116 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Decembek 19, 1901. 



shows. Shade, heat and moisture in 

 tlie early stages are detrimental. 



The nianiinotli bulbs now otfered give 

 ^'ood results although with tool treat- 

 ment in the early stages very small" bulbs 

 will prove satisfactory, and they more 

 often give the purest white flowers. 



Art. 



LAWN AND SHRUBBERY UPON 



RESIDENCE GROUNDS. 



* 



[Read before the Hartford Florists' t'Uib, Dec. 

 10, 1901. by J. Wesson Phelps.] 



The history of the developuu-ut of the 

 lawn and shrubbery upon residence 

 grounds is interesting. It suffices for the 

 present purpose to recall the fences and 

 hedges which were common along every 

 street and which have given way to a 

 broad expanse of lawn bordered with 

 shrubs. The whole has developed into 

 a certain style, more or less permanent, 

 which may Ix? termed the land.scape 

 methoil. 



It is tlie abuse of this landscape meth- 

 od which is under discussion in this pa- 

 ])er. Especially is this true of small city 

 residences, in extent an acre or le.ss, 

 where imitation of larger things has led 

 toward the danger point. The type is 

 outlined as follows: Conventional beds 

 of shrubbery are around the house and 

 at the corners of the ])ropcrty. some- 

 times with a border ])lantali(in around 

 the whole iield, thus leaving the bo<ly of 

 the grounds, except for walks and a 

 drive, a smooth continuous lawn. This 

 arrangement enlarges the lawn, gives a 

 good mass of shrubs and makes a clean 

 design. The defect comes in the numer- 

 ous imitations and these often without a 

 <dear understanding of principles. There 

 I'cMilts a commonness which becomes vul- 

 gar just in proportion as the construc- 

 tion becomes mechanical. Again, the 

 cause is not in the curves. I sometimes 

 meet owners dreaming of outlines and 

 sweeps, as though an inch one waj- or 

 the other would separate aristocracy 

 from the commonplace; and yet. the con- 

 struction of landscape depends u])on more 

 tundamental principles than gentle 

 curves and the choice of tine plants. 

 These alone do not satisfy the artistic 

 sense. 



Much of the ))re?cnt style is due to the 

 inlluciKC of large city ]iarks, where we 

 see beautiful scenery which we would 

 gladly welcome at home. T have in mind 

 one of the large fields in Hartford. There 

 is a park and in it a broad, undulating 

 sloping meadow covered with dry walk- 

 able turf. It is a delight. A mass 

 planting stands on a hillock overlooking 

 the meadow and many charming vistas 

 are to be seen from this knoll. Imagine 

 a house to grow up in the l>ackgrinnul of 

 this >hrul)bery. What a splendid spot to 

 live in! Were such a habitation for 

 every household, what lieautiful Ameri- 

 can homes. 



Can this unquestionably beautiful 

 scenery be transplanted to ordinary resi- 

 dences? There are two ways of attempt- 

 ing it. The first is to treat several ad- 

 joining house lots together, putting a 

 whole section under one scheme: the sec- 

 ond is to treat each property separately. 

 Regarding the^e methods let us remcndjcr 

 how that the English love to own land 

 and that land-ownership is beginning 

 truly to be sought by Americans; and. 

 therefore, any scheme which wholly ig- 

 nores boundary lines in property is not 

 likely to wear well, so that a better way 

 is to combine the two methods; that is, 



treat each lot by itself and in relation 

 to the neighborhood it is in. IJoes this, 

 then, allow us. to transplant nature? 

 Partly. As animal beauty depends 

 largely upon the health of the animal, 

 so landscape beauty lias its conditions of 

 life. Wiillingness to live where placed is 

 a necessity to beauty. Theiefore, to 

 transplant natural landscai)e. the secret 

 of success is to make such s\irroundings 

 that the natural lan<lsi'apc is contented 

 with the new location. 



ft has been suggested that the present 

 style of shrubbery is merely a fad, that 

 people will drift back to the use of a 

 few shrubs, a lawn and trees. I have 

 not heard any one call the house lawn a 

 fad, and yet when I think of the park 

 meadow and how we transplant it and 

 cut it up as a cook «ould trim pie crust 

 1 fail to see there the beauty of the 

 meadow, ilud lives where we wish good 

 turf. We are overforcing nature when 

 we ask for sod m very shady jUaces and 

 often so in narrow strips along our city 

 sidewalks. Hardened to that, we pass it 

 by, but ery "Down with the shrubbery 

 fad." Think, study and learn the varied 

 beauty of the many distinct varieties of 

 shrubs — their leaves, their stems and 

 their blossoms. Shndibcry is not over- 

 used, unless this is an age dull to nature, 

 dull and growing duller. It is the abuse 

 of shrubbery that is a fad if anything is. 



There are many principles which de- 

 line a good layout of grounds from a 

 ])oor one. Certain landscape architects 

 iiave fornuilaled what seemed to each a 

 foundatiim for work. "Capability 

 Hrown," I think it was, who said that 

 the house should come out of the lawn. 

