Morning journal and courier., 1880-11-15
Hints in Landscape Gardening.


 This term, as understand it, applies to the planting and tending of ornamental or pleasure grounds, and relates to the grounds about dwellings, public edifces, parks and cemeteries. The manner in which they should be laid out and planted depends much on their size, shape and surroundings, and no one can we'll make one plan entirely suitable for any two pieces of ground; therefore, all special directions for grounds in general are liable, if followed. to produce effects in bad taste.
 It is principle generally assented to that ''curved lines are more beautiful than straight ones" There Is also another principle, not perhaps so generally assented to, but of equal force, that ''the beauty of 8 thing depends on it's perfect adaptation to it's use." In the arrangement of walks and drives these two principles are often confused, and the latter is ignored or sacrificed to the insane idea of adopting the former in cases entirely incon- gruous. Thus, public building situated in the center of a large inclosed plat and used only for public offices has entrances from the surrounding streets at each of it's four cor ners, from which walks to the front and rear entrances arc made in the shape of crescent, thus increasing the distance from ten to if teen per cent. In case of fire, the firemen would surely cut across this arc to reach the burning building. Equally inappropriate would be grounds devoted exclusively to or nament and pleasure, like public parks, laid out in squares and parallelograms. Triargles might be in good taste, but rarely, and should be small; and there should plainly appear reason for that particular shape at that par ticular place. A walk from the street entrance to the front door of the house should be in direct lne but branching from that, walks are in good taste curving around the angles of the house to the side or back door. In public or private parks and cemeteries the case is different. There curved walks and drives are indispensable to good taste.
 There is perhaps no one thing that shows a lack of taste more generally than the solec- tion and arrangement of trees for ornament and shade. An almost universal error con sists in having too many, too studied regu- larity in their arrangement, and too little va riety. When planted in the street, they must of necessity be in rows, and any devia- ton from a straight line there is deformity; but change of variety and of natural form gives to each an individuality and increases the pleasure of the beholder. Straight rows of one variety are only beautiful iu the dis tance as one object while diversity of form and foliage multiplies the pleasure of a close inspection.
 | am often pained at the efforts to distort nature in the pruning and training of orna- mental trees and shrubs. Nature has her own form for every plant, and, though you
 may increase the fruitfulness of tree or vine by your edged-tool man1pulations, as merely thing of beauty you cannot i'm prove upon natures plans. Such is my own opinion of pruning and training for ment You may shear off the ends of the limbs of spruce fir and make it look as thosgh it had been turned in lathe the thick wall of it's sides covering up it's branches but it will always be too sharp at the top, and I would prefer that it should stand behind the house, as a specimen of what can be done in the way of outreging nature. Such tree is to of natures make what a wax doll is to 8 real baby. It is true that accidents may happen in vegetation as well as in other matters If tree IS near a building or too near other trees, it is liable to be misshapen, and it's faults may often be corrected by pruning. branch may be broken, the wind may sway the top, or rampant shoot may start up. In these cases we can assist nature with the pruning knife.