AGRIC, OEPT.

Painted liy Hobart Nichols

THE RHODODENDRONS
Country Place of Professor Charles S. Sargent, Brookline, Mass.

DESIGN IN
LANDSCAPE GARDENING

DESIGN IN
LANDSCAPE GARDENING

BY
RALPH RODNEY ROOT, B.S.A., M.L.A.

Assistant Professor of Landscape Gardening. In charge of Pro-
fessional Course, University of Illinois

AND

CHARLES FABENS KELLEY, A.B.

Assistant Professor of Art. Head of Department of Art,
Ohio State University

NEW YORK

THE CENTURY CO.

1914

v\

Copyright, 1914, by
THE CENTURY Co.

PREFACE

It has seemed to the authors that there is a real
need for a book which will sum up, in a compact
way, the most definite principles of design as ap-
plied to Landscape Gardening. As in all subjects
relating to the fine and applied arts, very definite
principles, rather than laws exist, though they are
not always as easy of demonstration as the laws of
physics and mathematics.

"I confess that the great object of my ambition
is not merely to produce a book of pictures, but to
furnish some hints for establishing the fact, that
true taste in landscape gardening, as well as in all
the other polite arts, is not an accidental effect,
operating on the outward senses, but an appeal to
the understanding, which is able to compare, to
separate, and to combine, the various external ob-
jects, and to trace them to some preexisting causes
in the structure of the human mind." — Humphrey
Repton.

That such principles exist is not a matter of com-
mon knowledge or opinion, if one may judge by the

PEEPACB

unscientific discussions of landscape gardening
which at the present time are appearing in un-
precedented numbers.

It cannot be denied that landscape has a dis-
tinctly emotional value, but book-discussions of
this nature have always seemed futile to the au-
thors. Though considerable in bulk, these books
are of slight real value because of their unsystem-
atic recording of principles, and limited range.

This book is based largely upon lectures offered
in the department of landscape gardening at the
University of Illinois. The subject of plant color
and the theory of color planting is given to the
public with some reluctance. In spite of much
time and study it still seems inadequate. The sub-
ject is, however, presented from a new standpoint
and it is hoped that other workers in the same field
may make much further progress along the way
here pointed out.

Through this book the terms landscape architect,
landscape gardener, and landscape designer, have
been used interchangeably. There are strong par-
tizans for each of these appellations, who can see
no good in the employment of the other two. In
the voluminous articles published in support of
these views, nothing has appeared so convincing

PEEFACE

as to prejudice the authors in favor of any definite
and exclusive title. In fact they feel that bicker-
ing on matters of terminology where the subject
matter is universally agreed upon is apt to denote
a tendency to decadence, rather than to vigorous
constructive work.

The authors are indebted to Professor J. C.
Blair, Professor Charles Mulford Robinson, Pro-
fessor H. B. Dorner, Mr. F. A. C. Smith, of the
University of Illinois and Mr. G. R. Forbes, of
New York, for their courtesy in allowing them to
reproduce several of the photographs used as illus-
trations. Some of the illustrations, several of the
plans, for instance, are copies made from the work
of students at the University of Illinois. Some
were redrawn, others were used exactly as pre-
sented. The drawings are the work of C. F. Kel-
ley.

September 29, 1914.

CONTENTS

CHAPTEB PAGE

I ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 3

Architecture 5

Sculpture 12

Painting . . 14

Agriculture 15

Horticulture 16

Engineering 17

II DESIGN 20

III COLOR 85

IV PLANTING 105

V PROBLEMS 159

Cooperative Landscape-gardening 159

An American Home 168

Small Places . . 178

School Grounds 190

Golf-course ... 196

A Country Estate 204

VI GARDEN DESIGN 218

INDEX .267

LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The Rhododendrons Frontispiece

Figure 1. Pompeian Garden as an Outdoor Room 9

Figure 2. Durham Cathedral 23

Figure 3. The Torii at Miyajima, Japan 26

Figure 4. Two different elevations of the same plan 29

Figure 5. Fountain from the Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy . . 32
Figure GA. Scheme for the " naturalization " of the fountain from

the Boboli Gardens 33

Figure 6e. Another scheme for the " naturalization " of the

fountain from the Boboli Gardens 35

Figure 7. Planting to break the line of transition between a build-
ing and its surroundings 38

Figure 8. A formal plan showing strongly marked geometrical

character of divisions 47

Figure 9. Garden as an outdoor room, Villa Albani, Rome . . 49

Figure 10. Informal planting plans 52

Figure 11. A Japanese garden 55

Figure 12. Rhododendrons in the Sargent garden, Holm Lea, Brook-
line, Mass 60

Figure 13. Three plans to illustrate the flexible character of in-
formal planting masses 62

Figure 14. Informal and formal balances 65

Figure 15. Repetition of similar tree forms, Hill-Top, Fiesole, Italy 68

Figure 16. Carpeau's Fountain, Luxembourg Gardens, Paris . . 73

Figure 17. The geometrical basis of the plan in formal design . . 76

Figure 18. The geometrical basis of the plan in informal design 79

Figure 19. Diagram of complementary colors 87

Figure 20. Diagram of seasonal color changes 90

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS

PAGE

Figure 21. Hillside planting to produce illusions of grade . . .106
Figure 22. The sort of thing that demands screening . . . .110

Figure 23. Private grounds that are not too secluded in appearance 114

Figure 24. Horticultural accents 118

Figure 25. A colonial garden 122

Figure 26. Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati, Italy 127

Figure 27. Enframement of vista from Villa Medici, Rome . . . 129

Figure 28. Woodland planting 131

Figure 29. A pictorial composition in wild planting 135

Figure 30. Gardenesque planting 139

Figure 31. Park-like planting at Warwick, England 142

Figure 32. Tree forms 143

Figure 33. Rose of Sharon 146

Figure 34. The Golden Elder 146

Figure 35. Snowberry 146

Figure 36., Faulkner Farm 155

Figure 37. Repetition of geological characteristics in tree forms . . 166

Figure 38. East Avenue, Rochester, N. Y 170

Figure 39. Bald treatment of a small city street 175

Figure 40. Unkempt surroundings 175

Figure 41. Plan for the development of a suburban residence . .179

Figure 42. Planting for color effect 182

Figure 43. Plan for the development of a suburban residence . . 185
Figure 44. Attractive and practical school surroundings . . . .188
Figure 45. Proposed arrangement of a new golf course for the Uni-
versity of Illinois 197

Figure 46. Proposed development of a new golf course .... 198

Figure 47. Horticultural accents 201

Figure 48. Holm Lea, Brookline, Mass 208

Figure 49. Montacute House 212

Figure 50. A plan for a country estate 215

Figure 51. A second plan for a country estate 222

Figure 52. The garden as an outdoor room, Villa Pamphili Doria,

Rome . 225

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Figure 53. Lavish architectural treatment, Villa Albani, Rome . 229

Figure 54. Architectural predominance, Villa d'Este, Tivoli, Italy 234
Figure 55. Combination of architectural and horticultural accent

material to emphasize a vista, Villa d'Este . . . 236

Figure 56. Terrace garden 238

Figure 57. Garden Temple at Montacute House, England . . . .241

Figure 58. Topiary work . 243

Figure 59. A typical Italian garden plan, Villa d'Este .... 249
Figure 60. A garden at Milton, Mass., illustrating a good use of

bedding plants 253

Figure 61. Architectural vases used to introduce plant color, Villa

Lante, Bagnaia, Italy 256

Figure 62. Fountain at Villa Borghese, Rome 257

Figure 63. Pompeian fountain head 258

Figure 64. Stairway at the Villa d'Este 259

Figure 65. Retaining wall at Villa Falconieri, Frascati, Italy . . 263

LANDSCAPE GARDENING

LANDSCAPE GARDENING

i

ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN

AT the present time in America people are much
more sensitive to their home surroundings, as far
as appearances are concerned, than they were
thirty years ago. Then their intelligent interest
stopped with bricks and shingles; now it is often
carried as far as the street, and the grounds receive
a fair share of attention. Perhaps one reason for
this change is the American's ever-increasing
amount of foreign travel, with the chance to behold
not only the masterly gardens of antiquity, but
those of modern times as well. By contrast, his
own home surroundings have revealed to his edu-
cated sense their uncompromising ugliness.

General landscape-work is apt to appear long
after the pioneer stage in any country. In the last
twenty years, however, a strong school of land-
scape-men has risen in this country, and their work
has been a very potent factor in the education of

4 ^LANDSCAPE GARDENING

public taste and the creation of a demand for in-
telligent landscape-designing.

It is necessary to recognize at the outset that
love for nature, admiration of a beautiful view,
and delight in the brilliant colors of flowers, are
only a slight part of the equipment of a landscape-
designer. These are essential indeed, but without
further equipment the landscape-man will make
pointless suggestions and create ludicrous designs.

In order to make a worthy design, discrimina-
tion must be employed, and that is always based
upon sound knowledge and no slight experience.
Consequently, the landscape-man must familiarize
himself with all phases of his art, from the con-
tagious diseases of plants to the proper methods of
road construction. This is not the work of a tyro,
nor of one who gushes about the sovereignty of Art,
with a capital A, and proclaims his superiority to
all rules. It is for the careful student, the well-
balanced man of taste and cultivation, to find his
work and pleasure in landscape-design.

In working out a problem in landscape archi-
tecture, the factors with which the designer is most
concerned may be roughly divided into seven
groups, which fall naturally into two large divi-
sions.

ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 5

The first of these divisions may be called the
esthetic arts, under which come architecture, sculp-
ture^ and painting.

The second division is termed the practical arts,
which comprise engineering, agriculture, horticul-
ture, and forestry. In the final results in design
it will be seen that the esthetic arts have been used
in a practical way, and the practical arts have been
used in an esthetic way. A brief recapitulation of
the members of these groups will perhaps place the
subject of landscape-design in a clearer light.

ARCHITECTURE

Architecture has been defined as everything
from " frozen music" to the "art of beautiful
building." Whatever it may be, it must be useful
as well as beautiful in order to fulfil its purpose
satisfactorily. The rooms must be large enough
to satisfy the requirements of practicability, and
their arrangement must not interfere with their
use. The outside of the building should express
the inside, or the design will not be straightfor-
ward. It must be attractive in order to give pleas-
ure to those who use it and those who see it. To
that end every part of it, inside and outside, must
be arranged to the best advantage. Stripping all

6 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

sentiment from the definition, it may be said that
architecture is a study of composition in plan and
elevation, practicability being an indispensable
minimum requirement.

The plan of a building, which is the primary
consideration, is influenced directly by the kind
and number of rooms required ; and in the exterior
expression of the arrangement of these essential
units the elevation must not only express the
plan, but must harmonize with its natural sur-
roundings.

If at this point the architect will consult an ex-
perienced landscape-designer, he will find his ad-
vice of great assistance. It is important that the
landscape man's attitude should influence the
placing of windows, since the outlook from a
house should command all interesting and beauti-
ful features, and omit all others as far as possible.
The landscape-designer, from the very nature of
his work, is sure to feel more strongly than the
architect the importance of exposure and outlook.
It is this which makes his advice on f enestration
invaluable, and the character of the elevation will
to a certain extent be made or marred by the
placing of the windows. The appearance of the
windows from without, which will affect the har-

ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 7

monization of the house with the landscape by
which it is surrounded, is of equal importance with
their outlook from within the house. This har-
monization is often further to be achieved and
perfected by the grading and planting required to
make the landscape agree to some extent with the
house, and this the landscape-man himself should
do. As far as possible, the architecture should
appear to be an integral part of the landscape.
In other words, it must be "in character."

In landscape design, as in architecture, the plan
is the primary consideration, and no progress can
be made until it has been decided upon. It is in-
fluenced directly by the kind of problem and the
particular requirements of the problem. To be
successful, the elevation must express the plan,
and must of course harmonize with the important
natural features of the landscape. The result,
whether formal or not, must appear to be sponta-
neous.

The main factor in the development of the de-
sign at this point will be the character of the lines
which dominate the landscape. If the country is
rolling and sparsely settled, as in most middle
Western States, it is probable that a building with
informal lines, asymmetrical and of a rambling

8 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

type, will seem most in keeping with the surround-
ings, and because of the absence of natural plant
growth in the landscape, all planting features, in
order to harmonize, must be used in connection
with the building. If decorative planting is scat-
tered, it will destroy unity of interest by breaking
up the dominant features of the landscape, and
the charm of the rolling country, as contrasted
with the planting in the immediate vicinity of the
house, will be minimized, with a distinct loss of
beauty.

A, natural landscape of an entirely different
type is brought out to advantage by many of the
chateaux of Prance and the castles of the Ehine,
where the precipitous lines of the crags on which
they stand are repeated in the graceful upshoot of
the turrets and the steep and jagged pitch of the
roofs.

In city building, of course, there enters a for-
mal element which has not been taken into consid-
eration in the foregoing examples. Here at once
occurs the differentiation of the two types of land-
scape architecture, the formal and the informal.

In the city, lines are sure to be straight, rectan-
gular, and artificial. There is a primness and an
unnaturalness in the constructive lines of city

FIGURE 1. POMPEIAX GARDEN AS AX OUTDOOR ROOM

ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 11

planning which it is necessary for landscape-ar-
chitects to consider and to repeat in their designs.
A certain stiffness in the arrangement of the
planting, which would be entirely out of place in
a country residence, is only to be expected here.

City planting, necessarily highly formalized,
may consist chiefly in the arrangement of the
trees and shrubs in a regular way or in the selec-
tion of formal types of plants. In suburban
planting, where the location partakes both of the
nature of the city and the country, more natural-
istic types of planting may be introduced to ad-
vantage.

So much should the house appear to be an in-
tegral part of the landscape, and so thoroughly
should the elevation express the plan, that if it is
found that the elevation does not harmonize with
its natural surroundings, it is certain either that
it does not express the plan or that the plan should
be reworked.

Architectural accessories, such as gates, steps,
balustrades, walls, and pergolas, are often used as
enriching features in landscape-design, and as
such are frequently employed in a decorative
rather than in a constructive way. Where judi-
ciously introduced, they add dignity to the design.

12 LANDSCAPE GABDENINGl

SCULPTFKE

Sculpture has always played a very important
part in garden design, as well as in almost all
types of monumental and public planting. Less
formal than architecture, it may be used to great
advantage as an accent with informal planting
schemes, where it adds the element of contrast.

Sculpture was an important feature in the
early gardens of Egypt. In the garden of the
King of Thebes, for instance, it was used as a con-
trolling element in the design.

In the Eoman gardens of Pompeii (Fig. 1) and
Herculaneum the sculpture was used in an axial
way, appearing on the axes of corridors, walks,
and streets, mainly as an accent, although fre-
quently employed to enrich other garden features.
The forms themselves were of secondary impor-
tance; their position and function was the prime
interest.

The early Italian gardens employ sculpture in
two ways. In the formal treatment hermaB served
as an architectural feature at the intersection of
walks and in connection with terraces, walls, and
ornamental gateways. Informal sculpture, such

ELEMENTS OP LANDSCAPE DESIGN 13

as single figures or groups, was used with planting
in the gardens where architecture was not the con-
trolling feature or where the architectural element
was at some distance. These same phases con-
tinue in the later gardens of France and England,
as at Versailles, Fontainebleau, St. Cloud, and
Wilton House.

In America sculpture has appeared at a dis-
advantage. It is used in a civic way rather than
in gardens, and here, as a rule, it does not enter
into the design of the park or square in which it is
located, although it most certainly should. This
sculpture is generally introduced from patriotic
rather than from esthetic motives, as may easily
be understood after the examination of a few ex-
amples.

In Washington, D. C., an attempt is being made
to correct this incongruity between the sculpture
and its surroundings by the rearrangement of
planting and walks.

Lincoln Park, Washington, has been helped
greatly in this way. The landscape-architect who
directed the work did not introduce any new ele-
ments, but rearranged the jumble which he found
already there, with most satisfactory results.

14 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

PAINTING

Various schools of painting have had a pro-
found influence upon landscape design, particu-
larly in England. The influence seems to have
been exerted chiefly in the decorative composition
of mass and space relations, as the silhouetting of
planting masses against the sky and the types of
planting. A book by Sir Uvedale Price upon the
" Picturesque and the Beautiful," which ap-
peared at the end of the eighteenth century, advo-
cated the imitation of the work of Claude Lor-
rain by landscape-gardeners in their planting,
even to the introduction of stumps and dead trees
as a part of the scheme to lend a picturesque
charm ; he nevertheless admitted that formal gar-
dening was best near the house. Here the roman-
tic point of view seems to have been the precursor
of the rustic monstrosities in cement and iron
which unfortunately have a large sale even at the
present day. In America the fad reached its
greatest height about 1865. Cast-iron dogs, deer,
and other sylvan creations must be laid at the door
of painting rather than of sculpture, for the man-
ufacturers of these objets d'art probably got their

ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 15

inspiration from the landscape-painters of the
eighteenth century.

The landscape-designer may learn much from
painting as regards the grouping of trees and
their silhouette. He also uses painting as the
most direct means of expressing his ideas to his
client, for sketches of the general effect to be pro-
duced by his planting usually accompany the
plans. Many ideas about color combinations and
possibilities may also be gained from a study of
paintings.

It will be seen, then, that architecture, sculp-
ture, and painting are very essential factors in
determining the solution of a problem for the
landscape-architect, and are used by him in a prac-
tical way.

The second and final division of the problem of
the landscape-gardener, which is composed of en-
gineering, agriculture, horticulture, and forestry,
may, for the purpose of this discussion, be termed
the practical arts.

AGRICULTURE

In agriculture the landscape-architect is con-
cerned primarily with the relation of the plant te

16 LANDSCAPE GABDEKCNG

the soil. He considers carefully such questions as
soil drainage and soil composition, from the
physical and chemical point of view, to determine
what plants are best adapted to each particular
locality. This consideration is most essential in
the planting of such species as the rhododendrons,
which require that the soil contains no lime, but
must possess the presence of humus. In soil
drainage the landscape-architect is concerned
chiefly with the draining of large areas for open
lawns, leaving undrained spaces to be used for
bogs and rock-gardens.

Agriculture is also concerned with soil cultiva-
tion, or the methods of caring for the planted
areas in such a manner as to secure the best
growth of plant ^materials. Another important
interest included under the head of agriculture is
plant pathology, under which come spraying and
the control of insect pests.

HORTICULTURE

In horticulture the landscape-architect is con-
cerned with a study of the plant as an individual,
its growth, propagation, the formation of new va-
rieties, pruning, spraying, and the best methods of
planting and handling.

ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 17

Horticulture may be divided into two classes,
the economic and the decorative. The decorative
aspect is of chief importance to the landscape-de-
signer, as the economic side appears only in such
problems as the disposition of orchards and the
screening of objectionable features. This last
consideration is nevertheless of as much impor-
tance as the first, and is as much a question of es-
thetics as of economics.

The ornamental side of horticulture deals with
all the plant materials used in landscape-garden-
ing. The horticulturist groups these according
to methods of growth, and classifies them according
to size and soil requirements; but the landscape-
architect primarily considers them with regard to
form and color. Horticulture gives the land-
scape-architect the majority of the materials with
which he has to work, for he is generally called in
where planting is to predominate, and he must ac-
cordingly be thoroughly familiar with it.

ENGINEERING

Engineering in landscape problems concerns
the lay of the land, the alteration of grades, the
construction of topographical work, drainage, and
the building of walks, bridges, and drives. Be-

18 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

fore the landscape-architect can begin his main
design he must have a clear mental survey of the
land with which he has to deal, and upon this he
bases the large elements of his scheme ; for thereby
are determined the locations of such features as
house, drives, gardens, and water. Furthermore,
he readjusts the contours in an esthetic way, in
order to obtain an even balance in cut and fill
wherever possible.

In the laying out of roads, the natural profile of
the road must so agree with the contour that the
percentage of grade will not change too rapidly,
and that later, when the engineering plan is
worked out, too extensive cuts and fills will not
appear, destroying the natural aspect of the sur-
face.

In the erection of retaining walls there must
first be a raison d'etre, as well as justification from
the engineering point of view, preventing too
steep grades and terraces. Walls of other types
are considered architecturally.

In the question of engineering drainage, the
landscape-designer is concerned with the combina-
tion of surface and subsurface drainage. Sur-
face drainage takes care of the water that is likely
to destroy the best appearance of lawns and plant-

ELEMENTS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 19

ing spaces, and Subsurface drainage looks out for
the draining of garden walks, tennis-courts, and
the conducting of surplus water to proper outlets.

In considering the engineering features which
have to do with topographical reconstruction, sta-
ble bridges, and well-graded roads, all these prac-
tical considerations must be subordinated to the
esthetic ideal of the final appearance of the fin-
ished design. But if the practical considerations
are satisfactorily determined, they .will actually
contribute to the beautiful solution of the prob-
lem. The esthetic side of the question cannot be
treated as an easily detached ornament quite apart
from any vital connection with the design. No
matter how useful a thing may be, we do not care
for it if it is ugly. Beauty is consequently the
vivifying influence, the most potent factor in de-
termining the design scheme.

If the designer will keep in mind in a broad way
the subjects which have been classed in the prac-
tical and esthetic divisions of landscape, they will
be to him a rock of strength in solving his prob-
lems. Too often a petty insistence on details
makes one lose sight of higher, more important
things, and ruins a design which has great possi-
bilities for beauty.

II

DESIGN

IT will perhaps be advantageous to give a brief
summary of design in general before the specific
subject of design in landscape is approached. The
underlying principles of design are found in all
branches of the fine and applied arts, and are the
means of criticizing intelligently any object of de-
sign, be it a rose-jar or a landscape.

There are no such things as rules of design.
One cannot learn a few formulae and then turn out
satisfactory work because of having gone through
a certain number of processes and made a definite
number of motions. The well-trained designer
always has an attitude toward his subject which
will direct him in his work. The acquisition of
such an attitude is a matter of deep study, and re-
quires a long time and a fine enthusiasm; and of
course, as is the case with everything worth while,
it will ripen and change gradually as the experi-
ence of the designer grows and his horizon broad-
ens.

20

DESIGN 21

The designer's attitude is first one of intelligent
wonderment, of inquiry as to the possibilities of
the subject, and is attained through the training
of the imagination. A designer who sees only one
solution for every problem that comes to him is
very certain to turn out inferior work. There
may have been geniuses whose wrork was always
the result of swift and sure intuition, but none of
them is practising in landscape or any other branch
of design at present.

Speaking generally, the question of use is first
to be considered. Use may be defined in two
ways, the practical and the esthetic. Of course
all design is fundamentally practical, inasmuch as
it aims to give the best solution of any problem
with which one is working. Whatever is to be de-
signed must perform its duties thoroughly; but
that is not enough. It must also perform them
gracefully, for the day has gone by when it was
thought that objects of use need not be attractive.
In fact, if a useful object is repellent in appear-
ance its very ugliness often militates against its
usefulness. Every solution of a utilitarian prob-
lem should appear to solve the situation so com-
pletely that one cannot behold it without a feeling
of satisfaction. Thus beautiful surroundings of

22 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

one sort or another are created, and these in turn
have a direct influence upon the lives of those who
can see them and live among them.

If the design stops short with the mere fulfilling
of some utilitarian purpose, it will probably not
be entirely practical ; it must be satisfactory in ap-
pearance as well as in use, or it will not attain the
highest degree of practicability. Even though
the roads be well graded, the bridges strong, the
walks laid out in such a manner as to facilitate
circulation, and the plant masses so located as to
screen objectionable views or to enhance existing
ones, the result may be beautiful ; or it may be that
the strong insistence upon practicability has made
the function of the various parts too obvious, and
the ideas of beauty, for which the design was cre-
ated, have been lost. A great deal of study is
often required in order that the finished design
should appear unstudied, that is to say, spontane-
ous.

The esthetic and the practical should always ap-
pear together. It is no less necessary that the
practical conjoin with the esthetic, in order that
a work of design produce the greatest amount of
pleasure.

A picture, for instance, may be very beautiful

24 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

in itself, and yet if it is hung in a dark corner, or
where the light reflects from its surface so as to
interfere with its enjoyment, it is decidedly out of
place, and is therefore bad design. Design in this
and every other case, as far as final usage is con-
cerned, deals as much with the placing of the ob-
ject as with the object itself.

In landscape, a plant grouping or a piece of
sculpture, an architectural accessory or a vista,
may be beautiful in themselves, but if they are
placed in wrong relation to their surroundings,
they are '{bad design)"

How is one to judge of the proper interrelation
of the parts of a design? This is again a question
of use. The province of a designer is to combine
the material with which he has to work to the best
possible advantage. Every part of a design must
be placed where it can function freely and to the
best advantage. It must not only perform its
function well, but must look as if it did. Painters
often meet with the reverse of this difficulty. In
working out compositions where the human figure
appears, they often find that it is impossible for
the model to assume the supposedly graceful poses
which had appeared easy to them when they were
thinking only of lines and not of functions.

