The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-02-18
LANDSCAPE GARDENING.

|
tngs.
There are two common extremes OF
sentiment in regard to the value OF
forest and ornamental trees which are
always opposed to rural beauty, The
one extreme has to do with the imme-
date neighborhood of the residence,
the other with more distant views of
landscape.
1t is certainly the common fault with
country homes where any attempt is
made toward ornament, that too many
trees and bushes are allowed to grow.
1t is perfectly proper, indeed highly
necessary, that in the first days and
years of ornamenting barren home,
one should plant thickly of variety of
trees and shrubs. There should be
small groups of spruces and deciduOus
trees of the rapid-growing sorts. which
will soon afford shelter and privacy.
But it is none the less important that
those clumps should be thinned Just as
fast as the individual trees begin to
crowd each other To be sure, one
loves the trees which he has planted
and nourished, but it must be borne in
mind that sentiment should never stand
in the way of beauty and utility.
l do not like the hackneyed advice
which urges us to plant ornamental
| trees at such distances as will be proper
for them to occupy twenty years hence.
Such advice is discouraging; we must
live in large part for the pressing
present. Moreover, twenty years
hence is but point of time and it does
not pay to forego the pleasure of nine-
I teen years in order to enjoy the per-
lection of the twentieth. What always
recommend to owners of unadorded
! places, is to plant thickly; get an i'm
mediate effect. And Immediately there
upon l urge the injunction, strongly
underlined-dO not neglect to thin out as
/ soon as the trees begin to cro1Cd. One
] symmetrical and vigorous tree Is worth
three one-sided, stunted ones. Clumps
/ of trees soon grow into tangled thick
cts, the delight of mosquitoes, mOulds
and vermin. They shut out sun and
health and shut one in from enchant-
| ing glimpses of distant views. The at
/ tractive clump has become an unsightly
tangle, and soon all the trees will have
| become so lOp-sided that one can not
be removed without laying bare an I'M
slightly side of its neighbOr. This is
| no exaggeration. The most difficult
matter to press home to most people,
| in the way of ornament, is the fact that
| there should be constant and systematic
thinning. 1t is a mistake to suppose
that the surroundings of a home should
be fixed. The universal law of ex-
change applies to the private grounds,
as well as to the orchard or garden.
Not long since [ visited a worthy
farmer who desired my advice in re-
gard to the improvement of his front
yard. l looked it over and advised
him to remove a great Norway spruce,
balsam fir, an apple tree. large
horse chestnut, three smaller Norways,
large red cedar, a fringe tree and
several bushes. He discussed the trees
Seriatim. The great spruce he could
never spare because it was the first one
set in the township; ditto with the fir;
the apple tree bore good fruit; the
horse-chestnut was the largest spcri-
men in the neighborhood; the three
smaller NOrways were thrifty and At
tractive; the red cedar had in an early
day been backed in from the woods
at n great expense of muscle; the fringe
tree cost him dollar, and the bushes
were all attractive when in flower;
therefore he could spare none of them.
could not improve his yard; and when
he must look at the evening sky to note
signs of tO-morrOw's weather, and
when his wife must know who it is that
is passing along the highway, they
must either 90 some rods away from
the house or scrooch under the trees.
An attractive house on distant hill is
entirely hidden; in fact, there is no
great outside world from the windows
of that residence.
This is all radically wrong. The
landscape gardener is often upbraided
for his so-called impratica' notions, his
Zine theories of beauty but woe 70
the gardener if he ever entertains
notions so much at variance with laws
of happiness and health as does he who
hibernates in prison of tangled trees
No, rather have an open field with the
fresh verdure of the greensward and
the crisp play of winds, and an over
abundance of sunlight, than a house
hidden in gloomy foliage. But let US
have the golden mean. Keep the front
of the house open to the world, and
never allow a tree to hide desirable
view. Last spring l moved into new
house. From the front porch could
see nothing but an ordinary grove,
although but a few rods beyond were
fine college buildings with their con-
slant play of life and frolic. cut
many trees from that grove, none to its
detriment either, and now as L sit at
nv dinner table | can see through the
grove to an attractive view beyond.
This vista may be '.impracticar' as the
common phrase goes, but l am con-
fident that | can relish my meal better
than could if were shut up to my
own dining room and the bit of gravel
path which lies in front of my window.
Now it is singular that these same
people who would cling tenaciously to
every old tree about the house, would
often mercilessly sacrifice every beau
tiful great tree in a distant landscape.
Rural landscapes are pre-eminently
beautiful when there are dropping
elms and rotund naples, dotted here
and there over little eminences in pas
lures and corn-fields, and along high
WAYS. He is a reckless tenant who
would rob nature of these isolated
beauties for the sake of the stove-wOod
they contain. In rocky New England
where the farmers can not covet every
foot of land, the grand old trees are
picturesque. In our western country
it is not always so. 1t requires some
Judgment, to be sure, to know when to
4-oo ryl,ora 70 LOT ~ Iona huf