88 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[June, 



aql j^anilscape. 



ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 



By what means can a taste for ornamental 

 planting be most effectually promoted is a 

 question which every lover of trees and 

 beautiful lawns is frequently asking himself. 

 Public gardens and parks are, no doubt, 

 great means for the education of such tastes, 

 but a more effectual way — that every nursery- 

 man should have a portion of his grounds 

 tastefully laid out and planted with choice 

 trees and shrubs — is suggested by Mr. Wm. 

 C. Barry, president of the American Nursery- 

 man's Association, in the following : 



These nursery grounds would become in 

 a measure schools in their respective local- 

 ities, where the public taste would be culti- 

 vated and some knowledge of ornamental 

 planting be acquired. Many instances of 

 this kind, now existing, might be cited. 

 They should be, and I trust will soon be, 

 more general. 



DRAINAGE. 



One of the first and most important con- 

 siderations connected with ornamental plant- 

 ing is thorough drainage of the soil. Few 

 people are aware of the importance of this 

 operation, and many gardens and grounds 

 which have been planted at considerable 

 expense afford little or no satisfaction, in 

 consequence of lack of attention to this im- 

 portant work. Planters should understand 

 that trees and plants cannot thrive in un- 

 drained soil, unless it is naturally dry, which 

 is rarely the ease. There are many potent 

 reasons for drainage, which if properly con- 

 sidered would induce planters to devote the 

 necessary time and thought to the subject. 

 I will refer to some of them briefly. 



Experience has taught those who have 

 planted extensively and observed closely, 

 that all trees and plants thrive best in a dry, 

 deep, porous soil. The roots of such trees 

 strike deeper, the stems grow stronger, and 

 the young wood ripens up perfectly before 

 the cold season sets in. It is of the greatest 

 consequence that the young growth should 

 ripen well, for if it does not a severe winter 

 is certain to kill it back, as is the ease gener- 

 ally, if not always, with trees and plants 

 growing in undrained or wet land. Disap- 

 pointed planters sometimes tell us that the 

 trees and shrubs which they purchased, and 

 which in our catalogues are represented to 

 be perfectly hardy, have been winter killed, 

 and they ask us how we can account for it. 

 An examination of the case most always 

 shows that imperfect drainage is the cause. 

 The hardiest trees and shrubs will not root 

 well in wet soil, and though they may live for 

 awhile, they go sooner or later. Conifers 

 and half-hardy trees particularly cannot 

 endure such treatment, and a dry summer or 

 a severe winter quickly puts an end to their 

 existence. 



Deep drainage, while it carries off the 

 superfluous moisture so injurious in its 

 results, has also the effect to render the soil 

 warm, friable, and porous, allowing it to be 

 worked more thoroughly, and preventing 

 injury from drouth. Cultivators have learned 

 that well drained, deeply worked land, resists 

 the drouth remarkably by absorbing all mois- 

 ture in the air. Great losses are thus 

 averted. 



Many are deterred from draining on 

 account of the expense. Good tile drains, 

 sunk three to four feet in the ground, and 

 about twenty feet apart, with a good fall and 

 proijer outlet, can be made at a moderate ex- 

 pense. Even though the. outlay seems quite 

 considerable at first, it is nothing compared 

 with the losses and disappointments which 

 may result from undrained land. After 

 draining, the soil should be well plowed and 

 stirred to the depth of eighteen inches, and 

 properly enriched. If the drains work well, 

 we may look forward to good results from the 

 plantings. 



ERRORS IN PLANTING. 



The effects of judicious ornamental plant- 

 ing are greatly enhanced if the grounds are 

 well laid out. Inasmuch as I intend my re- 

 marks to apply more particularly to small or 

 medium-sized gardens, I will refer briefly to 

 some errors in planting which are usually 

 made, and which mar the beauty of grounds. 



I suppose that I cannot be much out of 

 the way in stating that there are few people 

 who know how to lay out a garden. This is 

 not strange, because it is no easy task, and 

 it requires knowledge, experience, and skill. 

 Many imagine that they are capable of laying 

 out their own grounds, and only find out how 

 little they know of the subject too late — 

 after they have planned and planted with 

 unsatisfactory results. The laying out and 

 planting of grounds, whether they are large 

 or small, should, if possible, be entrusted to 

 competent artists. The expense will be 

 small, and the satisfaction great. 



