CHAPTER VIII 



The Value in 

 Design of a 

 Knowledge of 

 Natural 

 Forms 



NATURAL FORMS OF GROUND, ROCK, AND WATER 

 AS ELEMENTS IN DESIGN 



The value in design of a knowledge of natural forms — Hills and moun- 

 tains : typical forms — Hill and mountain forms in landscape composition — 

 Modification of effect of hill by treatment of local details — Valleys : typical 

 forms — Choice of viewpoint for completeness of effect of valley — Plains : 

 typical forms and effects — Bodies of water : their effects — Lakes — Islands 

 — Shores and beaches — Streams and stream banks — Waterfalls — Rocks in 

 naturalistic design — Bowlders — Ledges — Color and texture of rocks — Rock 

 planting — Minor modeling of ground surface — Banks. 



The natural forms of ground, rock, and water have individuality 

 and value as elements in landscape composition in the degree that they 

 have striking shape or color or texture, recognizable natural character, 

 or appreciable emotional effect. The smaller natural forms, — such 

 things as brook valleys, undulations of ground surface, small ponds, 

 — the landscape designer may sometimes control. He may preserve 

 them, and incorporate them into his own work, or he may imitate them 

 in totally new construction. The larger natural forms — mountains 

 and prairies and great river valleys, the ocean, large lakes, and the 

 greater features of their shores — are landscape elements quite be- 

 yond the power of the designer to change in any essential way. He 

 may, however, choose and develop certain points of view from which 

 the natural landscape forms fall into good pictorial compositions, and 

 he may arrange the foreground over which he has control in such a 

 way as to enframe a good composition and to conceal incongruous 

 elements. Also — and this should be the first duty and the greatest 

 pleasure of a student of naturalistic design — he may study the great 

 natural forms, become familiar with their character, get inspiration 



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