136 NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



The A, B, C of Landscape Gardening. — When we study 

 the way Nature plants her trees and vines, the principles 

 of good arrangement become simple matters. A. Leave 

 open glades for sunshine and air. B. Plant in masses, in 

 natural groups, so as to form pleasing pictures for differ- 

 ent seasons ; and, combining this principle with A, leave 

 open vistas toward beautiful views and cover unsightly 

 features of the landscape. Flower beds are much more 

 effective when framed in a suitable background of foliage 

 than when planted in open spaces. C. Avoid straight 

 rows wherever possible ; Nature never plants that way ; 

 it is stiff, monotonous, and tiresome. 



Study and discuss with the class specimens of good 

 planting in the neighborhood. Little trees may look 

 lonesome at fifty feet apart ; but measure the spread of 

 large trees of different kinds. We need to acquire the 

 power to look ahead twenty, fifty, a hundred years when 

 we plant trees. Failing to do this, people often plant too 

 close to the house, and the trees grow up and bury it 

 in shade so dense as to invite dampness and decay. In 

 consequence they are obliged to cut them down in their 

 prime. Leave open vistas toward the sunrise and sun- 

 set ; plant a heavy mass of deciduous trees to shield the 

 house from the noonday and afternoon sun ; arrange the 

 evergreens on the north, where they may break the force 

 of storms but not cut off the winter sunshine. In groups 

 the trees should stand good hammock-distances apart. 



The school garden can also supply ethical culture where 

 it is most needed. A small fraction of the community, 

 with uncultivated tastes and with little regard for the 

 rights of others, may practically render impossible its best 



