40 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
Odd and formal trees. 
It is but a corollary of this discussion to say that plants which 
are simply odd or grotesque or unusual should be used with the 
greatest caution, for they introduce extraneous and jarring 
effects. They are little in sympathy with a landscape garden. 
An'artist would not care to paint an evergreen that is sheared 
into some grotesque shape. Itis only curious, and shows what 
32. A weeping tree at one side of the grounds and supported by a background. 
a man with plenty of time and long pruning shears can ac- 
complish. A weeping tree (particularly of a small-growing 
species) is usually seen to best advantage when it stands against 
a group or mass of foliage (Fig. 32), as a promontory, adding 
zest and spirit to the border; it then has relation with the place. 
This leads me to speak of the planting of the Lombardy 
poplar, which may be taken as a type of the formal tree, and asan 
illustration of what I mean to express. Its chief merits to the 
average planter are the quickness of its growth and the readiness 
with which it multiplies by sprouts. But in the North it is 
likely to be a short-lived tree, it suffers from storms, and it has 
