130 HOW TO PLAN THE HOME GROUNDS 



as they are often called, because they are hardy, have a 

 mere weedy character that will afford excuse for neglect 

 on account of their readiness to take care of themselves. 

 It would seem to be an axiom in horticulture that there 

 is no plant that is worth attempting to cultivate that 

 will not repay the most liberal supply of nutriment and 

 care of every kind. Naturally, herbaceous plants do 

 not make an exception to this rule, any more than the 

 common wild shrub of the fields, which is often the best 

 hard- wooded plant we can use on our lawns. There is, 

 consequently, something to be conceded to their forest- 

 suggesting appearance, in their arrangement along the 

 borders of shrubs, whereby an entirely irregular pictur- 

 esque and wildwood effect will be produced. It is not 

 intended to convey by this term ' * wildwood ' ' the idea 

 that there should be no carefully worked out design with 

 reference to securing bloom in the different months of 

 the season, and in grouping with relation to color and 

 form, but only that by cunningly devised methods there 

 shall appear to be a certain artlessness. 



Consequently, it behooves us to see that no formal beds 

 are designed that are unrelated to shrub borders, or cor- 

 ners of buildings and fences ; and, furthermore, that the 

 lines shall so blend with the border lines of shrubs that 

 they shall practically merge into them. So much depends 

 on the mass effect of herbaceous plants, as distinguished 

 from their individual characteristics, that it is a good idea 

 to set them thickly in the bed, with the expectation of, 

 in four or five years, lifting and separating them, and 

 adding or taking away material, and resetting them. 

 It is only in this way that really satisfactory results 

 can be obtained with herbaceous plants, for thinning out 

 of thick planting must be attended to as well as the cul- 