DESIGN 25

true beauty is functional. J It is said that the hu-
man body is beautiful because it expresses its
functions well. The function, then, should al-
ways appear unmistakably, whether it be mainly
practical or esthetic or both in combination.

It can safely be said that a beautiful design is
never the result of chance. It is only in very rare
cases that things have happened to be beautiful, at
least so far as the handiwork of man is concerned.
Wherever one is struck by a beautiful combina-
tion of landscape and architecture, whether it be
Durham Cathedral, on its river bluff, dominating
the landscape (Fig. 2), or the torii of Miya-
jima, enhancing the beauty of the sacred waters
(Fig. 3), it is certain to be the product of consum-
mate art, and not a happy accident. To be sure, the
conditions of location were taken advantage of in
both cases by the types of structure selected, but
it was the accomplished designer who welded the
diverse elements into a harmonious whole, and
brought out in all its perfection the consummate
work of art.

D^aigiiJs an expression of man's attitude to*
wards nature. It is universal, and the underlying
ideas are the same in all cases. Since landscape
design is only one of the kindred branches of gen-

FIGURE 3. THE TORII AT MIYAJIMA, JAPAN

DESIGN 27

eral design, it follows that it is exactly like all the
other provinces of design, such as architecture,
painting, music, and literature, so far as general
principles go. Its own individual characteristics
are due to the fact that the landscape-designer has
certain unique conditions imposed upon him by
the limitations of his problem. These conditions
are quite different from those with which his
brother-designers have to deal, but he has also the
satisfaction of knowing that he has certain glori-
ous opportunities which it would be impossible for
them to take advantage of in their respective
fields.

Landscape design as an art is less artificial than
any other form of design because it deals almost
entirely with natural objects in formal or infor-
mal combinations. The landscape-designer uses
trees and shrubs instead of spots of paint. He
uses the real sky instead of an artificial represen-
tation of one, and his hills and ravines should ap-
pear as the results of natural forces rather than
as man's creation.

In every form of design, structure, as a fulfil-
ment of conditions, is of paramount importance.
This structure may be the rocky framework of the
landscape or the skeleton of a building. The re-

28 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

mainder of the problem, the esthetic treatment of
this structural part, is a question of means to an
end. No matter how much or how little enrich-
ment appears, it must always recognize the func-
tion of the parts upon which it is built.

Landscape design in the abstract may be termed
a problem in the composition of areas. Areas
have only two dimensions, length and breadth ; but
for the final consideration of the design scheme
the designer must constantly keep in mind the
three dimensions, length, breadth, and depth.
This is because the design is to be viewed from dif-
ferent points. In drawings and sketches, how-
ever, only two of these dimensions can be treated
at one time. The plan and elevation must con-
stantly be correlated in order to produce a satis-
factory result, and different elevations should be
drawn from the same plan.

The failure to observe this principle carefully
is one of the great weaknesses of French archi-
tecture. A fine enthusiasm for beautiful geo-
metrical design often permits the plan to become
an abstraction, beautiful in appearance rather
than in function, and from many aspects the ele-
vations frequently appear weak. A building

FIGURE 4. TWO DIFFERENT ELEVATIONS OF THE SAME PLAN

30 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

planned in such fashion is designed to be seen
from only one or two stated positions.

The landscape-designer must prepare his work
with much greater conscientiousness, since it will
be seen from a variety of positions. If elevations
are drawn from several different aspects, and all
" compose" well, — that is to say, seem to have the
proper space relations, — a satisfactory design in
three dimensions is assured. This is Rodin's
method of working in sculpture. He models en-
tirely for the silhouette of his figure from all pos-
sible positions. This accounts in a measure for
his magnificent results.

As may easily be seen in a photograph, all
masses of three dimensions appear to the eye, or
rather pictorially, as areas possessing only two di-
mensions. One actually beholds only width and
height, for the impression of depth is an illusion.

Landscape design may safely be defined as the
satisfactory and consequently beautiful composi-
tion of natural areas — shapes of earth, trees, and
sky — in three dimensions.

As used in this book, the term composition
means the " putting together" of certain various
elements in such a way as to produce an appear-
ance of unity and harmony. It is the assimilation

DESIGN 31

of all the different parts of a problem and their
amalgamation into one underlying design idea.
Every design should bear the stamp of man's
handiwork, and yet the trees, shrubs, walls, roads,
and other features should not appear to be
" pressed into service." Any element in the de-
sign that is not perfectly assimilated and harmon-
ized with the surrounding parts in accordance
with the basic idea is not composed to the best ad-
vantage.

It is a matter of frequent occurrence that the
client may wish to introduce elements quite for-
eign to the spirit of the designer's scheme, and
these elements, though they may be either archi-
tectural or horticultural, will often seem hardly
possible of assimilation. It is then a question
of omitting such elements altogether or of ruin-
ing an otherwise satisfactory scheme. In case the
element under consideration seems worth all the
rest of the scheme, it necessitates the re-design-
ing of the problem so that everything will har-
monize, and the client's pet ideas will have an ap-
propriate setting. This has often been done
where some accessory, such as a statue, a well-
head, or a fountain required " naturalizing"; that
is, the designing of a favorable location so as to

32

LANDSCAPE GARDENING

FIGURE 5. FOUNTAIN FROM THE BOBOLI GARDENS, FLORENCE,

ITALY

make it seem in harmony with the surround-
ings.

This is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. It is
assumed that the f ountainhead, which is one of the
features of the big basin in the Boboli Gardens,
has been transported to another locality, and is to

DESIGN

33

be used as the principal accent in a fair-sized gar-
den. Two solutions of this problem are shown in
Figure 6, the position of the fountain being in-
dicated by a spot of black.

Certain garden accessories demand favorable

FIGURE GA. SCHEME FOR THE " NATURALIZATION " OF THE
FOUNTAIN FROM THE BOBOLI GARDENS (FIGURE 5)

34 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

location from their very nature. A sun-dial, to be
of any service, must be placed in an open space, or
it will not receive the rays of the sun. A statue,
on the other hand, looks rather pitiable when ex-
posed to the noonday glare, with no shade at hand.
Any delicacy of detail is lost in a statue placed in
an exposed position, as the reflection of the sun
from its smooth surface is too dazzling to permit
careful appreciation.

The naturalization of a feature may be carried
to absurd extremes. For instance, an Italian
well-head might be introduced into Norman-Eng-
lish surroundings. If the landscape-designer felt
that the nationality of the well-head should be car-
ried rigidly throughout the scheme, the result
would be an Italian design which could not fail to
be in discord with the dwellings for which the gar-
den was intended. The well-head might, how-
ever, be considered as an exotic accent only, and in
that case could be harmonized merely by colors
and shapes. That would seem to be the only sen-
sible solution.

The same principles of composition obtain in
landscape that hold true of every other art : each
part must be subordinate to the whole ; every part
of a design must articulate with every other part,

FIGURE GB. ANOTHER SCHEME FOR THE " NATURALIZATION
OF THE FOUNTAIN FROM THE BOBOLI GARDENS (FIGURE 5)

36 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

serving to enhance the entire scheme rather than
insisting upon its own importance.

The disposition of areas in landscape falls,
broadly speaking, into two large classes, known
technically as the formal and the informal ar-
rangements. In each case the handling of the
areas is distinctive. The points of primary con-
sideration are the same, whichever type of design
is to be employed ; but the style chosen determines
the method of approach, which differs markedly
in the two classes. Informal design may be called
a study of space relations, and formal design a
study of lines.

No one can listen to a conversation about land-
scape design, even for a very few minutes, without
hearing the "formal and the informal schools"
mentioned, probably with no slight degree of bit-
terness on one side or the other. It is the survival
of an ancient feud between those who claim that
every planting scheme should seem to be the work
of nature herself, without suggestion or interfer-
ence from man, and those who are equally positive
in asserting that every piece of planting should
bear the impress of the designer, nature being
quite evidently subordinated to his will.

Those who really understand informal planting

Photograph by The G.i

FIGURE 7. PLANTING TO BREAK THE LINE OF TRANSITION
BETWEEN A BUILDING AND ITS SURROUNDINGS

DESIGN 39

have no quarrel with, the formalists, if only they
will admit the usefulness of the informal school.
It is the sentimental "landscaper" who has slid
over the surface of things who alone is bold
enough to state that nature will take care of her-
self in a harmonious fashion about the artificial
habitations of man, though unrestricted in any
way. It must be a very crabbed and perverse
formalist who will not acknowledge the beauties
of informal design, and it must be an equally
narrow-minded informalist who will admit no
good in the opposite school. At any rate, the
extremists run the best chance of being misunder-
stood.

The conditions governing a problem, such as
location, use, extent, topography, and other exist-
ing natural surroundings, the style of architec-
ture, present or proposed, and the taste of the
client, will determine the style to be employed.

In most cases it is very desirable to use native
material in planting rather than to go far afield,
though the fact that a specimen is indigenous to a
locality is not sufficient in itself to warrant its use
in a planting scheme. Its shape, color, or habits
of life may unfit it for use in the particular type
of problem in hand. The golden elder, Sambucus

40 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

Canadensis aurea (Fig. 34), which, it is said, was
first found growing native, would not harmonize
with a typical native planting scheme in any case,
but could be made to harmonize with a more gar-
denesque-like treatment. Sumac, with its irregu-
lar branches, brilliant coloring, and general in-
formal appearance, would not do at all for city
planting.

In the city home the selection of trees and
shrubs is not controlled by natural features, such
as existing plant material and contours, for city
conditions are artificial, and a naturalistic treat-
ment would serve only to accentuate the artificial-
ity. Evergreens, provided they can withstand
smoke conditions, may here be used to advantage,
considering them as units of a whole mass rather
than as a natural part of their surroundings.
They seem to have an inherent stiffness which fits
them for artificial conditions.

Trees and shrubs in city planting are useful only |
for contrast of form and color. Woodland condi-
tions would seem as much out of place in stiff city
surroundings as would a collection of topiary
work and hybrid roses under natural forest condi-
tions, because its very nature would lead one to
question its appearance among such uncongenial

DESIGN 41

surroundings. One would wonder, despite him-
self, just how much per foot the land was worth
which had been devoted to the growing of lawn
grass, and this would interfere with a sense of en-
joyment. The informality of appearance of a
lawn of any extent among piles of stone and brick,
city traffic, smoke and noises, would create some-
what the same impression as white flannels at a
formal evening party.

On account of the different conditions which
prevail, a specialized plant may be used to advan-
tage in the city, while its type is more suitable for
the country, because its hint of artificiality will
more readily harmonize with the surroundings.
Nevertheless, only such trees and shrubs as will
withstand smoke conditions can be used in civic
planting schemes.

The surroundings of all dwellings should par-
take at least in some measure of the artificiality
of the architectural features, for this tends toward
unity. The line of division between the turf and
the buildings is always harsh, and something
should be done to soften the transition and make
it more gradual. This can be accomplished by the
use of vines, which will climb over the sides of the
house, or by grouping shrubs about the founda-

42 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

tion. In this way the house will seem to be more
closely welded to its setting (Fig. 7). /

It is remarkable to note how few people have
grasped this very simple principle. In many of
our cities, particularly in the Middle West, it
would seem as if the owners had scraped away
from the building all planting possible, and de-
posited it at a safe distance, for as a rule none of
the plant material seems to bear any relation to
the building itself. (See Fig. 39.)

The architect can often help in making a build-
ing suitable for planting. For instance, in ar-
chitectural gardens a simple wall treatment will
be more in keeping with the composition of large
areas than a more complex handling of the archi-
tectural surfaces. But where the planting is re-
stricted to a few varieties and is elaborated only
by a careful selection of accent plants, the wall
surface may be designed so as to attract more at-
tention than in the preceding instance; for this
may be done without danger of competition be-
tween plant and architectural features.

If a complex and conventional treatment is im-
posed by surroundings, it may be more readily ex-
pressed when formal planting lines are the ruling
factor. Planting and architecture, when used to-

DESIGN 43

gether, are interdependent, and must possess sim-
ilar characteristics.

Walls emphasize the architectural features, and
in planting a walled garden care should be taken
that the plants are not out of scale with the gar-
den by being too large or too small. On account
of the dominance of the walled inclosure, it is not
necessary to insist too strongly upon repetition in
the planting; consequently plants used in a gar-
den scheme of this type may be more gardenesque
and highly specialized, both as regards the filler
and accent shrubs (see planting chapter). Con-
trast, always an element of interest, is gained by
this arrangement.

The use of walls, gates, stairways, balustrades,
and other constructive and decorative features
concerns the landscape-designer as much as the
architect, and he has every right to use them as
freely as plant material wherever the occasion
warrants. He may use a wall instead of a hedge,
or substitute steps for a grade wherever the
formality of architectural surroundings seems to
demand. While the major emphasis is here laid
upon plant material, it is not intended in the least
to minimize the importance of architectural feat-
ures in landscape work.

44 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

Naturalistic planting does not necessarily imply
the use of the informal style, nor does formal
planting necessitate topiary work and parterre
bedding. In many cases, such as Thomas Circle
in Washington, D. C., bedding plants are used to
their best advantage amid formal surroundings.
In fact, conditions like these are best for the use
of bedding plants, inasmuch as they will withstand
city conditions, and on account of their formality
and very evident subordination to lines and forms,
they possess the requisite stiffness and precision.

Most people, when seeing a bit of greenery,
think only of the interest of the plant itself,
whether it be worthy or not. The idea of some-
thing growing finds a ready response anywhere,
and consequently naturalistic planting within city
limits would detract from the building or monu-
ment wit^i which it was associated. Any very evi-
dent grouping and clipping of bedding plants to
produce a certain definite effect leaves no doubt in
the mind of the beholder as to just what the effect
was which the designer wished to produce, irre-
spective of the success of his design.

While, theoretically, the trained landscape-de-
signer should have an absolutely free hand, and
should know which scheme of all others would be

DESIGN 45

best suited to Ms problem, the tastes of his client
must nevertheless be taken into consideration to
a greater or less extent. Here the determining
factor will be the balance struck between the tact-
fulness of the designer and the obstinacy of the
client. <^4-~

Every design scheme has natural limitations
wrhich clip the wings of imagination, and the tastes
of a client who has little or no education along
esthetic lines is a limitation second to none. More-
over, the difficulty will be increased by the fact
that people who have little esthetic development
are seldom aware of this lack. If the designer is
able, by broad training and experience, to produce
in such circumstances a result that will please a
comparatively uneducated taste, and yet appeal as
beautiful to those who understand the subject, it
should be a source of greater satisfaction to him
than if he had had a free hand, and no limitations
with which to cope. A designer who conceives a
scheme without consulting his client's tastes and
wishes will meet with occasional disappointments,
and he certainly deserves to do so.

All types of design deal first with the total area
of the problem as a boundary line. In the formal
type this area is to be cut up and divided into

46 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

smaller areas by means of lines. In this connec-
tion, walls, hedges, walks, or bedding (Fig. 8) are
considered as line-divisions. The line is there-
fore the dominant factor in the disposition of the
areas in the formal type, and attention is paid
rather to the arrangement of the material em-
ployed than to the character of the material itself.
Accordingly the areas in formal design are close,
compact, and severe, and the planting is re-
strained (Fig. 9). The idea is to create certain
shapes which shall serve the purposes of practica-
bility and beauty, but the internal composition of
these masses is a matter of decidedly secondary
importance. It is a design of form rather than of
color, and the individual interests of plants are
not considered of much moment.

A greater freedom characterizes informal de-
sign both in its arrangement and in the class of the
material used. Line, the outlines of areas, is here
considered as subordinate to the mass or area it-
self, and is studied only after the areas have been
placed in proper relationships. The large areas,
whether considered as planting masses or as open
lawn, may be moved about freely so as to appear
to the best advantage within the limits of the prop-
erty before the character of their own boundaries

48 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

as lines is determined upon (Fig. 10). Of course
this is all done in rough preliminary sketches, only
sufficiently accurate to convey the idea.

This does not mean that there should be a care-
less and unstudied use of line in informal de-
sign. On the contrary, it is often more difficult
to design satisfactory lines of this type. Free-
dom in appearance is not always the result of
spontaneity.

r Briefly, the major differences may be thus )
summed up: in the informal school line is deter-
mined by the mass, and in the formal school it is
the mass which is determined by the line.

The Japanese school of landscape is often dif-
ferentiated from the formal and informal types.
It will be found, nevertheless, upon analysis, to
be merely a strictly informal type used upon such
a small scale as to give the appearance of formal-
ity. It is a design of irregularity, but very highly
conventionalized (Fig. 11).

The popular opinion of a Japanese garden
seems to imply the presence of a stone lantern or
two, a few irises, a straggly wisteria, and enough
water to " explain" the presence of an unstable
bridge; also the idea seems to prevail that these
need not be at all in harmony with their surround-

DESIGN 51

ings. Now, the Japanese garden proper is a very
beautiful and carefully constructed thing, the re-
sult of years of traditions and Oriental conven-
tions of life, which cannot at once be grasped by
the Westerner, but will richly repay a careful
study.

Most of the Japanese gardens found in this part
of the world are treated f addishly, as stage prop-
erty or pieces of scenery, and consequently they
cannot be considered as the outgrowth of condi-
tions. In fact, some essentially Japanese detail is
often introduced into an entirely foreign scheme —
an Italian garden for instance — in such a way as
to spoil both the intrinsic beauty of the detail and
the whole garden scheme as well.

If a carefully designed Japanese garden is se-
cluded, and so placed as to be seen by itself alone,
as it would be under native conditions, it can be
used anywhere for its individual interest and pic-
turesqueness. It cannot, however, be used as a
part of an ordinary garden scheme with any de-
gree of satisfaction.

In both the formal and the informal types there
must be soTngj^oTninant. design idea with which the
rest of the scheme must be harmonized, and this is
true of all design, as has already been insisted

FIGURE 10. INFORMAL PLANTING PLANS

DESIGN 53

upon. This is the principle of unity, the subordi-
nation of all parts to the main scheme.

In the formal type of planting, architectural
lines will probably be emphasized, while the in-
formal type will lay greater stress upon the horti-
cultural features.

In the garden at Wilton House, for example,
the architecture is quite the dominating note, the
plants being used simply as spots of color for dec-
orative purposes and not for any intrinsic inter-
est. The very formal architectural terrace de-
pends for its adornment upon statues and vases,
and descends to a formal inclosure, which is
walled, and accented in like fashion with vases and
statuary. A naturalistic tree bank in the back-
ground renders the accent of the dividing-wall
very marked. If the treatment within the wall
were as naturalistic as is the exterior planting, the
wall would seem entirely useless and out of place.
Any planting within the inclosure must appear as
restrained and severe as the inclosing wall, or it
will not be in keeping with the whole. Con-
versely, if the formal planting stopped short at a
naturalistic tree mass without any defining wall,
there would be a shock. But the problem is well
handled. The space is divided geometrically by

54 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

walks, with sharply accentuated edges, and no
matter how brilliant the colors within the planting
areas, all shapes have been subordinated to archi-
tectural lines, and no plant is used for its indi-
vidual interest. This is an excellent example of
restrained planting.

In the informal Sargent planting at Holm Lea,
Brookline, Massachusetts (Fig. 12), it will be seen
that Mr. Sargent's interest as a botanist has led
him to group the rhododendrons about the pool in
such a way as to focus the attention upon them,
and their reflection in the water serves to enhance
their charm by doubling the effect of the color
mass. Here, of course, the accent is horticul-
tural. The special characteristic of the rhodo-
dendrons is their bright blossom masses contrasted
with the dark, shining texture of their evergreen
foliage. This is admirably brought out by their
setting in the planting scheme. (See Frontis-
piece.)

When accent is required in a horticultural way,
it is frequently attained by the use of a plant the
distinguishing characteristic of which is quite
noticeably different from those of the plants
which form its setting. Horticultural accent is
secured by selecting a plant the characteristic of

DESIGN 57

which will appear to the best advantage under the
conditions imposed by the problem in hand. The
necessary accent may accordingly be secured by
change in the scale, form, texture, color (leaf,
twig, or blossom) where mass planting is con-
cerned, and by more elusive qualities, such as in-
dividual leaf shapes and twig forms, where the
plant is isolated. In massed planting the accent
must be strong. If the prevailing lines of a
shrubbery mass are low and rounded, the intro-
duction of a Lombardy poplar or two will give
accent by change of scale and form as well. A
catalpa will give accent not only by the coarse
texture of its foliage, but by the large masses of
white blossoms in early summer and the still more
interesting pods in the autumn. Both the texture
and the color of the purple beech recommend its
use as an accent plant. On account of brilliant
autumn coloring, its distinguishing characteristic,
the tupelo-tree is often planted with hemlocks, to
make the most of their contrast. Many other ex-
amples might be given of similar planting prac-
tices.

A thorough knowledge of the plants at one's
disposal, and their characteristics, will be indis-
pensable in suggesting means of accent to the de-

58 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

signer when he is considering horticultural ac-
cents. As a rule, the nature of the accent is first
considered in the abstract For instance, a
scheme might require an accent plant which
should be tall, slender, and of rough texture, with
a general red tone. So much decided upon, it is
then a question of choosing from the plant mate-
rials at one's disposal the variety which will come
nearest to satisfying those requirements.

Since the use of line differs markedly in the two
schools, it results that in the formal style any
change of line, however slight, will immediately
affect the areas in their integral relations. Every
walk and plat or parterre is bounded by a defi-
nite, hard dividing-line, and those lines are the
constructive framework of the design, because
they are always placed with definite relation to
axes.

As the entire design may be seen at a glance in
formal work, it follows that the mere altering of
the width of a walk will change the proportions of
the bordering area, and the divisional propor-
tions will hence assume an entirely different ap-
pearance. Consequently, where an example of
the formal type has been successfully carried out,
it should appear so complete and exact as not to

DESIGN 61

permit of any change in the shape of the planting
areas or the width of the walks.

In the informal type considerable changes of
outline may be made without materially altering
the general appearance. In Figure 13 the ar-
rangement of units is entirely dissimilar, and
yet the appearance in elevation would not vary
much. The charm of informal planting is closely
bound up in the silhouette of its elevation from all
different points of view; therefore the outline of
the plan of the planting masses seldom attracts
much attention. Accordingly the width of plant-
ing areas in informal design may often be consid-
erably changed, when necessary, without affecting
the general scale.

The irregular boundaries of informal shrubbery
masses may easily be altered even to the extent of
moving them several feet to give greater freedom
of approach, or for some other utilitarian pur-
pose, without causing any marked change of ap-
pearance in the masses themselves.

The formal type, where the whole garden
scheme is perceived at a glance, is successful or
not chiefly on account of its plan, but the strength
of the informal type lies largely in elevation.

Since the final result of every design must be a

DESIGN 63

balance, the whole process of designing is toward
this end. The balance is either very regular and
striking — understood at a glance, as in a geomet-
rical figure — or it may be more a matter of grad-
ual appreciation, as in a Japanese print.

These two types of balance, the obvious or sym-
metrical, and the occult or unsymmetrical, are
illustrated respectively by the formal and in-
formal schools (Fig. 14), and the balances are
perceptible both in plan and elevation. Formal
arrangements are generally geometrical, simple
and symmetrical, so far as the structural lines are
concerned, while the informal are more complex,
irregular, and seldom in the least symmetrical.
Formal arrangements are generally in pairs, —
that is, are bilaterally symmetrical,— while no ex-
act similarity will appear in an informal one.
The general primness imposed by geometrical
figures is exactly in keeping with the spirit of a
formal garden, but is quite at variance with an in-
formal scheme, the charm of which lies often in a
sort of waywardness.

It must be remembered that informal design
depends upon details and is generally seen in
parts ; it may consequently consist of a number of
more or less independent balances which should of

64 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

course appear complete, though none of them will
be symmetrical. The formal scheme, presenting
one large and very obvious balance, may be seen
in its entirety at a glance.

All design is based upon repetition, and all de-
sign is consequently similar in so far as its appear-
ance is affected by the laws of repetition. The
diversity of the materials employed to express the
laws of repetition in different forms of design is
that which confuses the beginner.

The laws of repetition may be divided into three
principal parts: sequence or simple repetition,
rhythm, and balance.

A design should first of all possess unity ; that is
to say, it should "hang together," and not appear
as a jumble of separate parts. This necessitates
at the outset a certain amount of repetition, and
in consequence it is necessary that some one ele-
ment be common to all parts of the design. Of
course, if too many elements are possessed in com-
mon, there will be no variety, and the result will be
perfectly monotonous. Repetition applies to the
forms, sizes, colors,, and positions of all materials
used (Fig. 15). ^

It is not necessary that plant materials should
be alike in all respects, but only that more of their

FIGURE 14. 1NFOBMAL AND FORMAL BALANCES

66 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

characteristics should be alike than not, in order
to secure conditions of sufficient monotony to pro-
duce an appearance of quiet and rest.

