The Natural Style in Landscape Gardening 



cious habit of studying planting plans in the flat, 

 in plan on the drawing board. Every designer at 

 his drawing tries of course to visualize his group. 

 He tries to imagine how it will look on the ground. 

 He tries to picture it in its vertical projection. But 

 the case is a good deal like that called to mind by 

 Josh Billings when he said, "All men aim to tell 

 the truth but some of them are almighty bad shots." 

 All men try to imagine their groups in their finished 

 perspective, but unfortunately many designers suf- 

 fer from defective imagination. 



There is some point to the contention which I 

 have heard from the lips of infuriated landscape 

 gardeners that no man should be permitted to draw 

 a planting plan on paper. It might be better, were 

 it practicable, to do all designing on the ground. 

 The landscapist could then put his materials in 

 their proper places in the picture, much as a painter 

 puts a touch of red here and a stroke of orange 

 there, feeling his way slowly to the finished result. 



Certain it is that all grouping should be studied 

 with least emphasis upon plan and much greater 

 attention to vertical projection, and this feature can 



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