PLANNING A GARDEN ON PAPER 



such garnishing, and the shrubs rarely do well because of in- 

 sufficient soil-nourishment. 



4. Breaking up the lawn space with flower-beds. In the 

 North, from October until June — eight months in the year — 

 such beds are brown, unsightly objects. "Bedding out" is 

 the most expensive and most exacting form of gardening. 

 The same flowers planted near the house, against a background 

 of vines, or in border beds with shrubs behind them, are in- 

 finitely more at home. 



After one has arranged the planting so that the house and 

 grounds look as if they belonged to each other, next comes, if 

 you are to have one, the garden proper. If it be at a little disr 

 tance there is less need of having it a "good match" for the 

 house. If you select a slightly sheltered situation, with pro- 

 tection of some sort from the heaviest winds, you can begin 

 your planting earlier and many of the plants will find it more 

 comfortable. 



If the place is not brand-new and expressionless there are 

 likely to be some features — tree or shrub — which stand squarely 

 in the way of one's best-laid plans. Now, a good landscape- 

 gardener thinks a long time before obliterating any "feature," 

 for the obstacle which blocks his path may prove (as in the case 

 of Balaam) an angel unawares: something which will give 

 character and individuality to the whole place. Therefore 

 first see if the garden can't be planned to fit the objection 

 and the obstacle become an essential part of the plan. Much 

 good gardening has resulted from having to put up defenses 

 against ugliness. 



At a delightful place in Vermont an old apple-tree, which 

 very nearly had sentence passed upon it, now gives an at- 

 mosphere to the whole garden. And yet, on the other hand, 

 one should remember that the position of a shrub or tree is 



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