When architectural features are used as gar-
den accessories, or to fulfil some similar function,
it is not necessary, or indeed really desirable, that
all be exactly alike. The general masses should be
the same, but the details may differ considerably.
The large shapes, by their similarity of appear-
ance, will insure the unity of the design, while the
different fancies indulged in their details will claim
the attention and give a charm of variety in such
fashion that the element of variety will not con-
flict with the main idea.

On both sides of some of the long leafy avenues
of Versailles statues occur at regular intervals
for considerable distances, serving to act as ac-
cents, and to emphasize the idea of distance by
calling attention to the perspective. The statues
tell as light masses against a dark background
from a slight distance, but on closer examination
all are found to be different, each attracting by its
individual charm.

If the balance achieved in a design is the result
of monotonous repetitions only, it will be a sort of
lifeless thing, a static equilibrium. If rhythm is

DESIGN 67

introduced, however, a dynamic equilibrium will
result, giving to the design a new vitality.

Rhythm is the^enliyening,quality in design, and
embodies the idea of change or progression; it is
usually produced by changes of sufficient regular-
ity to lead the eye in one direction or the other, re-
fusing to let it come to a full stop.

A perfect example of rhythm in nature is the
rolling surface of the ocean, with all its waves re-
curring at regular intervals, but nevertheless
carrying the eye in one direction with a powerful
sense of motion. If one looks down a long avenue
of trees of regular height, the diminishing per-
spective creates a powerful pull upon the atten-
tion, and the gaze is focused at the distant point
where they seem to meet. A rhythmic setting of
this sort is used for special features on a larger
scale, for it is a well-established custom to place
an imposing structure at the end of a regular
vista.

Carpeau's fountain (Fig. 16) is at the front of
a vista, and yet the enframing trees set it off
erfully in the same fashion. The rlr
case is due entirely to perspective.

Ehythmic quality may appear in lines, in the
shapes of areas, or in colors. It may be a recur-

FIGURE 15. REPETITION OF SIMILAR TREE FORMS, HILL-TOP,
FIESOLE, ITALY

DESIGN 69

rence of accents which must differ sufficiently to
express development, or it may be an undulating
line like a river-bank, which compels the attention
to follow it.

The gro\vth of plants is always rhythmic; the
boundary of an informal walk should be. The
word rhythm has been used in so many different
ways that it has a number of loose connotations,
but for the purpose of landscape design, as treated
in this book, rhythm will mean the regular recur-
rence of an accent of some sort, which entails the
idea of change. Eepetition — sequence, rhythm,
and balance — is the foundation of design.

In solving a practical landscape problem, repe-
tition is not taken into consideration until its ap-
pearances are to be determined, and this cannot be
done until the economic side of the question is set-
tled. First will come the arrangement of all the
parts for the greatest practicability, and this is
fixed in designing the. plan. The study of this
plan means the arrangement >of all its elements in
such a way as to obtain the maximum of practical
and esthetic fitness. It is the plan which deter-
mines finally the position of all the members of the
design.

The first thing to decide will be position of

70 LANDSCAPE GABDENISfG

buildings and architectural features, both in rela-
tion to each other and to the surrounding land-
scape. In studying the positions of the architec-
ture, pleasing views must be taken advantage of,
and objectionable ones eliminated as far as possi-
ble. One does not care to gaze from his library
window upon a populous and curious chicken-
yard, nor yet upon a collection of service build-
ings, no matter how neatly they may be kept. A
railroad, newly made land, or slatternly neighbors
may require " screening," for one should, wher-
ever possible, look out upon pleasant surround-
ings. This is called the design of the " off -scape,"
and is of the utmost importance.

Medieval castles, wherever possible, were built
upon rocky peaks, as much for ease of defense as
to allow their owners a wide survey of the sur-
rounding country, in order to recognize the ap-
proach of danger at some distance. Although
they commanded a remarkable view, it is quite
probable that it had no esthetic appeal to the "rob-
ber barons."

Defensibility in the Italian hillside gardens was
no object, but the view was, and the garden was
consequently placed in a commanding position.
The result, so far as location is concerned, is the

DESIGN 71

same in both cases, although the determining fac-
tors were practicability on the one hand, and pleas-
ure purposes on the other.

After some idea of the general requirements of
the problem in hand has been gained and the build-
ings have been located, the next important step is
the placing of the principal areas, — the kitchen-
gardens, service-courts, stable-yards, and so on, in
regard to their greatest usefulness and availabil-
ity. The position of these larger units will then
determine the placing of the smaller masses that
are generally of greater esthetic interest, and are
intended to bear close scrutiny.

The next consideration is the circulation; that
is, the disposition of walks, drives, and ap-
proaches. The careful placing of these is most es-
sential, as they determine the points of view from
which the design is to be visible, and esthetically
are consequently of the utmost importance. If
they are not likewise laid out in a practical fash-
ion,— that is to say, so as to facilitate progress and
to segregate traffic of a utilitarian nature, — paths
will be worn over grass plots in a manner most dis-
turbing to the designer, though he should really
accept the situation meekly as a well-merited re-
buke.

72 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

The basis of the design scheme in every piece of
landscape work is geometrical, whether symmet-
rical or not, and the first consideration in design-
ing the circulation is the handling of the traffic in
the most convenient way. Once laid out, the lines
of traffic determine the disposition of the planting
masses and open areas, and have therefore a dou-
ble significance. Particularly is this true of for-
mal design, because the interdependence of cir-
culation and planting is very evident in this type
of work; a formal design looks either right or
wrong at first glance.

Informal divisions allow much more latitude
than the formal because experience has shown that
the number of satisfactory ways in which rectan-
gles may be formally divided is few. Although
curved lines are sometimes employed in the formal
style, straight lines are characteristic, and the an-
gles are generally 90°.

, In the accompanying illustrations, rectangles
are shown in formal and informal divisions. In
Figure 17 the square is divided symmetric-
ally. Numbers one and three show ways of di-
viding by simple lines, and number two is a com-
bination of the motives found in one and three.
It will be noticed that all the lines are parallel

FIGURE 16. CARPEAll's FOUNTAIN, LUXEMBOURG GARDENS, PARIS

DESIGN 75

with the sides of the square. These lines may also
be parallel with the diagonals, which gives a cer-
tain amount of variety, although the scheme is
virtually the same, and sometimes both may be
found in combination where the scheme is large
(see Fig. 8). The methods of division shown in
Figure 17 seem to be the only satisfactory ones for
the formal subdivision of squares.

Where oblongs are divided parallel with their
sides, the line of division across the short dimen-
sion does not often occur in the middle. This is
seen in numbers four and six. Number four is a
scheme frequently employed where a feature is
introduced at the intersection of the axes. A
spectator who is on the greater division of the long
axis, in looking toward the cross axis, is likely to
think that the cross axis bisects the plot, and thus
an appearance of greater distance is imagined.
Where the area thus divided is restricted, the de-
vice is often very useful.

Another frequent method of division is based
upon two cross-axes, as in number six. Other
subdivisions such as those in numbers seven, eight,
and nine are applications of numbers two and
three. Subdivisions by geometrical lines are very
simple in the formal style, but all sorts of elabora-

THE GEOMETRICAL WU OF THE
PLAN IN LANgfCAPt DE/IGN

1 .2 3

A

J<

5

If

&

7

RECTANGL^
a

9

KLCTANGLE/

FIGURE 17. THE GEOMETRICAL, BASIS OF THE PLAN IN FORMAL

DESIGN

DESIGN 77

tion within the main divisions may be made by
parterre bedding.

The subdivisions of rectangular plots in the in-
formal style (Fig. 18) is a much more difficult
task, and one which has not been crystallized into
definite form. Every division is made solely on
its own merits, considering it in relation to its sur-
roundings. The points of entrance to such a plot
are located and numbered according to their rela-
tive importance, which depends upon the number
of people that uses them, and the frequency with
which they are used. If there are two points be-
tween which the greatest amount of passing will
occur, the path or drive between them should be
fairly direct, in order to save time and annoyance.

In Figure A the three entrances marked 1 are
of equal importance, but there is another entrance
(2) which is occasionally used. The comparative
infrequency of use of 2 does not warrant a path
directly across to 1 on the opposite side, although
it does necessitate a curving of the path between
the other two points in order to allow easy access
to the exits on each side.

In Figure B there are several entrances, with
three degrees of importance. It is necessary for
the paths to connect the most important entrances

78 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

(1) without much deviation. This brings the cir-
culation near to points 2 and 3, which may be con-
nected without much trouble. Point 4 is not im-
portant enough to warrant the deflection of the
path between points 1, and consequently it has
been given a separate communication. The same
principles have been followed in the laying out of
Figure C.

A garden may be so designed as to become a part
of the household for use as a sort of outdoor room
(Figs. 9 and 53). A room of any description
must be more or less formal in its bounding lines,
and if too great a change is experienced in passing
from the house to the garden, there will be no feel-
ing of unity. Consequently a garden of this sort
is bound to bear the stamp of the formal type. If
the garden is considered by itself as one of a num-
ber of areas, however, it may be informal, but its
type will none the less surely be decided by the
limiting conditions of the problem.

After the circulation is settled, comes the loca-
tion of the utilitarian and esthetic planting, and
the question of position and extent. The utilita-
rian planting is placed where it will achieve its
greatest economic usefulness, and the esthetic
where it will give the greatest amount of pleasure ;

THE GEOMETRICAL J OF THE PLAN
IN

A

/

K-^A / x

Vx *^V / /

\\

VM

FIGURE 18. THE GEOMETRICAL BASIS OF THE PLAN IN INFORMAL

DESIGN

80 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

but one must continually bear in mind the over-
lapping of these two features, and judge every so-
lution from both points of view. Planting de-
pends directly upon the circulation, because it
directs the gaze of those who use the walks and
drives in directions chosen by the designer, and
screens service roads that might present objec-
tionable features.

It will be seen that the composition of the plant-
ing masses is nothing more nor less than the
thoughtful and satisfactory location of areas.
Balance, rhythm, and repetition enter here as
dominant factors in the design, when it is first con-
sidered in the abstract.

The axes in all design are very important, al-
though so far as general appearances are con-
cerned, they do not figure as prominently in the
informal design as the formal.

An axis is a geometrical line — the major struc-
tural line of a design — about which, and in rela-
tion to which, all the parts are arranged. There
are primary and secondary axes. The primary
axis is the one of greatest importance, and the
secondary axes, of which there are several, are ar-
ranged in harmonious relations with it. When
an " existing axis" is spoken of, the meaning is

DESIGN 81

that all the elements of the subject under consid-
eration are arranged in such a manner as to make
clearly evident the dominance of the axial line and
its position.

Axes may exist on account of conditions or they
may be created. In the most ordinary form of
landscape design the axis of a view from a window
or doorway is chosen as the major structural axis
of the design, and this is emphasized by planting.

Existing axes — that is, axes that are at once ap-
parent— may be divided into two classes, that which
is perceived from the inside of the house, and that
which is perceived from the outside. Focus along
axial lines in the first case is brought about by the
enframement of a window, a door, or a terrace;
and some object of interest, usually called a " fea-
ture," is generally placed on the axis to insure
stability and emphasis. In looking from a win-
dow at an informal scheme, however naturalistic
the planting may be, there is frequently either a
sun-dial, or some other architectural or sculptural
feature, set directly on the axis. It serves to at-
tract the gaze, and unconsciously satisfies the mind
in regard to the underlying structural lines.
Where the axis is perceived from the outside, it is
usually made to coincide with the axis of a view or

82 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

a vista of some sort which focuses upon a distant
valley and mountain, a river or a village.

In designing the planting for a scheme, existing
axes must always be taken into consideration, and
where axes are to be created, not having existed be-
fore, they are the first things to be decided upon in
determining the proportions of the design. ^Cx&i
ated axes are almost always found in formal
planting, particularly in the formal garden, where
their position is frequently emphasized by the
parallel direction of walks or drives. Sometimes
they will cross at right angles. Since the axis is
considered the backbone of the design scheme, it
would seem very strange to have a main drive, un-
less there were one on each side, run parallel with
it rather than along it, for this would destroy, in
the eye of the spectator, the idea of symmetry, al-
ways an essential in formal design.

The material used will probably be grouped ac-
cording to the above study of axes, directing the
eye toward some distant object of interest. Very
often, however, a fountain, a statue, or a building
is placed at the intersection of major and minor
axes. In fact, anything the individual interest of
which is sufficient to repay the attention may be
used here as an accent.

DESIGN 83

In a much less symmetrical way in informal de-
sign plant material is used to enframe views which
determine axes ; for informal axes, as has recently
been pointed out, are generally determined by
views from within or without the house, as the case
may be. Plant material is sometimes used on an
axis where some one definite point is to be accen-
tuated, but accent material is always employed for
this purpose. In formal design the positions of
the axes determine the positions of all walks and
the placing of all garden accessories.

Every problem, when finished, should have posi-
tive qualities, a certain character of its own.
There should be no doubt in the mind of the spec-
tator as to what the desired effect is, and it should
be perceived directly. It must not, of course, as-
sault the intelligence of the beholder and clamor
for attention, but should nevertheless tell its story
and accomplish its purpose in a straightforward
fashion.

Sir Joshua Reynolds had something to say in
connection with painting that will apply with
equal force to landscape :

The great end of the art is to strike the imagination. The
painter therefore is to make no ostentation of the means by
which this is done; the spectator is only to feel the result in

84 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

his bosom. An inferior artist is unwilling that any part of his
industry should be lost upon the spectator. He takes as much
pains to discover as the greater artist does to conceal the
marks of his subordinate assiduity. In works of the lower
kind, everything appears studied, and encumbered; it is all
boastful art and open affectation. The ignorant often part
from such pictures with wonder in their mouths, and indiffer-
ence in their hearts.

In a way, every landscape problem that comes
up is a law unto itself, and yet all successful land-
scape schemes have obeyed the general laws of de-
sign. The most essential things to bear in mind
are, first^ the fitness of the design for its function,,
the subordination of all details to the general idea,
and finally a careful working out of these details
in such a way as to enhance the first favorable im-
pression which has been gained without close
scrutiny.

Whatever the problem in hand, and whatever
the medium employed, the primary requisite of
good design is fitness for the function which it is
to perform.

Ill

COLOR

ALL objects perceived by man, whether natural or
artificial, are visible because of their color, and
because of that alone. A thing is visible because
it is darker or lighter than something beside or
behind it or is of a different hue, and the shape of
its color mass gives the idea of form. This form
is often expressed by means of a line drawn with
pencil, pen, or brush, though there is nothing in
nature which really warrants the use of such a'%
line, as everything is perceptible by masses, and
these masses consist of varying amounts of differ-
ent colors. The long-established conventions of
drawing have enabled us to perceive the idea of
objects when their outlines alone are represented,
and this abstraction has given rise to what is
termed " line-drawing," or drawing in outline.
The imagination of the spectator, relying upon
memory, fills in these outlines with the proper col-
ors, and thus the drawing indicates reality. These
outlines, however, are in themselves abstractions,

85

86 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

and like nothing else in nature. In drawing pro-
cesses, then, it is the color shape that is indicated
by the drawn lines.

One element of color, dark and light, is perhaps
most important in the perception of objects, and
this darkness and lightness is known as value.

At night one does not perceive objects readily
because the absence of light has minimized value
contrasts, making the objects appear uniform in
color, and where color differences are not per-
ceived, individuality is lost. On a moonlight
night the principal perceptions are of " values," —
that is, lights and darks, — with other slightly dif-
fering color qualities added. The shadows are all
a sort of deep violet black, and the " high-lights" a
greenish yellow. Forms are consequently seen
only in their larger relationships where they are
relieved by shadow, but in the shadow itself all
detail is lost, because there is insufficient light to
make color distinctions.

Where the light conditions are such as to make
colors easily perceptible, the color viewed ab-
stractly is of more importance than the form, for
it repels or attracts more readily than any other
one element of design.

Color is divided into three parts, value, hue, and

COLOR 87

intensity, and into these parts any color may be
finally analyzed.* Value, as has been said, is the
lightness or darkness of a color, without taking
into consideration the hue or intensity.

The hue of a color is its individuality, — the qual-
ity which gives it a name, such as red, blue, or

FIGURE 19. DIAGRAM OP COMPLEMENTARY
COLORS

green. Hue differentiates colors of the same
value and intensity. Its gradations may be very
slight; for instance, a number of colors may be
chosen any one of which would unhesitatingly be
pronounced "blue," and yet upon comparison it
will be seen that no two are alike.

* Cf. "A Text-Book of Design," Kelley and Mowll, pp. 106 et seq.

88 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

Color names, unfortunately, are loosely applied,
and the painters call hues by names which mean
nothing to the dry-goods dealer who is evolving
new colors (in name at least) every year to satisfy
the demands of his fair patrons for something
new. The horticulturists use a still different
terminology, and, sad to relate, are rather careless
about it, too. On account of the all-pervasive
looseness in color characterization, it has seemed
best to keep the color names in this book as simple
and definite as possible.

Intensity is the brilliancy of a color, and its op-
posite may be called neutrality. Imagine two
blossoms of the same hue, such as blue, for instance.
They are of the same value ; one is neither lighter
nor darker than the other ; one is a bright blue and
the other is a dull blue, which is merely another
way of saying that the intensities are different.
The brighter flower has the greater intensity. A
bright color in unfavorable surroundings is much
more offensive than a dull one; consequently it is
safer to use brilliant colors sparingly, relying on
colors of less intensity for the greater part of the
scheme. If a high intensity is characteristic of a
planting scheme, it will be difficult to secure an
accent color unless it is one of the highly special-

COLOR 89

ized horticultural varieties, such as the Japanese
maples and varicolored shrubs.

Among a number of brilliantly colored plants
all clamoring for attention, an accent plant will
have to be very powerful indeed in order to make
its presence felt. Needless to say, a scheme of this
sort is entirely out of place in everyday surround-
ings.

As a rule it is much more satisfactory to restrict
the hues and intensities, using differing values for
accent purposes, and leaving the color contrasts
for unusual situations and effects.

Colors may be divided into two classes, the pri-
mary colors, red, yellow, and blue, from which all
other colors are made, and the complementary
colors, often called secondaries. Complementary
colors are those which have nothing in common, —
giving the greatest possible color contrasts.
Every color has its complement in the color most
unlike it.

The complement of any primary color is a sec-
ondary which is composed of equal visual amounts
of the other two primaries. Conversely, every
secondary color has as its complement the primary
which does not enter into its composition. In the
color cycle (Fig. 20) the complementary colors

90

LANDSCAPE GARDENING

appear directly opposite one another. Red and
yellow, mixed, give orange; yellow and blue,
green ; blue and red, purple or violet.

If complementary pigment colors are mixed in
equal quantities, each kills or neutralizes the
other, and the result is gray, in which neither of
the complements is traceable. In fact, comple-
mentary colors are so antagonistic that they will
neutralize one another if used in anywhere near
equal quantities. On the other hand, they may be
used together to great advantage if a very small
amount of one is present. In this case there is

PHILADELPHU/

CORONARIU/

VULQW

K*

VIBUBNUM

LONTCERA

FIGURE 20. DIAGRAM OP SEASONAL COLOR CHANGES

COLOE 91

no doubt as to which is the predominating color,
and all its good qualities are set off to advantage
by the presence of its complement, unlike it in
every respect. Such arrangements are very stim-
ulating.

This stimulus is frequently taken advantage of
in winter planting, where a background of dark
evergreens is relieved and brightened by the bare
red branches of the dogwood (Cornus siberius) or
berry-bearing shrubs, such as the barberry, with
its bright red clusters. It is the contrast of com-
plementaries, present in unequal quantities, that
gives so festive an appearance to holly.

Color has certain well-established psychological
phenomena: red is a powerful excitant; blue in
large quantities, and especially violet, is depress-
ing ; while the greens and browns are quieting and
restful, probably because we perceive so many of
them in nature. This is, of course, a broad gen-
eralization, for it is quite possible to find a green
that has a most disquieting influence and a red
that is almost soothing ; but in the main the state-
ment holds. Of course these effects are produced
by the elimination of other colors, and, as de-
scribed, will not often be noticeably present, but if
these phenomena are kept in mind, they will be

92 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

found very helpful in the production of color har-
monies. The landscape-designer can take advan-
tage of these facts in his planting, and lend a vi-
vacious or sober aspect to his scheme when it is
desirable.

Many people have a predilection for one hue or
another. One may fancy red particularly, and
another may prefer purple. There are often in-
herent color antipathies. When a person says, "I
don't like blue," he means that that color, apart
from its surroundings, is distasteful to him. But
for design purposes a color cannot be considered
apart from its surroundings.

It must be recognized that no color in itself is
necessarily disagreeable, but only in combination
with other colors, and in consequence the questions
of color combinations and harmonizations are of
the utmost importance. The colors employed
must either have sufficient of the complementary
to bring out salient features — individualities of
hue — or must be sufficiently alike to present one
simple idea.

Color appreciation is largely a matter of educa-
tion, as is the enjoyment of music. Catchy songs
and brilliant colors fall in the same class : both se-
cure the attention with greatest ease, but do not

COLOR 93

possess enough refinement to claim an educated
taste for any length of time. All the elements of
attractiveness are pushed at one, and nothing is
left for later discovery and enjoyment.

It is a well-known fact that the taste of people
who become interested in pictures changes rapidly
as their familiarity with and knowledge of them
increases. It is the same with plants. The un-
educated taste requires the nerve-shattering ac-
cent of the round, red geranium bed in the
middle of the front lawn; the more refined taste
much prefers the simple expanse of green, with
the color accents relegated to the border. Bar-
baric colors may be cheerful, but they certainly
cannot be termed restful.

A painter of landscapes, one who designs them
on canvas, has much greater freedom than does the
landscape-designer, who depends for all his effects
upon architectural and horticultural material.

If the painter desires to change a color slightly,
he mixes another color with it to produce the effect
he wishes. That resource is not open to the land-
scape-designer. He must search for another
plant that has the required color characteristic in
addition to other essential qualities, and there may
be no such variety as he wishes. In that case he

94 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

must re-design his problem so as to use available
material. He must know Ms materials so thor-
ougly that he runs no danger of imagining a
charming color scheme only to find that there are
no plants that will give the desired result, or that
such plants as have the required color will not
grow under the prescribed conditions. Necessa-
rily, then, the horticultural materials are more re-
stricted than the painter's palette, and one realizes
that the gardens of Watteau never grew or could
grow as he painted them except in his imagina-
tion.

Painters often use a desired color note in a
shadow when it is best that it be not too prominent,
but even this is usually denied to the landscape-
designer. His leaves and blossoms generally re-
quire sunlight, and comparatively few species will
grow in the shade. " A city that is set upon an hill
cannot be hid." Just so will the color errors in
the design be set forth in all their hideousness be-
cause of the bright light upon them.

The color problem of the landscape-designer is,
then, the combining of his materials to the best
advantage. His colors cannot be contrary to na-
ture. They are made to his hand, unalterably
fixed; he may choose or reject, but that is his only

COLOR 95

latitude. Fortunately, there is an abundance of
plant material which will grow in any temperate
or tropical climate, so the natural limitations will
not be any great drawback.

Since no color can rightfully be termed ugly
when considered by itself alone, how may one com-
bine colors to the best advantage 1 The laws of
repetition will apply here exactly as they did to
form.

Colors possessing a common element will har-
monize. Yet here are also glorious possibilities
for color clashes. If a costume contains three or
four different kinds of red, it is sure to. be ugly.
Nothing could be worse than a bed of geraniums
of several different reds all fighting for suprem-
acy. To be sure, they possess a common ele-
ment, but it is too much in evidence. If of two
reds of much the same value and intensity, one has
a leaning toward blue, and the other a weakness
for yellow, confusion is bound to result if they are
used together. It is much the same as close har-
mony in music : to many it seems discord. A very
simple means of color analysis will prevent mis-
takes of this kind.

A color may usually be separated into two parts,
its dominant note and its modifying note, the lat-

96 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

ter its suggestion of some other color. A yellow
green may be divided into a large amount of green
and a lesser amount of yellow.

Consider two groups of colors, one with the
dominant note the same for all its members, but
with the modifying notes different ; the other with
different dominants, but possessing the same mod-
ifier. As a rule the first group will clash while the
second will harmonize. From this it may be de-
duced that where color plays a large part, the dom-
inant notes should possess variety, with enough of
the modifier present to harmonize them and pull
them together. This refers of course only to col-
ors of high intensity, for the duller tones are sel-
dom inharmonious in combination. This is be-
cause they possess the common element of neutral-
ity.

In the design chapter it was said that the final
result of every design scheme should be a balance.
The balance applies to color as well as to form.
This does not necessarily imply that the same color
note must be repeated on opposite sides of the de-
sign,— there is no chance for subtlety in such a
treatment, — but it means that the color accents of
whatever sort, though quite dissimilar, must form
a balance.

