CHAPTER V 



VINES AS HARMONIZERS 



IT would scarcely appear at first glance that vines need occupy 

 the attention of the landscape gardener for very long, or 

 that they hold a place very peculiarly their own in land- 

 scape work. Yet they are possibly the one class of plants upon 

 which we are dependent more than any other, in every circum- 

 stance, and whether the work to be done is very great and pre- 

 tentious or very humble and modest. For vines or to speak 

 more accurately, climbers are a paramount necessity at the very 

 beginning. 



Nature, sober, staid and dignified, objects, I take it, to being 

 surprised. Witness how aloof she holds herself from any newly 

 finished work of man, until even the most unimaginative feel 

 her absence and are chilled. And of course the work of man is 

 a surprise! Possibly it is a presumption certainly it is arti- 

 ficial and unnatural and possibly her averted face is no more, 

 indeed, than a very justly deserved rebuke. 



But, however that may be, if man, with understanding of 

 Nature's peculiarities and acknowledgment of his own crude- 

 ness, will offer her the apology which is implied in an appeal to 

 her for aid, she is graciousness itself. All her resources are 

 immediately at his disposal, and the exquisite fabrics of her looms 

 are flung with careless grace here, or hung with rich splendor 



(52) 



