LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



93 



sandy and gravelly soil of the exposed sea- 

 shore and also inlands is sufficient evidence 

 of this. 



Drainage and the disposal of house wastes 

 are important matters that must be consid- 

 ered in the plan of a place and provided for 

 during construction. With a satisfactorv 

 fall and outlet ( for which vou will some- 

 times have to seek permission to go through 

 your neighbor's land) the drainage of a wet 

 surface is not difficult to secure. A satis- 

 factory disposal of sewage is more difficult. 

 A leaching cesspool is the usual vehicle, a 

 very unsafe and in many soils unsatisfac- 

 tory method. A tight cesspool periodicallv 

 eniptied is more expensive to maintain, but 

 safer. There are safe but somewhat com- 

 plicated methods of disposal by sub-surface, 

 or surface irrigation, which can often be 

 used to advantage. Of course, if there is a 

 sewer the disposal is a simple matter. 



Planting, which is so often looked upon 

 as the principal work of the landscape archi- 

 tect, is, as I hope I have made evident, onlv 

 one of the details — a very important one, it 

 is true, but after all onlv the dress and orna- 

 ment of the place. 



There are many thousands of species and 

 varieties of hardy plants in common cultiva- 

 tion in the north-eastern United States. Of 

 woody plants alone there are between four 

 and five thousand species and varieties that 

 are offered in foreign and American nursery 

 catalogues, three-fourths of which would 

 probabl}- survive ordinary winters at Boston 

 under favorable circumstances. Manv of 

 these are interesting only to the botanist, 

 and of no value to the landscape architect, 

 but a knowledge of all that may be of value— 

 a very large number — will enable him to 

 protluce results and secure effects that can- 

 not possibly be secured by a man with a 

 more limited knowledge. While the great 

 variety that is available gives an opportunity 

 to produce interesting details and a much 

 longer season of flower and more interest- 



ing winter effects, it is also a great source of 

 danger, for it constantly offers the tempta- 

 tion to use too large an assortment, which 

 will result in a mixed planting with no char- 

 acter or individuality, and also in the intro- 

 duction of manv things that are not adapted 

 to the soil or surroundings, the failure or 

 poor success of which \s\Vi give the whole 

 planting a shabby, patchv look. It is safer 

 to select a few reliable vigorous varieties, 

 having good, healthy foliage through the 

 season — thev are more apt to be natives 

 than exotics — and let them predominate in 

 the planting ; then add to its interest, if it 

 is in a place where it is desirable to have 

 interesting details — that is, where it fre- 

 quently comes under close observation — bv 

 using a greater varietv of native, exotic, or 

 garden forms of woody plants, or hardy 

 perennials. A large variety in a border 

 which is to be seen from a distance is en- 

 tirely lost to the eye, or gives an undesira- 

 ble, mixed, or patchy look, and adds largely 

 to the expense. If it is made mainly of a 

 few kinds, as we see in nature, the most ef- 

 fective and pleasing results can be secured. 

 A low border plantation made up of the 

 flowering dogwood, with a few of its red 

 flowered variety, the panicled dogwood, 

 clethra, and wild rose, — all natives — would 

 give a better result than the same number 

 of exotic varieties, or if the variety were in- 

 creased many times. If it were desirable to 

 have more interesting details, large masses 

 of loosestrife, golden rods, asters perennial 

 sunflowers, and the like, would give it with- 

 out detracting from the effect of the vMOodv 

 plants. 



The use of colored foliage in a lawn 

 planted in a natural way seldom produces a 

 pleasant result, though I should not say that 

 it cannot be used. To a person of refined 

 tastes a gaudy, yellow piece of furniture in 

 a finely furnished and decorated room, the 

 prevailing color of which is green, would be 

 offensive. It would mar the enjoyment one 



