tailieunhanh - EXECUTION OF SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE FEATURES

The general lay-out of a small home property having now been considered, we may discuss the practical operations of executing the plan. It is not intended in this chapter to discuss the general question of how to handle the soil: that discussion comes in Chapter IV; nor in detail how to handle plants: that occurs in Chapters V to X; but the subjects of grading, laying out of walks and drives, executing the border plantings, and the making of lawns, may be briefly considered. Of course the instructions given in a book, however complete, are very inadequate and unsatisfactory. | EXECUTION OF SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE FEATURES The general lay-out of a small home property having now been considered we may discuss the practical operations of executing the plan. It is not intended in this chapter to discuss the general question of how to handle the soil that discussion comes in Chapter IV nor in detail how to handle plants that occurs in Chapters V to X but the subjects of grading laying out of walks and drives executing the border plantings and the making of lawns may be briefly considered. Of course the instructions given in a book however complete are very inadequate and unsatisfactory as compared with the advice of a good experienced person. It is not always possible to find such a person however and it is no little satisfaction to the homemaker if he can feel that he can handle the work himself even at the expense of some mistakes. The grading. The first consideration is to grade the land. Grading is very expensive especially if performed at a season when the soil is heavy with water. Every effort should be made therefore to reduce the grading to a minimum and still secure a pleasing contour. A good time to grade if one has the time is in the fall before the heavy rains come and then allow the surface to settle until spring when the finish may be made. All filling will settle in time unless thoroughly tamped as it proceeds. The smaller the area the more pains must be taken with the grading but in any plat that is one hundred feet or more square very considerable undulations may be left in the surface with excellent effect. In lawns of this size or even half this size it is rarely advisable to have them perfectly flat and level. They should slope gradually away from the house and when the lawn is seventy-five feet or more in width it may be slightly crowning with good effect. A lawn should never be hollow --that is lower in the center than at the borders --and broad lawns that are perfectly flat and level often appear to be hollow. A slope of