101 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
1C 
AVOIDING MONOTONY IN CITY STREET PLANTING 
In the busy rush of life we are 
apt to take the short cuts. Some 
wise mathematician has told us that 
a straight line is the shortest dis- 
tance between two points, and man is 
therefore prone to forget that nature 
makes very few straight lines, almost 
invariably starting and ending with a 
curve. A straight city street with a 
straight line of curb, a straight line 
of trees or perhaps two, a straight 
sidewalk line and possibly another 
straight line of trees, all paralleled by 
fences and set to harmonize and em- 
phasize this stiff departure from na- 
ture, is hideous even if it is the short- 
est distance. But we have them, and 
what can we do to improve them? 
How can we break up this monoton- 
ous sameness? A city block sur- 
rounded by lines of trees set equal 
distances apart, growing up into 
spite fences, surrounding the homes 
built within has been likened to set- 
ting our homes down in a box with 
only a little of the blue sky to be seen 
above. Light, air and beautiful views 
are cut off and the home, although on 
the top of the hill, is no better locat- 
ed, so far as views are concerned, 
than is the one in a deep ravine. In 
our city boulevards we plant six rows 
of trees, shutting out beautiful coun- 
try views, hiding lovely river, lake 
and mountain vistas, with absolutely 
no thought of the great destruction 
and reduction of values of once beau- 
tiful home sites. It is not art. It is 
not nature; it is not wise; nor is it 
malice aforethought. It is ignorance, 
thoughtless ignorance of the existing 
beautiful surrounding home sites on 
every side. 
How can it be improved? By plac- 
ing in charge of each piece of work 
the keen-eyed observer and admirer 
of the beautiful, the one who can se- 
lect the best points of observation, 
the future house sites, the places 
where one would linger and drink in 
the grandeur of the views. Have him 
along with your load of trees and 
give him full charge of saying “leave 
that vista open,” “don’t plant there; 
you shut off my view of that river, 
lake, woods or distant hill.” Again 
he is valuable, as he sees the objec- 
tionable features, the tumble-down 
barns, the desiccating works, the 
thing that mars the landscape. Here 
he plants thickly and hides from view 
that which repels the esthetic nature 
of man. How can this all be ac- 
complished. By planting in groups, 
groups set with an eye to the artis- 
tic; groups set by themselves, with 
open space where full sunshine breaks 
in and lights the pathway for man and 
the speedway for horses. Then, 
by combining trees and shrubs to 
break the monotony. By so doing 
we can mitigate some of the straight 
lines of our city streets. Our city 
streets and boulevards can be made 
more beautiful, every home site en- 
hanced in value, and a continuation of 
surprises shown the driving and walk- 
ing public, where we are now hedged 
in with trees, all set in straight rows 
to make our boulevards look like ten 
pin alleys. Residents cannot see be- 
yond their own grounds and grass in 
time refuses to grow in the shade of 
thickly planted boulevards. Nature 
never duplicates its road side plant- 
ing; no matter how far you go; no 
matter how many views you take, all 
are different. 
Sid J. Hare. 
GROUP PLANTING FOR STREET. 
Sid. J. Hare, Landscape Arch. 
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I## 
.AS CITY BLOCKS ARE USUALLY 
PLANTED; STREET TREES IN 
STRAIGHT ROWS. 
GROUP PLANTING PLAN FOR SAME 
STREET'S. Sid J. Hare, Landscape Arch. 
