, 1927-05-25
MAKING THE OUTSIDE OF
THE HOME BEAUTIFUL

of 1t at one time. Acting upon
this condition among people the ar
nhitects small home bureau service
over the country has inaugurated a
system of designing desirable types
of architecture, to be built on the
piece plan. So it is with the land
scaping of a home, whether it be
a farmstead or a city lot; one must
design the farmstead complete so
hat one unit of the plan may be
completed at once, and the remain
der later, and avoid any mistakes
and Implications in the planting
around the home. You may right
fully say that the architect or land
scape architects are specialists but
in the ordinary development such
on their farms, only a few simple
rules or principles need be observed
to make a very desirable outside
appearance for the home. The. prin-
ciples that one should observe,
varies with the effects that one
wishes to obtain on the farmstead.
IL the house is of the English or
Colonial type of architecture, and
the size of the lot small, then the
NAL type. All others in general
should be of the informal type, and
anyone car surmise that usually
the informal type of development
is best for Wyoming conditions.
where the farmsteads are not gen.
orally elaborate. nor the land
scarce. Fol the informal type,
some of the outstanding character
istics to observe, are:
Large open lawns in center of
grounds.
All buildings on one side.
Trees, shrubs and flowers con-
fined to boundaries, planted iii
heavy groups, flowers in front of
shrubs. shrubs in front of trees.
and the trees to the back of the
group.
Walks and drives hat follow
near borders to the buildings. but
never cut through the center of
the grounds.
Lawn to be level on small areas
or undulating on areas of one acre
or more.
Gracefully curved lines in walks
and drives. Few straight lines in
nature, and curve must be natural.
Trees in groups. C~ottonwoods in
one place, Ash in another, and Elm
in another.
Shrubs used about the base of
buildings. along borders. along
drives. etc. arranged in large heavy
groups or masses.
Some of the practice frequently
seen, that do not lend naturalness
TO any landscape scheme, are:
Setting trees in straight rows.
Making flower beds in the mid
These are usually toe conspicuous,
and should be made to face down
the shrub groups, using the fol-
iage of the shrubs to soften their
colors of the flowers.
All fences to be softened in their
effect by the planting of vines
along them or shrub groups in front
of them.
Pruning trees and shrubs, in an
ohaft. Isl -
often cut in some %gortesque form.
Placing artificial apparatus or
equipment on the lawn, such as
old stoves, or hot water tanks for
flower pots. bottles or shells for
edging for flower beds, plies of
rocks, trellis for vines with no
vines, fountains, or statues, etc.
Many of these items are useful in
their place, but one should use dis
erection in the placing of any article
that would be too conspicuous.
I have just suggested eight prac-
tees that will give naturalness to
your place. and five that will not
lent naturalness to your landscape
scheme. This does not mean that
these are the only ways of getting
the effect desired. but 1t must be
remembered, hat the exterior of
the home is seen by many more
people than the interior of the
home, and the character of the oc-
cupants of the house is largely
Judged by the appearance of the
home grounds. 1t is better to be
conservative, than to make the
place too unusual in appearance.
After one has decided on the eff
feet to be obtained in the home
development, then n should study
the material that is available for
the accomplishment of this objec-
tive. OF these materials, we have
primarily the trees, shrubs, and
flowers with architectural features
where wanted. 1t is a very good
plan to ascertain from observation,
from the neighbors, and from your
agricultural college. the types and
varieties, of trees that might be
used in your particular community.
One of the best and cheapest of
material is the native stock that