 A later landscape architect said that the 

 house should come out of the shrubbery, 

 lioth of the above I take to be but s])e- 

 ci:il cases of a more general princijilc. 

 The grcuind around the house should he 

 treated for stability with the house. By 

 stability 1 refer to the stabh' equilibrium 

 mentioned in treatises upon physics. 

 Anything which makes the architecture 

 of the house in general or in detail to 

 stand out more lirmly, that thing adds 

 to the stability of the whole. Stability 

 might be termed wearaljlencss. and it 

 has to do both with the useful and the 

 ;irtistic. The house should come out of 

 grounds stable to that jiarticular house 

 and the uses required of these grounds. 

 If the house come out of shrubbery, let 

 the planting be broad enough and de- 

 signed to set off the firmness of the 

 buihling. We Americans overestimate a 

 lawn and we fear and tremble lest we 

 lose an inch of it. Many places would 

 be saved from artistic ruin if the slirub- 

 bery encroached just a little more >ipon 

 the lawn. Once more, the house may 

 come out of the lawn or again inirtly out 

 of shrubbery and partly out of lawn, or 

 even out of gravel spaces, rockeries, hill- 

 sides, and so forth. The grounds between 

 some houses and the street might be en- 

 tirely covered with shrubs and other 

 grounds might consist of simple lawns 

 nearly bare. 



In the layout of residence grounds 

 many things need to be considered in de- 

 signing an effective scheme. There en- 

 ters: The character and fitness of the 

 grade lines, the expense and detail of 

 the shrubbery, the inviting quality of the 

 lawn portion, the directness as well as 

 beauty of all paths, drives and so forth, 

 the introduction of fiower gardens au<l 

 other pastimes, the problem of sunlight 

 and shadows, the amount of use the 

 grounds will get and the degree of com- 



panionability suggested. Grounds used 

 and loved will make for America a varied 

 and an effective architecture in land- 

 scape, while unused grounds will mean 

 a succession and repetition of fads. 



OBITUARY. 



Edmund M. Wood. 



We regret t'v liave to record the death 

 of Edmund il. Woml. at his home in 

 Xatick. ilass., December 12. As was 

 generally known he had been in poor 

 iiealth for some time past but a fatal 

 result was not anticipated and the re- 

 port of his death came as a severe shock 

 to his host of friends. 



ilr. Wood had nutde the Waban Con- 

 servatories famous throughout the laud, 

 Ijut though so deeply interested in fiori- 

 culture and e?.pcci:illy rose culture, they 

 were but one of many business enterprises 

 in which he was interested. He was the 

 head of the great color manufacturing 

 Inisiness of Henry Wood's Sons Company 

 and held partnership or stock interests 

 in several other manufacturing concerns, 

 lint though tlie management of the Wa- 

 ban Conservatories wa.s largely left in 

 the able hands of i\lr. Alex Montgomery, 

 Mr. Wood's love for flowers mside this 

 one of his ventures most interesting to 

 him. 



ilr. WockI was born in Brookline, 

 ;Mass.. .June 18. 1837, and was consequent- 

 ly in his 6.5th year. He was very genial 

 and kindly in disposition and was gen- 

 erous to a fault. He took a deep inter- 

 est in all that tended to advance the 

 general welfare of floriculture and was 

 always ready to supplement his efl'orts 

 ill this direction by drafts upon his bank 

 account. ' He was never happier than 

 when entertaining a company of his 

 friends, and he was an ideal host. 



His administration as president of the 

 Society of American Florists was marked 

 bv earnest effort to advance the material 

 [irosperity of the craft, and the trade 

 was peciiliarly fortunate in having the 

 benefit of his wide business ex]ierience 

 and sagacity. 



He is survived by a wiilow. a sou ;uid 

 two daughters. 



TREES AND THEIR ENEMIES. 



h\ .1. A. PKlTll.liKW. 



(Reail before the Gardeners' and Florists' Club 

 of Boston Dec. 11.1 



The intent of this ]ia|i<'r i^ to call the 

 attention and earnest consideration of 

 the members of this club to the many 

 enemies with which the trees in our" 

 streets have to contend. 



It is well for our comfort and en- 

 joyment that nature has imparted 

 strength and endurance to so much that 

 is beautiful : for were it not so our 

 residential 'Streets would be simply burn- 

 ing, slaring surfaces, confined by bare 

 walls of brick and stone; Mich, for in- 

 stance, as Beacon. Marlboro, and other 

 streets in the Back Bay district. Con- 

 trast -ivith these streets such tree-clothed 

 streets as Melville avenue, Dorchester, 

 and K street. South Boston. One of 

 these streets is unpretentious in the ar- 

 chitecture of its houses, yet the soften- 

 ing influence of the trees adds a beauty 

 that architecture alone cannot give; and. 

 too, what a sense of hospitality and 

 comfort tlieir sliadc engenders in the 

 mind. 



Trees mav be ranked among the no- 