COLOR 97

Plant colors are seen in leaf, blossom, fruit, and
twig or stem, and the predominance of any of
these elements will determine the color value of the
plant. To be sure, many plants are interesting in
all these ways, but necessarily at different seasons
of the year. Texture of the plant surfaces will
have a considerable influence on the color value of
a plant. The rhododendron leaf is attractive not
only on account of its dark, warm green color, but
also because of the glossy texture, which catches
the light sharply, making brilliant high lights and
shadows, and giving greater variety to the foliage
color. The "dusty miller," because of its rough
surface, and the common velvety mullein have a
different color value on account of their texture,
which catches the light so as to spread a "bloom"
over the surface, and the result is that the natural
colors, at a slight distance, are lessened in inten-
sity and neutralized.

Plants vary in color value as their distance
from the observer increases, and in planning the
color of a planting scheme it is well to bear in
mind the position and distance from which the
plants are to be viewed. Distance always tends to
decrease value contrasts and to add blue to hues.
Plants that, close to the observer, might appear

98 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

too brilliant, serve well to emphasize a more dis-
tant point, and conversely flowers of delicate hue
must be closely viewed in order to produce any ef-
fect. In the problem chapter (Fig. 42) will
be seen a scheme of planting in which the di-
mensions appear to have been increased by the
use of bluer foliage hues as the planting recedes
from the spectator.

Green is, of course, the most common and sat-
isfactory plant color, and it is of all gradations
and varieties, from the silvery green of the poplar
to the russet greens of the sedges, dark and light,
intense and neutral. The other plant colors may
be grouped under the primaries, red, yellow, and
blue.

Tinder the reds will come pink, which is only a
light red, scarlet, crimson, and magenta; under
the yellows, greenish yellow, lemon yellow, and
orange yellow, as well as all the browns, which are
really deep shades of orange and yellow. The
blues vary from green-blue at one extreme to pur-
ples and violets at the other. It will be a simple
matter to group plant colorings approximately un-
der these heads.

Each of the seasons has its own peculiar range
of colors, and therefore it should be easy, in look-

COLOE 99

ing at a picture, to determine by the season colors
the time at which it was planted.

In the spring the greens of high value predomi-
nate, with a strong leaning toward the yellow
greens ; yellows ; light blues ; and white in the blos-
soms.

The summer is least interesting of all in color,
for most of the greens have turned dark and dull,
and there is little color accent; but wherever an
accent occurs, it is probably stronger than spring
color would be.

In the autumn there is an immense variety of
yellows, oranges, reds, and browns, all of which
contrast beautifully with an evergreen back-
ground.

There is not much range of color in the winter.
The evergreens are the strongest note of all, and
some of the oaks retain their leaves till spring,
while the other trees have only their twig coloring,
varying from gray to brown as a rule. There are
brilliant exceptions to this in the bright red and
yellow dogwoods, and in all the berry-bearing
shrubs, which now appear to good advantage, sil-
houetting their clusters against the dark back-
ground.

A " year-round" garden should aim at a color

100 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

interest that will never be lost, although it will
progress through leaf, blossom, fruit, and twig,
from one phase to another as the seasons change.

The seasonal development of a shrub causes it
to vary its color in a regular progression, moving
its dominant color note through a sort of cycle of
changes. Plants differing widely in spring foli-
age approach a standard green in late summer, to
become again diversified in the autumn. This
may be called " color rotation."

While plant color is largely green, this green
will incline somewhat toward one of the primaries,
so that, regardless of species, plants may be
grouped under red, blue, yellow, and even purple
greens. This modifying element of the plant
green will appear most strongly at the beginning
and the end of the plant's yearly growth, for dur-
ing the summer season there is little variety in
plant greens (Fig. 20). The Japanese barberry,
for example, sends forth reddish buds, which grad-
ually turn into the dark, dull green of high sum-
mer; then it begins another change toward the
brilliant red of its autumn foliage. There has
been a progression or rotation from red through
green and back to red again. The Viburnum lan-
tana, or wayfaring tree, has a rotation from pur-

COLOR

pie back to purple, and the Forsythia runs the
scale of yellow.

There is a fourth class still which does not come
into the same category, its autumn coloring being
the complementary of the spring; but this group-
ing by color rotation will be found to be of great
assistance to the landscape-designer. Trees, her-
baceous plants, and vines may be grouped in
the same fashion; for example, the Colorado blue
spruce, the Japanese ivy, and the willow.

The season at which the major color interest is
most highly developed will determine the princi-
pal color usefulness of the plant.

Color planting is of two sorts; one to produce
unity, and the other accent, though all accents
should be unified by balance of attractiveness if not
of similar color. The unity will be secured by the
predominance of either value or hue. Intensity
at its highest tends to differentiate colors, so when
the opposite of intensity or neutrality appears, that
is also a unifying element.

Unification is only a matter of selection.
Shrubs may be chosen according to their values,
light, medium, or dark; or because yellow, red, or
blue appears as a modifying element in all. If
both one value and one hue are given preference,

102 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

there will be too little variety (except in case of
formal planting, where form is the principal con-
sideration) , and monotony will result.

The problem may be stated in another way: if
values be similar, considerable color range is per-
missible; and if the colors be similar, the values
need not be restricted. In this very point it may
be seen that the impress of a designer's person-
ality and sense of discrimination may be stamped
upon a garden, for Nature does not discriminate,
but plays all the truifT£)-cards possible-*at every
turn. Nature limits herself only by conditions of
growth; the landscape-designer should be less ec-
lectic. Unity in a design will impress the be-
holder with a sense of fitness and completeness.

Accent in color may be secured in two ways,
either by emphasizing the predominating color by
a strong intense note of the same hue or by con-
trasting a complementary hue with the major
color note. Of the two methods the contrasting
will give the stronger accent. A change of value
will increase the emphasis in both cases. Where
the contrasting method is employed, it is not al-
ways necessary to use the exact complementary,
or greatest possible color contrast, for sufficient
accent may be secured without going to such an

COLOR 103

extreme. It is merely a question of nice adjust-
ment, which .will depend largely upon the good
taste of the designer.

Since accents are not conducive to unity, in each
planting scheme there should be a distinctly
larger amount of unifying than accent planting.
If this is done, the accents will brighten and tone
up the whole, instead of seeming to struggle for
superiority. This is where the layman most fre-
quently errs ; his planting is a system of color ex-
clamations.

Accents should never appear in filler shrubs,
since these are always a unifying element and
should not be disturbed; the accent must appear
either in the background or in the facer. Where
trees to be seen from a distance require accent, it
should always be given by a shrub facing. Even
though the accent colors differ widely from the
rest of the color scheme, it will be of advantage if
the dominating color note appears in them to a
slight extent. This will insure their perfect
amalgamation.

If a planting scheme is on a large scale and di-
vided into distinctly separate parts, it will often
be well to allow the accent color in one scheme to
predominate in another: it will be a sufficiently

104 LANDSCAPE GAEDENINa

different use of color to convey an entirely differ-
ent impression, and yet it will not necessitate
dragging in still other colors, and working out ad-
ditional schemes of harmonization.

It will be seen, then, that every color scheme
should have a predominance of quiet color.
There are almost always excellent opportunities
for accent, but these should be treated with con-
siderable reticence. A color scheme should be
restful rather than stimulating.

IV
PLANTING

A THOROUGH knowledge of plant materials and
their possible uses in landscape work is of great
importance to the landscape-designer, inasmuch
as most of the effects he desires to create, in the
working out of any problem where plants are em-
ployed, depend upon the intelligent use of these
plant materials.)

In a large way topography affects the design
scheme, and this topography may be taken without
change, as it occurs in the problem, or it may be
altered to suit the requirements better. This al-
teration will depend upon the extent of the
scheme at hand and the amount of money to be laid
out upon it.

Planting is often used topographically to give
effects of height and to emphasize or obscure ele-
vations. In the diagram showing the section of
hillside planting (Fig. 21) it will be seen that the
scale of the plant materials has been very carefully
arranged to take advantage of the topography.

105

106 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

Plant materials are used in various ways, ac-
cording to the purpose in view ; for the problem of
the landscape-designer, aside from determining
more or less the general characteristics of the ar-
chitecture present, is to improve the landscape
surroundings of the building, and to tie them and

FIGURE 21. HILLSIDE PLANTING TO PRODUCE ILLUSIONS OF

GRADE

the buildings in with the prevailing type of land-
scape, wherever his problem may occur. He will
use his plant material, then, in many ways: for
screening objectionable features, such as service
walks and drives and outbuildings (Fig. 22) ; ty-
ing buildings in with their surroundings; calling
attention to points of interest that might otherwise

PLANTING 107

have been overlooked, such as a distant view; for
the elaborating and harmonizing of architectural
detail, as in setting off a monumental building to
the best advantage ; and in supplying a setting for
special features, as for instance, a background for
a large scheme or a foreground beyond which the
general scheme is to be seen. )

As a landscape scheme depends for its chief in-
terest upon the first impression received by the
beholder, the importance of the point of view can-
not be overemphasized; therefore, as the number
of points of view in a problem increases, the com-
plexity of the plant composition increases corre-
spondingly.

The first favorable impression made by a land-
scape scheme as seen from a distance must be
maintained at shorter range, and the massing of
plants and shrubs must be accomplished so nicely
as to stimulate interest for a nearer view and a
closer analysis.

If an estate is beautiful, it need not present a
blank wall or screen of plant material to the gen-
eral public in order to be sufficiently secluded for
privacy (Fig. 23) ; neither is it necessary that its
owners, willingly or not, must live in the public
eye. It should appear attractive from without,

108 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

but this attractiveness should be secondary to the
more important interest of those who are gazing
out from within.

In the planting of large parks or public proper-
ties the consideration of varying points of view
is found to greater extent perhaps than in any
other problems which the landscape-architect may
undertake. These are often of small extent, oc-
cur generally at the intersection or radiation of
streets, and are seen from a number of different
points of approach. It is very essential that the
park should appear in an equally favorable light
from any one of these approaches, and its compo-
sition must therefore be much more carefully
studied than an off-scape, which is to be seen from
one position only.

Planting is often employed in architectural
composition to carry out the lines of a design and
to unify the general impression. It gives a
greater breadth to this impression and emphasizes
the salient features. It furnishes an easy transi-
tion from one building to another, and is a great
help in harmonizing groups of buildings of differ-
ent types.

A sense of fitness is so evidently lacking in num-

PLANTING 111

bers of architects who are called upon to design
additions to educational and municipal institu-
tions and groups that it is frequently necessary to
employ a great deal of planting in order to make
the results bearable. This is particularly true
where different architects have been called upon
to design buildings of the same group. In such
cases there often appears an uncommendable de-
sire to emphasize the particular building under
consideration by making it of much more attrac-
tive appearance than the other members of the
group, rather than a wish to unite diverse elements
more closely and add to the collective beauty of the
scheme.

Planting may also create new interests. In
many cases where architectural elements are
markedly dominant it is impossible to introduce
sufficient accent architecturally without either the
introduction of a different style or an unwarranted
distraction of attention. Many times the needed
interest may be supplied by planting without
marring the architectural effect. In such cases
the lines of the large planting masses are arranged
to harmonize with the architectural lines, and ac-
cent is obtained by the mass characteristics of the

112 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

plants. If the problem were of horticultural em-
phasis, the accent would probably be achieved by
varying shapes, sizes, or colors (Fig. 24).

^Planting is divided into two classes, according
to its use, whether for beauty alone or for more
practical purposes. These classes are called the
esthetic and the economic.)

In the economic class, plant material is em-
ployed for strictly utilitarian purposes, beauty
being a secondary consideration. It subdivides
large schemes, taking the place of more artificial
barriers, and screens objectionable features, so
that utilitarian buildings, service courts, and other
features which are not essentially attractive may
be present where they are most needed without
marring the general beauty of the scenery. Eco-
nomic planting is accordingly unobtrusive, and
cannot afford to attract direct attention to itself,
as in so doing it would disclose the presence of the
object which was to have been screened.

fWhere plants are used in an esthetic way they
fall into three classes of treatment : first, they may
be employed to aid in an architectural scheme, be-
ing interesting chiefly on account of their form, as
in the carrying out or emphasizing of architectural
lines ; secondly, for the interest of the plant itself,

PLANTING 115

as is generally the case with exotic material;
thirdly, to enframe a view and direct the gaze to-
ward distant prospects or pleasant features,
thereby giving emphasis and accent to an other-
wise monotonous scheme.

On account of the widely different usage, the
characters of economic and esthetic planting must
be quite dissimilar. Economic planting, as has
been stated, should be so very unobtrusive as even
to escape notice, if possible. Consequently plants
used in such a scheme will be indigenous to the lo-
cality, very quiet in color, and not at all striking
in outline. The most successful economic plant-
ing is that which fulfils its function and at the
same time attracts the least attention.

Esthetic planting, on the other hand, allows
greater latitude, and really demands the use of
much more interesting material, as the attention
is supposed to rest largely upon the plant material
and its arrangement as an end in itself. As it has
a wider variety of purpose, this will give a corre-
spondingly greater range of selection, and will in-
clude the exotic and subtropic plants.

For esthetic considerations the planting is to
tell first as dark masses against lighter areas, and
this may be termed " contrast of value." This

116 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

lighter or darker background may be a set of build-
ings, any architectural work, such as walls, gates,
or terraces, or a wide sweep of lawn and meadows
in less highly formalized work. The sizes and lo-
cations of these masses are determined by the
problem in hand, and a successful solution will de-
pend simply upon a nice discernment of their es-
thetic and economic significance.

In a large number of cases planting is valuable
chiefly on account of its silhouette in elevation.
This is generally the case in the informal style.
In the formal gardens, where parts are filled with
brilliant bedding plants, and where the whole
scheme is seen at a glance, the plan will be of major
importance; the accents alone will appear to any
extent in profile, and they are often architectural.
The plan will also be of utmost importance if the
planting is to be looked down upon from a height,
as often happened in the old Italian gardens of the
Renaissance, which were almost invariably located
on hillsides. It can be said, however, that almost
all of these problems where the plan has greater
significance will fall within the formal style of
planting.

In the informal style the elevation is of greatest
importance, and the plan is considered mainly as

PLANTING 119

affecting the elevation. Of course the plan and
the elevation are interdependent, and it will be
impossible to develop one satisfactorily without
the other. Greater attention may be paid to either
as occasion demands.

Planting problems, as regards surroundings,
fall into three large groups, which in turn are sub-
divided. They are city, suburban, and country
problems. At one extreme is complete architec-
tural domination, and at the other the emphasis of
natural surroundings.*

In the transition from one type to the other one
influence is constantly diminishing as the other
grows. In some suburban problems the extremes
appear to be rather evenly balanced. Under the
city type will come the typical city home, almost
exclusively architectural; then the city park,
which may be a sort of playground for the chil-
dren, or a square, either fQUJraffic purposes, or
for the display of a monument or a feature to em-
phasize an axis. This last use is probably seen to
a greater extent in Washington, D. C., than in any
other city in America. Boulevards and parkways
are perhaps the most important field of the land-
scape-designer in city planting.

Under suburban planting problems will come

* See Charles Elliott, "Landscape Architect," pp. 266-271.

120 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

two classes of homes: the large suburban estate,
where expense of layout and upkeep is of no mo-
ment; and the small home, such as brings joy to
the heart of the commuter. There will also be the
large naturalistic and countrylike park, the prop-
erty of the great city. This park will have vary-
ing planting schemes, with much natural planting ;
golf-links, formal gardens, rocky hills, meadows,
curving roads, and the utilization of water as a
decorative feature, with its many possibilities in
the way of bridges, fountains, and cascades.
Parkways of a rather informal nature will be con-
sidered here, and also the planting of residential
streets as units.

The country class of design has fewer ramifica-
tions, dealing with only two classes of buildings:
the large estate for pleasure purposes; and the
farm, which is mainly utilitarian. In a country
estate the trees and shrubs must harmonize with
the surrounding landscape, and this controls in a
large measure the selection of the plants used.
Plants without pronounced single characteristics
are used in large masses, while the more specimen-
like shrubs are reserved for the smaller areas.
Where trees appear in formal gardens they are
considered as architectural features. This refers,

PLANTING 123

of course, to the walled-in gardens, which are ex-
ceptions to mass planting. But in the gardens of
Italy, where the total area is often as large as a
country estate, trees are frequently used as if they
were shrubs, on account of the enormous scale of
the garden, regardless of the surrounding land-
scape.

Plants are grouped as annuals, those that die
every year; biennials, those that generally flower
the second year and then die out; and peren-
nials, lasting many years; greenhouse plants,
which must be grown under glass ; bedding plants,
which are started in the greenhouse; trees and
shrubs which are classified as hardy woody plants.

Planting material should always be chosen with
the idea in mind of fitness for the function which
it is to perform, and the location in which it is to
appear. This has much to do with soil and cli-
mate, which determine the scope of available ma-
terial. } The satisfactory relation of plant design
to its location may be loosely termed " style in
planting." The material should be selected care-
fully, so that it will seem to harmonize with its set-
ting, whether this is architectural or naturalistic.

For instance, in a colonial garden such as occurs
at Mount Vernon, or in the modern estates built

124 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

on colonial lines, one would expect to find box
hedges, the rose of Sharon, or hibiscus, rose arches,
perennial phlox, peonies, and hollyhocks (Fig. 25).
For decades, all these plants have been so closely
associated with colonial gardens that their very
presence suggests the proximity of colonial archi-
tecture, and they serve admirably to carry out the
spirit of the scheme.

In a French garden one always finds bedding
plants of gaudy colors, standard roses, bays, and
clipped trees.

A Florentine garden does not seem complete
without the ever-present cypress tree, box hedges,
laurels, crape myrtle, magnolia, and flowering
plants in pots. In each of these cases the plant
material employed is distinctly different, and yet
distinctly characteristic of the class of problem in
which it appears.

I Balance and unity in planting are virtually in-
separable. The scheme must appear to hang to-
gether, and not be a number of loosely related
parts. This compactness and relation of the di-
visions of the planting scheme may be called unity,
and is achieved through balance. .)

Balance may be secured through color and by
shape. 'It is not necessary that the colors and

x

PLANTING 125

shapes found on one side of a planting scheme
should appear exactly reversed upon the other or
opposite side, but only that the colors and shapes
of certain interest in a scheme should be balanced
by other colors and shapes of equal interest; in
fact, symmetrical balance is very seldom found in
informal planting. This may mean the employ-
ment of different plant material to produce a re-
quired effect.

( Unity is achieved by keeping all the plants in
scale — that is, more or less of the same size — and
allowing one color and one quality to predominate.^)
Accent is really an unexpected arrangement,
something growing where it might not have been
expected, or in such a way as to increase the inter-
est, giving an added sense of pleasure.) Great care
must be exercised not to introduce it so frequently
as to destroy the large and simple relations of the
planting scheme. Where every member of the
scheme is clamoring for attention, the result is a
pandemonium in which no accent will appear.
^ Accent is sometimes achieved by unusual group-
ing of shrubs, by single shrubs placed in advan-
tageous positions, and by the introduction of ex-
otic varieties. It may also occur in the use of
varying shape, color, and size, though the varia-

126 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

tion should be no greater than is necessary to pro-
duce the desired accent. If too great contrasts
appear, the accent planting will not seem in keep-
ing with its surroundings, and there will be loss of
unity.

Accent is sometimes used to hold the eye within
the narrow limits of a small planting scheme, and
sometimes to carry it without the boundaries and
fix attention upon distant prospects. An example
of the first class, where unusual groupings, posi-
tions, and unique materials are used, is the Japa-
nese garden (Fig. 11). Probably no two elements
in the garden are of exactly the same shape or size ;
they may not even be of the same color. Each is
to a certain extent an accent in itself and possesses
a great deal of interest; but all these dissimilar
interests are very carefully and subtly balanced,
and all occur within such small confines that the
eye is held by the interest of the individual plant
shapes, colors, and grouping, and by the charm of
the accessories, such as stone lanterns, bridges, and
tea-houses, so that, indeed, there can be no thought
of looking outside the garden.

Italian gardens, on the other hand, from their
very position on rocky hillsides, demanded that the
distant views form a large part of their charm, and

Photograph by Anderson

FIGURE 26.

VILLA ALDOBRANDINI, FRASCATI, ITALY

An architectural enframement to emphasize an exterior axis

130 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

in consequence accent plants and architectural ac-
cessories (Figs. 26, 54) as well are constantly
placed in such a manner as to direct the gaze of
the visitor to the off-scape in various directions.
Wherever a particularly beautiful view occurs it
is almost certain to be set off or enframed by some
planting features (Fig. 27).

Blinder the two large heads of the formal and the
informal styles will be found different types which
must be considered. }

C Informal planting consists of irregular forms
irregularly placed. Free-growing shrubs are used
at unequal distances, and the spacing is deter-
mined by the spread of the shrub and its age.

Often, when planting for immediate effect,
shrubs are set close together, with the intention of
thinning them when they have attained a larger
growth ; but in some cases they are spaced widely
so as to allow for subsequent growth without al-
teration of position. The shrubs are planted so as
to express the outline of the bed in which they are
placed when they shall have attained their growth.

Informal planting allows a much wider range
of shape, scale, and color in the same planting
scheme than does the formal. Informal planting
may be seen close at hand or at a distance, j If it

FIGURE 28. WOODLAND PLANTING
Natural growth on the Massachusetts coast

PLANTING 133

is always to be seen at a distance, as in large parks,
far from the driveways, detail is of no conse-
quence, and any subtle plant characteristic will be
lost. Therefore, in distant planting, it is neces-
sary to seek for bold effect. If informal planting
is used in a foreground planting scheme, as a bor-
dering for driveways, the individual interest of the
plants may be emphasized, and a great deal of at-
tention given to detail.

( Formal planting consists always of regular
forms regularly placed, but in a majority of cases,
though this is not usually understood, the regular-
ity is obtained by selection rather than by clipping.
A certain amount of regularity must be the char-
acteristic of a formal scheme. Straight lines and
angles are emphasized on account of their greater
precision, while the informal type lays larger em-
phasis upon curves and rounded masses.

In the formal type little is left to the imagi-
nation. Few unexpected arrangements appear.
The whole scheme is visible from one point, in-
stead of unfolding gradually to the view. I This
emphasis of lines and angles may be attained by
the position of plants, spacing so as to define the
outline sharply by the selection of plants of natu-
rally regular shape, and still further by keeping

134 LANDSCAPE GABDEKLNG

the plants restrained by clipping or tying.
Formal planting is always used in connection with
architecture where the architectural effect is to
predominate, and the prevailing character of the
lines appearing in the architecture must be re-
peated in the plant masses. Accent can here be
obtained merely by change of outline.

(Falling more or less under the head of informal
planting are several groups known to the land-
scape profession as woodland and wild planting,
gardenesque, naturalistic, park-like, and seasonal
planting. •

( In woodland planting (Fig. 28) the trees occur
close together, and are irregularly disposed, with
the native varieties predominating. Under-
growth may be used, or the ground may be kept
clear. The trees are set at intervals, wide enough
to permit the plantation to be seen into easily and
have a more or less open appearance. Such plant-
ing is useful only on a large scale.

In wild planting (Fig. 29) trees, shrubs, and
vines are allowed to grow at will, without any
training, and wherever they may choose to stray.)
This type of planting is seen of tener as a result of
accident than premeditation, though there are rare
instances where it is quite desirable. Wild plant-

FIGURE 29. A PICTORIAL COMPOSITION IX AVILD PLANTING

PLANTING 137

ing will of course consist entirely of native mate-
rial, and will vary with the character of the soil.

In gardenesque planting (Fig. 30) the emphasis
is laid upon the horticultural element, and the
plants are selected for their individual value. This
may be due to the leaf, color, or perfume of the
flower, as well as to the general shape and texture
of the plant.) The plants may be grouped, and
count as a mass from a distance; but upon closer
inspection the individual plants should appear,
otherwise their varying attractions will be lost.
The position of plants in gardenesque planting is
due to their character rather than to their height,
so that scale would not necessarily be a determining
factor in placing plants according to gardenesque
treatment. Japanese planting as well as topiary
work may be included in the gardenesque type.
The English border, where shrubs are " faced
down" with perennials, is a type of gardenesque
planting, for the charm depends here upon the in-
dividual plant, the rather delicate beauty of the
perennial being strongly silhouetted against the
darker shrub mass.

Naturalistic planting is generally to be seen
from a distance, and is composed of trees and na-
tive shrubs. The mass is unrestrained in growth

138 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

and color contrast. )The position of the shrubs
will be due to their height, and they will be " faced
down." " Facing down" is the planting of small
varieties close to the edge of larger ones in order to
make them appear as a bank, and tie them down
closely to the ground. As a rule, naturalistic
planting is intended to be seen from a distance, and
its boundaries are not often precise, but are al-
lowed to merge gradually one into the other.

