THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
55 
CATERING TO THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS 
By S. NEWMAN BAXTER 
To successfiilly solicit the business of the professional 
landscape architects requires first of all a knowledge of their 
wants. As their orders differ in many respects from those 
of the average retail customer a discussion of the difference 
will assist the nurser\Tnan in catering to this large and 
constantly increasing class of buyers. 
Quality probably exceeds all other requirements. Upon 
the quality of the plants depend in no small measure the 
success of the planting—the scheme—the architect’s efforts. 
Price is not questioned. Results are paramount and if you 
care to grow stock a little better than the other fellow you 
stand a good chance of getting the order at a much better 
price. 
Next to quality you must have a desirable assortment 
of plants both as to varieties and sizes. Unlike most retail 
customers the landscape architect is not carried away by a 
flower only. The plant must possess other merits—foliage 
and fruit—and they are usually well weighed before allowed 
to enter into the planting scheme. In this respect may be 
mentioned a preference for natives or wild j^lants, a class 
held in small esteem by the retail trade. Native roses, 
Viburnums, Cornus, Spice Bush, Rhus, Bush Honeysuckles, 
Regal Privet and Hawthorns are preferred to Hydrangea p. g. 
or similar “showy” plants. Trees of natural habits are 
preferred to weeping, variegated or freaky forms, whereas 
the latter would prove the best sellers, especially with a 
little advertising, among the retail trade. White flowers 
are preferred to all colors. The architect and retail cus¬ 
tomers meet on common ground in the demand for such good 
old standbys as Lilacs, Mock Oranges, Dcutzias, Golden 
Bell, Spiraea Van Houttei and Japanese Barberry. 
The subject of size is worth considering. We all know 
that small plants take hold with less risk and grow into 
good specimens more quickly but there is the everlasting 
desire for immediate effect and when the client wishes it 
and the architect desires to make a showing it is folly to use 
the “just as good” argument on behalf of your small stock 
while the other fellow gets the order for his big bu.shy speci¬ 
mens. Knowing this, nurserymen now grow trees further 
apart to develop good heads; transplant and root prune 
to form a good root system that will minimize the risk 
attending the moving of big trees. Shrubs, too, are grown 
singly instead of close in rows. It costs more to grow stock 
this way, of course, but do not forget that results are first, 
last and for all time. This sort of stock is in a class by itself 
and the architects know the reason for its superiority over 
the ordinary sort. 
Possibly the next point that appeals to the architect is 
quantity. He specifies one hundred shrubs where the 
retail customer buys five. He likes to place the complete 
order with one nursery. If you would cater to his wishes, 
therefore, omit the five and ten of an assortment and grow 
hundreds and thousands. This, of course, is impossible 
for the small nurserymen but nevertheless his patronage 
demands it. A.sccrtain what he likes and grow it for him. 
If he knows plants you will win him this way and lose him 
if you try to substitute or improve upon his selection. This 
of course refers to the professional men whom you know 
are familiar with plants and whose very reputations suggest 
your making a study of and catering to their needs. The 
“landscape gardener” who docs “white washing” “puts 
out ashes” and “attends to lawns” is not considered here. 
Be wary of the gardener who orders shrubs of sizes equal 
to if not exceeding their growth at maturity, like Deutzia 
gracilis three to four feet or who continually specifies quanti¬ 
ties of a plant of which there are few if any offered com¬ 
mercially. However, do not let his unfamiliarity with 
plants and the market deter you from trying to please him. 
It’s bvisiness you are after and the architects with the large 
clientele are the ones to whom you should look for the best 
orders. 
In short, therefore, the professional landscape architects 
demand quality, desirable varieties—especially of native 
or so-called “wild” stock and by no means a good seller with 
the retail trade—large sizes and liberal quantities. 
A NEW PEAR IN THE NORTHWEST 
Ira B. Sturges of the Baker Floral & Seed Co., Baker, 
Oregon, writes: 
The American Pomological Society have but recently 
named my new seedling pear, “Sturges” which Professor C. 1 . 
Lewis of the Oregon Agricultural College pronounces the 
finest seedling pear that has been submitted to him in 
Oregon. It is now being tested out by several of the experi¬ 
ment stations throughout the United States and Canada. 
It is too early to tell what its merits are in different sections 
of the country, but if it does as well in most sections as it 
has shown here, I believe it will become one of our leading 
varieties, if not the leading one. 
When it is ripe it is of great beauty, highly colored, 
ripens from thirty to forty-five days after being picked in 
ordinary cellar. It is most productive, the tree being only 
six years old this spring; blossomed at three and four years 
from seed; at five years old it bore 87 pears, and at six years, 
136 pears, weighing pounds after being thinned from 
five to seven when as large as hazlenuts to one and two, then 
being further thinned by a hail storm on July 2 2d, which 
stripped the entire foliage from off the tree and a good pro¬ 
portion of the fruit that had been left after the first thinning. 
It also shows evidence of being blight proof, as the tree stands 
surrounded by other varieties that have all been killed this 
summer by the blight, the first season it has ever made its 
appearance in this section, but this seedling has shown no 
evidence of it. It is a fine eating pear, having a flavor 
peculiarly its own, and very different from any other varie¬ 
ties; it has also good stewing qualities, and believe it will 
make a fine fruit for canning ])ur])oses. 1 have asked for a 
Wilder medal on this ]3car, but it may be several years betore 
the committee can pavSS on it intelligently, or until it is seen 
how it stands in the various sections of the United States. 
