15 



out the details with its actual conditions about him. One way to study the general 

 ■ spacing of the plants on the ground is to represent the various kinds by stakes of 

 diflfererit colors, or of distinctly different lengths, or otherwise differentiate4. The 

 effects of the different kinds of plants in the various positions may thus be clearly 

 visualized. Some means should be adopted whereby one can study hisplantingat 

 leisure and can visualize its relation to the other plants already growing on and 

 about the yard. .When all has been most carefully studied and checked, the holes 

 may be dug and the plants set without the necessity of resetting, loss of time, and 

 perhaps injury to the plants themselves. 



The planting scheme for a yard should also be studied in some of its general 

 aspects. Perhaps when the detailed plans for planting in the several areas have 

 been prepared, the entire plans should be reviewed and checked and possibly 

 slightly revised, before final decisions are made. This will further assure the 

 production of the most pleasing entire effect. For example, within any one area 

 all the plants should be arranged in a somewhat balanced manner. One side of 

 a lawn should not be planted with but one combination of plants while the plant- 

 ing along its other sides is made up entirely of other kinds of vegetation. Were 

 the planting correctly done, some of the kinds occurring in larger masses on 

 one side would also be used in one or two smaller masses on the other side. Plants in 

 any degree conspicuous should be balanced, — unsymmetrically of course, — on 

 all view lines. This arrangement will make them fit well into the composition 

 of the whole, and will produce the desired focalization at the termini. Each of 

 the several areas should be so planted as to contribute to the interior scenery and 

 to the effects suitable for that area and in pleasing contrast with the other areas. 

 Nevertheless, the plants selected for the various parts of a yard should not produce 

 effects so radically different as to seem to be parts of different properties. Some 

 plants of the same kind should be used in varying degrees in all of the areas, and 

 the remainder of the plants of the same scheme should also be somewhat similar. 

 The appearance of a yard will be determined, to a large extent, by the vegeta- 

 tion employed and by the skill with which it is arranged, assuming, of course, that 

 all has been based upon a carefully planned arrangement. Small yards should, 

 if possible, be decorated with some architectural features which are also apparently 

 useful. While expensive at the start, they are permanent features and also con- 

 tribute in the summer to the pleasureable life in the yard and are interesting to 

 look at in the winter. But the planting is hkely to be the dominant element in the 

 yard, and the general effects are the most noticeable and the most important. 

 At the very beginning, then, one should be careful to think in terms of plants 

 which will in the end be suitable for a particular house and for a particular situa- 

 tion. He should determine the approximate quantity of evergreens necessary to 

 make a setting that is in character with the house under consideration, and he 

 should decide upon the amount of care he can give the plants in the yard, 

 especially if herbaceous plants are to be included. Thus in a general way the 

 proportions of evergreen, deciduous, and garden plants, or any others materially 

 affecting the final appearance or the cost of upkeep, should be determined. Start- 

 ing with a correct estimate of the essentials of the planting and of all requirements 

 called for by the general scheme and with an understanding of what is suitable, 

 one should carefully adhere both to his premise and to the intelligent application 

 of planning principles. The planting in a yard should not look more pretentious 



