160 HOW TO PLAN THE HOME GROUNDS 



Every care should be taken of the trees by destroying 

 insects, and renewing the top soil that has been washed 

 away from the roots, but it is, as already stated, useless 

 to attempt to plant fresh trees and shrubs ; firstly, be- 

 cause they would not properly thrive in the shade and 

 among the tangled roots; and, secondly, because the 

 natural effect of the scene would be destroyed at once. 



In the same way, wild flowers, or what are termed by 

 the horticulturist hardy herbaceous plants, find it diffi- 

 cult to look exactly happy, even when they are skillfully 

 planted inside of masses of woodland, with the idea of 

 making them look natural. A little of this natural effect 

 may be accomplished by clustering small colonies of 

 particularly wild-looking flowers, like asters and daisies, 

 on the extreme borders of woodland, where the sunlight 

 can reach them, for it is an axiom, scarcely needing 

 repetition, that no plant (there are a few striking excep- 

 tions) does as well in the shade as in the sunlight. 

 When you find flowers blooming in the shade of forest 

 glades, you will also find that it is very much a case of 

 the survival of the fittest, under difficult conditions, 

 wherein many die in order that a few may live. 



On the other hand, although woods should remain nat- 

 ural, they need not look untidy or forlorn, or as if they 

 were lapsing into decay, yet neither should they look as 

 if they had been swept and garnished. The removal of 

 a dead stump or a fallen limb, or any positive rubbish, 

 is, of course, always in order, but to rake up leaves in 

 actual woodland indicates ignorance and lack of regard 

 for the trees when attempt is made to deprive them of 

 the protective and mulching value of the fallen leaves ; 

 and, moreover, no other possible carpet, whether of 

 grass or bare earth, can equal the pleasing effect of the 



