THE PRINCIPLES OP LANDSCAPE FORESTRY 



975 



Photo by G. A. Eldredge. 



A FAVORITE THEME OF RESTORERS AMERICAN BLUEBELLS 



Perhaps the finest blue flower of the woods in spring is Mertensia pidmonarioides {M. Virginica). The sky-blue trumpets have a perfect foil in 

 the pink buds. Large colonies have been restored by Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick, at Lake Forest, 111. 



1901, in which restoration is the leading idea, and much 

 of this has been done in woodland. One of the finest 

 restorations I have seen is at the summer home of Julius 

 Rosenwald, Ravinia, 111. Here, water has been supplied 

 to a typical ravine of the Lake Forest region, and ca- 

 noeing is now enjoyed for a distance of 1,000 feet on a 

 winding stream whose wooded banks are brilliant with 

 wild flowers in such profusion as one never sees in 

 woods that are open to the public. 



METHODS OP WILD GARDENING 



A masterfully simple method of producing great colo- 

 nies of wild flowers is to thin out the trees enough to 

 encourage wild flowers but not enough to encourage 

 grass. You remove most of the crooked, diseased and 

 spindling trees and sacrifice many perfect saplings of 

 the short-lived species in favor of the long-lived kinds. 

 Such work should generally be distributed over four 

 years. It makes a marked improvement in general ap- 

 pearance at once. 



This method can be supplemented by broadcasting 

 seeds of desirable species that can be cheaply collected 



in the neighborhood. Occasionally one finds great quan- 

 tities of berries, such, as wild grapes, viburnums, dog- 

 wood, shadbush, bittersweet, and partridgeberry. Some- 

 times it pays to buy seed in bulk from seedmen. I have 

 never seen any large results from haphazard sowings; 

 it is better to keep good records of the kind and quantity 

 sowed, the location, date, aiid circumstances. There is a 

 good deal of waste in this method and it is not the 

 quickest way, for perennials rarely bloom the first year 

 from seed. Hawthorns and the like do not germinate 

 until the second year and are slow-growing. 



For immediate efi'ect it is necessary to use plants rather 

 than seeds. Since these cost more, they are set only at 

 the points of greatest interest. For example, vines and 

 shrubs are planted at the entrance to the woods, and 

 perennials are put beside the trails, from which they will 

 gradually spread to the heart of the wood. Beside the 

 spring or brook one plants forget-me-not, marsh mari- 

 gold, sweet pepper bush, winterberry, or hobble bush. 

 Where winter color is wanted, bittersweet, Washington 

 and cockspur thorn, mountain ash, partridgeberry and 

 wintergreen are often suitable. 



