TEXTURE IN THE GARDEN 



THEODORA KIMBALL 



A Foliage Element in the Garden Picture That Will Richly Repay Careful 

 Consideration, Whether Planting Has Been or Is to Be Done, Inasmuch 

 as It Is a Revelation of One of the Actual Fundamentals of Beauty 



^E DO not hear very much about texture in the gar- 

 den. Color and form have a literature of their own, 

 Tlfwi and seasonal effects have been generously treated, 

 'a'T^jMJ but texture — perhaps because it is considered as a 



background for composition in color and shape, rather than 

 an element worthy of independent treatment— has been 

 overlooked. And yet what delightful contrasts and harmon- 

 ies are possible in the shrub border, to take a familiar in- 

 stance, between the soft mistiness of a Smoke Tree in bloom 

 and the glossy brightness of Laurel-leaved Willows, or between 

 the bristling fineness of the common Barberry and the rough 

 Blackberry vine scrambling beneath. 



IT MAY be, too, that texture has failed to receive the atten- 

 tion it deserves, because its nature and its relation to size 

 and shape have not been well understood. Texture is really 

 the result of the size and shape 

 of small parts, but these parts 

 are so small that one regards 

 them as a continuous surface 

 and not as separate objects 

 in a composition. The texture 

 of aleaf depends on its thickness, 

 on the character of the veining, 

 and on the smoothness or hairi- 

 ness of the whole web; the 

 texture of a shrub depends in 

 turn on the character and dis- 

 position of its leaves; and the 

 texture of a distant shrub plan- 

 tation, on the form of the 

 shrubs that compose it. The 

 relation between the total form 

 of a shrub and its texture, 

 is only one of scale, and the 

 soft textured Smoke Tree is seen 

 to be, on nearer view, an aggre- 

 gation of tiny but none the less 

 clearly-defined shapes. 



The texture of a tree or shrub 

 is not only the result of the 

 size, shape, and surface of the 

 leaves, but also of their attitude 

 and grouping on the twigs and 

 smaller boughs, and their ar- 

 rangement to make up the 

 whole foliage mass. Leaves that 

 are large, heavy, and stiffly set 

 give a coarse texture and a 

 certain robustness of effect. 

 Small leaves, especially those 



VIEWING LANDSCAPE AS A TAPESTRY 



Finely wrought or coarse, as the planes of distance reveal detail or 

 mellow it. View from the Temple of Arts at Bar Harbor, Me. 



106 



which tremble upon their stalks or boughs, give a plant 

 a haziness of outline and an effect of delicacy. Yet the num- 

 erous closely set needles of the evergreen give a sense of 

 solidity in contrast to the open texture of the larger-leaved 

 deciduous tree. Glossy leaves such as those of the Laurel- 

 leaved Willow, and leaves that are lighter underneath, like 

 those of the Poplar, produce a texture having a certain sparkle 

 and gaiety, and also a variety of texture effects as the foliage 

 is ruffle i in the wind. Similarly textures in herbaceous 

 plants arise from the character of their foliage and from the 

 size, set, and character of the flowers. A flower border seen 

 at a little distance has a striking variety of textures. 



WE GAIN our impressions of texture, however, some- 

 times as much by our sense of feeling as by sight; and 

 the appeal to our attention of certain textures in a garden 



composition often comes largely 

 from our memories of their char- 

 acter to the touch. And this tac- 

 tual aspect of texture is valuable 

 to remember, particularly in se- 

 curing effects of contrasts; yet 

 the most important considera- 

 tions relating to texture in the 

 garden are the scale relations of 

 the textures of various trees, 

 shrubs, and herbaceous plants to 

 their respective sizes and shapes. 

 An appropriate edging for the 

 flower beds of a trimly-kept 

 formal garden should be com- 

 posed of small and close-growing 

 plants, for example; and very 

 often these plants must be 

 clipped in order that the edging 

 may have an effect of continu- 

 ous texture rather than appear 

 to be a series of individual 

 plants. Again, interest may be 

 held or directed and the im- 

 portance of a plant may be di- 

 minished or increased purely 

 through the handling of textures 

 in the composition. A unity 

 of total effect may be secured 

 in a parti-colored flower bor- 

 der by the consistently fine tex- 

 ture of the gay and delicately 

 poised blossoms. The unified 

 sweep of a lawn is due not 

 only to its greenness but largely 



