PART IV: CALIFORNIA'S WAYS WITH GARDEN 



PLANTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



LAWNS AND GROUND COVERS. 



The "open spaces," stipulated for in Chapter V, should, if possible, 

 be covered with flat verdure. They should be lawns, for which we 

 accept the common definition, "pieces of grass or clover kept closely 

 mown" or the semblance of a lawn produced by other plants which for 

 distinction, will be designated in this connection as "ground-covers." 

 Of course there may be reasons in individual instances why neither of 

 these can be undertaken or must be deferred and then the owner must 

 be content with a winter-lawn of native plants and, in parts of the 

 state with generous rainfall, they will give verdure for a third or 

 even half the year and rich yellow and brown hues during the remain- 

 ing fraction of it. Many people honestly prefer this reproduction of 

 the natural California landscape and it must be conceded to be com- 

 mendable, but the proper enjoyment of it implies certain duties which 

 are apt to be overlooked. 



Winter Lawns of Native Plants. If one feels the impulse to be 

 content with rainfall-verdure on the ground of its natural beauty and 

 accepts the summer yellows and browns as a very desirable substitute 

 for the bleak whiteness of a snow-cover which must be endured in 

 wintry climates, he should plan open spaces for it just as carefully as 

 he would if he intended to secure lawns of perpetual verdure. He 

 should arrange trees and shrubs in the same way for open spaces, 

 vistas, tree and shrub clumps, etc. He should not try to cover the 

 ground with a crowding of trees and shrubs in the vain attempt to 

 convince the visitor that he likes them so well that he cannot bear to 

 see the bare ground! It is too thin a subterfuge and the visitor will 

 pity him for throwing his house into a thicket, because he dare not face 

 the open spaces. 



If then you really prefer the natural colors of the California land- 

 scape in your garden, demonstrate the fact by laying off the ground 

 to really get the advantages of them. Afterwards treat these spaces 

 in a true garden-like way by giving the ground a good even surface, 

 flat or sloping as the land may be. Then add to its resources by 

 scattering seed of the annuals which contribute to the richness of both 

 winter verdure and summer browns, such as burr clover, alfileria, etc., 

 and go over it occasionally with a hoe and cut out the tall, rank weeds 

 before they have a chance to ripen seed. It will also prolong the 

 verdure and add to the beauty of the areas, if the growth is cut oc- 



