Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-14
GARDEN PLANNING

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simple matter it may appear at first
sight. 1t involves attention to many
considerations connected with the
character and position of the site and
it's surroundings as well as to those
questions in which both horticulture
and good taste play important parts.
Each particular site presents prob
lem to itself and the art of the garden
maker must be exercised first in
studying the factors and then in per-
mitting them to guide him to a good
result.
Though garden making is in large
measure controlled by principles based
on art purely artistic considerations
can serve only the designer when they
are subordinated to the practical
needs. AS in other branches of ap-
piled art, utility claims first consid-
Grafton, so in garden making the con-
ditions which make for the welfare of
the flowers and the comfort and con-
venience of those who use the gar
den must always receive attention.
This does not imply that success
full flower culture is the be-all and the
end-all of gardening, for that would
be to ignore the beauty of the garden
picture. 1t is possible to give due
weight to the picturesque, without In
the slightest measure discounting the
value OIL Jne SdTu6n lIOil d IlOl liSul-
tural standpoint. On the other hand,
the mistake only too frequently made
is of supposing that well filled beds
and borders. abundant blossom and
neatly kept grass and walks are the
sole desiderata of gardening. If that
were so, it were better to grow ones
flowers as the market gardener grows
his cabbages-in rows. The gardening
enthusiast is too apt to permit his
pride in the flowers to blind him to
the value of a garden picture. He sees
the individual, but not the crowd. II
were better he should adopt the stand
point of the landscape gardener, VINO
thinks less of plants as plants than as
elements in a composition, in the way
of a painter of pictures.
The garden, however small, is amen
able to treatment on truly artistic prin-
ciples and the first thing to recognize
is that it must be homogeneous. 1t
should appeal to the eye as a whole be-
fore it claims attention in detail. Ev-
erything in the garden must be inter-
dependent and the general picture
must be distinguished by balance,
unity of effect and a studied harmony
of line and mass.
If common sense principles, based
upon full knowledge and recognition OF
the governing factors of the problem
be allowed to control the design, the
result VIII not only make LOT Deduty'
but gardening in the sense of success
full flower culture, will be agreeable
and plain sailing.
There must be no eXaggeration of
special features, no discordant note 10
worry the eye, no forcing of effects.
It is Just as easy and just as difficult
to plan a large garden as small one.
The same general principles apply in
both cases. 1t is largely a question
of scale.
Gardens which are made haphazard
are rarely successful, yet the major
ity of small gardens have been so
made. The inference is obvious. How
often do we not see, from the van
tage point of some suburban railway
line, garden after garden in monot-
onous succession, all planned to COM
mon type? Some may be neat and we'll
kept, others neglected. but the outlines
are the same in all, probably con-
ceived and made by the speculative
builders foreman, whose knowledge
and skill can hardly be expected to
rank high in this department of his
work.
When the gardener himself has taken
the pains to model his garden to suit
his own views of what it should be,
the result is more often than not
marred by mistakes which arise from
hastiness and an inadequate knowl-
edge of or attention to, essentials.
Possibly the commonest error Is to ig-
more aspect, planning for symmetry,
which is hardly ever consistent with