NATIVE GROWTH FOR PLANTING IN CALIFORNIA 



By Miss E. PORTER, 

 Out Door Art League of Santa Clara County. 



"My position has been that the woody flora of any particular region is, and must 

 ever be, the one criterion in the determination of our choice of material." (Professor 

 Macbride, University of Iowa.) 



The trend of the times is toward the preservation of natural beauty. National, 

 state and city parks make it possible to retain much wild, unspoiled nature, of which 

 we stand in such need. Outside these park areas, it is difficult in the march of 

 civilization, with its manifold industries and occupations, the building of railroads 

 and the making of homes, to preserve natural beauty. But there is the widest 

 desire for it everywhere manifest among landscape architects, real estate men, 

 public officers, railway officials and we believe that the more closely nature is 

 studied and her counsels heeded, the less difficult the problem will become. 



THE HARMONY OF NATURE. 



Nature has covered the architectural foundation the mountains, canons and 

 plains with growing things which are not only in perfect harmony with the structure 

 which they adorn, but with each other. It is possible to destroy the beauty of the 

 landscape, not only by the destruction of this native growth itself, but also by the 

 introduction of foreign growth into its midst, a fact not so widely recognized. 



FORESTRY EXPERIMENTS. 



In this connection, recent experiments in the Forestry Department are interesting 

 and very encouraging. Where eucalyptus trees have been planted on the lower slopes 

 of the mountains, in southern California, they have not made as satisfactory protec- 

 tion to the watershed as the native chaparral. Even the pines removed from moun- 

 tain heights to these lower levels do not thrive as well. So it has been decided that 

 in the Forest Reserves, at least for the present, that the manzanita, the buckthorn, 

 the sage, and the wild buckwheat are to remain, clothing the unmarred hillsides with 

 their lovely bloom. It is suggested further, by one writer, that the Government be 

 asked to "reforest" the slopes already denuded, with honey-bearing plants, for the 

 benefit of the beemen. If a useful industry can thus be carried on, at the same time 

 protecting the watershed and preserving characteristic natural beauty, it will be one 

 step toward an ideal civilization. 



It is encouraging that the Bureau of Forestry believes it will pay to hold cut-over 

 redwood lands for future crops, which will also aid in preserving the original 

 landscape. 



UNNECESSARY PLANTING. 



In the making of homes in regions of great natural beauty it would seem desirable 

 to alter the surroundings as little as need be, planting only to restore where nature 

 has been disturbed. But even in summer camps one sees much effort expended in 

 artificial gardening, all out of harmony with the delicate blooms and rugged forest 

 trees. Of course where the home is permanent, and architecture more pretentious, 

 and the need of formal gardening is felt, it is possible to separate the artificial from 

 the natural surroundings, and so prevent incongruity. 



It is a pleasure to record here that Mr. F. A. Hihn and Mr. Frank L. Brown in 

 Santa Cruz County, Mrs. Lillian Ferguson in Marin County, Mr. Charles K. Field, 

 and others are helping to restore the characteristic beauty of the redwood region by 

 the planting of these young trees about their homes. 



CHARACTERISTIC NATURAL BEAUTY. 



Each region has an individual charm produced by its native trees, shrubs and 

 flowers. Even under artificial conditions, by using the native growth for planting, 

 this characteristic beauty is in a great measure preserved. The native elms and 

 maples that shade the streets and highways of New England have their appropriate 

 quiet beauty ; the royal palms forming the approach to Cuban haciendas have a tropic 

 splendor in keeping with the landscape; and the moss-draped native oaks that lead 

 to the old plantations of the south have a distinctive beauty that no foreign trees 

 could give. 



In Italy eminent men are urging not only the restoration of the classic native 

 growth, but also the "removal of the new and inharmonious." The Italian Govern- 



