Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1902-07-16
A MODEL HOMESTEAD
BEAUTY m HOUSES AND LAWNS TO
BE TAUGHT BY UNCLE SAM.
Ideal Methods OF Caring For Lnwos
Laying Out Flower Beds, kdorniar
Paths. Etc. VIII he shown ON Gov
ernmens Reservation mt Arlington.


Paths. Etc. VIII he shown ON Gov
A model rural homestead. serving ms
an object lesson in landscape garden.
Ing for people OF moderate means. Is a
unique enterprise just conceived bv
Uncle Sam. Six acres of the govern
ment reservation at Arlington. across
the Potomac from Washington. have
been reserved for this novel purpose.
Upon IL will Toe erected ten room
frame house 10 cost $4,000.
The primary object of this ingenious
experiment will be To teach ut a glance
ideal methods Of grading. planting.
cutting ami watering lawns: OF locat-
ing and adjoining tower beds. paths
and drives: of Identifying the porch:
of screening out objectionable views:
of locating trees; of covering outbui!d-
ings with vines; OF doing all manner OF
things TO make the exterior OF the
home beautiful.
The work of laying out this model
homestead site. writes John Elfrc. Al
Watkins i'm the New Orleans Times.
Democrat. has been intrustcd to Pro
lessor l.. &. COrbett. hOrticuiturist Of
the department Of agriculture. a mas
ter i'm the fine art Of landscape garden
ing. Taking his new enterprise as a
text, this savant recently said:
We viii begin by laNiu. Out the
lawn. To be effective it Should always
rise from the street to the house
should rise at least eighteen inches in
each 100 feet of depth. \ lawn should
always be full in the center. never hul-
low, and should grade of ecrtly TO the
level of the public walk i'm front. not
ending there in an abrupt bank. Most
people either cut their grass too close
or let IL 90 To seed between rlowincs.
n lawn mower should be set high
enough to leave one and half or two
inches Of each blade of grass uncut:
otherwise there will not bc left sutii-
cient leaf AREA for proper nouriShment.
Early I'm the summer lawns must bc
moved often. with less frequency to-
ward and during autumn. Few people
know when 10 water their lawns. The
hose should never under ANY circum-
stances be- applied during fun sunshine.
Evaporation is ,hen RAPID. ami eaol
drop OF water acts as a li;llc ions D..
burning glass. focusing The suns RAYS
and actually Scorching the -raSs blades.
Commence to water your lawn toward
sunset or during the night, Make this
a rule. and your grass will look re-
freshed.
con small city or town lawn the
walk extending from the street 10 the
front door should ordinarily he perfect.
ly straight. Walks and drives should
always bc 'vo or three inches below
the surface Of the surrounding laNa.
SO that when the eye passes over the
grass ii will see nothing but the cN-
panse of Srecusward. The croNnmg
center of At path or drive must never
rise 30 the level of the lawn. \ flow !.
bed should never be located in the cen
ter Of an cXpanse of front lawn or ,li-
rectly i'm front of the house. Flowers
should be planted In the angles OF the
house between the porch and ma.u
structure. bordering walks. i'm the bac,
yard or between sidewalks and ia
house. hut never. repeat. TO intCrrul..
the house and the street
Now let Us begin at the front OF
the house. II Wild flowers are d.
sired. you can get early effects from
such species as ;ritliums. jacks-in-the-
pulpit. phlOXes or hepaticas. The las
named are little. low growing whit,
or blue ncvers common now in the
woods. Those can be mixed with dai-
sizes for later effects and also with
dwarf sunnowcrS and gOldenrod o
give the blrzc of yellow SO grand in
the autumr. IL YOU prefer the COM
mon beddiI,. flowers. YOU can plant in
the previous fall the early blooming
pansies. tulips and hyacinths. followed
by the cO!cuS. geraniums, scarlet sag.
cannas. elephants ears or castor bears.
Plant at Tn sides Of the porch STEPS.
Arrange tic tallest in the rear and
bank these Of lower growth in front.
The porch should be covered with
vines carried up in narrow columns 10
form arched openings conforming to
the architecture. The great mass OF
vines should be near the caves and
should hang down, giving the graceful
effect of drapery. The best vines for
porch decoration are Boston ivy. five
fingered ivy. actinidia and akebia, es-
pecially the last two, which are abSo-
luteIy free from insect enemies.
The most artistic arrangement of
porch boxes planted with flowers is to
place them OH Il level with the outside
of the hand rails. extending the series
entirely around. They should be filled
with low growing, hardy plants. such
as geranium, lObella, vinca and nastur-
tium, trained TO fall over and trail.
Outbuildings should be covered with
vines. If they are OF brick, this is an
easy matter, but If OF frame the prob
lem Is trifie more difficult For brick
buildings Boston ivy is best north OF
Washington; English ivy, south. These
vines will cling TO the bricks, but on
frame outbuildings supports must be
provided for nearly all vines. There
are two very excellent Japanese spe
cies, acrinidia and akebia, to be rec
commended for the latter; also the ma
tive five fingered ivy and the bitter
sweet, common In the north. All of
these serve well for covering fences as
well as Outbuildings. Rabbit netting
wire affords them the best support.
Trees planted along the street
should conform TO its lines. In lawns
and side yards tree planting should
always be irregular and DromiScuOuS.