The Natural Style in Landscape Gardening 



vista with nothing at the end of it is like hanging 

 on the parlor walls a frame without any picture 

 in it. 



In grounds of any considerable extent there are 

 usually natural features which can be played up 

 by the intelligent designer. A brook, no matter 

 how small and mean, offers unlimited possibilities. 

 If there is only a trickle of water in it one can set 

 back certain stretches so as to make reaches of flat 

 water on which the shadows lie and on the margin 

 of which all manner of aquatic plants will thrive. 

 Then there will be alternating stretches of water 

 singing over stones or flashing in the sun. Foot 

 bridges or stepping stones at suitable points add 

 to the picture. There may be seats in shady nooks 

 from which one can watch the panorama of life 

 upon the brook; while at other points there will 

 be sunny, grassy glades opening back into neigh- 

 boring meadows or looking out to adjoining lawns. 



In other grounds there will be natural ponds 

 or cliffs or outcrops of rock or glacier-planed 

 boulders or old plantations of pine or oak. Every 

 such feature must be seized upon and developed 



122 



