2 GARDEN PLANNING AND PLANTING 



with trees and shrubs and flowering plants, arches and arbours and 

 other things that give life to a garden, it shows the framework, the out- 

 line; as an outline is essential to the artist's picture in paint or pastel, 

 so it is of supreme importance to the gardener-artist who works 

 with plants and flowers for his colours and Nature's palette on his 

 easel. Needless to say, before the plan is put into practice it must 

 be made to scale, so that it shall represent the actual dimensions of 

 the garden. 



Two axioms may be laid to heart. Let the garden possess some 

 special feature, and then conceal it. Even in quite a small garden 

 a suburban garden this is possible, while in one of fair extent, of 

 quarter or half an acre, there should be several distinct features, so 

 arranged that only one can be seen at a time. A garden of which 

 one gets a bird's-eye view when looking down it, at once loses its 

 charm the charm to please that hidden things possess. My own 

 garden is in the suburbs, and it is not extensive. Yet it has a feature 

 that is not revealed at the first glance, namely, a little formal Rose 

 garden. It is true that a glimpse of this is obtained through an 

 archway draped in leaf and blossom, but it serves merely to excite 

 curiosity to such a pitch that the desire to explore becomes un- 

 conquerable. A glance down the walks fails to help the onlooker, 

 it but deepens the mystery, for they are in the secret and wind 

 temptingly round artificial corners, luring the visitor onwards. Then 

 suddenly, a moment perhaps before its presence was suspected, the 

 little Rose garden, aglow with flowers that gain an added charm from 

 the close-mown grassy ways that intersect the beds, bursts upon the 

 vision, and sends a fragrant greeting ! It has made a good im- 

 pression, and with gardens as with people, this is worth striving for : 

 often it means much, and has a lasting effect. A little farther the 

 walks wind again, and this time are lost behind tall Sweet Peas. 

 What though they meet in the privacy that is theirs ! No stranger 

 knows this until he has turned the corner. And so the enchantment 

 of even a little suburban garden possesses him. 



While each distinctive feature should be concealed, this alone is 

 not sufficient. They must be concealed with skill, naturally or with 

 artificiality robed in Nature's guise, so that they show themselves 

 when least expected. A little bank raised here, a hollow there, a. 

 hedge, a walk that winds with a purpose all these are subtle aids 

 to the successful concealment and subsequent revelation of the gar- 

 den's characteristic sights. And the greater the surprise when the 

 quest is over and the plot disclosed, the greater will be the pleasure. 



