114 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



to the smaller vegetables and herbs, keeping the flower borders along 

 the walks. In the old-time gardens these borders were defined by 

 box edging or stone curbing. When stones were used they were 

 whitewashed each Spring when the buildings and the fences receive 

 their annual coat. 



I recall a charming old garden which had been laid out along 

 these lines (Fig. 104). The flower borders were four feet wide and 

 the walks, of the same dimension, divided the area into four equal 

 rectangles. On the axis of one of the walks, which was a continua- 

 tion of a walk parallehng the front of the house, stood an old Catha- 

 rine Pear, perched on a little mound, that formed a quiet resting 

 place under the overhanging branches. The Pear was the center 

 of the little lawn, about thirty feet square, partially enclosed by 

 three clumps of Lilacs, and was the dominant note in the scene, 

 standing stately and serene. At each corner of the garden and at 

 the intersection of the walks were specimen shrubs, sixteen in all, 

 and between them, back of the garden beds, were placed the Currant 

 and Gooseberry bushes. In the flower beds were planted the herbs, 

 and those old-fashioned garden favorites, Paeonies, Chrysanthe- 

 mums, Larkspurs, Sweet Rockets, and Flags, preceded in the 

 Spring by hundreds of yellow Daffodils, making a scene worthy of 

 reproduction on every farm in the land. 



SUMMARY 



Briefly expressed, the use of ornamental trees and shrubs for the 

 embellishment of a scene must be along lines that are both esthetic 

 and practical. The selection of a particular plant or group of plants 

 for a given position should be for the reason that it best suits that 

 place, a point to be determined by a careful study of the best prin- 

 ciples of landscape design. Simplicity and repose should be key- 

 notes. Avoid the use of too many varieties and only as isolated 

 specimens should abnormally shaped plants be admitted. Groups 

 should consist of carefully selected units, all blending to make a 

 pleasing whole. 



From a practical viewpoint the success of any planting depends 

 largely on the vigor and robustness with which the plants grow. 

 Select plants best suited to the physical conditions in the locaHty. 

 With splendid assortments to choose from in every section it is de- 

 cidedly wrong to waste time and effort in trying to nurse along 

 plants unsuited to local conditions. 