Park-like planting (Fig. 31) tells first for mass
and secondly for individual values. Trees are
grouped in large masses, and small clumps occur
near the edge of these masses, often with single
trees of unusual size and beauty at some distance
from the mass planting, so that an impression is
created of large masses gradually becoming subdi-
vided in such a way as to emphasize the individu-
ality of single plants. This planting is not faced
down. It occurs frequently in England.

In seasonal planting any type may prevail, since
the selection of plants is determined by the season
at which they reach their greatest attractiveness,
and this type of planting is such as will be used in
an estate which is open at only one season. Con-
sequently it is not necessary that the garden or the
surroundings should appear to advantage at any

PLANTING 141

other time of the year, and this permits a more
highly specialized type of planting. Seasonal se-
lection may apply in greater or less degree to any
of the planting types.

It is essential that the landscape-designer
should arrange all his data in such a way as to be
able to find the plants he wants for any special
reason in the shortest possible time. • He may
have designed a garden for a specific purpose, sea-
son, and color, quite without reference to plant
material, and now it is necessary for him to find
the plants which will produce the effect he desires.
The easiest way to do this is by the card-index, but
it is very difficult to work out a card-index scheme
that will contain in simple and accessible form all
the characteristics of plant materials.jf Plants are
grouped, regardless of their botanical classifica-
tion, according to certain marked features which
lend special emphasis or attraction. Under these
headings are height, form, quality, characteristics,
season, value, texture, color, and soil.

Shrubs are divided into three classes according
to their height: a, low; To, medium, and c, high.
Height is a primary consideration in all planting
schemes, as it determines the scale of the entire
planting problem.

142 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

FIGURE 31. PARK-LIKE PLANTING AT WARWICK, ENGLAND

The scale which is to prevail in the planting
scheme should in turn be fixed by the requirements
of the problem in hand. If a screen were to be
planted to hide a garage from the eyes of pass-
ers-by, a hedge of California privet would be of
little value, as it would not perform the purpose
for which it was placed there. It would be neces-
sary to use higher shrubs or even Lombardy pop-
lars, placed close together, if it were really neces-
sary to conceal the building.

The scale of the planting may be determined on

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144 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

one hand by the economic aspects of the problem,
and on the other by the esthetic. The height is de-
cided upon first because of utilitarian features, and
then for harmonization with existing conditions;
also to furnish the amount of emphasis or accent
required. High shrubs are called background;
medium, filler; and low shrubs, facing. In large
scale planting the trees may be used as background
shrubs. In small scale planting herbaceous plants
are often used as facers.

Plant forms may be roughly divided into rec-
tangular, curvilinear, and triangular divisions
(Fig. 32), according to the natural shapes of the
trees and shrubs. While the groups may embrace
numbers of widely different species, some of the
commonest varieties are named in the diagram in
order to make it easily understood. A more com-
plex scheme of classification may seem necessary
to some, but the one that is shown has proved very
satisfactory for general use.

The rectangular and curvilinear classes have
four subdivisions; the triangular has two. The
extremes in each class are used as accent, for the
less exaggerated forms are of greatest usefulness,
being employed to do the heavy work in most
planting plans. These are the filler plants. The

FIGURE 33. ROSE OF SIIAROX
Hibiscus

FIGURE 35. SNOWHERRY

Symphoricarpus raeemosus

FIGURE 34. THE GOLBEX ELDER CUT LEAF VARIETY

Sambucus canadeusis aurea

PLANTING 147

groups may also be divided according to the de-
ciduous and the evergreen members; these are
further subdivided into regular and irregular
classes.

Shrubs are often selected for their quality, by
which is meant the degree of refinement of their
appearance. According to their quality they are
divided into three classes : the high class, or named
varieties ; the medium ; and the coarse. An exam-
ple of a high-class shrub would be the rhododen-
dron. Bush-honeysuckle or mock-orange is a
medium class, and the Hydrangea paniculata
grandiflora is an example of the coarse species.

The quality of a shrub will often suggest its use.
A marble building, such as a museum, a memorial,
or a library demands the use of first-quality
shrubs. They are decidedly fitting for use amid
monumental surroundings. The second-quality
shrubs can be used to advantage in most planting
schemes, while the coarser varieties will not ap-
pear out of place in the meanest surroundings.
Where coarse varieties predominate, shrubs of
medium quality may be used for accent ; and where
medium-class shrubs predominate, the high-class
shrubs may be used as accent.

For any planting scheme which has high-class

148 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

varieties it is not best to use other varieties of
shrubs. The designer will ordinarily use shrubs
of the same class, depending for accent upon dif-
ference in shape and color.

(Characteristics are the distinguishing features
of a plant, that part of its form or development
which recommends it particularly to the land-
scape-designer. Its major interest may be in leaf,
blossom, or twig. The leaf may demand attention
on account of its scale, for it may be large, as in
the catalpa; medium, as in the lilac; or small, as
in the spiraea. Or it may attract because of its
shape or its regularity, as with the maples and the
gingko or the rose of Sharon ; or on account of ir-
regular development, as in the mulberry-tree.
Then, too, the distinguishing characteristic may be
its value, or the amount of light or dark in the
green.

Value is divided into three parts: as light, me-
dium, and dark, and these values appear in both
deciduous and evergreen plants. The leaves may
appear in clusters, rows, or whorls, and demand
attention on account of their arrangement ; or the
entire outline of the leaf masses and their posi-
tions on the tree may seem to be of greatest im-
portance. The direction of the leaf, which will

PLANTING 149

be horizontal, vertical, or oblique, will also affect
the problem.

Leaves may be grouped in masses, as in the
horse-chestnut, or may be scattered, as in the
American elm. This will affect the texture of the
entire tree or shrub; but the texture of the leaf
itself is likewise of importance, as it affects the
appearance of the entire leaf mass both near at
hand and at a distance. It may be thick or thin,
rough or smooth. Leaf texture may easily be un-
derstood by comparing the leaf of the California
rubber-tree, thick, smooth, and regular, with the
small, thin, and serrated leaves of the white birch.
The leaves may be many or few in number, and
this too will affect the appearance.

The first characteristic of the blossom is size,
which means its general appearance as a single
flower or a cluster, and may be large, as in the mag-
nolia; medium, as in the Philadelphus ; or small as
in the spiraea. Blossom color will be discussed
under the head of color, and it is of the utmost im-
portance.

In arrangement, the blossoms may be indi-
vidual, as in the rose of Sharon (Fig. 33), or
massed, as in the elder (Fig. 34), and this will af-
fect the problem to a considerable extent. For

150 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

use in gardens or near houses the odor must be
taken into consideration, whether it be agreeable
or unpleasant. Though the ailantus-tree is very
decorative, care should be taken not to select the
staminate form for use near the house, on account
of the very disagreeable odor of the male buds.

The most interesting feature of a tree may lie in
its twigs, because of their color or direction. This
is vertical in the poplars, angular in the elm, hori-
zontal in the Gratcegus or the tupelo, and drooping
in the weeping-willow and other trees of the type.
Twigs may be slender, as in the acacia, or coarse,
as in the Kentucky coffee-tree. The shape of the
twig may attract. In the maple it is round, in the
blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata} square, and in
the Euonymus alatus triangular. The length of
the twigs between branching is often marked, as in
the ailantus or the elm.

Fruit characteristics have two phases, the eco-
nomic and the esthetic. Each is affected by sea-
son, size, and color. The apple, cherry, pear, and
plum are examples of economic fruit. The burn-
ing bush and the snowberry (Fig. 35) illustrate
the decorative type. We may also have a combi-
nation of the practical and the esthetic, as in the
common barberry and high-bush cranberry. The

PLANTING 151

fruit is very decorative, and may also be used for
the making of jellies and jam.

It is thus seen that the characteristic of a shrub
is really one of the most important determining
factors in its choice or rejection by the landscape-
designer. The season in which the plant charac-
teristic develops is always of importance, for by
a critical selection a garden may be given year-
round attractiveness by employing plants the
characteristics of which develop at different sea-
sons. The choice of plant materials will then give
a constant interest, but an ever-changing one. It
is therefore most essential, in choosing a planting
scheme, to bear in mind whether the garden is to
be used at one time in the year only, and to plant
accordingly.

( A very important consideration in the selection
of plants is their value, which means lightness or
darkness in the general impression, and is de-
pendent upon the foliage, j The full discussion of
value may be found in the chapter on color.

For landscape purposes all three values, light,
medium, and dark, may be used together with ad-
vantage, though it is not advisable to use extremes
together. The light and the medium, or the dark
and the medium, may be employed satisfactorily

152 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

side by side, but the light and the dark, without
intermediary, will produce too strong a contrast.
In every planting scheme one value should be al-
lowed to predominate.

The texture of a plant depends first upon the
size of the leaves, then upon their number and ar-
rangement upon the tree. The size of the leaves
comes under three heads, fine, medium, and coarse.
The spiraea and the Japanese barberry are exam-
ples of the first variety, the Philadelphus and the
lilac of the second, the Magnolia tripeteja and the
castor-bean of the third.

A plant is chosen for color on account of the hue
it retains longest. This is known as its color char-
acteristic. Plant colors usually change during the
season. Consequently, the hue which is most gen-
erally present is known as the plant's distinguish-
ing color. In the Siberian dogwood this would be
red, because the bark retains its brilliant red
throughout the year despite the greener summer
foliage. An exception to color change is the Ker-
ria Japonica, which is bright green in leaf and
twig, and consequently retains the same hue
throughout the year.

The soil in which a plant will attain its best de-
velopment is often a determining characteristic.

PLANTING 153

It is very essential that all plants be grouped ac-
cording to their soil requirements, for a delicate
plant, no matter how necessary its color or form
may seem to be for a certain problem, cannot be
used if the soil is poor, and another selection from
hardier material must be made.

As has been intimated, the architectural or
horticultural emphasis must constantly be kept in
mind in designing the development of any plant-
ing scheme. In the architectural style the inter-
est depends upon mass (Fig. 36) in form, value,
and color; while in the horticultural type the in-
terest lies with the individual plant and its form,
value, and color. The Faulkner Farm garden
here shown is interesting for its forms and masses
rather than for any flower color. For this reason
it shows up well in black and white.

In undertaking a planting problem, the desired
effect must first be carefully determined, and then
the material selected that will produce the effect
required. The landscape-designer wishes certain
forms, sizes, and colors, and considers these essen-
tial to the best development of his problem. He
may be able to achieve these results in many differ-
ent ways by the use of a variety of plant materials,
and consequently will have a considerable range of

154 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

selection. The success of the result will depend
upon the care exercised in the choice of the mate-
rial, after taking into consideration the economic
and esthetic requirements of the design.

The plan should always be read from the eleva-
tion. One often sees in parks and semi-public
grounds that have not been skilfully laid out enor-
mous beds of shrubs placed in such positions that
only a very few are visible from any point of view,
and consequently three-fourths of the material
employed has been wasted, and is never seen at all.
A wide bed containing shrubs of equal height may
be seen to advantage from an elevation, or, if
placed on a hillside, will look well when regarded
from a plain, because it is possible to see the ex-
tent and shape of the planting mass as well as the
shapes of the plants which compose it; but unless
such a planting scheme is placed in a position
where it can easily be observed from an elevation,
it is clumsy and useless.

In all planting schemes, whether city, suburban,
or country, and no matter what the type of plant-
ing employed, it is well to have a predominance of
indigenous plants, or at least plants of the same
general genus, possessing similar shapes, belong-
ing to like species, and having the same general

PLANTING 157

conditions of acclimatization. This predominat-
ing impression may be secured through the filler
shrubs.

It is interesting to note that the contours of na-
tive trees generally harmonize with the topogra-
phy of the locality in which they are found, the
long axis of the foliage being parallel with the pre-
vailing lines of the landscape. Thus the wide-
spreading sycamore is found growing naturally on
the plains, but the vertical, jagged cypress is thor-
oughly characteristic of the rocky hillsides of
Italy. If either of these trees were to be found in
the habitat of the other, it would serve as a most
striking accent. The same tree may often be used
in different ways in one planting scheme. For ex-
ample, the highly individual shape of the Lom-
bardy poplar compels attention when the tree is
used singly or in groups of two or three ; but it also
may be planted so close together for use as a screen
that the individual tree forms are merged, and all
indication of accent is lost. The use of poplar-
trees as accents is very noticeable upon the plains
of France.

The harmonization of plant forms with geologi-
cal structure is even carried to extremes by na-
ture under unusual conditions. In the volcanic

158 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

Japanese landscape shown in Figure 38 the con-
tortions of the rock surfaces are repeated in the
grotesque forms of the trees.

If one were to believe all that the untrained en-
thusiasts say about natural conditions and native
planting, some very strange designs would result.
One is told that plants should be only of the native
and local varieties, and that they should not be
corrected or trained, for "is not Nature the great-
est artist of all?" Every one is familiar with
planting schemes of this type, for they may be seen
in any village where places have been allowed to
go to ruin. They certainly look well in pictures,
but are impossible to live with; straggling lilacs,
unkempt trees, matted grasses, and a profusion of
weeds, accenting the " native element," are seen on
all sides, and are truly the logical outcome of just
what the "back-to-nature" men are clamoring for.
I The entire question of selection of plant mate-
rial is one of suiting the means to the end. With-
out judicious selection, any planting scheme will
fail miserably.

PKOBLEMS

LANDSCAPE problems fall naturally into groups or
classes, and the landscape-designer is bound to
come into contact with a greater or less number of
these groups. Within the groups themselves
there is sufficient similarity to render decidedly
worth while a thorough knowledge of general,
though definite, methods of approach; for famil-
iarity with a type problem, and success in its solu-
tion, will be of great assistance in attacking other
problems of the same class. Several problems
from different landscape groups are accordingly
presented here, with the idea that their solutions
may be helpful in the solving of problems of a sim-
ilar nature.

COOPERATIVE LANDSCAPE-GARDENING

One of the great needs in America to-day is the
improvement of cities by a better arrangement of
available space for the bringing in of more coun-
try-like conditions. The crying need seems to be

159

160 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

either a better use of the unencumbered space
about the home and along the street or a more in-
tensive landscape development. The city-dweller
should strive to attain more the healthfulness and
charm of the country than the average home-
seeker can possibly secure in the average city at
the present date, and he has a right to much more
healthful and congenial surroundings (Fig. 38).

One of the solutions of the problem of civic bet-
terment has been the building of garden cities.
These cities are generally laid out and owned by a
corporation, and all its inhabitants accept the
houses and grounds just as they have been de-
signed by the corporation architects. The result
is of course a much more harmonious scheme than
could have been attained in any other way. There
are many successful communities of this sort in
England. The scheme has made better headway
in Europe than in America, however, for the ob-
jection of the average American to the garden city
is that it is too paternalistic and proprietary.
What the American people demand in any cooper-
ative scheme for the improving of the surround-
ings of their homes is, first, that their own individ-
ual ideas regarding the main features of the
proposed scheme be given careful consideration.

PKOBLEMS 161

Individual control of all land from the curb-line
to the back of the lot-line has become with us at
present a recognized right.

The usual solution of the problem of the ar-
rangement of the landscape with regard to the
average city street is for the municipality to con-
trol the paving of the streets so far as to regulate
the width and sometimes the type of materials
used, though in many cases even this is left to the
property-owners. Often the question of tree-
planting, the width of sidewalk, and the prescrip-
tion of the kind of material to be used in the con-
struction has been controlled by the city. Other
than this, the problem has been left to each indi-
vidual lot-owner; but the result of such a type of
design has been the loss of virtually all the indi-
viduality and interest that one should find in the
development of the landscape along our streets.
In its place appear mediocrity and monotony; long
rows of houses rigidly adhering to a set building
line (Fig. 39), lawns entirely bare of shrubs, and
the street trees, if there are any, selected without
regard to their fitness for the needs that they are
supposed to satisfy.

The possibility of an extension of intelligent
municipal control so as to include all land from

162 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

building-line to building-line has been shown fav-
orably in the development of garden cities, and it
is this idea that will solve the problem of a more
intensive use of the land about our homes. Such
extension will not mean replanning, but planning,
since, as a rule, no plans had been made in the first
place but the surroundings had merely grown un-
kempt, ugly, monotonous, and entirely lacking in
any idea of unity (Figs. 22, 40).

By the carrying out of a simplified treatment
for the more public portions of the home grounds,
the individuality that we should expect to find at
the present time will not be lost, but will actually
be acquired, because any scheme, to be successful,
must represent the united thought of the people
interested for a definitely planned result, and not
the possible injustice of some experiment by one
person for philanthropic or altruistic purposes : it
should express a sort of collective individuality.

The idea of community cooperation has indeed
been used successfully as a basis for the solution
of problems for street improvement in several
American cities. In the working out of these
problems the aim has been to secure the greatest
amount of individuality for every separate home,
and at the same time provide for an appearance of

PKOBLEMS 163

continuity in the street as a whole. Each part of
the landscape work has been studied not only with
the idea that each separate house should have an
individual interest and furnish a setting for the
buildings adjacent to it, but also that there should
be provided a continuous and uninterrupted
scheme, tying the whole composition together, ac-
centuating its principal features, enhancing the
salient characteristics of the individual buildings,
and adding color to the street view, at the same
time maintaining the scale of the whole.

In the organizing of this work a general meet-
ing of the residents of the street in question is held,
the plans for the redesigning and beautification of
the street are outlined as a whole, and an effort is
made to get at individual preferences in regard to
the replanning of each place. A " street-improve-
ment committee" is then elected, and the general
working out of the scheme is placed in their hands,
with the understanding that each individual prop-
erty owner will be consulted with regard to the
improvement of his home grounds as a unit. The
final plans are not of course the work of this com-
mittee, but are designed by an expert landscape-
gardener who works in consultation with the com-
mittee.

164 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

A landscape survey is next taken to show the
general conditions of the trees and shrub planta-
tions and the arrangement of the walks and drives,
with notes as to the advisability of changing any
of these features for the increasing of their effi-
ciency. This survey is made by notes and
sketches, from which the survey plans are worked
out in the drafting-room. These plans show the
location and size of the houses, width of the street,
the positions of all buildings, the walks, arrange-
ment of walks, and position, area, and variety of
shrubs used in any existing plantations. The
plans are usually drawn at a scale of forty feet to
the inch, each sheet showing one block of the street,
and the information thus presented is adequate for
completing the work.

In the working out of the design the first ques-
tion to be studied is that of circulation. The main
walks and their relations to the service walk
should be carefully considered not only in relation
to each individual property, but as regards the
street as a whole. The question of the street trees
comes next in respect to their general location.
Care must be taken to locate them in such a way
as to satisfy the individual needs of each separate
property, to provide shelter from the sun as well

PROBLEMS 167

as screening, and to emphasize circulation, scale,
and open spaces.

In the actual location of new trees a blue print
of the street survey should be taken out in the field,
and the actual positions of the proposed trees de-
termined with it. In this way it is possible to lo-
cate all trees carefully and, with the essential
points in view, determine the advisability of plant-
ing.

The next step is the arrangement and planting
of the shrub growth. The schemes, as generally
worked out, provide for park-like planting of filler
shrubs, with the accent shrubs varying to suit the
taste of individual owners. The larger masses of
trees and shrubs are not used for the value of in-
dividual specimens, but for the primary purpose
of back-ground shrubs in any garden-like treat-
ment, where herbaceous plants and accent or spec-
imen shrubs require setting off to advantage. This
gives to each place an individuality all its own, and
at the same time lends a character to the design
that will within a few years give the street a uni-
fied scheme of planting.

Wherever competent landscape-designers have
been employed, cooperative planting has given sat-
isfaction. The cost is minimized by the purchase

168 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

of wholesale quantities of shrubs and the division
among many of the expense of design.

AN AMERICAN HOME

The typical American home may be defined as a
suburban residence costing from four to fifteen
thousand dollars, and having a lot from sixty to
two hundred feet wide. It is planted more or less
intelligently as a rule, but it can be safely said that
a judicious use of plant material is not one of the
distinguishing characteristics of the American
suburban home. There is too great a tendency to
use plants because the neighbors use them, or be-
cause the traveling nurseryman has forced them
upon one, or, a better reason, though not always
followed by a better result, because they happen to
be favorites.

When unsuccessful planting is found about
suburban homes it is particularly tragic, since it
is really a love of plants and a vague groping after
the beautiful that have inspired many a pathetic
planting scheme. Lack of success in suburban
planting can usually be traced directly to a readi-
ness to plant something just to see it grow, and to
a failure to grasp the principles which underlie
intelligent planting — an understanding of the eco-

I!

. <

PROBLEMS 171

nomic and the esthetic sides, each with its peculiar
function.

The simple beauty of a well-kept lawn, with its
smooth texture, is too little appreciated for its ef-
fect in setting the house well back from the street,
and creating the idea of spaciousness which is
always desirable (Fig. 38). Too often the middle
of a fine stretch of grass is grubbed up ruthlessly,
and the inevitable round bed of red geraniums or
King Humbert cannas introduced. Geraniums
and cannas are all very well in their place, but that
place is certainly not the middle of a lawn at the
front or the side of a house. It is this sort of mis-
take which is most frequently made. Things in-
teresting or beautiful in themselves are put in po-
sitions that minimize not only their own beauty,
but that of their surroundings.

In designing the landscaping for a moderate-
priced American estate, the tastes of the owner
must be understood and his personal likes and dis-
likes weighed and scrutinized carefully, for the
house and grounds are his property, and should
not only appear to advantage, but ought to reflect
his taste as well. It must be admitted that it is
often necessary to educate the client's taste consid-
erably, but the results will justify the extra effort.

172 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

If the client likes flowers, a garden may be in-
cluded in the scheme, and planting of an intimate
and diversified character may be employed, as his
interest will insure their care and maintenance.
If, on the contrary, he is not particularly inter-
ested in things horticultural, the planting should
be more formal, and such as may be easily kept
up.

The first large considerations of the design are
general approach, circulation, and views obtain-
able. The best rooms should of course be located
so as to obtain the best views. The service por-
tions of the house and grounds should be separated
as definitely as possible from the rest of the estate.

If the lawns are to be used for entertaining, they
should be kept free of planting, and screened about
the edges to give some degree of privacy; but if
guests are not to use the lawns, the shrub masses
may divide them to a great extent.

In its broadest aspect, the lay-out of the design
problem may be divided into three parts : first, the
private portion for family use ; second, the semi-
public part, which is to be seen by the guests, and
lastly the service portion, which is for strictly
utilitarian purposes.

The private part of the grounds should contain

PROBLEMS 173

the family flower-garden, and that is the only place
where flowers should appear except for accent pur-
poses. The garden should be ample in extent, and
should communicate directly with the living por-
tion of the house. It will be divided from other
parts of the grounds by economic planting; that
is, screens of shrub masses.

The semipublic divisions of the estate include
the entrance walk and drives, and such other parts
of the grounds as may be accessible to guests.
Here the planting is simpler and more formal,
with less individual interest. It consists mainly
of shrubbery masses the primary purpose of which
is divisional and for screening ; and if the space is
sufficient, there may be a few trees. The space is
to be used as an outdoor room and for purposes
which do not suggest its own (horticultural) inter-
est. Consequently, the second quality of shrubs
will usually be chosen.

The service walk should go by the most direct
way to the service entrance. If the grocer-boy
wears a path across the grass, the owner should
thank him for pointing out a weakness in the de-
sign ; for if the path had been located properly, he
would have used it. The object of a service walk
or drive is to secure the promptest and most effi-

174 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

cient service. Any " landscaping" of service cir-
culation which interferes with convenience is
meretricious. If lack of space or difficulties of
grade necessitate that the service walk be in part
combined with the main entrance, the service part
should be treated in the simplest fashion, and even
the main entrance portion less elaborately, other-
wise the contrast will be too marked.

The most interesting and varied planting must
be reserved for the private portions of the
grounds. Here the trees and shrubs are to bear
close scrutiny, and flower value is very desirable.
If any exotic planting is to be used, this is the place
for it. There may well be an emphasis of horti-
cultural interest, and an informality that would
not be in keeping with other parts of the scheme.

The semi-public part of the grounds is planted
in masses, the object being to tie the house in with
its surroundings and make the transition from
plant material to brick, wood, and stone as little of
a shock as possible (Pig. 7). Shrubs should be
planted about the base of a house to break the line
of transition. Vines are also useful for this pur-
pose. It is not necessary to plant a regular group
of shrubs all about, like a " feather boa"; in fact,
that sort of planting does not improve appear-

FIGURE 39. A BALD TREATMENT OF A SMALL CITY STREET

FIGURE 40. UNKEMPT SURROUNDINGS

PKOBLEMS 177

ances. It will be better if the shrubs are massed
rather irregularly, with emphasis at the corners of
the house.

