IN CALIFORNIA 11 



the work under way as herein outlined and have 

 become really interested, then you are indeed under 

 the magic spell of the true garden spirit, the per- 

 fect peace (for the time being) that overcometh all 

 troubles and sorrows, that undefined and undefinable 

 natural charm that woos and wins every impres- 

 sionable soul seeking to build the garden beautiful. 



LANDSCAPE OR NATURAL GARDENING 

 It is nearly 300 years since Francis Bacon said: 

 "God Almighty first planted a garden, and indeed it 

 is the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest 

 refreshment to the spirit of man, without which 

 buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks ; and 

 a man shall see that when ages grow to civility and 

 elegancy, men come to build stately sooner than to 

 garden finely, as if gardening were the greater per- 

 fection." 



There are but three styles of gardening though 

 there are many types. These three are : Formal, or 

 architectural gardening; natural, or landscape gar- 

 dening; and picturesque gardening; the last but a 

 blending or combination of the other two, which are 

 after all the only distinct styles universally recog- 

 nized. It is the natural or landscape gardening that 

 we deal with mainly, incorporating only so much of 

 the formal as the problem under consideration seems 

 to require. In landscape gardening we are governed 

 by many rules, of which but three are really funda- 

 mental, the others being subsidiary, though all are 

 dictated by nature. These three are in the order of 

 importance : Preserve open lawn centers ; plant in 

 masses and not isolated; avoid straight lines. A 

 brief explanation of each rule is here given. 



