PLANNING FOR THE BACKGROUND IN THE BEGINNING 



MIRA B. CULIN 



Reversing the Usual Order of Procedure and Making the Frame Effective 

 Redeems the Aggressive Openness of the Average New Garden on Large 

 or Small Plot. The Intimate Details Can Then Be Arranged at Any Time 



HE permanent 



of one's garden, 



WM*^ whether it is large or small, should receive 

 ir,jj| ;c |i the most thoughtful consideration. If a mis- 

 l^luP^ take is made in the foreground it may be 

 corrected in a year or even less, but a mistake in 

 the background frequently takes a long interval to 

 remedy. We are often conscious in American gar- 



A BACKGROUND MEANS SECLUSION 

 Such as distinguishes this lovely garden, notwithstanding the 

 entire place of which it is a part is only 76 by 195 feet in size 



dens I think of a lack of something — of a subtle 

 feeling of unfulfilment — where from the amount of 

 time and money expended we have a right to expect 

 completion and satisfaction. The more I visit 

 gardens and observe, and think over this fact, the 

 more I am convinced it is many times due to just 

 this lack of a satisfying background or setting. 



Perhaps this is more true of my part of the coun- 

 try, which happens to be southern California, than 

 of the East; for with so many new places springing 

 up in every direction, from simple homes to large 

 estates, we constantly see the garden in its making. 



This is naturally a shrubless and treeless country 

 and practically every garden begins with nothing — 



unless one is the happy possessor of a Live Oak. So as a rule we must 

 begin at the beginning; and in laying out a new place the background 

 should be the first consideration. 



The quickest way to bring about a setting is to build a high lattice 

 fence and cover it with climbing Roses, preferably of one variety — 

 the Cecile Brunner or white Cherokee furnish a satisfactory foliage 

 throughout the year. Or Ficus repens may grow upon it with Wisteria 

 or the vines of the ornamental grape. 



Supplementing such a lattice Acacia trees and Eucalyptus and our 

 wonderful Live Oak make a rapid growth that will soon have the 

 straight lines of the garden limits lifted up by their waving tops. 

 Clumps of Ceanothus — our native "wild lilac" — with its mist of 

 lavender colored flowers in the spring make a perfect background for 

 later flowering plants, and Laurestinus, Privet, or Monterey Cypress 

 either trimmed or growing naturally form a beautiful green against 

 which to throw any color scheme. For those who prefer the formal 

 hedges, dignity and height may be added by groups of Italian Cypress, 

 while tropical waving effects are produced by the taller, slender 

 Palms, the Cocos plumosus for example, or its more hardy counter- 

 part, Cocos australis. 



The whole point is of course that if, in a garden, we meet the charm 

 of a green and restful setting with height somewhere to break the 

 monotony, we are beguiled into a mood to enjoy more fully the rich 

 display of color. In this almost frostless climate, where there is such 

 a bewildering number of plants, shrubs, and trees to draw upon this is 

 especially important: for often it seems that planting is done with the 

 idea of seeing how many varieties one may have rather than with any 

 idea of suitability to environment or harmony of color. It is very 

 difficult to keep a planting simple in the midst of such floral afflu- 

 ence, without doubt, but if the background — which is really the pic- 

 ture's frame — is adequate and complete, the rest will adjust itself 

 without much trouble. 



BEAUTIFUL PICTURES ARE WORTHY OF BEAUTIFUL FRAMES 



Let imagination strip the background planting from Mr. John T. Wilson's 



rich and vari-colored flower garden at Pasadena and is it not apparent at 



once how vital background is? 



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