THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF PLANTING 
P ite cone gives the finish to landscape construction. It has 
little consideration in the preliminary study for arrangement, as 
even the entire design of an estate may be decided upon regard- 
less of the plants to be used; it has no relation to the engineering involved; 
and may be one of the smallest items of expense in construction. Yet it 
may dominate the design; may cause expensive construction; and the 
item of planting may exceed that of roads or structures. Further, good 
planting may cover up mistakes in design or of construction, and make 
great show at little expense; and equally, a poor use of plants may se- 
tiously mar a good design and outweigh a careful workmanship of con- 
struction. As it comes after the general considerations, it takes on undue 
importance in the eye of the average person. 
In a sense, the planting is like the cover of a book, or the clothes a 
man wears. Its place is unique; it is the most elastic of the items to be 
considered; it is neither unimportant nor all-important; but is the obvious 
test of good work. 
It should enter to a certain degree into every consideration of modi- 
fications of the landscape; and, while it may be decided after the work is 
well under way, it should influence all plan making from the very start. 
The first general decision must be made as to amount. There are 
the two extremes. The simplest solution is to reduce all planting to the 
minimum, and there are places where this is desirable, especially in city 
conditions. Houses, trees, and cars can’t occupy the same ground at 
once, and it is well that most foliage be omitted. A city is not a forest 
nor alawn. But the grounds about many homes, churches, and munic- 
ipal buildings are as bare as a barn or a bald head, and about as orna- 
mental! Lack of ornamentation is not beauty, and most people who 
think at all about the matter will admit that a certain amount of trees, 
grass, and flowers is desirable wherever we go. Architects’ show plans 
always have “‘foliage.” 
The other extreme is a wealth of plants wherever the space offers. 
There is no virtue in cramming a place with all the plants of which you 
are fond, making it a thicket, or a museum of freak plants. If you have 
no sense of restraint as to what to put in, you are not a garden builder, 
but rather have a nurseryman’s viewpoint. One tree in its proper place 
is worth a dozen equally good ones crowded into the same space. 
125 
