STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 127 
habit and some of them furnish green during all the summer. Ihave told you 
about the form and direction of the walks. How shall we lay them out? 
Construction.—The cheapest way is to dig down a depth ot twelve iuches, the 
width of the walks and drains and fill with coarse gravel, rounding the surface 
enoagh to insure easy dramage. This is always dry and does not invite the 
growth of grass or weeds. Tfie next consideration is that of planting. One of 
the greatest mistakes in the planting of ornamental grounds is in not planting 
with reference to the future growth of the tree. You look the ground over and 
think how nice a little four foot spruce would look here, ora young maple there, 
or an elm over yonder, and for afew years they are a pleasing addition to the 
lawn. But the soil in which they grow is good, and no pent up area controls 
their growth. They grow and spread; finally are too large to be of use except for 
shelter. They shut out the view, crowd you from ihe walks, and practically are 
masters of the situation. : 
Again, nature does not plant trees in a straight line, and I remark here that 
in referring to what nature does, and what nature does not, I tell you that in 
the arrangement of the ornamental acres that surround your home, you can do 
no better than to follow as a model the choice little bits of nature’s landscape 
architecture, thrown promiscuously among your hills along your lake shore. I 
do not mean the tangled growth of thicket or the ordinary features of the big 
woods, but all of you have seen in your rambles, a littie clearing, carpeted with 
short cropped grass, flanked with mossy rocks, or knarled oaks, with a clump 
or two of hazel or birch, a wild grape vine festooning an old tree, an opening 
through the trees disclosing a vista of far off sunshine and shadow, an effect 
that would be studied be studied by the foremost landscape architect of the 
world, and which the wealthy owners of fine grounds in our large cities would 
give thousands of dollars to reproduce in their places. This is why ] speak of 
studying nature, and applying her teachings to the embellishment of your 
grounds. To repeat, nature does not plant geometrically, she dispenses singly 
and in groups. 
For lawn planting, single specimens should be the best of their kind. They 
should be located so that they have the appearance intended, viz: single or lone 
trees. Do not plant even a shrub within twenty feet of them. The most im- 
portant arrangement, because the most satisfactory in its results, consists in 
what is called grouping, that is, planting trees of the same kind, or of different 
kinds, in groups or clumps. This is such a perfectly natural arrangement, that 
no general rule can be made for it. The combination never should be imitated 
on the same ground, and different profiles of lawn, or surface plans, require dif- 
ferent arrangement of the clumps. In grouping trees, the expected rapidity of 
growth of the different sorts must be considered, also the different colors or 
shades of foliage and bark. The charm ot a landscape is its light and freedom. 
Never plant so as to destroy this, never crowd the trees, so their future growth 
will make pergetual shade. Plant trees or clumps of trees at the curves and 
angles of the walks and drives, so as to make it appear that the curves and an- 
gles were made to avoid the seeming obstruction. Do not plant strong grow- 
ing trees near the walk or drive—fifteen or twenty feet is near enough, so that 
when full grown their branches will not crowd the avenues, but at the nearest 
droop gracefully over the margins. Small and dwarf trees and shrubs may be 
planted within four feet of the margin, but not too many of them. 
A dozen would be sufficient for an acre lawn. The idea that if you have a 
we 
