Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-03

The other day we met a lady who
said that she was going to have the
garage taken out of her back yard, in
order that she might have more ground
for gardening.
Brave lady, in an era Of garages!
IT would rather rent some one else's
garage" she said, than lose so much
planting space"
Surely every gardener will applaud
this decision, although perhaps few of
them will feel willing to follow In her
steps.
The motor car is responsible for so
M-ch in the land, both Of good and
evil, that the plot Of ground 1t occupies
may not seem to present very large
problem to any one.
In comparison with the real worth of
the automobile. the question Is uniin-
portant, of course. When one con-
siders the thousands OF persons. who are
killed and hurt, 1t does not weigh very
much.
The tremendous utility OF thr worlds
favorite vehicle the diacourtehy which
II seems to have bred In hundreds of
thousands of persons, tho pleasure and
profit 1t has brought TO millions. tho
noise and confusion H. lends Ia Tho
countryside, the aid It's speed supplies
In many emergencies. the peace H. has
IdncA away Apih AoiH"iAy IuVe
streets
These are some Of the conflicting fca-
lures of motoring and motor cars. In
the face of them, few but gardeners
will be found to worry about the space
which the garage occupies, or the es-
thetic problems which Its construction
in rows along an alley brings.
" * -
Yet to the true gardener the garage
does bring its problems. II would
seem that even building construction
is finding 1t a problem, too. Reports
from Cleveland, where John d. Rookie
Teller. jr., is engaged in building a
model suburban development, indicate
that all the garages for these $25. 900
homes will be built underground, just
as the electric and telephone wires will
be beneath the earth.
Such plan will give the owners
more garden space, either for grass.
flowers, shrubs, or what they will.
Most home owners are not so fortunate,
even if they love gardens better than
garages. The modern equivalent of the
stable fills a want, and often must be
tolerated.
In many neighborhoods, however, 1t
is possible for householder to rent a
garage at a rate reasonable enough to
make him feel that the gain in plant
ing space is very much worth while.
He must be garden-minded, Of
course, to feel so. Otherwise the ga
rage will appeal to him as such a para
mount necessity that few flowers will
seem only so much foolishneSs in COM
parison. Yet there are thousands Of
car owners who park their cars in the
street the year round. There are
scores of automobile owners who have
garages but who seldom keep their cars
in them. Whether the reason for this
is laziness or convenience or devil-may-
care we do not know.
Your average garage takes up more
ground than one would think. Only
the man who has put one in a small
back yard can know this to the full.
AS he watched his planting space dis
appear, he realized that the thing was
larger than he thought.
Nor Is the exact garage all.
Often 1t is set back few feet from
the alley building line In order to give
more Swing room" for the car on en-
frances and exits. Then again, If 1t is
for one car, often it in reality takes
about feet more on either side. owing
to the fall of rain from the roof along
the sides. Few flowers will do well in
such a situation, subjected to the beat
of the falling rain. Most garages built
on narrow lots must be placed, in &C
cordance with regulations, at least 2