lOO STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The child of this style still remains in the so-called Italian school 

 of gardening, which deals chiefly with pattern beds, formal 

 designs and exotic plants. But as time went on, the garden wall 

 disappeared and the garden began to feel its freedom. The 

 beauties of nature came to be more appreciated and the fashion 

 of gardening swung to the opposite extreme of patterning after 

 nature in all things. Beautiful as nature is, she is not without 

 faults, and to copy in the garden is little better than to depart 

 entirely from her teachings. The true garden seeks to interpret 

 nature, to eliminate her faults and to bring out the essence of her 

 message. Herein lies the aim of the present style of gardening, 

 sometimes called the gardenesque. It endeavors to produce a 

 quiet, restful picture, looking to nature for the expressions to be 

 wrought out. 



The principles to be followed in producing such a picture are 

 simple. The first is to provide a broad stretch of greensward. 

 This is the canvas upon which the picture is to be painted. Few 

 things are more restful to the eye than a broad stretch of green, 

 yet few mistakes are more common than to fritter away this 

 greensward in meaningless planting. The second principle 

 grows logically out of the first. It is that planting should be 

 about the borders of the grounds or about its permanent features. 

 Only thus can the canvas be preserved. The third principle is 

 that this planting should be in masses ^nd strongly irregular. 

 Herein lies one of the greatest difficulties to the novice. Noth- 

 ing seems easier than to plant an irregular group of trees or 

 shrubs ; in fact, few things are harder. It is far easier to pro- 

 duce a stifif and formal clump than to produce a free and easy 

 group. Courage and boldness are demanded in the planter in 

 order that grace and freedom may appear in the group. Both 

 the ground outline and the sky outline should be strongly irreg- 

 ular. Nature gives many useful hints in this among the groups 

 of her own planting. 



Whether in groups or as single specimens the trees and shrubs 

 used should be allowed to grow after their own manner. Noth- 

 ing detracts more from a picture than the attempt to mold into 

 stiff and formal shapes the plants of which it is made. Particu- 

 larly bad is the treatment often given to evergreens whereby they 

 are supposed to be made to look trim and neat by trimming them 

 up. An evergreen tree with its lower branches removed is 



