care of Grass-Ef-
fective Use of Vines.


ting ana watering lawns; OF locating ana
adjoining flower beds. paths and drives;
Of bcautifyins the porch; Of screening out
objectionable views; of locating trees; Of
covering outDuildinss with vines; Of do
ing all manner Of things to make the eX-
terror OF the home beautiful.
Through Arlington penetrates one OF
the most beautiful drives of America-one
frequcnted by the President and the elite
of the capital. The work of laying oIt
this model homestead site thcreupon has
been intrusttd to Professor l.. c. Cor
bctt; hDrtiCulturiSL Of the department Of
Agricultural master in the fine art OF
landscape gardening. Taking his new en-
terpriSe as a text. this SaVant yt stcrddy
laid down, in few words, what he con-
SlderS the fine points to be observed by
all city people and country folk who are
ambitious 20 beautify their lawns. their
back yards and the eXteriOrs of their
buildings with the flowers, shrubs and
trees which God has given.
Cut this out and paste it in Your scrap
book:
I'VE will begin BY laying out the lawn
| said Prof. C0rbctt ITO be effective it
should always rise from the street to tn,
house-sAoud rise at least eighteen
| inches in each 1QJ feet of depth. \ lawn
should always be fun in the center never
hollow, and should grade off gently u
| the level of the public walk in front, no.
| ending there in an abrupt bank.
If the soil be Of clay it is an easy
matter to get a full blue grass lawn; but
| II the soil be sandy white clover. Italian
| rye grass or red top must suffice.
| Most people either cut their grass too
close or let It 90 to seed between NOW
| lnGs. y lawn mower should be set high
| enough To leave ore ana half or two
| inches Of each blade of grass uncut: 9th
| erwise there will not be left sufficient
| leaf area for prOp-c nouriShmcut. Early
| IN the summer lawns must be moved
| often, with less frequency toward ana
| during autumn. The rule for this de-
| bends OF course the
| er II be wet or dry. In the fall. as sova
| rs the ground freezes. every lawn SHOULD
| be spread with dccomposed manure lcft
in place until March.
| If allowed to 60 to seed once grass will
| eXpend practically all of its energy. SUCH
| neglect, therefore, will be fatal to a
| pretty lawn. Red top and blue grass will
| go to seed in the latter part of June or
| IN July II not KEEP moved. White clover
| VIII continue to 90 to seed all through
| summer.
| Few people know when to water their
lawns. The hose SHOULD never under any
| circumstances be applied during full sun
shIne. Evaporation is then rapid, and
each drop of water acts as little lens or
| burning glass, focusing the suns rays
| ana actually scorching the grass blades.
| commence to wat your lawn toWar ri
] sunset or during The night. Make this a
| rule, ana Your grass Will look refreshed.
( ON a small city or town lawn the walk
| extending from the street to the front
| 80 SHouiu ordinarily pc perfectly
| straight. only in estates where there is
at least an acre in, front of the house
| are curved walks permissible In the lat
| ter case the curve should BE- deep enou III
| TO allow the planting of shrubs tail
| grasses or flowers in the bay inside Of
| bend, tu obscure distant objects and at
| FORA novelty of landscape at each turn
And III these clumps of bushes, or what
not, so placed, variety should be striven
FOR. We see too much uniformity of spe-
cleS In these clumpS 50 placed in our
parks and pretentious lawns
| walks and drives should always be
TWO or three inches below the surface OF
the surrounding lawn, so that when the
eye passes over the grass it will see moth
ing but the eXpanse of green sWard. The
croWnlnS center Of path or drive must
never rise to the level of the lawn
Hover bed should never be located in
the center of an eXpanse of front lava,
nor directly in front of the house. Flow
ers should be planted in the angles of the
mouse between the porch and main struc-
ture, bordering walks, in the back yard
or between sidewalks and the house. but
/ never, | repeat to interrupt the expanse
| OF green sward between the house and
| the street. Irregularity rather than for
| mality should be striven for in border
| planting of any kind.
1 Now, let US begin at the front of the
| house. Ii wild flowers are desired, you
| can get early effects from such species as
trilliums, jacks-in-the-pulpit, phloxes or
| heDaticas-the last named are little, low
| growing, white or blue flowers, common
now in the woods. These can be mixed
| with daisies. for later effects. and ais }
| with dwarf sunflowers and golden rod 10
| give the blaze of yellow so grand in the
autumn. If you prefer the common bed
dlhs fowers, you can plant in the previ-
Gus ran the early blooming panSieS, tulips
ana hyacinths, followed by the coleus,
gefaniums, scarlet sage, cannas, ele-
phant ears or castor beans. Plant these
| IN the front angles Of the house and at
the sides the nDrrh ARA ta
| LATEST in the rear and bank those of low
Ter growth in front.
The porch should be covered with
| vines carried up in narrow columns to
form arched openings conforming to the
| architecture. The greater mass of vines
should DE near the caves and should hang
| down: giving the graceful effect of drap-
cry. The best vines for porch decora ton
are Boston ivy, five-nngered ivy. actin
| ldla and akebia, especially the last two
] which are absolutely free-from insect en-
emiCs.
The most artistic arrangement Of
porch boxes planted with flowers is to
| place them on a level with and outside of
The hand rails, extending the series en-
tirely around. They should be filed with
| ioW-growing, hardy plants such as gera-
NUNS. lobelia, vinea and nasturtiums,
trained to fall over and trail.
For every house of this category
tshould be planted an irregular back
| ground screen. hiding the vegetable gar
| views at the rear, or wherever they NAV
be situated. If the house be new and i'm
mediate effects are desired certain high
grasses are best. But with these should
| be planted such shrubs as berberry, sweet
shrub, oogwooj, hawthorn. deutzia silver
thorn, strawberry bush, rose of sharon.
bush honeysuekle or mock orange These
will mature and later give permanent eff
fects. Among the tall grasses are the
arundo donax, or giant reed growing to
height of fifteen feet: zebra grass. six
feet; eulalia srasalis, three feet A large
pyramid of these grasses, planted in con
centric circles, the tallest in the center
and the shortest outside. provides a
screen giving a tropical effect. Their dry
stems stand throughout winter without
oetriment TO the landscape. If cut down
in the early spring they will attain thei~
growth and color by summer. In the rear
OF the house such tall plants as castor
beans, scarlet sage and cannas may also
De grown to shut out Objectionable views.
Outbuildlngs should be covered with
vines If they are OF brick, this is an
easy matter. but if of frame. the problem
IS trihe more difficult. For brick build
mss Boston ivy is best, north of Wash
mgton; English ivy, south These vines
VIII ching to the bricks, but on frame
cutDui4olngs supports must be provided |
Tor nearly all vines. There are two very |
excellent japanese species. actinidia and |
akebla, to be recommended for the latter. |
Ia /