174 LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



men or the group to the other plants in the scene. The springing up 

 of young trees from wind-blown seeds of a parent tree, the transporta- 

 tion of fruits by birds, of nuts by squirrels, to shrubberies or woods to 

 be concealed or eaten in safety, the tolerance of certain species of plants 

 for the shade of others, the similarity in soil requirements of certain 

 plants, and a thousand other combinations of circumstances arising 

 in the economy of nature, tend to make certain groupings of plants 

 repeat themselves in natural landscape. While some knowledge of 

 the reasons for the origin of these natural groupings is a desirable posses- 

 sion for the designer, the groupings found in nature are so varied, so 

 difficult in most cases to trace to their causes, that what the good de- 

 signer really uses in his work is a feeling for congruities and incongruities 

 of natural plant arrangement acquired through long experience, and 

 amounting in effect to an instinct rather than to a number of reasons 

 to be stated in words. 

 Composition The interest and value which a group of trees or shrubs may have 



of Groups -j^ ^ landscape will depend largely on the compositional relation of the 



individuals which make up the group. The main form of the group 

 may well be decided by its relation to the whole scene : it may be 

 rounded, or aspiring, or crouching, according to the purpose it serves 

 in the total composition. But within these limitations it is possible to 

 get great diversity without destroying the unity of the group. For 

 instance, the pointed and aspiring forms of trees, particularly those 

 that are symmetrically conical, will serve to accent a portion of a group, 

 to dominate it, or to crown its highest part, in any case in very sharp 

 contrast to such rounded or other less conspicuous tree forms as there 

 may be, but not necessarily destroying the mass unity of the group. 

 The composition of any group of plants will depend on the point from 

 which it is seen, and, except for circular arrangements, will be different 

 from each different point of view. As in all his compositions, then, the 

 landscape designer must study his tree and shrub groups from those 

 few points of view which are the most important, and he may consider 

 himself fortunate if he achieves his results as seen from these points of 



distinguishing feature of modern improvement is the clump; a name, which if the first 

 letter were taken away, would most accurately describe its form and effect.'* 

 Price, Essays on the Picturesque, 1810, v. i, p. 244. 



