HINTS TO BEGINNERS IN ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 



BY A. D. G., CLINTOX, NEW YORK. 



OW shall I lay out my grounds? Where shall I run my 

 walks and roads, where plant evergreens and where deci- 

 le duous trees, where make groups and where not, where 

 put my summer-house, and where my flowers and vines? 

 Questions like these are repeatedly asked, throughout the 

 length and breadth of our land, but they are not always 

 satisfactorily answered. Loudon, and Downing, and 

 others, are consulted in haste, but a hasty reading of these 

 authors does not give the desired information. Our rural 

 improvers are bewildered amid the mazes of "The Beau- 

 tiful" and "The Picturesque," "Beauty of Expression," "Relative Beauty," "Re- 

 cognition of Art," &c., and the books which treat of them are thrown aside in dis- 

 gust. Now, there are a few general principles and rules to be observed in ornamental 

 planting, a simple statement of which may remove difficulties from many minds. 

 The writer of this article does not claim any superior knowledge of the subject, but 

 ventures to offer to beginners a few plain hints suggested by his own observation and 

 experience. 



To make these remarks quite practical, let us, instead of stating principles in an 

 abstract form, suppose the very common case of a man who wishes to build a house, 

 and lay out grounds of small extent in the neighborhood of a town. The first thing 

 you will wish to do, my friend, is to determine upon a proper site for your dwelling. 

 If possible, let it bo on a slight elevation above the street, let your house stand 

 back several rods from the road, so that your parlor and bed-room may not be gazed 

 into by every passer-by, that you may not be disturbed by the noise and dust of the 

 highway, and that you may have room in front for a spacious lawn, in which to plant 

 ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers, and where your children may sport in safety? 



If the ground immediately around your house has any unsightly roughnesses, re- 

 move them. But think twice before you alter materially any of the natural features 

 of your place — a wart on the cheek of beauty is one thing, and a dimple is another. 

 Are there any wet, "springy" spots in your ground? any that you may even suspect 

 of having a superabundance of water during the rainy months of the year ? Then 

 drain them thoroughly. If you do not, your trees and plants will die; or, if they 

 contrive to live, they will make only a stunted and unhealthy growth, and be a con- 

 stant source of disappointment and mortification. Draining completed, then deepen 

 your soil by trenching or subsoil plowing. You may at first think this all labor 



