Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-05

How to keep up interest in the gar
den is question which every home
owner well may consider at this time
Of the year, when the shadow is seen
athwart outdoor pleasures despite TIE
fact that Summer seems as prevalent
as ever.
There Is little gainsaying that the
big problem facing the owner of
a small place Is how to keep up his
interest in the garden end Of home
owning.
One would speak, Of course, only to
those who believe that the garden is
sort Of outdoor living room, as much
part Of the house proper as the stair
case or the hall.
One would speak, also, only to those
who think Of q home as q home, not
as quarters" merely for sleeping &C.
commodations. Such people permit their
terraces to become muddy, their roofs
to turn rusty, their back yards to be-
come Uttered with trash.
Such persons are not interested in
gardens and so have no problems in
connection with them. The other type
OF home owner prizes both the appear
ance Of house and garden.
The latter takes on an interest all
It's own, yet peculiarly part Of the whole
home problem, and holds 1t as long as
there Is anything for the gardener to
do In 1t.
The moment the yard has a fixed
aspect with all plants and bushes do
ing well, the chances for garden ennui
are increased a thousand fold. The
problem then becomes paramount: How
to keep up interest in a place where
the very necessity for interest has
vanished
Thus the worst fault OF the small
garden Is seen. An ordinarily active
person can do all that can be done In
1t in a few years, after which the place
takes on static aspects. In other words,
1t does not change. Now change seems
to be q consideration which cannot be
overlooked in anything with which man
has to do.
We go to theaters to see new plays,
not old ones; we like new music, new
travelling was a fools paradise, but
thousands upon thousands of intelligent
persons spend much time and money
every year travelling all over the world.
They are not fools, certainly, and Emer-
son was wrong, except In the philoso-
piers special sense.
The moment one takes change out
of anything, even garden, much inter-
est goes out of 1t. Individual tempera-
ments vary. it must be admitted. in
this respect. Some want constant
change, even in wives, while others
are satisfied with one q whole life
through.
In the matter Of gardens there can
be nothing more satisfactory than a
permanent background to planting.
Thus the fine privet hedge. green, solid,
satisfying, achieves a place of its own.
No one would advocate tearing up a
good hedge and planting another just
for the paintings sake.
The same may be said of fine shrubs
and perennials, which come to have
special places Of their own in the
garden. Properly placed in the begin
ming. they are part of the landscape,
the same as fine old trees which cast
their shade upon generation after
generation.
These permanent parts Of the gar
den are much the same, whether in
large or small garden, city or suburban
place. Their purpose is the same any
place. It Is not about them that the
gardener knits his brows.
The trouble comes when one has
done all that can be done with a small
place. Every bit of the border has
been crammed with flowers. The lawn
has been gone over so many times