1900.] essays. 89 



By group we mean an irregular massing of trees or shrubs, while 

 the word clump is used to designate an aggregation of trees or 

 shrubs arranged in some regular or symmetrical order. 



We wish to make our groups and borders, and especially the 

 sky line, as irregular as possible, and at the same time hide or 

 plant out the ugly objects, and preserve the beautiful views of 

 the landscape. 



Frequently low shrubbery can be used to hide a fence, but one 

 can look over it and enjoy the adjacent scenery. Tall shrubs or 

 trees are, of course, necessary to shut out views of buildings. 



If evergreens are to be used in the border, it is well to put 

 them on the back side, against which we may set our lower 

 shrubs and tiowers. Trees with dark masses of foliage should 

 also be used in the background, and in front of them we can put 

 objects of greater delicacy of form, foliage and color. On the 

 edge of the lawn, in front of the border, is the proper place for 

 our specimen shrubs ; here they appear as a part of the border 

 itself. 



THE FLOWER BED. 



The place for the flower bed is not in a circular or diamond 

 shaped area in the centre of the lawn, directly in front of the 

 house. Flowers can be displayed to better advantage anywhere 

 else. Their proper place is along the front edge of the border 

 planting, where they are backed by masses of verdure to make 

 an appropriate setting. We shall choose mostly hardy peren- 

 nials for planting on our home grounds, for these require little 

 care and we have them in endless variety and beauty. We can 

 well afford to dispense with the flower bed of grotesque or 

 geometrical design, as it has no part in the naturalistic picture. 

 If we feel the need of a little of this sort of gardening, we can 

 arrange for it back of the house, or in some out-of-the-way 

 portion of the grounds. But there is room for a wealth of 

 flowers in the groups and borders, and they are more impressive 

 if we arrange them in heavy masses. We must also plan for a 

 succession of bloom and not place inharmonious colors side by 

 side. 



