92 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



necessary, they are laid out so that their lines form a 

 part of the general framework. Then the hedges which 

 are to be clipped, the formal flower beds, and the 

 other accessories of tliis style of gardening are filled in 

 upon the plan, according to the princii^les laid down in 

 Chapter III. 



Special caution must be given the suburban resident 

 and amateur gardener against planting too much of too 

 many things. Everyone knows how easy it is to over- 

 furnish a room ; but few realize how much easier it is to 

 over-furnish a lawn. The flower-loving suburban gar- 

 dener wants everything in the nurseryman's catalog; 

 and such an appetite is a blessing only when properly 

 restrained. Perhaps it will be an acceptable hint to say 

 that more things may be grown in tasteful arrangement 

 within a small compass by close planting of herbaceous 

 or semi-herbaceous annuals and perennials in irregular 

 borders, than by any system of bedding or nursery 

 crowding such as is commonly practiced on small places. 

 Many diverse sorts of plants thus forced into company 

 give a fine example of the universal struggle for exist- 

 ence, and of the mutual ada2)tations to which such an 

 encounter gives rise. The nasturtiums will clamber up 

 the strong stems of the sunflowers ; the petunias will 

 look out from under the castor beans, and the verbenas 

 from under the petunias ; the yellow coreopsis will min- 

 gle freely with the blue pentstemons, and over all will 

 tower the hollyhocks, the heleniums and the rudbeckias. 

 Give them plenty of food, an abundance of water, 

 and constant, sympathetic interest, and how they will 

 grow, and what a jolly place it will be ! This is where 

 many a successful business man recruits, all summer 

 long, his flagging energies by daily relaxation among his 

 shrubs and flowers and family. 



