INTRODUCTION 



individual plant or by the gayety of a flower. A 

 perfect plan grows, moreover, out of existing con- 

 ditions, out of the limitations and peculiarities of 

 the site and soil, and out of the requirements of the 

 owner and of his domestic and social needs. In 

 the few cases where I have used only a part of a 

 complete layout, the part under discussion seemed 

 complete enough in itself to warrant it. 



I have used only problems which have arrived at 

 such a degree of completion or growth that the 

 designer's ideas can be easily grasped by the lay- 

 man. I have used only those problems in which 

 the designer's ideas have been actually carried out. 

 In search of these I have made many a useless 

 journey, for many of the places that I visited had 

 been either entirely neglected or never completed 

 or changed out of recognition. The design is sel- 

 dom altogether lost but the planting is often sub- 

 ject to changes, for the client seldom realizes that 

 in a carefully considered plan each plant has its 

 special value in the development of the entire 

 scheme. 



No matter how much thought and ingenuity the 

 landscape architect expends in evolving a layout, 

 it is a matter of time and growth before the pic- 

 tures in the designer's mind materialize. It is, 



