0he Olljrtstntas fousc ^(Harden 
t 9 t * 2. 
'^g£&3£SSg22iz&^^ - 
ing things woqld be ap¬ 
propriate. 
Probably the chief 
cause of wrong scale and 
other common faults of 
garden design is the im¬ 
possibility of completing 
it until years of growth 
have passed over it. 
When it is finished, it is 
usually a mere apology 
for what it is intended to 
be. All the planting ma¬ 
terial is of wrong size and 
shape and out of propor¬ 
tion. The large things 
are small and the small 
ones large, relatively. 
Shrubs and trees look 
like sticks, and even 
though they may be set 
close enough to 
become crowded 
in a few years, it 
requires much im¬ 
agination and ex¬ 
perience to get 
any clear idea of 
the final effect. 
It is not at all 
wonderful that 
few people who 
pay for gardens 
can see from the 
present to the fu¬ 
ture and imagine 
the luxuri¬ 
ant masses of fo¬ 
liage that will one 
day take the place 
of the poor little 
trees and bushes 
as they come 
from the nursery. 
The owner, impa¬ 
tient for results, 
is very apt to try 
to anticipate by 
putting in or taking out 
without any knowledge of 
what injury he may be 
working, or by getting in 
a quantity of planting 
material that may take 
his fancy, especially 
small evergreens. They 
are very attractive in 
themselves and require no 
trained imagination to 
see what they may be. 
But they should be used 
with discrimination and 
in enclosed places or in 
retired parts of the main 
planting. 
Another fundamental 
mistake, to be seen almost 
everywhere, is what Rep- 
ton called “dotting” or 
“frittering”; that is, set¬ 
ting things about aimless¬ 
ly with no perception of 
their relation to other 
things. Many a planter 
seems unable to see an 
open space in a lawn with¬ 
out desiring to put some¬ 
thing in it. This might 
be put in other ways. 
Don't put in a flower bed, 
bush or tree merely be¬ 
cause there is an open 
space. The open center 
is the commonest motive 
in informal xdesign, and 
Anything put into it is' 
likely to be an obstruc¬ 
tion or a detriment. 
Planting mate¬ 
rial of high and 
abnormal color, 
such as Roster’s 
blue spruce, Jap¬ 
anese maples and 
various “golden” 
and “silver” 
shrubs, are far 
too popular. Such 
things have a cer¬ 
tain loud quality, 
like a green hat 
or a vermilion 
necktie. They are 
accents only and 
should be used 
with much re¬ 
serve. 
It would plainly 
be out of the 
question to go in¬ 
to the subject of 
garden design 
more than cur¬ 
sorily in this arti- 
c 1 e ; but it is 
hoped that the points 
raised will aid in stimu¬ 
lating and g u i d i n g 
thought, and some of 
them are illustrated by the 
pictures made from pho¬ 
tographs in some of the 
gardens entered in the 
last competition. The fol¬ 
lowing short criticisms 
are added which may as¬ 
sist the reader in form¬ 
ing his own judgment. 
They should serve to illus¬ 
trate these doctrines and 
be of value in demonstrat¬ 
ing what the judges con¬ 
sidered as good and suc- 
(Continued on page 396) 
VIII The planting on this place makes an admirable picture on the whole, but 
there is incongruity between the bed plants and the light, graceful vines 
IX This place is striking because of its simplicity and the finished effect resultant. Almost every 
detail is carefully blended so that it looks as if any one could easily reproduce it 
X This inclosed garden has attained privacy, but fails somewhat because there 
is small difference within and without the inclosure 
( 373 ) 
