THE ART OF GROUPING 



LANDSCAPE gardeners, especially those 

 of the naturalistic persuasion, have always 

 had a suspicion that the art of grouping 

 their plants was a very important matter. At one 

 time and another a good deal of discussion has been 

 given to the subject, a large part of it fruitless. 

 Indeed the net result, after years of landscape gar- 

 dening, seems very slight. The best men still ap- 

 pear to have vague and hazy ideas on the subject. 

 Old practitioners have indeed fallen into working 

 formulas of their own, but they themselves usually 

 feel that these formulas are inadequate, while 

 eveiy one else can see that these set methods of 

 grouping are more detrimental than useful. It is 

 perhaps too much to expect that, under these cir- 

 cumstances, the whole art of plant grouping can 

 now be set forth simply and effectively in a book. 

 Yet a careful discussion of the main points must 

 prove helpful, and the endeavor to reach a state- 



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