A Gardener's View of Town Planning

Progress, Volume XI, Issue 6, 1 February 1916, Page 539

A Gardener's View of Town Planning

We have pleasure in reproducing the greater portion of a paper on Town Planning by Mr. David Tannock, who has charge of the Dunedin Botanical Gardens and the various plantations throughout the City. The paper deals with the subject purely from the gardener's point of view, somewhat minimising the work of other experts who have to do with the question, but it contains so many valuable suggestions that our architect friends will forgive Mr. Tannock for discounting their profession.

I. intend to deal with the phases of town planning from a gardener's point of view writes Mr. Tannock. After all we could not have a garden city without the gardens, and it is somewhat unfortunate that the engineer and the architect should have first say and after they had done their part the gardener had to come in and make the place tidy, presentable and beautiful, and often to hide much of the work of the previous planners. That the original founders of Dunedin were men of large ideas is to be seen in the liberal provision they made for parks, gardens and recreation grounds, and when compared with modern

efforts as seen in the suburbs one feels inclined to think that we have been going back instead of forward, and that all ideas except how to stick as many houses as possible on to a piece of ground had been abandoned. CHILDREN S PLAYGROUNDS The Children’s playground, though well organised in the United States is quite new here, and it was only after considerable discussion and agitation that a start was made in a humble way in Woodhaugh. The North End residents collected a sum of money which they asked to be spent on seats, swings and a see-saw, and from this small beginning we have now five playgrounds, with 16 double swings, three see-saws,- and five sand pits. It is sometimes asked “Why teach a child to play? you might as well teach a fish to swim.” Of all things, the advocate of organised play is trying to restore initiative to the child. Why should there he all this sacred protection of the instinct of play and not of other instincts as well Hunger is deeper than instinct, who would advocate that a mother should not supervise the appetites of her children, or their hours of sleep? There is an instinct for cleanliness

in animals even as low in the scale as insects. Should a mother not supervise the cleanliness of her child; or supervise her child's instinct for creeping, for walking, for climbing, its instinct for nosing into everything, for handling, for destroying? Play has always been supervised; has always been taught. Did instinct devise the mother plays. Did the child or the motlier originate, '' This little pig went to market, ' ' and scores and scores of other plays? Did a boy ever play baseball who was not taught the game by someone. A boy no more inherits the game of baseball than he inherits the Lord's Prayer.

What a boy does inherit is the instinct for throwing, just as a bird inherits the instinct for singing. When this instinct is not supervised, what happens? Some Pittsburg boys were arrested for throwing stones at moving trains in a ravine. In common with other boys they had the instinct for throwing, but it was not supervised. If it had been, these boys would have been given a ball field, and ball throwing would have taken the place of car stoning. In the United States where great development had taken place in children's playgrounds and organized play, it is found that children's playgrounds have a decided influence on juvenile delinquency. In Chicago it is found that the presence of recreation centres reduced juvenile delinquency within half a mile of each centre by 28.5% and beyond half a mile by 17%. It is also stated that half of the 10,000 children whom the juvenile courts of New York City deal with every year are there because they have no proper place to play. It must not be forgotten however that play areas are not so much to reduce crime as to prevent it and though we in Dunedin have nothing like the congested areas and the juvenile crime of the large

American Cities, this city is fast filling up and the vacant sections which were the playgrounds in the past are fast disappearing. Now is the time to secure suitable areas with a view to development later on. It is every child right to have a place to play within convenient distance of its home and a hack yard or street is a poor substitute for lawns, swings and sand heaps.

