PLANTING DESIGN ^ 



(See Drawing XXII, on p. 184.) Many other less obvious form rela- 

 tions in composition between plant and ground are of course possible, 

 but often some economic exigencies of the design will fix the form of 

 the planting, and its esthetic relation to the topography will be rather 

 one of character. * 



The planting which borders the shores of a natural or naturalistic Waterside 

 pond should bear in design much the same relation to the water surface ^^^^^^H 

 that planting surrounding an open naturalistic lawn might bear to the 

 surface of the turf ; and the pleasant relations of accented promontory, 

 enframed bay, and free-standing island are much the same in each case. 

 (See Plates 4, 26, and 32.) The line between water and land however 

 is a more important thing in the composition than the line between turf 

 and shrubbery. This is partly due to the flatness of the water surface 

 which necessarily meets the shore everywhere in a definite line, but 

 largely due to the reflection of the shore in the water. The planting 

 which stands on the brink shows practically its whole form In reversed 

 reflection ; the planting standing back from the shore shows its tops only, 

 and in the case of a small pool or in any other circumstances where the 

 observer looks down at any considerable angle on the surface of the 

 water, objects standing at any great distance back from the shore are 

 not included in the reflection, — a fact which gives to planting directly 

 on the shore-line a special importance in the scene. Particularly where 

 the surface of the water is quiet, both the real shore and its reflected 

 counterpart must be considered in the composition. An overhanging 

 white-barked birch tree might not be, alone, too striking an object in 

 the composition, but it might prove so when reenforced by its reflec- 

 tion beneath. A low bank of shrubbery which in itself was not sufficient 

 boundary for a river surface in a certain landscape might be quite 

 enough for its purpose when doubled by its image in the water. As the 

 line of sight of the observer rises from its point of reflection on the water 

 surface to where it strikes the further shore, any overhanging planting 

 and any deep shadows within the plants on the water's edge will tell 

 with their full effect. On the other hand, a low and shelving shore, 

 and particularly a shore grown with reed and sedge that conceals the 

 water's edge, will be diminished and obscured In reflection. 



* For Rock Planting, see Chapter VIII, p. 147. 



