146 COME INTO THE GARDEN 



say a word which may be interpreted as actu- 

 ally against the use of trees; yet I feel that I 

 muot warn the owner of the small place in the 

 very beginning that there is a possibility of the 

 negative decision being better in his particular 

 case. Such a place has its opportunities at best 

 only through the most careful conservation of 

 its restricted spaces; hence trees very easily 

 may become an extravagance in that they use 

 up more, proportionately, than they give. A 

 very delicate balance between all the parts and 

 features of such a garden must be established 

 and maintained, if its greatest and best oppor- 

 tunities are to be realized. 



But this hardly means that there shall not 

 be a single tree; rather it means that often 

 there shall be no more than a single tree — and 

 that there shall never be many trees on the 

 typical suburban place. For if there are many 

 there can be nothing else. Trees are exacting 

 both above and below ground — as becomes their 

 importance and dignity — and the lesser growth 

 must wait on them and keep its distance, with 

 few exceptions. Which is another proof, if an- 

 other were needed, of the folly of attempting to 

 plan a small place in the landscape style. For 

 the things which, like trees, are essentially of 

 the landscape, and essential to a landscape gar- 