THE FACTORY BEAUTIFUL There is no reason why the factories and workshops should not be kept tidy, and be placed in pleasant surroundings, and it is hoped that instead of huddling all the buildings together that open spaces will be provided where the work people can rest during their meal hours and if desired, enjoy some open air game. I am sure that whatever tends to make the workers healthy and happy will have an effect on their work. It is usually hot, dusty and noisy in the factories, and it must be a great relief to get out into the open air, to spend as much as possible of the midday hour in pleasant, beautiful, quiet, and clean surroundings. The provision of playing grounds where women and girls are employed is most essential, both for their physical and moral well-fare, and one has just to note the care that Messrs. Lever Bros, at Port Sunlight, and Messrs. Cadbury at Bournville take of their girls, to become convinced that not only is this right, but that it pays. Basket ball and croquet lawns don’t take up much room, and both games are good for working girls. PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS The need for parks and gardens was recognised in Dunedin, and in addition to the liberal provision made by the early settlers, opportunities had been seized from time to time to obtain possession of waste places and odd corners, and to plant and beautify them. In connection with this work it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the work done by the Amenities Society, the pioneer society of the kind in this Dominion. It has been fortunate in having such enthusiastic secreteries as Mr. Bathgate and Mr. Chamberlain. Public Parks can either partake of the nature of home woods, with plantations of exotic trees, specimen trees standing out in grass, with walks and seats, after the manner of the Jubilee Park and Hagley Park in Christchurch, or they may be reserves of native bush similar to part of the Town Belt and the Scenic reserves near Dunedin. The public gardens should give expression to the various styles of gardening, and though it is hardly possible to form a real Botanic Garden, as representative a collection as possible is desired, and by labelling and proper arrangement a garden can be made educational as Avell as decorative. CITY SQUARES AND GARDENS It is desirable that at frequent intervals there should be breaks in the buildings and street lines. These breaks provide opportunities for providing beauty spots, places with green grass which rest the eyes in some instances provide quiet rest for the weary. The odd corners and parts of streets which are too steep for traffic afford considerable opportunity for ornamental shrub planting, and this form of garden-

ing has been largely developed in Dunedin. It is found that timid people who are afraid of their own and every other shadow are afraid to pass these plantations at nights, even when the footpaths are well lit, and it has now been decided to plant deciduous shrubs, which being bare of foliage in winter cannot provide shelter for anyone, or shade the footpaths. TREES IN THE STREETS A modern progressive city possesses three assets — its industries, its commerce, and its appearance. Show me your city, and I will tell you the kind and quality of your citizens, is a rule of universal application invariably correct. Few things contribute more to the cultivation of local pride and civic patriotism than beautiful trees in the streets and parks. Planting of trees is part of the necessary work of town planners, and in some instances the trees are planted far ahead of the building, so that by the time the homes are erected the trees are well established. It is hardly fair to the trees to plant them in square holes in the footpath and expect them to grow, and it is also a mistake planting pot trees which have not been properly grown and frequently shifted to enable them to stand the final move. In laying out streets in residental areas, provision is made for growing the trees in strips of grass between the roadway and the footpath. It is much easier to provide them with good soil and drainage, and the roots do not interfere with the footpath. This is now being done in Dunedin, and when supplies of suitable trees become available, planting will be undertaken. The trees we are growing are ash, English beech, hornbeam, elms, and Canadian maple. Trees do not need to grow large to be effective. It is not intended to reproduce a forest in the street. They do not need to touch one another or meet overhead. All they require to do is to hide the monotonous rows of houses and front fences, and give a cool and restful appearance to the streets. Street trees act as windbreaks and dust arresters, and it is surely better to grow your shelter- —which is so essential to good gardeningin the street, than in your own front garden, and thereby allow more space for flower and vegetable growing. In every case deciduous trees should be planted, preference being given to those which flower and fruit, as well. PRIVATE GARDENS One of the essentials in Garden Cities is the garden, and the provision of means whereby the people may indulge in what has been called, The purest of human pleasures, and the greatest refreshment to the spirit of man.” This can be done either by allowing of a reasonable space round the house so that the owner may garden at home, or allotments can be provided in convenient places where those who desire can rent a plot, and on this cultivate fruit, flowers and vegetables. Allotment gardens are quite a feature in both Glasgow and London, and in the garden village at Port Sunlight, where a garden is not provided at the home, allotments are provided at a rent of ss. for ten perches. Valuable prizes are provided at the annual flower show, and every encouragement given to ensure good results.