150 THE PLAN OP THE PLACE 



the room they want and a good soil, and they be- 

 come luxurious, full and comely. In most home 

 grounds in the country, the body of the planting 

 may be very effectively made by the use of bushes 

 taken from adjacent woods and fields. The 

 masses may then be enlivened by the addition 

 here and there of cultivated bushes, and the plant- 

 ing of flowers and herbs about the borders. It 

 is not essential that one know the names of these 

 wild bushes, although a knowledge of their botani- 

 cal features will add greatly to the pleasure of 

 growing them. Neither will they look common 

 when transferred to the lawn. There are very 

 few people who know even the commonest wild 

 bushes intimately, and the bushes change so 

 much in looks when removed to rich grounds 

 that few people recognize them. I have a mass 

 of shrubbery (Fig. 140) which is much admired, 

 and visitors are always asking me what the 

 bushes are ; yet I dug most of the roots in the 

 neighborhood. 



It is but a corollary of this discussion to say 

 that plants which are simply odd or grotesque or 

 unusual should be used with the greatest caution, 

 for they introduce extraneous and jarring effects. 

 They are little in sympathy with a landscape gar- 

 den. An artist would not care to paint an ever- 

 green which is sheared into some grotesque shape. 

 It is too formal, and it has no elements of true 

 beauty. It is only curious, and shows what a 



