A play area that will keep your young children in their own back yard, where you can keep an occasional eye on them, need not be an unattractive one. Include a paved area, if possible, for bicycle riding, skating, hopscotch, etc. The sandbox might be a sunken one, flush with the lawn, or it might be a raised box, an extension of a wall or fence that can be planted later. Such imaginative ideas as hollowing out and painting an old stump to be used for a puppet theater; getting hold of an unseaworthy row-boat which can be gaily decorated for playing Robinson Crusoe; or putting up a ladder for climbing the side of the tool shed or a garden wall, so that climbing in other areas may be out-of-bounds, are ideas that will keep the "gang" at your house. Of course you'll want to include a swingset as well.

Drying Yard and Service Area

Plan to have your drying yard and service area out of sight yet close enough to the house so that you are not inconvenienced. Screen these areas with shrubbery or fences. The service area should include propagating beds, coldframes, a tool shed or storage locker and your compost pit if you have one. Hotbeds and coldframes should be located in a spot where they will be Protected from north and northwest winds.

Be careful not to place your coldframe in a damp place unless you have first drained it thoroughly with drain tile. A vegetable garden can be a source of great enjoyment. It should be out of sight in a corner, or screened with shrubbery, because of the seasons when there is nothing growing in it. But it can be a decorative addition to the garden, particularly if there are grass walks and attractive flowers around it.

Paths and Walks

Planning your driveway and walks so that they take up a minimum amount of room and yet provide a strong enough surface for the traffic they will bear, calls for careful thinking. The well-designed house and grounds have the garage close to the house and near to the street. The garage situated way in back of the house is a hangover from horse-and-buggy days when the stable had to be remote from the house. Today when the majority of home owners have cars, space can be saved by using a garage path that also serves as the house path, or feeds into a short house walk. But though the driveway can be a short one, plan for off-street parking� have your driveway at least 20 feet from the street.