The third element of planning a garden is the grass and how closely it is correlated with the other planning factors. In small gardens it is best to confine the grass to a single area, though circumstances may arise to make it desirable to stay away from this rule. In such an event, the second grass space should be secondary to the principal one, and if possible reserved for a separate purpose.

To bisect the garden into two equal areas of grass is at once to introduce symmetry. The artist well knows how fatal it is to a good symbolic effect to allot equal spaces to sky and landscape, the two cases are parallel.

The idea of a lawn for games is rarely realizable for want of space, and the grass plot therefore, should be treated with other purposes in view. Its functions are more closely related to the flowers and general picture. It affords welcome relief to the eye, and by contrast enhances the value of the color effect obtainable with the flowers.

Moreover, its surface presents a cool, soft, and welcome tread, and a place to laze upon and enjoy the garden view. If you already have a nice collection of outdoor statuary, a wall water fountain or garden water feature can add to the vista.

It is that part of the garden in which we may plant a few trees for shade, without fear that their shadows and hungry roots will work havoc with the flowers. The grass plot should never be isolated by surrounding it on all sides with gravel, which is done too often in gardens. Let one or more of the sides join a border, where grass and flowers would come into combination. You can even let the border thrust out an extension into the grass.

Beware of fretting your principal grass plot into a thing of ragged outline by overdoing this procedure, and do not pierce it with a multitude of little beds. Remember, the simpler in shape your grass plot, the less difficulty you will experience in mowing it and keeping it trim and neat.

Beds in grass are best grouped at one or two points, and the components of the group should be shaped so as to produce unity of effect. By doing this you are able to introduce garden statuary, patio statuary, or even something like an old world wall fountains without straying away parallel garden. It is generally better that the outlines of the group should preserve a parallelism with those of the grass plot, as this ensures a more harmonious effect.

It is clear that the gardener should arrange, as far as possible, that the principal shadows in his garden should fall upon the grass, where they will be welcome to shade, and by planting them with bulbs, it will secure a charming feature in spring and early summer. Another plan is to utilize the space for a sunken rock garden, and yet another is to make a central group of beds upon it, which in the case of a square space becomes an attractive secondary focus.

An important point is to give proper access to all grass spaces. This implies that the borders should not mess with the most natural way of reaching the grass. Neglect of this consideration may tempt those who use the garden to skip over the borders, with consequences to the plants which do not need to be stated explicitly.

It is good to provide means of access to the grass at all points from which it is likely to be approached, by bringing it up to the path at those points. This is done by restraining the border by approximately three or four feet at its end, or by breaking through it at some point in its length.

When a grass plot is used solely as a background for a group of beds, there should be a wide border at the edges. Whatever the shape of the beds, the spaces between the two beds should have a sufficient width to ensure no difficulty in mowing.

In dealing with grass spaces of irregular outline, such as those where the paths are winding, you should take into account the outline of the grass space when placing the beds. For instance, a square group of beds set in a curved promontory would produce a discordant note.

It is better to adapt the shape of the group to the space in which it is set. If you decide not to do this, it would become difficult to install garden statues, large fountains, or anything else related to outdoor statuary.

There is no need to make the grass level if the ground has a natural slope. On the contrary, sloping ground greatly assists drainage, and ensures that puddles shall not lodge on the surface, which, would inevitably occur on a flat area.