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LANDSCAPE GARDENING

Landscape gardening has often been compared to the painting of a picture. Your art teacher has without doubt told you that a good picture should have a chief point of interest, and the rest of the points simply go to enhance the beauty of the central idea. So in landscape gardening the gardener needs a clear mental picture of what he desires the project to look like when the work is completed.

From this article we'll be able to figure out a little theory of landscape gardening.

Let's start with the lawn. A healthy dose of open lush lawn space is always beautiful. It is relaxing. It adds a feeling of spaciousness to even small property grounds. So we might generalize and say that it's good to keep open lawn spaces. If people cover their lawn space with many trees or with little flower beds here and there, the general effect can be cluttered and confusing. It's a little like an over-dressed person. One's grounds lose all individuality when created as such. A single tree or a small grouping isn't a bad arrangement for the lawn. Centering the tree or trees will take away from the spaciousness. Let them drop-off a little into the background. Make a pleasing side feature of them.

There are a number of things to think about when choosing trees. You should not choose an overwhelming tree; the tree should be one of good shape, with something interesting about its bark, leaves, flowers or fruit. While the poplar is a speedy grower, it sheds its leaves early in the fall and so is left standing, bare and ugly. The japanese maple with its dark red leaves enhances more yards as word spreads about the beauty of this tree. The catalpa is quite lovely by itself. Its leaves are broad, its flowers attractive, the seed pods which cling to the tree until way into the winter, add a little bit of picturesqueness. The bright berries of the ash, the brilliant foliage of the sugar maple, the blossoms of the tulip tree, the bark of the white birch, and the leaves of the copper beech are all beauty points to consider.

Placement is a deciding factor in the selection of a tree. Suppose the lower portion of the grounds is a bit low and moist, then the spot is ideal for a willow or an evergreen. Don't group trees together which look ungainly. A long-looking poplar doesn't look good with a nice rather rounded little tulip tree. A juniper, so neat and prim, would look out of place beside a spreading chestnut. One must keep proportion and aesthetics in mind.

I'd never advise planting a group of evergreens close to a house, or in the front yard. The effect is very dispiriting indeed. Houses thus surrounded are overcapped by such trees and are not only gloomy to live in, but truly unhealthy. The chief requisite inside a house is sunlight and plenty of it.

As trees are chosen because of certain sound points, so shrubs should be. In a cluster I would wish for some which bloomed early, some which bloomed late, some for the beauty of their fall foliage, some for the color of their bark and others for the fruit produced. Some spireas and the forsythia bloom early. The red bark of the dogwood makes a bit of color all winter, and the red berries of the barberry cling to the shrub well into the winter.

Certain shrubs are good to use for hedge purposes. A hedge is rather prettier usually than a fence. The Californian privet is excellent for this purpose. Osage orange, Japan barberry, buckthorn, Japan quince, and Van Houtte's spirea are other shrubs which make good hedges.

I forgot to say that in tree and shrub selection it is usually better to choose those of the locality one lives in. Unusual and foreign plants do less well, and often fit in poorly with their new setting.

Landscape gardening may follow along very formal lines or along informal lines. The first would have straight paths, straight rows in stiff beds, everything, as the name tells, perfectly formal and perfectly formed. The other method is, of course, the exact opposite. There are risks associated with each method.

The formal arrangement is likely to look too inflexable; the informal, too unorganized, too scattered. As far as paths go, keep this in mind, that a path should always lead somewhere. That is its business to direct one to a definite place. Now, straight, even paths are not unpleasing if the effect is to be that of a formal garden. The danger in the curved path is an abrupt curve, a merry-go-round effect. It is far better for you to stick to straight paths unless you can make a really beautiful curve. No one can tell you how to do this.

Garden paths may be of gravel, of stone, of dirt, or of grass. One sees grass paths in some very lovely gardens. I doubt, however, if they would serve as well in your small gardens. Your garden areas are so limited that they should be re-spaded each season, and the grass paths are a great bother in this work. Of course, a gravel path makes a fine appearance, but again you may not have gravel at your command. It is possible for any of you to dig out the path for two feet. Then put in six inches of stone. Over this, pack in the dirt, rounding it slightly toward the centre of the path. There should never be depressions through the central part of paths, since these form convenient places for water to stand. The under layer of stone makes a natural drainage system.

Flowers may go well along the side of the building, or bordering a walk. In general, though, keep the front lawn space open and unbroken by beds. Snowdrops and crocuses planted along the lawn borders are beautiful. They do not disturb the general effect, but just blend with the whole. The place for a flower garden is generally at the side or rear of the house. The backyard garden can enhance your spacious front yard. Who wishes to leave a beautiful looking front yard, turn the corner of a house, and find a dump heap? Very few of us. The flower garden may be laid out formally in neat little beds, or it may be more of a careless, hit-or-miss variety. Both have their good points. Great masses of blooming flowers are attractive and the different scents can be pleasant as well.

You should bear in mind some impression of the blending of color. Nature seems to not consider this in the least, and still gets wonderful effects. This is because of the tremendous amount of her perfect background of green shades, and the limitlessness of her space, while we're confined at best to relatively small areas. So we should strive not to blind people's eyes with clashes of colors which do not blend well at close range. In order to break up extremes of colors you can always use masses of white flowers, or something like mignonette, which is effectively green. And with the vast variety of flowers, plants and shrubs now available, this is an area where you can get creative.

Finally, let us sum up our landscape article. The grounds are like a stage setting for the house or buildings. Open, free lawn spaces, a tree or a proper group well placed, flowers which do not clutter up the front yard, and groups of shrubbery are the points to be remembered. The paths should lead somewhere, and be either straight or well curved. And to quickly sum up a few attributes that you should keep in mind while planning your landscaping: spaciousness-open in front if possible, comfort-you will be attracting insects, and design style-formal or informal or a combination of both.