Mind Shape at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

As a guide, a patio measuring 12ft sq should be considered the absolute minirr However, there is no reason why it shoul square: bear in mind shape the shape of the backyard and the house, the slope of the ground and the materials you intend to i to pave the surface. In this instance, a sketch plan of the whole plot is essential for deciding the es position, size and shape of the patio. Oni you have decided on the size and shape o the patio, draw it to scale on tracing pap< to make an overlay and try it in various positions on your backyard plan until yoi find the best spot.

Can become deadly instruments for the prevention of thought. They can keep attention on the trivial and the transient. They can habituate people to passivity in the face of great needs and great issues. They can destroy the leisure and peace and freedom from distraction out of which the exceptional mind shape is born. They can debase the mind shape stuff of the people—which is the soil of greatness and achievement. Our generation is the first that has ever allowed the child's mind shape, even the preschool child's mind shape, to be commercialized as it is now through radio and TV, which reach into the home. [109, p. 25, 1956]

Garden steps need not always conform to a straight format. Where you have enough space, consider creating a flight composed of circular or segmental treads to scale a graceful shallow rise in the ground, perhaps leading to a formal terrace beyond. Mark out the shape of the steps with an improvised pair of compasses made from a length of wood attached to a stake with string. Cut out the rough shape of the circular treads and cast cement block foundations beneath. There is no need to make the foundation block round; just cover the corners with soil after you have built the steps. Use bricks or blocks laid on mortar to form the curving front edges of the treads, and fill the circles with gravel or cobblestones. You could even lay turf for a grassy flight of steps, but it is important to bear in mind shape that these would be very difficult both to maintain and to mow satisfactorily.