Two plans of distinctly different treatments of
the same problem are here shown (Figs. 41, 43).
They may serve to give an idea of the many and
various possibilities.

In the rendered plan shown in Figure 41 the
entrance and service drives are combined, and
there is a public and semi-public portion, the latter
containing a service court, a garage, a laundry-
yard, and a vegetable garden. The small private
garden, laid out on formal lines, with its turf panel
and its rose garden, is sharply separated from the
semi-public part by high and thick planting.

The colors in the planting scheme (Fig. 42)
have been chosen so as to separate the yellow and
the blue greens, putting the blue green at the far-
ther end to exaggerate the color impression of per-
spective. Blue greens and yellow greens never
seem to go well together without intermediates,
and they have consequently been separated here.
A decrease in leaf size will also heighten the illu-
sion of distance. The planting about the private
lawn is first for screening; interest of outline is
a secondary consideration. Lastly there is some

178 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

consideration paid to the individual interests of
the plants, but this is considered of minor impor-
tance.

Where individual interest appears, it is centered
in the accent plants. In the plan shown these are
the spiraea Van Houttei, spiraea Anthony Waterer,
and Deutzias. The middle of the rose garden is
occupied by a sun-dial, the only architectural ac-
cent. Other flowering shrubs used are lilacs, Ker-
ria Japonica, hydrangeas, and the Viburnum ster-
ile, or snowball.

In the second plan (Fig. 43) different material
is used, and a number of flowering-shrubs, well
distributed in seasonal development, appear.

Places of a smaller scale may be treated with an
even greater degree of informality, though the ob-
servance of the principles of design — that is, the
direct and beautiful expression of function — must
always be insisted upon (Fig. 13).

SMALL PLACES

One of the greatest needs for planting exists
among simple and cheap surroundings, and the
very inexpensive place may be helped by planting
even more, perhaps, than its showy and elaborate
brother. On account of the item of cost it is as-

PEOBLEMS 181

sumed that all landscape work about inexpensive
houses will consist entirely of planting.

Suppose a small house of six or seven rooms,
with a lot fifty or sixty feet wide and from one
hundred to two hundred feet deep, is to be land-
scaped. Often in the smaller cities the owners of
small houses keep hens, and there is frequently a
tiny stable or a garage at the back of the lot. So
far as the short-sighted owner can see, the idea is
entirely utilitarian, for he has allowed the immedi-
ate saving to his pocket-book from the poultry in-
come to usurp the place of the far more important
problem of keeping his possessions in such a sala-
ble condition that he can get the greatest cash
value for them at any time.

Almost everybody recognizes that a fresh coat
of paint makes a house sell for much more than it
would have brought without the new paint, plus
the cost of the painting. Too few realize that
planting may do more than the paint to increase
the value of a building, and at a much less cost.

If there is any planting about such a house, it
is generally a straggly flower-garden because the
woman of the house loves flowers. She thinks of
them, however, not in connection with the place it-
self, but only for their own intrinsic beauty.

PROBLEMS 183

Clothes-poles straggle irregularly over the back
yard, pitching this way and that at dangerous an-
gles. The ash-piles and the chicken-coops hold
melancholy sway over the rear of the premises
(Fig. 22), which are so unkempt as to make it seem
quite natural for women to appear there in un-
studied costumes and curl-papers.

The picture has not been painted too black. In
some of the most prosperous of our small cities
and towns in the Middle West respected members
of the community often allow their houses and
grounds, exteriorly at least, to present a most dis-
reputable appearance. Things that litter up the
inside of the house and are thrown out to be carted
away are frequently left where they are dropped,
and allowed to remain there for months. It is not
that way inside the house. There all is order and
precision; but, as a rule, the average American
citizen is so obsessed with his own individual opin-
ions and problems that he does not remember that
he has a duty to his neighbors, and that that duty
may consist in keeping the surroundings of his
house in a decent condition.

How may this hypothetical, and too often actual,
place be helped without too great an outlay of
money, and in such a way that its owner will take

184 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

a greater pride in it and live in it more comfort-
ably?

As usual, the really utilitarian aspects must be
considered at the outset. The chickens must be
restrained and put in sanitary yards and houses
which will not only look better, but will improve
the condition of the poultry and keep them from
straying away and getting lost. These houses
should be at the extreme rear of the lot, unless it is
bounded by a stream or lake, or a view of some sort.
In that case they can be put at the side and toward
the rear.

The clothes-line need not stay out at all seasons ;
indeed, it will collect soot and soil the clothes if al-
lowed to do so. The posts to which it is fastened
should be strong and erect, and planted firmly in
the ground. It is an easy matter to paint them
and allow vines to climb over them so that they
will be useful and ornamental at the same time.
If the line is supported strongly at the outside
boundaries of the lot, it will not need much auxil-
iary bracing, and consequently as soon as the
clothes are dried a lawn of considerable size is
available for the rest of the week. This affords
space for children to play, enables certain kinds of
work to be performed out of doors pleasantly, and

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PROBLEMS 185

gives the " out-door room" sadly needed at the
present time.

Thus by moving the chicken-yard and using sen-
sible clothes-posts, the appearance of the grounds
has greatly benefited. It will not be necessary to
warn against dumping garbage and ashes in such a
yard, because hardly any one is stupid enough to
deface a large area of greensward, unless it is with
the proverbial red geranium bed. That bed will
not intrude in this instance, because the space must
be left clear as a laundry-yard. Just so soon as
the back part of the grounds have been set to
rights, the result will be felt in the neighborhood,
and the chances are that others will follow suit.

As has before been mentioned, the front part of
the grounds are semi-public in nature, and that
will not be the place for the indulgence of personal
whims and vagaries. Often it is only the love of
bright colors and the wish that their surroundings
appear neat that lead people to disfigure their
grounds. Behind the house one can be as inde-
pendent as possible without ruining the appear-
ance of a street. Of course it always happens that
the house that is most noticeable is, in the owner's
eyes, the most admirable residence on the street;
but that is almost without exception solely on ac-

186 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

count of the point of view. It reminds one of the
little Irish lady who proudly asserted that her son
was the only man who was "in step" in his regi-
ment. It is certainly the consensus of opinion that
if the landscaping of a house is to be satisfactory
for any length of time, it cannot be striking in ap-
pearance.

Simplicity will mean a saving of money, for it
will appear that the simplest thing to do is to have
an unornamented front lawn, and there is conse-
sequently no necessity for purchasing plants for
that part of the grounds. Of course shrubbery
masses to emphasize corners and boundaries are
very desirable (Fig. 13), but they cannot be con-
sidered where it is necessary to plant for the least
possible outlay. When one comes to the house it-
self, planting of some sort must be done to break
the hard line where the brick or stone walls of the
basement appear above the surface of the ground.

There is often a porch at the front of the house,
and this will make a good trellis for climbing- vines.
A row of bright-colored plants about the edge will
break the line so far as form is concerned, but, on
the other hand, the brilliant color will call atten-
tion to the objectionable feature which it was in-
tended to soften. Ten cents' worth of seed will

PEOBLEMS 189

supply enough morning glories, Japanese hops or
wild cucumber vines to cover a very large porch in
a short time. Even the edible " scarlet runner"
bean can be used for this purpose.

At the back there must be some planting to
screen the hen-yards, and it is quite possible to use
food plants for this purpose. Currant-bushes
make a very good screen, or the handsome common
sunflower will grow into an impenetrable hedge in
a short time. The seeds will also serve as food for
the hens, so a planting of sunflowers will combine
esthetic and economic values.

Now arises the question of flowers and vegeta-
bles. Flowering shrubs, which make a good
screen, and a background for perennials as well,
can be planted along the sides of the lot, or if these
are too expensive, vines, hollyhocks, or sunflowers
may be substituted. The vegetables may go to-
ward the back, as clear space must be provided for
the laundry-yard. A very informal use of flowers
will be perfectly satisfactory, as they will neces-
sarily be massed on account of restricted space,
and the other planting will not be so severe as to
insist upon elaborate design.

The success of such a planting scheme will de-
pend entirely upon its usefulness.

190 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

SCHOOL GROUNDS

In this so-called "age of the child" a great deal
of nonsense is being talked on all sides by more or
less well-informed enthusiasts about the duty of
the public to the rising generation. Amid a vast
deal of sentimental and useless agitation no small
amount of good has really been accomplished, not-
ably in providing recreation parks and play-
grounds and in making school grounds more at-
tractive and useful.

It is essential that children should have plenty
of air and sunlight and room for running about
and playing active games (Fig. 44). The more
attractive school grounds can be made, the more
the children will use them, and will reflect the
pleasant out-door atmosphere within the buildings
themselves.

As in all planting schemes, school grounds have
their esthetic and utilitarian features, and it is ad-
vantageous if the decorative planting can have an
educational emphasis as well. There are many
common and beautiful trees and shrubs which
every one should know, and these ought to be used
wherever possible, in order that the children may
become familiar with them.

PROBLEMS 191

Utilitarian planting will take the place of the
traditional ugly fence to divide the playgrounds
into areas for little children, for the boys, and for
the girls.

The best chance for ornamental planting is about
the entrance to the grounds and close about the
building. Playgrounds proper should not be
shaded, as it is best for the children to play in the
sunlight ; but trees may well be used in other parts
of the grounds to serve as a background, give
shade for rest from active sports, shelter sand
courts where the little children play, and provide
contrast with the large open areas. Seats may be
placed beneath the trees.

In planting modern school grounds the idea is
not to have them useful during a few restricted
hours of the day only, while the building is open
and school is in session, but rather that they may,
in a way, take the place of the old-time village
green and be permanently attractive and service-
able. It will be seen that this point of view is
quite directly opposed to that which prevailed only
a few years ago, when to all outward appearances
the school buildings were very like penal institu-
tions. " Shades of the prison house" seemed to be
their rightful atmosphere.

192 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

Grass may be used to advantage about the en-
trance and those portions of the grounds which are
not devoted to play, but it is useless to attempt to
keep turf in good condition under children's flying
feet. Grass borders may nevertheless be used to
good advantage about the boundary-edges of the
play areas and shrub masses. Here they consti-
tute a real decorative feature, being used as a strip
of bright green color rather than as turf.

It will be impossible to get much variety into the
economic planting, as trees and shrubs sufficiently
thick and hardy to serve the purpose are few.
The only chance for any variety will probably be
in the massing and handling of shapes in a large
way. Any flowers or flowering-shrubs should be
used in the decorative portions of the planting,
and as far away from the playgrounds as possible.

In connection with school grounds little garden
plots are often laid out which are turned over to
the children to cultivate, and the results are sur-
prisingly satisfactory. The children in this way
obtain a first-hand knowledge of plant growth, and
often acquire information which is useful at home.
More than anything else it teaches them to take a
proper pride in the appearance of their surround-

PROBLEMS 193

ings. Wherever space permits, school gardens
should be encouraged.

Greater attention can be paid to the decorative
side of planting in institutions of higher learning,
which presumably maintain more orderly condi-
tions. Natural features are taken advantage of in
many cases with charming results. Cornell and
Vassar have beautiful campuses because they have
utilized the natural topography to the best advan-
tage.

Planting should be of the park-like variety, with
some tree masses, in other places small groups, and
single specimens of more highly specialized types.
It is a mistake to use too great a variety in plant-
ing of this sort, for it destroys harmony ; and since
American institutions of higher learning are no-
toriously irregular, at least in so far as architec-
ture is concerned, it is essential that there be some
unifying element, which may well be the planting.

A general informality should characterize the
planting unless the plan is symmetrical and the
axes highly developed, in which case the formal
type is more suitable. An arrangement of build-
ings like that at the Harvard Medical School calls
for formal planting on account of its uniformity,

194 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

while the Cornell campus would be ruined by a
rigid formality.

Walks and drives about university grounds are
often laid out in ludicrous fashion. With short
intervals between classes, it is essential that stu-
dents have access to the buildings by the most di-
rect routes, and it is often amusing to find how
studiously these routes appear to have been
avoided by the walks in the majority of cases.
Those who have been so careless as to lay out walks
in a wandering " artistic" way, through a total
misapprehension of the laws of beauty, take refuge
in plastering " Keep-off -the-grass" signs about
the campus. Of course they are cheerfully disre-
garded by the students, who realize that in this
case at least their time is valuable, and conse-
quently wear new paths along more sensible lines.
Sometimes the authorities are astute enough to
perceive the justice of the implied criticism, and
construct paths along lines really necessary for
convenient circulation. The result is always more
pleasing than the tortuous scheme that existed be-
fore.

Another point to be observed in constructing
walks on college campuses is the number of stu-
dents who are to use them, and the amount of traf-

PEOBLEMS 195

fie that must pass when going in opposite direc-
tions. This will determine the width of the walks,
and if the walks have not been laid out at the
proper width the designer will be rewarded by hav-
ing the turf worn away for a foot or two on each
side of the walk.

The drives, if there are any, should be so con-
structed that visitors may see the entire institu-
tion, from the outside at least, without leaving
their car or carriage. For this reason it is well
to make the drives indirect, as they are for esthetic
rather than for economic interest. If they were
made straight, they wrould be utilized immediately
as short cuts for heavy teaming and noisy motor-
cycles.

Flowers, except flowering-shrubs, are rather out
of place in a scheme of this sort, although an occa-
sional English border might add an unobjection-
able accent. Too frequently in a problem of this
kind masses of accent material are introduced, and
circular flower-beds are permitted to dissect long
stretches of beautiful turf, displaying occasionally
hideous color combinations. These are entirely
foreign elements, and it is not in keeping with the
spirit of an educational institution to exhibit plant-
ing of such an ostentatious character. Where

196 LANDSCAPE GABDENTNG

there is a chance to use a large stretch of turf it is
well to take advantage of it.

GOLF-COURSE

In laying out a golf-course (Figs. 45, 46) the
final appearance of the design will depend directly
upon the clearness with which the purpose has been
kept in view, and the ingenuity with which the
topographical features have been utilized.

The purpose of a golf-course is recreation, and
consequently it is frequently found in connection
with country clubs. There is certain to be a house
for lockers and shower-baths for the members, and
in a club which is at all pretentious the building
is more or less elaborate, with recreation, dancing,
and reading-rooms, verandas, and other comforts
and conveniences. The golf-course itself is
strictly utilitarian, inasmuch as it is to be used for
a definite purpose, although this purpose is the
playing of a game.

The course necessarily covers a large amount of
ground, and is generally naturalistic in planting.
Any planting that interferes with the game is out
of place, and therefore all elaborations must be
kept near the club-house. The degree of elabora-
tion will depend upon the wealth of the club and

PROBLEMS 199

the general appointments of the building. But
even if the building is very elaborate, the planting
should be restrained sufficiently to keep it in har-
mony with the naturalistic planting of the links.

The first consideration after the site has been
determined is to make the best use of the topogra-
phy. Eather might one say that topography has a
great deal to do with the selection of a site and the
laying out of more or less difficult courses.

The contours should be generally undulating,
though with some variety and a considerable
amount of rough ground and natural hazards, like
swamps, ditches, impenetrable growth, and abrupt
changes, such as steep banks or small cliffs and
water. There should, however, be a larger area of
smooth and even ground to make the hazards an
intensive feature of the course, lending new in-
terest by the introduction of a different type of
play.

In laying out a course, the general direction of
the holes should be north and south, and the gen-
eral direction of play between holes should run
counter-clockwise. Within these limitations the
holes should be laid out with as much variety as
possible, so that the different phases of the game
may be emphasized in playing the various holes,

200 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

and in this way the topography will be of gr^at ad-
vantage if it varies considerably.

The first hole of a golf-course is always a long
one, and is generally straight. In nine-hole
courses there are two short holes, and in an eight-
een-hole course there are generally four short
holes, two for each half. In nine-hole courses the
short holes should be four and five ; in the eighteen-
hole course five and six or six and seven, and thir-
teen and fourteen or fourteen and fifteen.

The distance between the holes should be deter-
mined by an even number of average shots. The
good player should be able to make a hole in three,
four, or five shots when playing his average game.
The distance should not lie between three and four
shots or between four and five, but should be such
as will cause the player to use his best efforts to
play the hole with an even number of lengthy shots.

If the club is situated in the country, the club-
house should be nearest to the means of communi-
* cation, — railroads, trolley lines, or highroads, — so
that it may be directly accessible to players who
have come some distance and have only a limited
time to play. For this same reason, as many play-
ers do not have sufficient time to play the entire
course, holes nine, fifteen, and eighteen are gener-

PROBLEMS 203

ally located near the club-house, so that the play-
ers may stop whenever convenient and be at no
great distance from the house.

The planting of the course, so far as the matter
of playing it is concerned, is strictly economic.
The best use of existing features such as trees and
shrubs should be made, and they are usually pre-
served to supply shade or act as natural hazards.
No planting of any sort should be used unless it
aids the game, and if the planting is not chosen as
a hazard, it must be kept back from the line of
play. Trees may often be used near a hole to sup-
ply shade in which the players may rest.

Esthetic planting is confined very closely to the
immediate vicinity of the club-house or is used
about the boundaries of the course. This is really
the only function esthetic planting may have in a
good golf-course, for it is out of place in ground
which is played over.

In planting a golf-course formal or gardenesque
planting may be used by the club-house, but the
rest of the scheme is naturalistic and consists
mostly of existing features. This does not imply
that a golf course should look barren and uninter-
esting, however, for the natural features may be
most attractively displayed.

204 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

A COUNTRY ESTATE

Country estates are of two sorts, those in which
farming is the primary consideration, and those
where no income is to be derived from the farming,
making the economic feature of secondary impor-
tance.

Country estates having farming for primary in-
terest may be divided into two classes, those in
which production of crops is the single purpose,
and those in which the production of crops dis-
played to the best advantage is aimed at. This is
the sort of estate that the gentleman farmer would
own (Fig. 48).

In the second class of country estates crops are
used to support the estate itself, but not for the
purpose of deriving any additional income. In
still another division they minister to only one
feature of the estate, which class is to be used for
the purpose of entertainment only. This self-sup-
porting feature may be vegetables, cut flowers, or
fruit, intended solely for the entertainment of the
guests of the owner (Fig. 49).

With the main features of the problem clearly
in mind, the land selected should be as nearly as
possible suited to the purpose of the estate, pos-

PROBLEMS 205

sessing the greatest number of natural features
that will work in to advantage with the scheme in
hand.

In such an estate as is demanded by the follow-
ing problem, the entertainment of city guests by
out-door sports and the general pleasing appear-
ance of the design are of equal importance.

Entertainment is to be the main purpose of the
estate, and its position in the country will mean
that out-of-door amusements are to figure largely
in this entertainment.

The elaboration of the scheme along the line of
out-door sports will depend entirely upon the
wealth of the client, and will determine the type of
development to be employed, and the introduction
or exclusion of features which require special ex-
pense.

If the estate is to be designed on lines of great
magnificence, there may be formal flower-gardens,
conservatories, and even hothouses for the grow-
ing of vegetables out of season; private golf-
courses, tennis-courts, bowling-greens, bridle-
paths ; in fact, there is scarcely any limit to the de-
velopment of an estate of this kind where the
money expended is of no object.

The size of the subdivisions of the scheme will

206 LANDSCAPE GAEDENING

be determined by the number of guests who are to
be entertained. If three or four or half a dozen
come at one time, one tennis-court will be sufficient,
but if twenty young sportsmen are in the habit of
spending week-ends there, three or four courts will
probably be found necessary.

Wherever possible, the natural features of the
countryside should be retained and emphasized to
give an appearance of freedom and naturalness.
For instance, if there is a plot of level ground at a
short distance from the house, which is placed upon
a slope, this plot should be chosen for the location
of the tennis-courts rather than spoil the slope
nearer the house for the sake of convenience. All
these points of purpose as regards sports, gardens,
size, and expense of stables and garages must be
determined before the house itself is located. The
house itself should really appear as a sort of key
to the whole scheme, for its position will deter-
mine, or appear to determine, the location and the
accessibility of all the parts, although these parts,
by their relative importance, have actually deter-
mined the position of the house.

The house should be designed so that the rooms
which are most often in use will have the most fa-
vorable exposure, and take advantage of views.

PROBLEMS 209

After the location of the rooms has been deter-
mined upon and the planting near the house is be-
ing considered, accents may be so arranged as to
attract the gaze of people within the house toward
these views. In Figure 47 an open space in the
trees has been left so that the occupants of the
house may look out upon Lake Michigan. The
white birches used in this position serve to draw
the attention to the view by their color.

When the location of the house and the subdivi-
sions have been roughly determined, the circula-
tion is the next important consideration. The
forecourt, from the entrance to the house, is the
keystone of the circulation scheme, and upon it de-
pends the efficient handling of traffic of all sorts,
whether for pleasure or utility. It should be a
kind of out-door room and center of radiation; it
should provide for the parking and handling of
carriages and cars, and its exit toward the stables
and garages should be studied on the one hand, and
on the other its communication with the reception-
rooms of the house should be given equal attention.
The number of vehicles to be accommodated will
determine the scale of the court.

Of first importance is the communication of the
main highway with the entrance court. This

210 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

drive is a sort of semi-public room. There is often
another road for service, tradesmen, and heavier
teaming, and this is sometimes entirely separate,
sometimes one with the pleasure road, and some-
times the same over part of the course with a
branch-off as the service part of the ground is ap-
proached. Wherever the service road is a sepa-
rate feature, it should be made as unobtrusive as
possible, as its purpose is strictly utilitarian. The
planting of this road is therefore essentially eco-
nomic.

Before the shapes of the planting masses and
areas are finally settled upon, the appearance of
the estate should be considered in a large way, and
this consideration should be divided into two mem-
bers, the public and private views. There may be
an intermediate or semi-public class. Certain
parts of the estate are visible to all passers-by, and
this aspect is known as the public view, and should
be treated accordingly. There are semi-public
views, or glimpses caught between the drive and
the main thoroughfare. These would be seen by
those coming to the house.

There is then the more private or intimate part
of the ground, which is reserved entirely for the
use of the owner and his friends. This should be

PROBLEMS 213

visible only to them, and the presence of the pri-
vate part of the grounds need not be seen at all
by strangers. Stables and service buildings will
come in the semi-public part of the scheme; gar-
dens and recreation ground will fall in the private
class.

After the shape, size, relative importance, and
communication of the different members of the
scheme have been considered in large masses, they
are then each studied in detail, always bearing in
mind the fact that details of whatever sort should
aid in creating a general impression rather than
detract from that impression.

In the method employed in working out a plan
of this sort, first of all topographical models are
made, that the designer may familiarize himself
thoroughly with the lay of the land. After the
general location of the main features, and after
details of cut and fill in connection with the house
and more formal elements of the plan are decided
upon, topographical changes should not be made
in other parts of the scheme.

The location of all these features is determined
by means of " thumbnail sketches," tiny plans so
small in scale as to prevent the consideration of
anything but the most general grouping and posi-

214 LANDSCAPE GAEDBNING

tion of the largest features. Of course the topo-
graphical model is based upon a careful survey of
the grounds, and the thumbnail sketches are made
with due consideration for all the sections and ele-
vations. Then is determined the position of the
large lawn area, the boundaries of which are to be
planted. These are in turn subdivided more or
less by interior planting to keep the open space in
scale with the planting areas, and to secure the sat-
isfactory divisions so as to frame distant views,
and create interior views and vistas.

In the two plans for country estates shown in
Figures 50, 51 the general emphasis of the design
is placed entirely on such an arrangement as will
secure the best features for entertainment of
guests and for out-door amusements. In these
plans the circulation is the main feature of the de-
sign. The large open stretches of lawn and the
trees are used simply as boundaries to break up the
lawn areas, and are arranged so as to relate care-
fully to the more formal or architectural parts of
the design. The architectural, or formal part of
the design is in turn located in direct connection
with the buildings, leaving the more informal por-
tions away from the architectural features. In
the general arrangement of roads and planting it

FIGURE 50. A PLAN FOR A COUNTRY ESTATE

PROBLEMS 217

will be noticed that the natural contour of the land
has been an important feature.

The success of a design of this character depends
to a great extent upon the position of the planting
areas, and the selection of plants which will bring
out in elevation the general idea that the flat plan
conveys. In case trees are found on the property,
the whole design should relate carefully to these.

In both of the solutions shown a feature has been
made of the small stream which existed on the
property. In one design the water has been fea-
tured near the house in the formal garden treat-
ment, and in the other it has been treated largely
in an informal way. A plan of this character
should be made in consultation with the architect
who is to design the buildings. This will result in
the most satisfactory solution of the problem in
regard to general form and location, and will pro-
duce harmony in the architectural and landscape
design.

VI
GARDEN DESIGN

IN a country where gardens are the exception
rather than the rule, it is disappointing to find that
the existing specimens are not always such as
would inspire a man to acquire one of his own.
There is either an unkempt riot of bloom or a mel-
ancholy severity that says "Keep off the grass"
much more pointedly than any sign. There is the
obvious love of display on the one hand, and the
passion for growing things on the other, that will
pay no attention to the selection of material.

