As I understand it, the definition of a garden should be — 
a large lawn or lawns, the borders of which are planted with 
trees and shrubs, harmoniously assembled, with here and there 
single specimens detached from the masses of foliage, or small 
groups of a marked and distinct character. We are justified, 
I think, in judiciously introducing in well-chosen spots, an 
occasional Palm or group of Palms, to give that variety of 
form and skyline, which we all acknowledge to be so desirable. 
That we have not always succeeded heretofore in producing 
an entirely satisfactory result with Palms, is due to scattering 
them in too large numbers, and without due regard to their 
situation and surroundings, a wrong selection of varieties and 
with insufficient knowledge of their effect when fully 
developed. Some of us too, (myself among the number) have 
been led away in the beginning, by a botanical interest, and a 
desire of accumulating rare varieties. This of course was 
disturbing to the general landscape as a whole, and we soon 
found ourselves with an interesting botanical garden, but a 
failure otherwise. Now, supposing ourselves well grounded 
in the recognized principles of landscape gardening and a fair 
knowledge of our material, the great secret of success, is 
simplicity and the practice of restraint especially in the use of 
exotics in our gardens. So many strange and beautiful plants, 
from all parts of the globe, have been thrust upon us by 
enterprising nurserymen, we are drawn to them with a loving 
heart, and like that charming woman who declared she could 
"resist anything in this world but temptation," we throw 
restraint to the winds and yield to the seductive pleasure of 
filling our gardens to over-flowing with everything that grows 
under the sun. 
What are we going to do with Palms? For instance, a fine 
specimen near the corner of a low house "monarch of all he 
surveys" always looks well. The Moors and Southern Spaniards 
have taught us this simple lesson from time immemorial. Let 
us imagine a corner at the end of our lawTi, in the distance, 
situated between our house and the ocean, where there may 
be a plantation of low trees or large shrubs, forming part of 
the border. We have had the happy thought of grouping 
here, in a semi-circular form a few Rubber Trees of the smaller 
sorts, and a Magnolia or two. In front, and a little detached 
from this tropical foliage, let us plant a few choice Palms of 
difiPercnt sizes and varieties, pretty close together, in an irregular 
natural manner, say, two or three together and one apart, and 
perhaps three or four more at irregular distances, the number 
depending upon the size we desire our groups to be, the tallest, 
say of the Cocos j)lumosas or Phoenixes, rather centrally placed, 
with the smaller kinds, like the Kentias, Cocos australis, 
85 
