Spreading junipers are excellent, as is the Mugho pine in extremely cold regions and in shade. Where it is hardy, spreading cotoneaster is very ornamental. In the warmer regions, use gardenia radicans, Henry's Hypericum or jasminum floridum to seem longer or wider by extending the planting beyond the corners. Plants used in either case must be the dense-growing type like enkianthus, winged euonymus, stewartia and Regals privet. A garage that is left open most of the time can be very disturbing, whether it is your own or the neighbors'. It can be concealed by planting or garden statuary.

If the garage entrance is a continuous part of the house front and the lawn skirts the driveway, set a medium-tall, but fairly wide-spreading tree about 10 feet from the corner of the house and the same distance from the main problems on a slope are the difficulty of maintaining grass, the control of fast-flowing water and its effect on soil erosion. Flowing water moves soil even on the slightest slopes unless they are covered. Planted slopes are not entirely free from washing unless the covering is adequate for the steepness of the slope. Thin grass will not prevent soil washing.

The degree of steepness is referred to as the percentage of slope. Percentage is calculated as you would estimate interest on the dollar. A ten per cent slope means that the slope has a rise of 10 ft. for every 100 ft. of run, or 1 ft. in 10, meaning that for every 10 ft. along a horizontal line the grade rises 1 ft. A ten per cent grade is an easy grade. Grass can be maintained without much difficulty. But if the grade rises to 20 or 25 per cent, the problem becomes more difficult. Unless a slope is correctly handled, maintenance can be difficult and costly. On a long slope, water builds up speed unless there is something to impede it.

Flower and vegetable gardens with loose cultivated soil cannot be maintained on a slope unless measures are taken to protect them. Building retaining walls across the slope at intervals is one of the recognized methods employed. This is very efficient and permits the fullest possible use of a sloping site but it is costly. Of course, level areas can be created without the aid of walls. In this case the leveled part would end in a sloping bank. If not steep, such a bank is planted with grass. Otherwise closely planted shrubs are used.

When the bank is fairly steep, logs laid across the slope at intervals of five or more feet are held in place with stakes driven vertically into the bank. The spaces between the logs are planted with massed shrubs or evergreens. A retaining wall is generally built on the downhill side of a house on a slope and sometimes by the builder as part of the house construction, especially if the garage is located on that side under the house. If the garage is elsewhere, the owner is usually faced with the task of building a retaining wall.

Though it may be expensive, a wall near the house should be considered. It would add much to the livability of both house and outdoors. If the grade drops away abruptly and if there is a door at ground level on the downhill side, a level area is all the more desirable. It would help scale the house down at this side and provide for planting space. A retaining wall here should be a dry wall. This is designed to be planted, the plants being set between the stones. It is a form of rock gardening.