PLANNING GARDEN IMPROVEMENTS. 309 



sixteen or thirty-two feet to the inch. Upon this all the 

 existing objects, such as buildings, entrances, trees, etc., 

 should be located, giving each its exact position. Then 

 with a pencil, the planning of improvements may be 

 done, making and erasing as necessary, until sometliing 

 satisfactory is reached. Every object intended to be 

 brought in should be given its proper size according to 

 the scale. As the work progresses, the plan should 

 often be viewed from various directions, by holding the 

 upper surface of the paper nearly in line with the eye. 

 This will better show how it will appear on the grounds 

 when finished, than if looked at obliquely from above, 

 because naturally we view our gardens not as if we were 

 in a balloon, but with the eye, nearly on their own level. 

 Sufficient time ought to be given to this work, so that all 

 features may be deliberately studied in their relation to 

 the whole. Remember, it is always a serious matter to 

 make blunders in planning a garden, for when the work 

 is once executed, and the trees are growing, they will 

 stand as monuments — who can tell how long — pointing 

 either to wise or unwise decisions on the part of the one 

 who made the plan. 



To secure the best results, with the fewest chances 

 of failure, the services of a skilled landscape architect 

 should by all means be employed. A matter of such far 

 reaching importance should be entrusted only to a 

 thoroughly competent person. There is no better field 

 for ignoramuses and outright imposters, than that of 

 gardening, because results are often years in developing, 

 giving the imposters time enough to depart before their 

 incompetency is discovered. As a rule, if a person can- 

 not draw a plan that is graceful and pleasing to the eye, 

 he is not to be trusted to plan the garden itself. This 

 test, while generally reliable, is not always so, for a grand 

 plan, in addition to appearing smooth and graceful on 

 paper, must fit the place upon which it is to be 



