INFORMAL AND WILD GARDENING. 



363 



better result will ensue from the same amount of labour, and in con- 

 sequence the cultivation can be maintained at a higher standard. 



2. As to its Accomplishment. — It will be found to be an easier matter 

 to manage an informal than a formal garden, for in an informal garden 

 every opportunity will be or should be taken to find the most suitable 

 position for any plants you may have, and no hard-and-fast rule will 

 be made that certain plants must be put in certain places. Again, an 

 informal garden may begin in quite a small way and be extended accord- 

 ing to the tastes of the owner, or according to the suitabihty of the 

 situation and soil for certain plants, as found out by experience. 



3. As to Attractiveness. — If not at any one particular time so showy, 

 an informal garden that is well planted and in good condition will be 

 found more attractive the year round. More attention can be centred 

 upon individual plants, and each of these can be made to display itself 

 to the best advantage. 



4. As to greater Variety. — This almost speaks for itself as being a 

 feature of such a garden. It should also be one of the great essentials 

 of every well managed gaiden ; and as regards space this also should be 

 apparent, for by dispensing with the number of any given plant, more 

 room is afforded for those that are being grown to develop in the best 

 possible manner. 



Vy^aste of Material. — This occurs in various ways, one of which is 

 that of planting or grouping too many shrubs or plants together, 

 en masse, which cannot help but produce a formal effect as the 

 plants grow ; another way is the overcrowding of them at planting 

 time to produce what is called immediate effect. These, as they 

 grow, crowd each other and in the end are often all spoilt or made 

 most unsightly b}^ Jeggy, straggly growth. On the other hand, 

 in an informal garden more reliance can be placed upon indivi- 

 dual shrubs, trees, or plants, and each plant may have given it 

 the opportunity of ultimate development. In the planting of 

 shrubs it is customary to allow for only narrow margins of turf 

 and then the gravel walk or road. It is far better to keep the 

 shrubs well set back or to increase the width of the turf. The 

 effect produced by a broad margin of turf adds greatly to the general 

 appearance. It is an all too common practice to plant too many 

 shrubs as an undergrowth to trees, thus impoverishing the trees, and 

 notably so if the position be at all dry. Two or more decades back it 

 was a very general custom to plant the Common Laurel upon banks, 

 or in masses under young trees, and the Laurels would have to be cut 

 over each season to a level height. I could never see the object of 

 this system of planting. In no sense could it be called beautiful, 

 but extremely formal, and it creates a vast deal of labour and ultimately 

 starves the trees under which such planting is done. An undergrowth 

 of Ivy would give far less trouble, but even that would impoverish 

 the ground. In such situations I would rather use the common 

 British Ferns than anything else, and plant Daffodils among them for 

 spring flowering, and Colchicums or Crocus speciosus for the autumn . 



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