FLORICULTURE 
for the sake of harmony in the landscape 
composition. 
Such plants as the blue spruce, purple 
beech, plum and birch, golden elder and 
all plants with highly colored leaves, 
should be used very carefully, as should 
also many of the plants like the weeping 
mulberry, weeping elm and the Kilmar- 
nock weeping willow. 
Take advantage of the beautiful points 
in the surrounding landscape by open- 
ing vistas and plant tall growing trees 
and shrubs, to shut out undesirable ob- 
jects. 
When planting groups and masses, do 
not indiscriminately mix the plants. 
Plant several of each kind or variety to- 
gether, and where more than one kind 
are used in a group, let them mix slight- 
ly to avoid the formation of stiff, regular 
lines. 
The proper location of drives and 
walks is an important consideration. 
They should be as direct as possible and 
planned for convenience as well as 
beauty. Except on very small places, a 
slightly curving road or walk is gener- 
ally more pleasing than a straight one. 
Every road or walk should have a dis- 
tinct aim, such as buildings, pleasing 
view points, etc. Large bends will only 
be justified by natural obstacles, such as 
rocks, water, or groups of trees The 
curves should be easy, and gracefully 
follow the natural contour of the ground. 
If possible, do not allow roads and walks 
to run through the center of an open 
lawn or meadow, but keep them to one 
side and plant trees and shrubs irregu- 
larly along their sides in such manner 
as to prevent long stretches of either 
road or walk from being seen from any 
point of view. 
The entrance to a place should be as 
simple as possible, and in keeping with 
the general lay of the ground. Water 
is one of the most effective features in 
the landscape, and should be introduced 
whenever possible. The pond and lake 
give a peacefulness to the scene not 
otherwise easily acquired, and the rip- 
pling brook and the waterfall enliven 
the woods with their murmurs, the for- 
983 
mer never resting as it runs along from 
shadow to sunshine. The planting of the 
margins of streams and lakes gives an 
opportunity for introducing a great va- 
riety of plants which could not otherwise 
be grown, such as water lilies, cat-tails, 
calamus, Japan iris, and scores of other 
moisture-loving plants. The making of 
artificial ponds and lakes and the plant- 
ing of them to fit natural surroundings 
is vastly more difficult than the arrange- 
ments of ordinary ground surfaces. They 
are apt to be made stiff and formal in 
their outline, examples of which are to 
be found in abundance in our parks and 
pleasure grounds. 
A good way is to study Nature’s ar- 
rangement, noting carefully how she goes 
about the formation of her duties, the 
obstructions in the streams causing the 
formation of natural dams, and how she 
forms her islands in streams and lakes. 
One may thus gain much valuable in- 
formation, and by following it he will 
be able to make and plant the natural 
water features of his garden. 
Bridges should be of a pleasing, simple 
design, harmonizing with their surround- 
ings. No bridge should be built unless 
there is a reason for it. Other structures, 
such as summer houses, arbors and boat 
houses, should be very carefully placed. 
If the design is simple and in harmony 
with its surroundings, the structure may 
add materially to the beauty of the land- 
scape, but if not properly designated or 
placed without apparent reason for its 
position, it had better be left out, as it 
would only spoil what perhaps otherwise 
was a fine composition. 
In the planting of the naturalistic 
garden or landscape, we should mainly 
rely on plants of undoubted hardiness, 
and for this reason our native plants 
are splendidly adapted. We have a 
wealth of native material in our woods, 
fields and meadows, suited to every local- 
ity, soil and condition. Nature is the 
best teacher. Get acquainted with the 
native material first, then visit as many 
good gardens as possible and learn how 
to use this material to the best advan- 
tage. 
