44 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



objects, to open vistas, to form backgrounds for other 

 ornamental materials, and also for their own individual 

 beauty and the variety they afford in their varying shades 

 of color and form. What beautiful shades and tints of 

 color may be found in the foliage of different trees and in 

 the same trees at different seasons of the year, and when 

 skilfully arranged and blended together what beautiful 

 pictures may be made with them. 



Some of our trees produce beautiful flowers, others 

 beautifully colored leaves; some take the spiry form, and 

 others grow with well-rounded outline; some grow with a 

 spreading or graceful habit, while others are close and mas- 

 sive in their build; some have thick and compact foliage, 

 while others are provided with light and airy leaves; and 

 the true lover of nature will find much pleasure in the 

 study of the numberless forms and' varieties, and especially 

 in arranging them so as to obtain the most real beauty 

 possible. 



A Plan. 



Before any planting is done a plan of arrangement must 

 be decided upon. As with plans for dwellings, much good 

 work can be and is done by amateurs in making plans for 

 ornamental planting, but unless one has made considerable 

 study of the materials to be used and the results to be 

 obtained by their combination, and has investigated all of 

 the points as to the special requirements of soil, planting, 

 training, etc., of each species or variety, the advice of an 

 expert should be sought. 



While in making plans for the arrangement of ornamental 

 trees, shrubs, etc., the money paid to a skilled landscape- 

 gardener for a detailed plan often saves many times this 



