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DUAL PURPOSE FEATURES like the plant-bed-step-wall add piquancy
and give accent to garden design. Note small triangular beds beside steps and
contrasting color of raised edge of bed which gives the final decorative touch.
AUTHOR PHOTO, BRUSSELS WORLD S FAIR
PORTABLE PLANTERS
may be oversized boxes like
those above or small ones easy
to shift about. Plants in pots
are bedded in peatmoss, easy
to remove and replace as
blooms fade or season changes.
PLANT BEDS may be retaining walls which provide a very
convenient corner for placing
a garden seat beside a flight
of masonry steps between
levels.
A LOW WALL may also be a plant box with plantings in its
top and with plant pockets left in the sides so that it becomes a
feature of the garden, not merely an architectural necessity.
DECORATIVE SMALL PLANT BOXES will make the terrace
dry and add delight to outdoor living. Equipped with casters,
boxes may be shifted about according to where they are needed.
WOODEN RETAINING
WALLS may be formalizes
pattern like the plant bed
above which contrast curve
and straight lines at varies
heights or they may be merely
natural limbs placed to hold
soil behind forwildflower beds
WOOD AND STONE COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER
Steps should be set on a concrete footing to
prevent sagging; a bolt anchors them
against downhill thrust. Leave Vi" between
boards, slope steps to insure drainage.
The crisp lines of planed wood against the
natural Informal lines of rubble stone laid
in a low wall above a gravel terrace will give
a visual contrast to the garden composition-
WITH STEPS, EASY DOES IT
Let the slope of the land govern the kind of
steps you choose. Use steeper, narrower
ones where slope breaks abruptly, curving
broader steps with low risers for gentl
slopes. Set treated redwood risers in concrete steps for permanence. Always use a
deep footing at bottom step (see sketch) to
prevent weight from thrusting steps downhill.
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