In every city and village gardens are to 

 be seen which have been planned and planted 

 utterly regardless of all rules of landscape 

 gardening. Those who have a knowledge of 

 the art cannot refrain from noticing the 

 blunders that are made, and it is particularly 

 annoying to them to see fine grounds, which 

 might have been rendered exceedingly in- 

 teresting, utterly ruined by injudicious plan- 

 ning and planting. The owners of such 

 grounds, though they know nothing about 

 gardening, feel that they have made grave 

 errors, but that it is beyond their power to 

 correct them. 



In city gardens, one of the mistakes 

 most frequently committed is that of plant- 

 ing indiscriminately — leaving no breadth of 

 turf, and destroying the lawn without real- 

 izing any effects from the plantings. If we 

 look about us, we shall see how often this 

 occurs ; yet it seems very strange that gen- 

 tlemen who have spent thousands upon a 

 house would be willing to sacrifice beautiful 

 grounds by careless planting. The same 

 attention and care which are bestowed upon 

 the house should be devoted to the garden, 

 in order that the house and its surroundings 

 may present one harmonious whole. An- 

 other common error is that of planting trees 

 which attain large size in small lots. A tall 

 Elm or Norway Spruce, or other large tree, is 

 very much out of place on a small lawn. 

 There is no excuse for errors of this kind, 

 for there are numbers of trees of secondary 

 size which can be employed with advan- 

 tage. 



WALKS AND DRIVES. 



These are prominent and important fea- 

 tures in ornamental grounds, exercising a 

 marked influence upon their appearence, and 

 the degree of enjoyment they may afford. 

 They should, therefore, receive a due share 



of attention, both as to location and con- 

 struction. Walks and drives should be so 

 constructed that a few moments after the 

 heaviest shower we can go over them with- 

 out the slightest inconvenience. If garden 

 walks are not properly made with stone and 

 a good coating of gravel, it will be necessary 

 to deny ourselves the pleasure of many a 

 ramble through the garden. 



Walks with graceful curves are, on the 

 whole, most appropriate for small grounds. 

 They lend a charm to the garden which 

 straight walks do not. The walk from the 

 street to the house must often, of necessity, 

 be straight. This divides the lawn imme- 

 diately in front into regular parts, requiring a 

 certain style of formal planting in order to 

 preserve harmony. If, instead of a straight 

 walk, a curved one be started at one side of 

 the garden, the lawn will be irregularly di- 

 vided, enabling another and more pleasing 

 style of planting to be employed. The curves 

 of the walk must be long and easy. It will 

 sometimes require a good deal of labor to 

 make the curves easy and pleasing. The 

 walks shoidd first be marked out with small 

 stakes, and the curves must be arranged and 

 re-arranged, until they are satisfactory to the 

 eye. A proof of easy curves is the facility 

 witli which they may be traversed, either on 

 foot or in a carriage. If the curves are abrupt 

 and difficult the edges of the grass will suffer 

 by being trampled upon, either by horses or 

 foot passengers. Walks with curves are often 

 badly designed, the curves being very diffi- 

 cult, thus spoiling the effect of good lawn 

 planting. Straight walks, planted on either 

 side with large-growing trees, present a ma- 

 jestic appearance ; on -large, level grounds, 

 they may be introduced with fine results ; but 

 curved walks are best adapted to ornamental 

 planting — being more natural. 



THE LAWN. 



Since the introduction of the lawn mower, 

 the lawn has come to be regarded as the great 

 feature of a garden. When it is well kept 

 there is nothing more beautiful or pleasing 

 than a broad, open space of turf, and in the 

 planting and arranging of trees it should be 

 our endeavor to keep the lawn as open as 

 possible. This can be accomplished by ar- 

 ranging the trees and shrubs in borders or 

 belts around the margin, with a fine specimen 

 tree occasionally standing alone in a promi- 

 nent position, where its beauties can be seen 

 to the best advantage. 



LATE PLANTED SHRUBS, 



It is sometimes desirable to transplant 

 ornamental shrubs in summer. With proper 

 care, ordinary sized shrubs may be trans- 

 planted at any time, and, if a cloudy or 

 damp day is chosen for the operation, with- 

 out any risk. 



Dig the hole for the new position first, 

 then, if the soil around the shrub is dry, 

 soak the ground thoroughly, dig carefully, 

 so as to preserve all roots, and injure not 

 more than is unavoidable ; transfer the shrub 

 to its new place, with as little exposure 

 as possible ; work the soil well between the 

 roots, pack firmly and pour on two or three 

 pails full of water, fill in with soil, level the 

 surface and apply a good mulch, to remain 

 all summer. The shrub should also be sev- 

 erely pruned in proportion to the loss of 

 roots sustained. 



