20 



TREES, SHRUBS AND PLANTS 



able to the sight, all these should be entirely hidden from view by the 

 use of plantings, or at least partially broken up to minimize their unsight- 

 liness. 



A mass planting of hardy shrubs about the base of the porch tends to 

 harmonize it with the lawn. 



There are other elements in the design which should be just as care- 

 fully preserved and enhanced by plantings. The most pleasing lines and 

 portions of the house, for example, may be emphasized and carefully 



Preserved to the view. A wide sweep of open lawn, with a border and 

 ackground of trees and shrubbery, is always a pleasing and acceptable 

 sight. Vistas without the grounds, as of a distant woods, a winding 

 river or a neighboring farm house and even the travel upon a public road, 

 are often welcome sights which add to the pleasure and value of the 

 grounds. It is especially important that these vistas be carefully pre- 

 served from the living rooms of the house, not always from the parlor but 

 from those rooms where the family spend the major portion of their time. 

 The plantings then serve a very important function by concealing the 

 defects in these places and by enhancing those parts that are most pleasing. 

 Thus, it may be seen how beautiful and attractive some of the ordinary 

 looking farms of today may become by the proper use of plantings. How 

 much more important this landscape use of plantings becomes on 

 a common, ordinary looking farm where there are generally so many 

 unpleasant sights which detract from the looks and very often from 

 the value of the farm. 



Plantings, when improperly used, may detract from the value and 

 looks of the farm as well. The effect of a well-designed farm house is 

 very frequently ruined by poorj plantings. Trees planted too thickly 