The American garden, with, of course, many
well-known exceptions, is frequently thrust under
one's nose, so to speak, and, as the show-part of the
estate, is given the most prominent position. The
idea is not noticeably present that privacy and soli-
tude are part of a garden's charm, and that the
desire for seclusion alone may lead to the acquir-
ing of a garden.

It is to such a garden-loving race as the English
that we must go to find out what gardens can really

218

GARDEN DESIGN 219

do for a man and for his home. Nevertheless, an
intelligent interest in gardens is daily growing
stronger, and our gardens are not so few and far
between or as unfortunately conceived as they
were a few years ago.

Of course a garden may have a more or less pub-
lic side, but if it is privately owned and possesses
no privacy, a great chance for enjoyment and even
for beauty of design is lost.

Garden design is one of the most interesting
phases of landscape work, because it combines
many features found separately in other fields of
landscape design. The garden should be an inti-
mate sort of thing, shutting one in more or less,
and centralizing one's interest in the things which
it contains. As already mentioned, there should
be more privacy in a garden than in any other part
of the estate. It may sometimes be used as an
out-door room (Fig. 52), and in many cases where
the climate permits a great deal of time is spent in
the garden rather than in the house.

The great prevalence of gardens in England
seems to be in the face of climatic conditions, so
far as occupying them is concerned, but the enor-
mous amount of wet weather is so well suited to
the growing of all sorts of garden planting ma-

220 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

terial that this fact must be accountable for the nu-
merous gardens. Notwithstanding these draw-
backs, they are so beautiful as to be inspiring and
satisfactory though it may rain perpetually. The
out-door room feature is always there, to be sure,
and can be viewed from within, when it is impossi-
ble for one to be out of doors with any degree of
comfort.

Garden design is probably one of the oldest
forms of work in landscape gardening, and in its
most formal aspect was very highly developed by
the ancient Romans. It is known that the Greeks
were the first to use bulbs in planting, and the
Egyptian gardens, particularly those of Thebes,
were famous. The younger Pliny in his writings
described gardens with clipped box hedges and
parterres cut into shapes of animals, displaying
many of the fancies which many centuries later
ran riot over Europe in topiary work.

The Roman garden was necessarily formal, be-
cause it generally occurred within the house itself
(Fig. 1) as a central court laid out as a garden.
This necessitated a rather rigid and architectural,
though highly decorative, treatment of the plants
used, and in Pliny's time the formal garden had
attained a high degree of excellence.

FIGURE 51. A SECOND PLAN 1'OB A COUNTRY ESTATE

GARDEN DESIGN 223

The Renaissance gardens of Italy were laid out
as far as possible on the lines of the old Roman
gardens. In fact, Lanciani asserts that the fa-
mous gardens of the Villa Barberini at Castel
Gondolfo are laid out almost precisely upon the
lines of Domitian's villa. The great interest in
antiquities which prevailed during the Renais-
sance led to the unearthing of all sorts of data con-
cerning ancient gardens, and also to the use of an-
tique sculpture as accent material (Fig. 5).

There is a great deal of talk nowadays about the
uselessness and artificiality of formal gardens, and
the necessity for "going back to nature" and copy-
ing gardens after the fields and woods. This point
of view has been very ably attacked by Mr. Regi-
nald Blomfield in his book "The Formal Garden in
England." It is very well worth while reading
for any one who wishes to make a careful study of
the formal garden.

The fallacy of the nature-lovers, as pointed out
clearly by Mr. Blomfield, is that nature is always
harmonious and simple, and that it is a sacrilege
to attempt to change her appearance ; yet we fre-
quently find that the very men who are insisting
strongly upon copying nature are those who will
change the whole face of the landscape if allowed

224 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

to do so, introducing features of a sort which are
entirely out of place, and transporting some "bit
of nature" to a spot where it would never have oc-
curred had nature herself been allowed to dictate.

The point that is missed by those who argue
strongly against so-called " rules and regulations"
in the designing of landscape, and indeed in all
branches of the arts, is, that man's handiwork is
of necessity unnatural-looking. For this very
reason, if the planting about and in close connec-
tion with the house be absolutely naturalistic and
unrestrained, the house will appear more unnatu-
ral and out of place than ever because of the in-
sistence of the surroundings upon contrasting
features. If the planting about the house — and
this applies to gardens, because they are generally
found in close proximity to the house — is planned
carefully to show that natural objects have been
used by man to express his ideas and to harmonize
his house with the countryside, of which it is a
part, by combining nature with design, the result
is much more worth while than a tangle of natu-
ralistic planting, however good that may be of it-
self and in its own place.

Up to the seventeenth century landscape gar-
dening was essentially garden design. Garden de-

GARDEN DESIGN 227

sign in turn was really included in the profession
of architecture, and almost all the architects of the
time designed the setting as well as the building.
In these early garden^|^find that garden and
house form one cord^^raon, and that the archi-
tectural features pr^Tominate in the garden
(Fig. 53). This is essentially the emphasis of
the formal element, and it is well illustrated in
the Italian gardens of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. The villa was designed as the control-
ling feature of the grounds, massive and formal in
every line. The degree of elaboration depended
upon the type of architecture used, the size of the
space available, and the amount of money to be
spent (Fig. 55). The design in its larger aspects
was simple and direct, bringing the villa into a
close relation with the grounds, and the grounds in
turn with some distant view or special landscape
feature such as water, plant growth, or topogra-
phy. The planting was mainly evergreens (Figs.
54, 55) of large scale, using the decorative plants
as accent. The whole garden was designed for
use, and was considered really as an out-of-door
building, the outer wall as a framework, and the
interior hedge and plantations as divisions or par-
titions.

228 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

In feudal times, preceding the development of
the English garden of the Elizabethan period, the
garden was of necessity in the castle court itself,
or within an adjacent A^^d inclosure, and archi-
tectural surroundings were therefore considered
indispensable. Even after the need for defenses
had passed, the idea of architectural propinquity
had been so thoroughly stamped on garden design
that the outcome was the formal garden.

Later, beginning in the eighteenth century,
when horticulture came to be more commonly
practised as a profession, and landscape garden-
ing was regarded as the province of horticulture
rather than of architecture, the gardens were con-
sidered as entirely separate problems, making no
attempt to harmonize with the house, because the
emphasis was laid entirely on the horticultural
side. So great was the enthusiasm for the new
styles of naturalistic planting that wonderful old
gardens, literally hundreds of years old, were ruth-
lessly chopped and torn up to be replaced by the
sentimental wilderness popular with the romantic
tendencies of the age.

The craze for the open lawn, with its conven-
tional border of shrubs of garden-like or wild
character, and its regular shave once or twice a

GARDEN DESIGN 231'

week, is in every way as artificial a conception as
the formal garden, and it is very frequently less
beautiful. Consequently, at that time a contro-
versy came up between the landscape-gardeners
and the architects that has continued down to the
present date. The architect looked at the subject
entirely from the point of view of design, and the
landscape-gardeners considered only the plant
material to be employed, neither contestant real-
izing that each side was of equal importance.

The arguments concerning the relative merits
of formal and informal design, which really may
be a heritage of that controversy, are looked at
from an entirely different point of view at pres-
ent. The architect is beginning to see that it is
impossible for him to understand the many things
necessary to good architecture and at the same time
have a thorough knowledge of horticulture, because
of the immense possibilities of both subjects. This
would necessarily hinder him from indulging in
extensive landscape practice. The horticulturist
also realizes that a sound knowledge of plant ma-
terial alone is an entirely inadequate equipment for
the successful practice of landscape design. Con-
sequently the architect and the landscape-gardener
are now working more in harmony, each admitting

232 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

that it is possible for the other man to understand
the general principles of design that form a com-
mon meeting-point for the discussion, and acknowl-
edging that a satisfactory result cannot be obtained
in either field without the recognition of these
principles and a wholesome respect for the other
man's point of view.

The position of a garden and the character of
its surroundings are the great primary considera-
tions in working out a problem in garden design.

If the garden is conceived as being a part of the
house design, it may be of four kinds, patio, court,
entrance, or terrace. The type which is of great-
est usefulness will of course be selected for the
problem in hand. In order that the garden may
harmonize with the buildings, the way in which
the idea is carried out must agree with the style
of architecture which in turn dominates the gar-
den scheme, and it is this consideration alone that
determines the manner in which the scheme is to
be executed. Before discussing these four types
in detail, the three purposes for which a garden
may be designed must be recalled, namely, utili-
tarian, museum, and pleasure purposes.

Utilitarian gardens are those in which display
is considered as of entirely secondary interest.

Photograph by Anderson

FIGURE 54. ARCHITECTURAL PREDOMINANCE, VILLA D7ESTE, TIVOLI

ITALY

GARDEN DESIGN 235

Under this head will fall the gardens that have
been made to utilize space which has been left
available for one reason or another, but which was
not primarily intended to be used as a garden.
Thence can be traced the development of the
formal garden.

In the castles of feudal times considerable space
was left between the building and the fortified
walls, and in some cases a court was used to give
light and air, and to accommodate the peasantry
and their flocks and herds in times of siege. The
space was left primarily for that purpose, but was
later utilized for fruit or pleasure gardens, and
was the beginning of the English pleasance. The
esthetic aspect was of entirely secondary impor-
tance and was of later development, having been
added merely to give interest to what might other-
wise have 'been unsightly. Whenever vegetables
were grown the space was doubly useful. As
these gardens, then, were the forerunners of the
English pleasance, or pleasure garden, the devel-
opment has been away from the utilitarian and to-
ward the esthetic. Inclosed gardens are known
as the " court" type, and are now found in our
modern apartment houses and hotels.

Entrance courts are primarily utilitarian,

FIGURE 55. COMBINATION OP ARCHITECTURAL AND HORTI-
CULTURAL ACCENT MATERIAL TO EMPHASIZE A

VISTA, VILLA D'ESTE

GARDEN DESIGN 237

different from the court garden, were primarily
for convenience rather than for necessity. They
present an excellent chance for combining utility
and beauty, inasmuch as they offer a convenient
approach and should likewise give a favorable
first impression.

The terrace garden is not particularly utilita-
rian unless the house be set on sloping ground and
requires a level space about it. In such a case the
terrace garden is the most useful and beautiful so-
lution of the requirement. The illustration (Fig.
56) shows a terrace used as a gradual transition
from the formal design immediately surrounding
the house to the more naturalistic planting at a
greater distance.

The patio is a similar esthetic utilization
of space left for utilitarian purposes. It is
found in buildings of the Spanish type, and
was closely related to the English "fore court"
although this last may be termed an en-
trance garden. Many of these courts were de-
signed as part of the scheme of circulation. These
may be seen in the early English manor-houses as
well as in the Italian Renaissance palaces, such as
the Strozzi and Riccardi or the Palazzo del Te.

Horticultural gardens are the most important

GARDEN DESIGN 239

division of the utilitarian garden. They are used
for three purposes, food-stuffs, medicinal plants,
and cut flowers. Under the food heading will be
included orchards, shrubs, small fruits, and vege-
tables.

The kitchen garden is a good type of utilitarian
garden which is often attractive in appearance,
for in it vegetables and flowers for cutting are
often grown together to advantage, thus produc-
ing almost the effect of a pleasure garden. In-
deed, for a small suburban residence this is per-
haps the most generally successful type. Where
medicinal herbs and cut flowers are grown exclu-
sively it is merely a question of getting the great-
est value out of the soil, though nowadays medici-
nal gardens are virtually obsolete.

The museum garden is divisible by use into two
branches, the educational and the botanic: Of
these the first has far greater esthetic possibilities,
as the plants may be displayed with greater free-
dom in regard to appearances where their position
is not necessarily determined by their botanical
classes.

In a botanical garden, where it is desired to dis-
play all possible varieties of a species, many ex-
amples are often present which are difficult to

240 LANDSCAPE GABDENING

harmonize with their surroundings, and the result
is more or less a " filing system" of living botani-
cal specimens, often incongruous in appearance.

The Arnold Arboretum in Boston is an excel-
lent example of a well-planned botanical garden.
Much attention has been paid to appearances, and
the display elements have been judiciously feat-
ured. The large conifers grow under natural
conditions on a rocky hill, about the outskirts of
which the rhododendrons and mountain laurel
cluster, while the gentler and more fertile slopes
show plants of the plain-loving varieties. The
natural topography varies from fairly level mead-
ows to a rugged hill with a tumbling brook, and
advantage has been taken of all the natural feat-
ures suitable for the display of plants in condi-
tions which as nearly as possible duplicate their
native surroundings. The grades have been
changed only where the building of drives de-
manded it. This is one of the most successful so-
lutions of a botanical garden under ideal condi-
tions, but it would seldom be possible to reproduce
these conditions. Of course the amount of exotic
material employed is rigorously prescribed by the
climate, as it is entirely an out-of-door garden.

In public gardens in large cities the purpose is

FIGURE 57. GARDEN TEMPLE AT MONTACUTE HOUSE,
ENGLAND

242 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

somewhat educational, and in a display of this sort
plants are grouped not according to their botanical
characteristics, but rather on account of their soil
requirements, time of bloom, and hardiness. The
first of these requirements will group plants of
different appearances in the same location. The
exposure of the position will likewise determine
the hardiness of the plants to be employed. The
time of bloom is more of an esthetic question, as
are the color values of the leaf, flowers, fruit, and
twig. The habit of growth will determine largely
the position of the plant. Then, too, in a garden
scheme of this kind special features are often in-
troduced, such as a flower display or the exhibi-
tion of exotic plants. Specimens are frequently
grown in more favored localities, and transplanted
into the garden for a short time only for display
purposes. There is no attempt made to group
plants of the same habitat together, but the plant-
ing material is used solely on account of its shape,
color, and quality, and upon the satisfactory com-
bination of these depends the success of the result
obtained.

Pleasure gardens are divided into two classes
according to whether their emphasis is architec-
tural or horticultural. In the architectural class

FIGURE 58. TOPIARY WORK

GAKDEN DESIGN 245

the individual interest of the plant material which
is used to achieve the design is of secondary im-
portance. The plants are arranged and selected
solely with regard to their size, form, color, and
scale. This allows a vast latitude, for shapes de-
sired in the design may be represented by any one
of half a dozen quite different species. In fact,
plants are here used rather as architectural mem-
bers than as anything else. The architecture of
the buildings and other accessories should pre-
dominate, but the architectural appearance must
extend to the planting also if the garden scheme is
to be successful. Therefore the planting must
have somewhat the same stiffness and rigidity as
is inherent in stone, brick, or wood in so far as the
material employed permits.

An architectural garden should possess the same
characteristics as a more extended architectural
planting, but may be more fancifully treated and
more highly specialized. A very interesting ex-
ample of the use of architectural features in a
decorative fashion is seen in the little "temples"
which occur at the middle of the side retaining-
walls of the formal entrance court at Montacute
House (Fig. 57). The piers of the balustrade are
crowned by stone pyramids, and in order to pro-

246 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

vide some contrast of elaboration with simplicity,
and of curved with straight lines, these little cir-
cular buildings were introduced to emphasize the
ends of a secondary axis.* The designer of a
scheme of this sort may say to a horticulturist,
"At this position I wish a tree or shrub of such a
height, form, color, and texture," and he can
safely leave it to the horticulturist to determine
the species, knowing that the result will be success-
ful so long as the specifications are followed. In
such gardens plants are used to furnish back-
grounds, to form part of an architectural mass, or,
as in French and Japanese examples, they may
even be clipped to carry out the details and forms
of a style. Topiary work is not essential to the
formal garden, but is often found in connection
with it, and, indeed, would be out of place in any
other kind of garden, unless only a single speci-
men were used. Topiary (Fig. 58) is not of suffi-
cient importance in general landscape work to
permit of discussion here.

In the horticultural pleasure garden the inter-
est of the owner centers upon the plant itself, and
the entire arrangement of the garden has as its
one object the tasteful and advantageous display

* See pages 80-82.

GARDEN DESIGN 247

of the plants composing it. The masses of plant-
ing are arranged either as individual plants or as
plant masses setting off the forms of the plants
which compose them rather than designed to har-
monize with any extraneous features. If there
are any architectural elements, they should ap-
pear incidental. The season at which the garden
is to appear at its best is a potent factor, and the
harmony of leaf and flower, as well as the sizes of
the plants, must be carefully considered.

Since the question of garden design is as im-
portant to the landscape-gardener as to the archi-
tect, some mention of the subject from the point of
view of each should be given here. It is of course
impossible in a limited space to deal in an exhaus-
tive way with a subject as large as garden design.

Design and the relation of each particular type
of design to special problems will form the briefs
of this discussion. The particular plants to be
used and the matter of architectural details and
construction, not being essential design require-
ments, need not be considered at the outset.

After the preliminary scheme of a garden design
has been determined upon, the architect can de-
sign special architectural features, and the land-
scape-gardener should work out the problem of

248 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

plant materials. The question of architectural or
horticultural emphasis must be decided by the con-
ditions of the problem and its needs, without dis-
cussion as to whether the garden should be in the
formal or informal style. The style must con-
form to the problem; the problem should not be
arbitrarily squeezed into a style.

It has long been known that the old gardens of
Europe were executed with certain broad princi-
ples in view, and that they were not laid out by
men on the grounds without plans, but were care-
fully designed, with elaborate drawings, and then
built at an enormous cost. A typical example of
such a garden is the Villa d'Este (Fig. 59).

In the early Roman gardens plant material, on
account of the climatic conditions, was a secondary
consideration, but the plant material in a modern
garden of the English type should be of primary
importance for the same reason. On account of
the general moisture and even temperature, it is
possible to grow a great variety of plants in Eng-
land, while the excessive dryness and heat of Italy
prevent the use of any but the most hardy speci-
mens. In these examples the style was primarily
dictated by the climate. Almost any sort of cli-
mate may be found in America, and consequently

GAEDEN DESIGN 249

the limitations and restrictions imposed by local-
ity, being rigorous, must receive careful attention.
A comparison of New England, New Orleans,
and Southern Californian conditions will illustrate
climatic differences. New England winters are
long and cold, with a late spring and an early au-
tumn. Therefore only plants which are hardy
enough to live through severe weather and require

•noo

inn DO

FIGURE 59. A TYPICAL ITALIAN GARDEN PLAN, VILLA D*ESTE

250 LANDSCAPE GAKDENING

only a short time for flowering and fruition are
suitable for use.

New Orleans is warm the year around, with
plenty of rain and moisture, giving a large range
of plant material, and even permitting the use of
some vegetation of a tropical character.

In Southern California the winter is mild, but
there is a dry season extending from July to
December; consequently the planting material
must be such as will survive long periods of
drought and require little water. If a plant is
well suited for one of these three sets of conditions,
it will often be impossible to employ it to advan-
tage in either of the others.

In an analysis of garden design, every problem
must be considered from two points of view : first,
that of use ; second, that of its esthetic value. The
use is of primary importance, but a garden is gen-
erally designed for pleasure purposes, and so the
appearance can hardly be termed secondary; a
garden should give pleasure as well as comfort to
the beholder.

The importance of the topographical features
of the landscape as affecting garden design may
again be noted in a comparison of the French and
Italian gardens. The magnificent conceptions of

GARDEN DESIGN 251

Lenotre could never have been executed elsewhere
than on a broad plain, nor can one conceive of such
designs as those of the Villa d'Este and the Villa
Lante as existing anywhere but on their own rocky
hillsides. In fact, in each of these cases the gar-
den owes its peculiar charm to an insistence upon
the topographical surroundings and contours, and
these, instead of being considered as limitations,
have been of great assistance in determining the
garden scheme.

Japanese gardens are often built upon uneven
ground, because they generally represent the
whole countryside, with hills and plains upon a
very small scale. Informal gardens generally
look better upon uneven ground, for it is difficult
to make level ground appear naturally informal.

If the gardens are designed at some distance
from the house, the character of the architecture
will have nothing to do with the garden design, and
the garden may be considered as an entirely sep-
arate feature. Gardens in connection with the
house and treated as out-door rooms (Fig. 52)
should be of the formal type, because their lines
must harmonize with the architecture, and carry
the idea of the building beyond the limits of brick
and plaster. These may be called architectural

252 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

gardens. It must be remembered that a formal
garden does not necessarily mean clipped hedges ;
there is as wide a range of formal style as of in-
formal.

The style may of ten, become gradually more in-
formal as the garden recedes from the house, and
in this way may give a gradual transition from
natural to artificial features. , -

In the horticultural gardens, where the main
interest is in the plant material, the gardens may
be either formal or informal; but the main deter-
mining factors are the kind of soil at hand and the
species of plants which it is desirable to use. Of
course the garden should be so designed as to dis-
play these to their best advantage. Topography
likewise enters here in determining the amount of
grading which will be necessitated by the type of
garden required, and conversely in the adaptation
of the garden style to the contour of the existing
landscape.

The informal type of garden is not necessarily
more nor less admirable than the formal type; it
is, indeed, more often unintelligently used than
the formal garden, and consequently is receiving
a larger amount of meaningless praise. In fact,
the sort of adulation that is often heaped upon the

GARDEN DESIGN 255

informal garden has done a great deal to injure it
in the minds of those who believe that design has
some value. It is unfortunate that it should have
suffered in this way, for at its best it is altogether
a desirable type of planting.

In characterizing the architectural garden one
might say that the planting materials are used
merely for form and color, but principally for
form, and that they may be considered almost as
architectural members. Wherever flowers ap-
pear in a formal garden it is not on account of the
individual beauty of the flower itself, but because
a color note is needed to relieve an otherwise som-
ber color scheme. In Figure 60 red geraniums
are used for that purpose. The vases on the bal-
ustrade at the Villa Lante are an ingenious means
of introducing plant form and color into very
strictly architectural surroundings (Fig. 61).

The accent in the formal garden is generally a
piece of sculpture or an architectural feature, such
as a well-curb (Fig. 62), a fountainhead (Fig. 63),
a gate, stairs (Fig. 64), a bridge, a sundial, or a
retaining- wall (Fig. 65).

Where accents occur in informal planting they
are as a rule horticultural, and rely upon some dif-
ference in the accent plants from their surround-

K

FIGURE 61. ARCHITECTURAL VASES USED TO INTRO-
DUCE PLANT COLOR, VILLA LANTE,
BAGNAIA, ITALY

GARDEN DESIGN 257

ings. The difference may be in form, color, qual-
ity, or size.

As has been said, the horticultural garden is
divided into three classes, according to its prac-
tical uses: the cut-flower, the vegetable, and the
fruit garden. It is not necessary, of course, that

FIGURE 62. FOUNTAIN AT VILLA BORGHESE, ROME

these be ugly, but because designed entirely for
economic purposes the gardens will necessarily
appear much simpler and more monotonous than
if they had been laid out with some emphasis upon
their esthetic side.

Within the major limitations of formal and in-
formal, architectural and horticultural emphasis,

258 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

FIGURE 63. POMPEIAN FOUNTAIN HEAD

position and topography, there is considerable
scope for the exercise of imagination by the gar-
den-designer, although, where the gardens are de-
signed for esthetic purposes, the taste of the client
is a rather powerful determining factor. He may
wish to make his garden naturalistic ; that is, of a

GARDEN DESIGN 261

sort that he would find in a ramble about that lo-
cality, growing in natural conditions. He may
wish to make it picturesque by emphasizing un-
usual features and combinations, or he may, from
his interest in other countries, desire a large dis-
play of exotic plants. These questions deal not
only with the plant material, but more or less with
the arrangement. One cannot use the irregular
plant material in formal planting schemes any
more than one can produce an appearance of in-
formality by the use of stiff, precise plants and
clipped hedges.

The villa type of garden is one which must be
considered most frequently in America, and is the
type employed to best advantage in the suburbs of
large cities, and in the residential portions of small
cities. The garden planting in this case is consid-
ered as a setting for the house, and therefore
spreads itself about more than if it were restricted
to a definite area, as in the case of the out-door-
room type of architectural garden. Neighbor-
hood planting would come under this head. The
out-door room idea may exist, indeed, as a part of
the scheme of villa planting, yet the restriction of
all plants to such a purpose would lay major em-
phasis on a strictly formal treatment, and would

262 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

not help to tie the dwellings in with the more or
less irregular surroundings of American suburbs.

Where views can be seen from the house, the
planting of the villa garden should be such as to
emphasize the prospect, and wherever any objec-
tionable views occur they should be screened by a
judicious use of shrubs. Where the grounds are
of sufficient extent, games and recreations enter
into the problem. The laying out of tennis-
courts, bowling-greens, swimming-pools, and even
tracks and base-ball diamonds must often be taken
into consideration in connection with villa gar-
dens. The landscaping of a villa is influenced
largely by its scale, but it occurs as a sort of middle
ground between the formal and the informal types,
using sometimes the freedom of the one, and some-
times the restraint of the other.

