Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-31

would be impossible for q stranger In
the neighborhood to tell the sheep from
the goats. One look inside the houses,
however, and all doubt would be put
at rest, for those who keep untidy
lawns have dirty living rooms, too. This
is another neighborhood axioml
y y n X
The New Year, then, offers another
chance for neighborhood reform. It Is
the same old chance that each year
has brought, and probably will be over
looked, or sneered at, by those who in
the past have overlooked it. But may
stricken with remorse, will change for
the better. In this matter, as in most
others, every little Bit added to what
you got, makes just little bit more"
There Is not much use in making
resolutions. Those who ought to make
them never even think about them, and
those who think about them do not
need to make them. The time-honored
New Year resolution is mostly bunk.
What is needed is miracle!
The nearest approach to it nowadays
is the transformation wrought by
Spring. At the present writing this
annual event is in the distance, leav-
ing only hope to us, and a desire to
profit by the opportunity to be.
Home gardeners, including those who
like we'll kept lawns, whether they gar
den or not, will find January the ac-
ceptable month to make plans. look
over the new seed catalogues and
brighten up their enthusiasm, after the
dull months of Fall and Winter. Dull,
Of course, from the garden viewpoint.l
The bright catalogues will, as usual.
play the major role. Who that loves
flowers can resist the appeal OF the
gay covers, the pictures within, the
pages Of glowing descriptions?
Yes, all flowers and vegetables are
wonderful-in the seed catalogues. But
no one can blame the seedmen for be-
ing enthusiastic about their wares.
just as big and glowing as their boost
ers say they will. If they do not, the
fault is ours, not theirs.
y
A survey Of seed catalogue advertise
ments shows that many growers are Of
fering booklets on the making of an
outdoor living room" The small gar
den is peculiarly suited to this sort of
treatment, since its scope Is limited,
like a room, and may be bounded by
fences or hedges on all sides.
What we like about the term, how
ever, is the idea. Every garden ought
to be an outdoor living room, not only
in arrangement, or, better, not so much
in arrangement as In the ability of
drawing people into 1t during the Sum-
mer.
To achieve this result, two things
are necessary, or perhaps three-a good
garden, the desire to stay in it, and
some amount of privacy. The second
often follows on the first, but not nee
essarily, although 1t follows that no one
will want to go into an unattractive
garden. even those persons who are
least interested. It is notorious that
those who keep the worst grounds are
never to be seen out of doors around
the home.
The desire to live in the garden, as
much as possible, often hinges on the
amount of reasonable privacy to be Sc
| cured there. To feel ones self under
the battery of the neighbors' eyes will
not add anything to the enjoyment of
the garden or of gardening itself. Some
arrangement of shrubs and plants.
therefore, to give privacy Is a part of
any good garden treatment. Just what
to do will depend entirely upon the in
dividual situation. The particular prob
lens are but part Of the main one, to
make 1880 a better garden year than
was 1929.