"THIS HOUSE FACES AN AMPHITHEATRE OF OAKS" 

 View of Gravetye Manor, Mr. Robinson's home in Sussex, England 



PLANTING FOR COLOR IN THE LANDSCAPE 



WILLIAM ROBINSON 



Of Gravetye Manor in Sussex [author of "The English Flower Garden," "The Wild Garden," "Home Landscapes," 

 "Parks and Gardens of Paris" and other books; founder and long editor of The Garden, and Gardening Illustrated] 



Author's Note : The flower garden of England and the parterre of France are in our day often so -poor in color of the carpet gardening, 

 mosaiculture, and various crude massing of showy flowers that I have had to seek good and true color among trees and shrubs — so far not set 

 into geometrical or other patterns. And the trees being out of the way of the garden shears we see their natural forms as well as color. The 

 following notes tell of the result of my own planting in wood, copse, or heath garden in a cool soil and not specially favored position; and all are 

 hardy and enduring things. 



EDITORIAL FOREWORD 



WILLIAM ROBINSON needs no introduction to gardeners the world over, for his share in moulding present-day appreciation of the "natural" in garden ef- 

 fects is abundantly recognized. Writing from his observation and practice in his own magnificently gardened home in Sussex, England, some plants are dealt 

 with which cannot always be equally used in every garden of the eastern United States; but at the same time, by that very same token, a responsive chord will be 

 struck in California and the other Pacific coast regions; and withal, Mr. Robinson shows an uncanny appreciation of our own American material that has 

 suggestions for us here. Hence these articles have a very wide appeal, and (as in all garden writings) the reader who intelligently interprets the principles in the 

 light of his local limitations and opportunities is the one who derives the maximum benefit. 



Tinctured by a crisp finality, these jottings on the behavior of nature by the dean of British gardeners, who has lived with her long and has an affectionate under- 

 standing of her ways, ring with extraordinary verity. The value of Mr. Robinson's succinct observations is suggestive rather than didactic — he does not theorize 

 about nature, he sympathizes with and follows her. All his work is tinged with her single-hearted simplicity; he works with great sweeps and masses of color, true 

 artist that he is, and yet has time and tenderness for all the little things that make a finished picture. 



Nowadays there is much talk of color in the garden, and somewhat less of color in the landscape; nearly all of it inclined to didacticism and hampered by personal 

 prejudice. We are over-prone to go to nature with our minds made up, as it were, and attempt to foist our preconceived theories upon her. Mr. Robinson goes into 

 the open air with open mind. 



^ONG a witness of much unpleasant color in gardens 

 public and private, on coming into possession of some 

 farm land of my own, my thoughts went to the gifts of 

 the earth mother in the forests of the northern world. 

 The bedding plants giving poor color are often the produce of 

 costly glass-houses and must not be exposed to outdoor air until 

 near the longest summer months; while others coming from the 

 plains and hills of the frosty north, there can be no doubt of their 

 fitness to face our clime at all seasons; and so I made a big trial 

 of many trees, not in the mellow loam of Devon, or in the sea 

 air of Cornwall, but in the often shaly clay of the forest ridge of 

 Sussex, high and storm-tossed. 



The beauty of the Eastern American wood in autumn is 

 splendid, and an idea which is common to many is that the 

 pictures to be seen there are due to the climate mainly. On 

 coming here I thought I would try the American trees in any 

 case to see how they might look in wholly changed conditions. 

 We must go to the forest for fine color, free it should be from the 

 disfiguring of the shears. I propose to take the planting not in 

 any book order but rather in regard to the pleasure they give as 

 to effects in the open air. 



The Oaks. This house faces an amphitheatre of Oaks cloth- 

 ing the hills around. At first, the fields in the foreground were 

 beset by lines of ironbound clumps, and only by getting rid of 

 these trees out of place, did we arrive at the full value of these 



miles of Oakwoods. In May, one can see nearly a dozen dif- 

 ferent states of our Oak differing in color, and in the fall these 

 differences are still seen when the Oak groves are lighted by the 

 November sun. Some North American Oaks thrive and give 

 fine color in the fall. Best so far are the Red Oak, the 

 Marsh Oak, and the Scarlet Oak. Most precious of all for our 

 storm-tossed coast line is the Holm or Evergreen Oak — lovely in 

 color in storms. 



Liquidambar (Sweet Gum). One of the most beautiful trees 

 of the northern world for color. It grows best in the rich bot- 

 tom lands of the Middle States of America but I, having no such 

 land, planted it in a bold group in an ordinary coppice; where, 

 beginning very slowly, it has got up its head and gives fine ef- 

 fects every year. It is as hardy as a Thorn bush. In its own 

 country it is a good timber tree; as it is easily raised in abundance 

 from seed, there should be little trouble in getting a stock. Dis- 

 liking the usual methods of dotting trees about, I planted it in a 

 bold group and the effect was all I sought. It is essential to 

 encourage a natural tall growth and for that reason not to let the 

 usual underwood starve it, but plant some low shrub beneath, 

 such as the evergreen Barberry which will in noway harm the tree. 



Beech (Fagus). The queen of our native woods in autumn 

 need not be named here except that the Purple Beech has long 

 been popular and is very often grafted. But in Holland one 



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