Topiary work has long been associated with
formal gardening, and would appear to be at vari-
ance with many types of planting, and altogether
individualistic (see Fig. 58). Upon close study,
one finds that, instead of being sharply differenti-
ated, this type of planting is really a form of the
gardenesque. Topiary was introduced into Eng-
land by William of Orange and Queen Mary in the
sixteenth century. It became a fashion among the

FIGURE 65. RETAINING WALL AT VILLA FALCONIERI,
FRASCATI, ITALY

264 LANDSCAPE GARDENING

wealthy class in England, and gradually spread,
so that even at the present time it is common to see
trees clipped in various forms in the gardens of the
smaller homes.

Topiary work may be divided into three types
of planting : the parterre type, in which the plant-
ing is to be seen from one point; the formal type
of planting, in which, though the plants are seen
in elevation, they are used to bring out some par-
ticular feature in the design; and finally the type
in .which trees of different shapes and sizes are em-
ployed much the same as in gardenesque planting,
where plant material is grouped and dotted about
without regard to its composition in mass. The
plants used for this work are those which are natu-
rally formal or peculiar in shape ; those which are
restrained by clipping; and plants which have
been made to grow dwarfed by clipping, budding,
or by binding the roots.

Almost all garden design, then, can be analyzed
as falling more or less under one of the two great
divisions, the formal and the informal. The gar-
den is a personal sort of thing, really the most in-
timate part of any landscape scheme, and if it does
not reflect something of its owner, it falls short of
its possibilities. It may be as small as one of the

GABDEN DESIGN 265

tiny cottage gardens of England or as large as the
gardens at Versailles, but it is sure to conform to
certain general principles, not rules. Stated sim-
ply, it may be said that every part of a garden must
contribute toward the beauty of the general
scheme, and that it will not do this if it seems to
be present without a purpose. Every part of a
garden should be esthetically utilitarian.

THE END

INDEX

INDEX

A

Accent,

architectural, 34

architectural features, 33, 153,
255, 258

axial, 75, 82

color, 93, 101, 102

exotic, 34

horticultural, 54, 57, 58, 153,
236, 258

line, 134

planting, 103, 147

plants, 54, 83, 116, 134

sculpture, 12

solution, 58

water, 54
Accessories,

architectural, 11, 32, 43, 66, 67,
83, 183, 245, 255, 258

in Italian gardens, 33, 130

in Japenese gardens, 126

naturalization of, 34, 43

planting, 116
Agriculture, 15-16

relation to landscape gardening,
15

soils, 16, 152

American home, 3, 168-178
Architect, cooperation with land-
scape architect, 6, 231, 232,
247

point of view, 231
Architecture, 5-12

architectural point of view, 231

definition of, 7

elevation, expresses plan, 6, 11

French, 28

harmonize with surroundings, 6,
7

influence of natural surround-
ings on, 7, 8

planting, 42, 105, 108

unity by planting, 111
Approaches, 71, 72
Arnold Arboretum, 240
Areas, rhythm in, 240

Axes,

axial lines, 58

created, 81, 82

cross, 75

definition of, 80

emphasis of, 119

existing, 80, 81

formal, 80

informal, 80

in garden design, 80, 81, 236, 246

plant material, 80

primary and secondary, 8X)

walks on, 11

B

Backyard, 183, 184
Balance, 63, 64, 66, 69, 80, 101,
124, 126

accent, 63

color, 63, 125

obvious, 63

occult, 63

symmetrical, 63, 65, 125

unsymmetrical, 63, 65
Beauty, result of, 25
Beauty and landscape design, 19
Blomfield, Reginald,

Formal Garden in England, 223
Bowling Green, 262
Buildings, location of, 70

Castles of the Rhine, 8

medieval, 70
Character, Plant, 4

flower, 149

form, 143, 157

fruit, 150

height, 142

leaf, 148, 152

twig, 150

Chateau of France, 8
Chickenyard, 70

Circulation, 22, 71, 72, 77, 78, 164,
172, 237

and planting, 80
269

270

INDEX

City, needs in, 159

Climate, influence upon design,

and exotic material, 240

and use, 219

California, 249, 250

England, 219

influence on style, 248

New England, 249

New Orleans, 249, 250
College, buildings and grounds, 111,

193, 194, 195
Color,

accent, 93, 102, 103

antipathies, 92

appreciation, 92

attention secured by, 186

autumn, 57, 99

balance, 96, 101, 124

blossom, 149

in city street, 163

clashes, 95

color accent, 88

combinations, 92

complementary, 87, 89, 102

contrast of value, 102, 115, 126

cycle, 89, 100

distance and, 97

dominant note, 93, 95, 96, 103

harmony, 95, 96

horticulture, 88

hue, 86, 87, 101

ideas from planting, 15, 93

intensity, 86, 88, 95

leaf and fruit, 150

fight, 86

love of bright colors, 185

modifying note, 93, 95, 101

names, 88

neutrality, 88

painting, 15

perspective by, 177

plants (see Plant Materials)

primary, 89, 98

problem in landscape design, 94

psychological phenomena, 91

repetition, 95

rhythm, 67

rotation definition, 100

seasonal changes as to color in
plants, 90, 97, 98, 101, 152

secondary, 89

selection of shrubs, 39, 141, 152,
177

spring, 99

summer, 99

value, 86, 95, 101, 115, 148, 151

winter, 91, 99, 111
Community cooperation, 162
Composition of planting areas, 80,
24, 116

definition of, 30

of plants, 107

in landscape gardening, 31, 34

silhouette in elevation of plants,

116
Cooperative landscape gardening,

159, 168

Cornell University Campus, 194
Country estates, 204-217

development, 205

division, 210

drives, 209

kinds, 204

lawns, 214

privacy, 210

service, 210

stables, 213

tennis courts, 205

use, 205
Conventional, 42, 48

Design,
attitude of designer towards, 20,

21

areas in, 27, 42, 45
balance, 63, 69, 96, 124
basis of formal, 95
basis of informal, 75
circulation, 71, 72, 209
deals with the placing of the

object, 24
definition of, 25
dynamic equilibrium, 67
esthetic, 21, 24
foreign elements in, 31
formal, see formal design
function of, 22, 24, 25
geometrical, 29, 47, 72
general considerations of, 20

INDEX

271

influence of landscape on, 7, 105

informal, see informal design

interrelation of parts of a de-
sign, 24

landscape design, 27

line division in, 24, 31, 46, 77

line drawing, 85

monotony, 64, 66

petty insistence on details, 19

plan, 6, 7

practical, 21, 24, 69

principles of, 20, 69

province of a designer, 24

repetition, 64, 68, 69

rhythm, 64, 66, 67, 69

rules of, 18

satisfactory in appearance, 22

sequence, 69

spontaneous, 22

success of, 44

static equilibrium, 66

structure, paramount impor-
tance, 27

underlying principles of, 20

units in, 71

unity in, 64, 66, 124, 214

use considered first, 21, 24

variety in, 64,
Drainage,

agricultural, 16

bog gardens, 16

engineering, 18

lawns, 16

reason for, 18

rock gardens, 16

soil, 16

subsurface, 18

surface, 18

tennis courts, 19

walks, 19

Drives (see Roads and Ap-
proaches),

Durham Cathedral, 25
Duty to Neighbors, 70
Dynamic equilibrium, 67

E

Egyptian gardens, 12
Emphasis,

architectural, 227, 248

horticultural, 228, 248
Engineering, 17-19

drainage, 16, 18. See also,
Drainage

esthetic ideal, 19

practical consideration, 19

relation to landscape architec-
ture, 17

survey mental, 18*

topographical planting, 11, 157
Estate,

division of, 70, 71

farm, 120

large country house, 120, 204

planting, 107

small home, 120, 168

suburban, 120

Faulkner Farms, 153
Foreign travel, 3
Fore-court, 237
Formal design, 58, 72, 75, 76

areas, 44, 45, 46

axes, 75, 80

city building, 8

circulation, 72

compared with informal, 48

country estate, 214

definition of, 36

differentiation of two types, 8

geometrical basis of plan in, 76

geometrical design, 28, 63

in landscape gardening, 36

planting, 11, 36, 44, 53, 116, 120

"schools," 36, 133, 193, 245

symmetry, 82

unity in, 51
Formal Gardens, 199, 227, 235

arguments for, 231
Fountaine-bleu, 13
Fountains, 32, 82
France,

plants, 157

design, 250
Function, see design

G

Gardens,

America, 160, 218, 248
Faulkner Farm, 153

272

INDEX

Holm Lea, 54

Mount Vernon, 123
architectural, 42, 242, 245, 252,

255, 257
botanic, 239
colonial, 123
cut-flower, 257
educational, 119
Egypt, 219
England, 218, 248, 265

castle, 227, 228, 235

climatic conditions, 219

early gardens, 227

Elizabethan period, 228

English pleasance, 235

enclosed, 235

esthetic value of, 250

entrance, 232, 235

feudal gardens, 228

flowers in, 254

Montacute House, 245

planting, 111, 248

Warwick Castle, 142

Wilton House, 53
formal, 61, 78", 120, 252, 262, 264
France, 246, 250, 265

Carpeau, found in Paris, 67

Versailles, 66, 265
Fruit, 257
Greece, 220
hillside, 70

horticultural, 237, 242, 246, 252,
257

cut flowers, 257

display, 247

pleasure, 246

vegetable, 257
informal, 251, 252, 264
Italy, 12, 51, 70, 116, 123, 220,
223, 248, 249, 250

Boboli Gardens, 32

Florentine, 124

Palaces of Renaissance, 237

Palazzo de Te, 237

planting, 124, 130, 157

Roman, 220

Strozzi Palace, 237

Villa Barbini, 19

Villa Borghese, 257

Villa Falconieri, 263

Villa d'Este, 236, 248, 249,
250, 251

Villa Lante, 250, 251, 253, 254

Villa Medici, 129
Kinds of,

Court type, 51; 78, 228, 251

Garden type, 228, 235

Villa type, 228, 262

plant materials in, 126

planting, 137, 158, 246
kitchen, 239, 257
outdoor building, 227
outdoor room, 78, 219, 251, 258
Patio, 232
Public, 240
Purposes of, 232

utilitarian, 232, 235, 239, 250,
265

museum, 239

pleasure, 235, 250
Spain, 237

Terrace, 232, 238, 250
Topiary, types of, 264
Topography and, 250, 251, 252
use of, 219, 250
utilitarian, 232, 235, 250
vegetable, see kitchen
walled, 43
year-round, 99, 151
Garden cities, 159
Garden design,

architectural emphasis, 242, 251,

255

axes, 80, 81, 236
botanical, 239, 240
character of its surroundings,

232

educational, 239, 242
elaboration of, 227
entrance, 232, 235
esthetic, 250
forecourt, 232, 237
formal, 14, 223, 228, 252
garden and house, one composi-
tion, 227
garden type, 251
harmonize with house, 232, 251
horticultural, 239
horticultural emphasis, 239, 242,
252

INDEX

273

informal, 250, 252, 255

in landscape gardening, 220

museum, 232, 239

patio, 232, 237

pleasure, 232, 235, 239, 250

position, 232

privacy in, 218

purposes, 232, 250

sculpture, 12

style, 232, 248, 252

terrace, 232, 237

topographical influence, 240,
250, 251

transitional, 252

utilitarian, 232, 239, 250
Golf links, 196-204

design of, 196

direction of play, 199

distance between holes, 200

location of club house, 200

in parks, 120

planting, 196, 203

private, 205

purpose of, 196

topography of, 199
Grass used as a decorative feature,
192

H

Harmony between house and
grounds, 2281

Harvard University, 194

Herculaneum, 12

Hermae, use in design, 12

Holm Lea, Brookline, Mass., 54

Home grounds, 1, 41, 120, 168, 172,

177, 239
design of, 172
entrance walk, 173
flower garden, 173
individuality, 160, 162, 167
intensive, development, 159
lawn, 16, 33, 46, 171, 177, 228
private portion of, 172, 174
service, 172, 179, 184, 185, 210,

213, 173
simplicity, 186
unity in, 41
utilitarian aspect, 184, 185

Horticultural varieties, 89

Horticulture, 16, 17
accent, 54, 115, 125
economic and decorative, 17
emphasis, 112, 115
horticulturist and landscape

gardening, 231
horticultural groups of planting,

relation to landscape gardening,

16
House,

design of, 42
location of, 18
surroundings, 42

Informal design, 46, 53, 61, 72, 79

arguments for, 217

axes, 80, 83

city, 41

compared with formal, 48, 63,
72, 116, 153

definition of, 36

disposition of areas, 36, 46, 61,
153

elevation and plan, 116

freedom, 46

garden, 120

geometrical basis of plan in, 72,
79

influence of natural surround-
ings, 7, 120

in landscape gardening, 36

naturalistic planting, 44, 137

planting, 8, 36, 52, 53, 61, 116,

134, 193
Intensive landscape development,

Interest, centralization of, 219
J

Japanese, 25, 48, 51, 126, 218,

219, 251
Japanese print, 63

Kitchen garden, 71, 239

L
Landscape architect, 61, 239

274

INDEX

attitude towards design, 20, 21
client, 44, 45, 171
client's point of view, 44, 45, 171
cooperation with architect, 6, 42,

217, 231, 232, 247
equipment of, 4
freedom in work, 44
knowledge of plant materials,

94, 105

Lenotre, Andre", 251
materials of, 27, see also Plant-
ing Material
point of view, 231, 232
Landscape architecture,
comprises

agriculture, 15

architecture, 5

engineering, 17

forestry, 5

horticulture, 16

painting, 14

sculpture, 12

American landscape architec-
ture, 3, 14

in Middle West, 7, 42
in city, 8

Landscape design,
approach, 172
areas in, 45, 46
beauty, most potent factor, 19
circulation, 172
conditions governing, 27, 39
college groups, plan of, 111
color, problem, 94
composition in, 34
country estate, 204
definition of, 28, 30
dominant idea, 51
elevations in, 29
esthetic value, 7, 190
fitness for its function, 84, 178
formal types, 46, 53-58
foundation of, 69
function of, 27
golf course, 196
harmony of elements, 31
harmony with surroundings, 27,

46

home grounds, 136
individuality of, 31

informal types, 46, 53, 61, 72

Japanese school, 481

less artificial than other forms
of design, 27

limitations of, 27, 45

line divisions, 45

location of buildings, 70

materials of, 27

painting, contrast with, 24, 93

plan, the primary consideration,
7, 28

planting masses, 46

practicability in, 69

primary requisite of, 84

repetition, 69

rhythm, 69

service portion, 210

"schools," 36

simplicity, 186

spontaneity, 48

structure of paramount impor-
tance, 27

three dimensions, 28

two elevations of same plan, 30

unity, 32, 53, 64, 66

use of water, 48, 227

use of topography, 193, 199, 204,
213, 227, 240, 250, 251

utilitarian aspect, 21, 181, 184,
190

views, 172, 227

villa types, 227
Landscape survey,
Laundry Yard (see Service)
Lawn, 33, 171, 177

open lawn, 16, 46, 228

drainage, 16
Lenotre, Andre, 251
Lorraine, Claude, 14
Love of flowers, 181

M

Models, 213
Monotony, 66, 161
Montacute House, 245
Mount Vernon, 123
Municipal control of landscape
gardening, 162

N
Native conditions, 51

INDEX

275

Native planting,

Nature, 102; harmonious and

simple, 223
Norman, English, 34

0

Offscape, 70

Organizing for street improvement,

163
Orchards, 17, 239

Painting, 14, 15, 83, 93
contrast with landscape, 93
influence in landscape design,

14, 23
working out compositions, 24,

93, 94
Parks,

city types, 119
country, 120, 133
naturalistic, 120
planting, 108, 154
sculpture in, 13
Washington, D. C., 13, 119
Parterre, 58
Perspective, 66, 67, 75
plant color, 98, 177
planting, 66, 177
"Picturesque and Beautiful," 14
Planning and elevation, 30
expressing plan, 6, 7, 11
plan and elevation correlated, 28
Planting, materials of,
annuals,

autumn color, 57
background, 71, 103, 107, 167,

246

bedding plants, 123
characteristics of types, 148
classification, 123, 147, 157
characteristics, 148
color, 89, 95, 184, 186
colors in, 90, 97, 98, 100, 101,

242

form, 130, 144, 242, 245, 257
habit of growth, 242
height, 142, 245
hardiness, 242
odor of flowers, 137, 150
quality, 147, 257

size, 257

soil, requirements, 152, 242

texture, 97, 149, 152, 246
classified as to,

time of bloom, 242

use, 44, 93, 124

winter effects, 91, 99

value, 148, 151

varieties, 22
characteristics, 57, 93
color value, 97, 242
colors in, 89, 90, 97, 98, 100, 182,

242, 245, 246
color changes, 90, 98, 99
composition of, 107, 108
create new interest, 111
color rotation, 100
educational value of, 183, 239
esthetic, 78, 108, 115, 190, 203
facers, 103, 137, 138
filler, 103, 147, 157
fitness for function, 123
foreground, 107, 133
framing distant view, 106
filler shrubs, 43, 103
greenhouse plants, 123
growth of, 69, 157
herbariums, 123
hillside planting, 105, 240
index of, for office, 141
individuality, 16
leaf arrangement, 148
native, 39, 138
perennials, 123
planting and handling, 16
propagation, 16
pruning, 16

psychological effect of color, 92
requirements of, 39
seasonal changes, 90, 91, 97, 98,

138

selection of, 36, 126
screening, 22, 106, 107, 112, 142,

167, 173, 177

setting for special features, 107
smoke and, 41
specialized plants, 41, 138
specimen, 242
spraying, 16

subdivision of schemes, 112
success of landscape work de-

276

INDEX

pends upon plant materials,

105
to aid architectural schemes,

107, 112

topiary, 137, 246
to unify architectural composi-
tion, 108
trees, 123, 239
types, plants, 41
use of plants, 106
used architecturally, 18*3, 246
utilitarian, 78, 112, 115, 190,

203

vegetable, 189, 239
vines, 186
Plants, use of,

about house, 8, 42, 174, 224

about lawn, 16, 172

accent, 42, 43, 54, 57, 101, 103,

115, 116, 125, 126, 147, 167,

209, 227, 248, 255
and architecture, 42, 107
and sculpture, 12
annuals, 123
axes, 58, 82
background, 71, 103, 107, 144,

167, 246

balance, 80, 124
barriers, 112
biennials, 123
bold effects, 133
boulevards, 119
circulation, 174
city, 11, 40, 116, 119, 154, 159
city square, 44, 119
classification of, 112
climate, 123, 249, 250
colors in, 90, 97, 98, 100, 101,

115, 242

composition, 80, 87
color combinations, 15
color in, 256
college groups, 111, 195
colonial garden, 123
contrast, 43

country, 119, 120, 154, 116
create view, 214
create interest, 111
decorative, 8, 227
different kinds of, 119, 130, 154,

168

direct view, 115

display of, 242

distant planting, 107, 133, 137

divisional, 173, 191, 214, 227

economic, 17, 112, 115, 142, 150,

171
educational value of, 190, 239,

242

elevation, 107, 116, 154
emphasis, 43, 95, 106, 111, 112,

137, 141, 248, 257
England, 141
English border, 137, 195
enhance view, 22
estate, 107
esthetic, 17, 78, 108, 112, 115,

190, 203

exotics, 111, 125, 174, 242
exotic material, 115, 125
facer, 91, 123, 137, 138, 144
farms, 120
filler, 43, 123, 144
fitness for function, 123, 147,

151, 161, 245, 250
form, 130
formal, 11, 36, 42, 44, 53, 61, 82,

102, 116, 130, 133, 203
formal gardens, 120
for immediate effect, 130
foreground, 133, 257
frame view, 13, 67, 83, 115, 129,

214

France, 124, 157

for architectural effect, 134, 248
gardenesque, definition of, 43,

134, 137, 203, 264
gardenlike, 228
golflinks, 120
harmony, 107, 111, 157
herbaceous, 167

horticultural emphasis, 112, 174
hillside, 105, 106, 154
immediate effect, 130
individual interest, 54
influence of surroundings in

selection of, 7, 11, 42, 120,

142, 147, 153, 158, 227
informal, 36, 39, 52, 61, 62, 130,

258
interest in plant itself, 44

INDEX

277

Italy, 123, 124, 126, 157
Japanese, 120, 126, 137
large estate, 120
mass, 22, 46, 57, 153
naturalistic, definition of, 137,

138, 224, 228, 237
naturalistic, 44, 53, 120, 134,

137, 138, 224, 258
native materials, 39, 138, 154
native, 40, 158
outline, 46, 61, 130, 133, 153,

210

parks, 108, 119, 133, 154
parkways, 119, 120
park-like, definition of, 134, 138,

167, 193

perennials, 123, 137
playgrounds, 191
point of view, 107, 10S
private portion of grounds,

174, 181
privacy, 107
repetition, 43, 80
restrained, 46, 53, 116, 134
rhythm, 80

scale, 43, 93, 114, 125, 130, 137
screen, 22, 106, 107, 112, 142,

157, 167, 172, 173, 177, 189
seasonal, 100, 134, 141, 151,

251
shapes, of planting masses, 46,

61, 153, 210
service, 173
shrubs, 123, 130, 167
silhouette, 61, 107, 116, 137, 154,

157

sizes, of masses, 116
specimen, 167
soil, 16, 123, 242
street, trees, 164, 161
streets as units, 120
style, 123, 248

suburban, 116, 119, 154, 168
subtropical, 115
successful solution, 116, 154
texture, 54

to increase value, 181
topiary, 137, 246
topography, 105, 106, 157
tree planting, 161
trees, 123, 164

unity, 8, 101 ; definition of, 103,

108, 124, 125
unrestrained, 138, 224
utilitarian, 78, 138, 224
value, of planting, 15, 93
variety, 192
width or areas, 61
wild, definition of, 134
winter, 91, 101, 111
woodland, definition of, 134
work of nature, 36

Preliminary sketches, 48

Price, Sir Uvedale, 14

Problem, influence on plan,
character in solution, 83
condition governing, 39
more than one solution, 21
solution of, 69
utilitarian, 21

Pompeii, 12

Public gardens, 242

R

Repetition, 64, 66, 69, 80, 95
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 4, 83
Roads, 71, 195, 240

cut and fill, 18

design of, 22

laying out of, 18

natural profile, IS

percentage of grade, 18

subordinate, to esthetic ideal, 19

to agree with contours, 18
Rodin, methods of, 30
Rhythm, 64, 66, 67, 69, 80

S

St. Cloud, 13

School grounds, 190-196

educational value of plants, 190

garden plots, 192

planting, 193

use of, 191

Screening, see planting.
Sculpture, 12-14

importance in landscape archi-
tecture, 12

location, 12, 34

position and function, 12

Rodin, method of working in,
30

278

INDEX

use in America, 13
in Europe, 13
in formal design, 12
in informal design, 12, 13
in park,
At Versailles
Sequence, 64
Service, 70, 71, 106, 164, 173, 178,

184, 185, 210, 213
Silhouette in landscape gardening,
30, 61, 107, 116, 137, 154,
157

Simplicity in landscape design, 186
Small fruit, 239
Small places, 178-189
Smoke conditions, 40, 41
Spraying, 16
Spanish gardens, 237
Squares, traffic, 119

monumental, 44, 119
Stable yards, 210
Statue, location of, 34, 82

equilibrium of, 66
Soil, 16, 18, 152
drainage, 16, 18
composition, 16
cultivations, 16

Street improvement committee, 163
planting, 164
trees, 161

Suburban residence, 168
Sundial, location of, 34, 81, 178,

255
Survey, landscape, 164

mental, 18
Symmetrical, balance, 63, 64

bilateral, 64
Symmetry, 82

T

Tennis courts, drainage of, 19, 262
Thomas circle, 44
Topiary, 41, 44, 137, 220, 246, 262,
264

Torii of Myajima, 25
Traffic, 71, 72

U

Unity, by color painting, 101
definition of, 53
in design, 64
of interest, 8

Vassar College, 193
Versailles, 13, 66
Views, 69, 70, 71, 82, 83, 172
Villa Barberini, 223

Borghese, 257

d'Este, 236, 248, 249, 250, 251

Domitians, 223

Falconieri, 263

Lante, 251, 255, 256

Medici, 129
Vista, 24, 67, 82, 129, 236

W

Walks, 17, 22, 69, 71, 77, 83,

and drives on campus, 194
drainage of, 19
design of, 22, 58, 61
in formal gardens, 61
width of, 61, 161
Walls, retaining, 18, 255, 263
architectural problem, 11, 18,

42
emphasis, architectural features,

43

reason for, 18
use of, 43

Washington, D. C., 13, 44, 119
Water as a decorative feature, 54,

120, 217
Watteau, 94
Well-head, 34
Wilton House, 13, 53

WE on the last date stampedbeW.

'-' I I D

3412

(O

*

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY