Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1907-10-07
PLANTING OF TREES.
law to Avoid Monotony and Hideous-
ness In Streets.

In the busy rush of life we are apt
to take the short cuts, writes Sid j
Hare, landscape architect, in Park and
Cemetery, Chicago. Some wise mathe-
matician has told us that Il straight
line is the shortest distance between
two points, and man Is therefore prone
to forget that nature makes very few
straight lines, almost invariably start
ing and ending with curve. A
straight city or town street with a
straight line of curb, straight line
sidewalk line and possibly another
straight line Of trees, all paralleled by
fences and set to harnOnize and en-
phasize this stiff departure from ma
ture, Is hideous even If it Is the short
est distance. But we have them, and
what can we do to improve them?
How can we break up this monotonOus
sameness? a city or town block sur
rounded by lines of trees set equal
distances apart, growing up into spite
fences surrounding the homes built
within, has been likened to setting our
homes down in box with only little
Of the blue sky to be seen above.
Light, air and beautiful views are cut
of, and the home, although on the top
Of a hill, Is no better located, 80 far
as views are concerned, than is the
one in a deep ravine. In our boule-
wards we plant six rows Of trees, shut
ting out beautiful country views, hid
ing lovely river, lake and mountain
vistas, with absolutely no thought Of
the great destruction and reduction
Of values of once beautiful home sites.
1t is not art 1t Is not nature. 1t Is
not wise, nor is it malice aforethought.
1t is ignorance, thOughtless ignorance.
Of the existing beautiful surrounding
home sites on every side. ".~
How can 1t be improved? BY plac-
ing in charge of each piece Of work the
keen eyed observer and admirer Of the
beautiful. the one who can select the
best points Of observation, the future
house sites, the places where one would
linger and drink in the grandeur Of the
views. Have him along with your
load Of trees and give him full charge
of saying, Leave that vista OPEN"
Don't plant there; you shut of my
view of that river, lake. woods or dis
tant hill" Again he Is valuable, as he
sees the Objectionable features, the
tumbledown barns, the desiccating
works, the thing that mars the land
scape. Here he plants thickly and
hides from view that which repels the
aesthetic nature Of man. How can this
all be accomplished? BY planting in
groups-groups set with an eye to tho
artistic, groups set by themselves, with
open space where full sunshine breaks
in and lights the pathway for man and
the speedway for horses; then by
combining trees and shrubs to break
the monotony. BY so doing we can
mitigate some Of the straight lines Of
our city and town streets. Our city
and town streets and bOulevards can
be made more beautiful. every home
site enhanced in value and a continue
ton Of surprises shown the driving
and walking public. where we are now
hedged in with trees, all set In straight
rows to make our boulevards look like
tenpin alleys. Residents cannot see
beyond their own grounds, and grass
in time refuses to grow in the shade
Of thickly planted boulevards. Nature
never duplicates its roadside planting.
No matter how far you go, no matter
how many views you take, all are diff
ferent.