154 LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



selection. The success of the result will depend 

 upon the care exercised in the choice of the mate- 

 rial, after taking into consideration the economic 

 and esthetic requirements of the design. 



The plan should always be read from the eleva- 

 tion. One often sees in parks and semi-public 

 grounds that have not been skilfully laid out enor- 

 mous beds of shrubs placed in such positions that 

 only a very few are visible from any point of view, 

 and consequently three-fourths of the material 

 employed has been wasted, and is never seen at all. 

 A wide bed containing shrubs of equal height may 

 be seen to advantage from an elevation, or, if 

 placed on a hillside, will look well when regarded 

 from a plain, because it is possible to see the ex- 

 tent and shape of the planting mass as well as the 

 shapes of the plants which compose it; but unless 

 such a planting scheme is placed in a position 

 where it can easily be observed from an elevation, 

 it is clumsy and useless. 



In all planting schemes, whether city, suburban, 

 or country, and no matter what the type of plant- 

 ing employed, it is well to have a predominance of 

 indigenous plants, or at least plants of the same 

 general genus, possessing similar shapes, belong- 

 ing to like species, and having the same general 



