94 The Landscape Gardening Book 



shade or shadow. Indeed it rather seems as if Hght had been 

 captured and were held among its tender greens, instead of 

 shade. This tree therefore is particularly suitable for positions 

 near still water. It is lovely in reflection, and never gloomy. 



The lines of a large border planting, or the forms enclosed by 

 the lines, are very aptly likened to the land formation along a 

 coast. There are promontories and peninsulas, capes and isth- 

 muses, with now and then a deeply receding curve where some 

 great bay or gulf sweeps in from the sea — the lawn being the 

 "sea"— and here and there an island or a series of diminishing 

 islands carried out from a bold headland. Plant detached trees 

 always in this relation to the mass, either as one single island — 

 a tree or an irregular group of trees ; or as a series of islands — 

 an irregular group of trees, a lesser group, and then perhaps one 

 lone specimen. In either case, however, be sure that they are 

 carried out from a point or " headland" of the mass. 



Where the most complete imitation of Nature's planting is 

 aimed at, set two or three young trees into the same hole, once 

 or twice among a mass. This ineffectual attempt to crowd each 

 other out is very common among seedlings, in the woods and 

 out. The trick lends interest even to those plantings which are 

 in no sense intended to be wild, and though the idea seems very 

 radical at first, try it. It will prove itself well grounded. 



Best of all, however, for a small place, is a fairly close adherence 

 to just one kind of tree — that is, to one variety of a given species. 

 This means a result that is distinctive and full of character, and 

 is more completely in line with the principle of mass planting 

 than any other system. It carries the assurance of success with 

 it, too, for if a particular variety thrives in the soil and con- 

 ditions prevailing in any given spot, the use of that variety 

 insures a stand of trees that are all robust and strong growers. 



