26 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



Trees must not only be judged for their particular qualities 

 as isolated specimens, but also for their effects when associated 

 with other species ; their position in the landscape has to be 

 studied. The variety in grouping is infinite, but it has been 

 found that the best effects in nature are obtained when compact 

 masses of trees cover the top of a hill, which they thus make 

 to appear higher. The summits may be crowned by forests of 

 Conifers. Below these should come trees in groups, then isolated 

 specimens, and lastly, mere bushes, which, as it were, break away 

 from the masses on the hill-side to unite themselves with the vales. 



Great variety of form and of colour, of light and of shadow, is 

 brought into play. In the meadows groups of big trees should 

 rise here and there. In order that big trees may produce a har- 

 monious effect, they must be grouped with their natural associates 

 in a landscape, and the introduction of exotic species, though 

 they may be hardy and of good appearance, must be avoided. 

 A large bush of dark green, growing at the foot of a slender 

 tree with foliage of a light hue, produces a happy contrast. A 

 group of two trees produces a good effect only when one differs 

 from the other in a very marked manner. Groups of three 

 trees are often met with in nature, but they are never of 

 the same kind, or at least of the same strength. It is by their 

 difference of size, and by the variety of their foliage, that they 

 attract notice. An equilateral triangle presents a too regular 

 aspect. A scalene triangle will be a better disposition for a 

 group, and its appearance will be enhanced (if the triangle is 

 large enough) by planting a fourth specimen in the middle, 

 especially if the different species contrast well. Groups of five 

 are well disposed when they are planted at the four angles of a 

 trapezium, and at its centre. They can also be disposed in the 

 shape of an irregular pentagon, but this arrangement has the dis- 

 advantage of presenting too circular an appearance. Groups of 

 over nine or ten trees wall only have a pleasant appearance if 

 planted in several irregular sections, composed of different kinds 

 of trees. Not only must trees be planted at suitable distances, 

 but in order to present a good appearance the minghng 

 of their branches with each other must be harmonious: their pro- 

 file and colours will only be appreciated if those points have been 

 happily met. It sometimes happens that these differences are 

 secured in trees of one variety, but of different sizes. It may 

 also be the result of mixing together a group of species, well 

 defined by their forms and the colour of their foliage. 



