62 Hints on Landscape Gardening 



ing one tree to grow askew leaning almost hori- 

 zontally over the water. 



To bring about such little artifices one must 

 observe Nature herself and await a convenient 

 opportunity for the undertaking. Thus, I recom- 

 mend the planting of all trees intended to stand 

 alone on a somewhat rounded spot of ground, as 

 the heaped-up earth gives them a more graceful 

 outline, and old trees which have grown up from 

 seed nearly always stand naturally on just such a 

 swelling point forced up by the growing roots. 



In order to judge of their effect beforehand, 

 it is a good idea, before planting groups, to stick 

 in the ground felled trees and branches. I should 

 advise this course until riper experience gives the 

 proper instinct and until the trained powers of 

 the imagination become able to paint the picture 

 accurately in the mind. But one cannot expect 

 that every arrangement will look equally well 

 from all sides; that is impossible; so one should 

 take only the chief points of view, test the whole 

 from these points only, and by the disposition of 

 the paths prevent the visitor from being led to 

 the less favorable spots. 



With solid young plantations I generally take 

 the following course: First of all, I have the 

 entire plot of ground trenched to a depth of at 

 least two feet, even if the soil consists only of the 

 lightest drift sand. The chemical effect of trench- 

 ing and the receptivity for moisture thus imparted 

 to the earth often passes all expectations. By 

 trenching four feet in bare granular sand on a 



