ORNAMENTAL GARDENS. 45 



In Japan the gardener's model tree is not the ordinary symmetrical 

 specimen so frequently demanded by our x\merican gardeners, but 

 it is the abnormal tree which age and tempests have moulded into 

 quaint and umisual shapes. Probably this one feature gives more 

 distinctive character to Japanese gardens than any other. Trees 

 of varying height assist in giving the garden its definite proportions 

 and the gardener spends much time in training his trees so that 

 each suits its special environment. He plants single specimens, or 

 masses the foliage for special effects, but almost never plants in 

 symmetrical lines. These are most carefully avoided by the Japan- 

 ese gardener in all lines of work, and these gardens are characterized 

 by their freedom from the formal arrangement of any garden acces- 

 sories. One of the most carefully selected trees in the Japanese 

 gardens is the so-called "Tree of the Setting Sun." This is so 

 placed that the declining sun will cast pleasing shadows from its 

 foliage over the garden areas. 



In our garden development in America we have come to recognize 

 two distinct tjqoes of gardening — the formal and natural. Each 

 is good, but each requires its special treatment. The formal has 

 been designated as the "full dress type of gardening; stately, 

 princely, full of dignity; a type of gardening which seems to de- 

 mand that the actual working of it be kept out of sight, while the 

 ordinary gardens full of natural beauty in free, flowing lines seem 

 to demand the mower, the wheelbarrow, and the shirt-sleeved 

 laborer." The development' of each of these types will depend 

 largely upon the use to be made of the area ornamented. 



The ]danting in gardens in America may be divided into various 

 subdivisions. These are that of the formal gardens on large private 

 estates, that of the smaller home gardens, that of school gardens, 

 cemetery planting, street planting, planting about railway stations, 

 and the natural planting in God's great garden "Out-of-Doors." 



Probably the most elaborate planting is demanded in the formal 

 gardens. Here there must be symmetrical and geometric designs 

 and shapes. The trees and shrubs which lend themselves the most 

 readily to this character must therefore be selected for planting. 

 The rectangular and curvilinear beds must contain herbaceous 

 perennials which are pleasing in the combination of their colors, 

 and which furnish a succession of flowers throughout the season. 



