THE GREENING LANDSCAPE COMPANY, MONROE, MICHIGAN 



13 



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DISADVANTAGES 

 OF THE OLD WAY 



HREE factors enter into the making- of a 

 landscape — ihc ilcsigiicr. I he iiiirscryimiii , and 

 the gardener; and this trinity must work 

 in harmony to produce satisfactory results. 

 Manifestly the most harmony is secured when all three 

 factors are combined in one service, for, as St. Patrick 

 used to explain with the clover-leaf, " the three are one." 



Gardening is done upon honor. The work is tech- 

 nical, and the owner must place his trust in those that he 

 employs. By getting one man to make the plans, another 

 to execute them, and still another to furnish the trees and 

 plants, the risk of betrayal, to say nothing of making- 

 mistakes and of inharmonious co-operation, is enormously 

 increased. 



The old way, \\ hich is still 

 in vogue among landscape gar- 

 deners of the old school, was 

 absolutely without method or 

 system, and the owner floundered about in a sea of uncer- 

 tainty. First, he consulted a landscape architect, who pre- 

 pared a set of planting plans more or less practical, depend- 

 ing on the experience of the designer, and for which the 

 owner was required to pay a good sum of monev as a 

 professional fee. Sometimes the ser\-ice was worth the 

 price and sometimes it was not, for frecjuently the designer was 

 a \-isionary dreamer, who had wheels in his head but who lacked the 

 balance-wheel of the grower's experience, and the most outlandish 

 and incongruous features were introduced. Next, the owner sought 

 out a nurseryman to furnish the trees and plants rec[uired ; but as 

 he had no personal knowledge of the soil, aspect or other conditions 

 he was unable to oft'er advice, and his information on the subject 

 of hardiness and adaptability of varieties was lost to the owner. 

 Lastly, a gardener was found to do the planting, but as he had no 

 professional pride in the outcome and often no s\-mpath\- with the 

 plan, the work was done in an indifferent way with disappointing- 

 results. Each shifted the hhiiiie upon the others, and as none was 



The clover leaf graphically illustrates the triple quality of our service, each 

 branch of the -work being complementary to the others. Our artists develop an 

 artistic design, our propagators and nurserymen grow a hardy and thrifty line of 

 trees and shrubs, and our gardeners execute the plans in the most workmanlike 

 manner. The three are one. 



responsibh' for the mistakes of the otJiers. and often not for his 

 ozen, the owner was absolutel\- without recourse except to begin 

 all over again. 



And during the progress of the work, if any changes were 

 desired or mistakes \\ ere discovered, the same old routine turned 

 up, and the owner hied himself to the designer and fron-i the 

 designer to the grower and from the grower to the gardener, over 

 and over again, in a pussy-w ants-a-corner iort of a way, until in 

 sheer desperation the garden was abandoned or aborted in a lialf- 

 completed stage. 



Under such circun-istances is it an_\- wonder that we ha\'e so 

 few l)eautiful gardens in Anierica? 



