12 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 191C 



TTie first of three pictures in a garden designed by William Goldring in England, slio-wing tlie great 

 variety of views that may be had from a short garden walk 



These three pictures are so unlike that you Tvould 

 hardly imagine them to be on the same place 



mission without a retaining fee of $i,ooo. 

 Even if the garden were on a small scale, the 

 size of a good city lot, this sort of thing might 

 cost $500 — half for material and labor, and 

 half for design. 



How then dare I claim that it is economical 

 to employ a high-priced landscape designer ? 

 The answer is that if you want a garden that 

 is more pictorial, more harmonious in color, 

 more suitable to the environment, more liv- 

 able, you must expect to pay more. I stand 

 for better gardens. Moreover, the better 

 design will certainly be cheaper in the 

 end if you get sick of your place and have 

 it all torn up. And it may be cheaper 

 simply because a good designer's material 

 will last about five times as long as a 

 poor designer's. 



SHORT-LIVED VS. LONG-LIVED 



For instance, the beginner is likely to 

 specify the things in the lirst column; the 

 &:st-class designer who really knows plants 



will be likely at least to include those in the 

 second column: 



SHORT-LIVED 



Retinisporas 

 English yew 

 Irish juniper 

 Silver fir (A. Picea) 

 Douglas fir from Cali- 

 fornia 

 Willows 

 Poplars 

 Birches 



LONG-LIVED 



Mugho pine 

 Japanese yew 

 Red cedar 

 Concolor fir 

 Douglas fir from Colo- 

 rado 

 Oaks 

 Lindens 

 Beech 



In other words, it is false economy to em- 

 ploy the cheap designer, although he uses 

 cheap plants, that make a brave show at the 

 start, because many of these plants have to 

 be replaced in a few years. It is true 

 economy to hire the best designer, although 

 his plants may cost more and take longer to 

 estabHsh, for he uses permanent material 

 and makes a better arrangement. 



ON THE SMALL LAWN 



But most people cannot afford a garden 

 of specimens and they cannot afford a first- 



class designer. What about the front yard, 

 the small lawn and even a city or suburban 

 place of an acre or so ? 



My advice is this: On the small place 

 plant no tall trees, except those needed for 

 the street line. The ideal is to have only 

 one species of tree on a street and to plant 

 the trees inside the sidewalk. 



INSTEAD OF 



Pink dogwood 

 Tall magnolias 

 Golden and silver ever- 

 greens 

 Teas' mulberry 

 Purple barberry 

 Cut-leaved maple 



White dogwood 

 Magnolia Soulangeana 

 Green evergreens 



Japanese cherry 

 Japanese barberry 

 Mountain ash 



ON THE MEDIUM-SIZED LAWN 



By "medium-sized" I mean a place 

 of one to four acres, in which six to fifty 

 large trees will not give too much shade. 



INSTEAD OF 



Purple beech 

 Lombardy poplar 

 Cut-leaved oak 

 Cut-leaved maple 

 Kilmarnock willow 

 English hawthorn 

 Blue spruce 

 Scotch pine 

 Laburnum 

 Prunus Pissardi 



Common beech 



Red cedar 



Pin, red or scarlet oak 



Red or sugar maple 



Wisconsin willow 



American hawthorn 



Concolor fir 



Red pine 



Koelreuteria 



Prunus Sar genii 



Yet they are all part of a rather short walk, as the seat and some other details help to show 



BAD TASTE VS. GOOD TASTE 



"Oh! pshaw!" some of my readers will 

 exclaim, "such things aire merely matters of 

 taste! A man has aright to do as he pleases." 



Don't fool yourself. It is not simply a 

 matter of whether you like a thing or not. 

 The beasts of the field know that much. 

 A man should be able to give reasons. Even 

 matters of taste are dependent upon certain 

 laws. The law of good taste in planting is 

 this: Make your place harmonize with the 

 climate and environment. Do not let it stand 

 out in sharp contrast. 



Therefore, no matter what the size of 

 your lawn, make this your working rule: 



Let 90 per cent, of your material he of native 



