Landscape gardening

Landscape gardening has often been likened to the painting of a picture. Your art-work teacher has doubtless told you a good picture needs to have a spot of chief interest, and the rest of the points simply go to produce more beautiful the central idea, or to make a fine setting for it. So in landscape gardening there should be in the gardener's mind a picture of what he desires the complete to be when he completes his work.

From this study we will probably be able to work through a little theory of landscape gardening.

Let's go to the lawn. A great extent of open lawn space is always beautiful. It's restful. It adds a sense of space to even small grounds. So we would generalize and say it is well to help keep open lawn spaces. If one covers his lawn space with many trees, with little flower beds here and there, the typical effect is choppy and fussy. It is a bit like an over-dressed person. One's grounds lose all individuality thus treated. An individual tree or a small group is not really a bad arrangement on the lawn. Do not centre the tree or trees. Let them drop somewhat in to the background. Make a desirable side feature of them. In choosing trees one must bear in mind numerous things. You ought not choose an overpowering tree; the tree should really be among sound condition, with something interesting about its bark, leaves, flowers or fruit. As the poplar is a rapid grower, it sheds its leaves early and so is left standing, bare and ugly, prior to the fall is old. Mind you, you will find places where a row or double row of Lombardy poplars is extremely effective. But I think you'll accept me that one lone poplar is not. The catalpa is fairly lovely by itself. Its leaves are broad, its flowers attractive, the seed pods which cling to the tree until away into the winter, add a little picture squeness. 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 all they are beauty points to consider.

Place is important in the selection of a tree. Suppose the reduced part of the grounds is a bit low and moist, then the location is ideal for a willow. Don't group trees together which look awkward. A long-looking poplar doesn't choose a great rather rounded little tulip tree. A juniper, so neat and prim, would look silly beside a spreading chestnut. One must keep proportion and suitability in mind.

I'd never advise the planting of several evergreens near to a residence, and in the front yard. The consequence is extremely gloomy indeed. Houses thus surrounded are overcapped by such trees and aren't only gloomy to reside in, but truly unhealthful. The main requisite inside a residence is sunlight and plenty of it.

As trees are chosen because of certain good points, so shrubs should be. In a clump I would wish some which bloomed early, some which bloomed late, some for the wonder of these fall foliage, some for the colour of these bark and others for the fruit. Some spireas and the forsythia bloom early. The red bark of the dogwood makes a little colour all winter, and the red berries of the barberry cling to the shrub well in to the winter.

Certain shrubs are good to utilize for hedge purposes. A hedge is quite prettier usually when compared to a fence. The Californian privet is very good 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's usually better to choose those of the locality one lives in. Unusual and foreign plants do less well, and often harmonize but poorly with their new setting.

Landscape gardening may follow along very formal lines or along informal lines. The very first could have straight paths, straight rows in stiff beds, everything, because the name tells, perfectly formal. The other method is, needless to say, the actual opposite. There are danger points in each.

The formal arrangement probably will look too stiff; the informal, too fussy, too wiggly. In terms of paths go, keep this in mind, that a path should always lead somewhere. That's its business to direct anyone to an absolute place. Now, straight, even paths aren't unpleasing if the consequence is usually to be that of an official garden. The danger in the curved path can be an abrupt curve, a whirligig effect. It is far much better to stick to straight paths unless you can make really a beautiful curve. No-one can tell you how to complete this.

Garden paths might be of gravel, of dirt, or of grass. One sees grass paths in a few 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 really are a great bother in this work. Obviously, a gravel path makes a fine appearance, but again you may not have gravel at your command. It is possible for any one of you to dig out the path for 2 feet. Then put in six inches of stone or clinker. Over this, pack in the dirt, rounding it slightly toward the centre of the path. There should not be depressions through the central element of paths, because these form convenient places for water to stand. The under layer of stone makes a natural drainage system.

A building often needs the help of vines or flowers or both to tie it to the causes in such a way as to create a harmonious whole. Vines lend themselves well to the work. It is much better to plant a perennial vine, and so allow it form a permanent part of one's landscape scheme. The Virginia creeper, wistaria, honeysuckle, a climbing rose, the clematis and trumpet vine are most satisfactory.

close your eyes and picture a house of natural colour, that mellow gray of the weathered shingles. Now add to the old house a purple wistaria. Can you see the beauty of it? I shan't forget soon a fairly ugly corner of my childhood home, where the dining room and kitchen met. Just there climbing over, and falling over a trellis was a trumpet vine. It made beautiful an awkward angle, an ugly bit of carpenter work.

Obviously, the morning-glory can be an annual vine, as could be the moon-vine and wild cucumber. Now, these have their special function. For often, it's required to cover an ugly thing for just an occasion, before better things and better times come. The annual is'the chap'for this work.

Along a classic fence a hop vine is really a thing of beauty. One might try to rival the woods'landscape work. For often one sees festooned from one rotted tree to another the ampelopsis vine.

Flowers may go along the medial side of the building, or bordering a walk. Generally speaking, though, keep the leading lawn space open and unbroken by beds. What lovelier in early spring when compared to a bed of daffodils near to the house? Hyacinths and tulips, too, form a blaze of glory. They are little if any bother, and start the spring aright. It's possible to label of some bulbs an exception to the rule of unbroken front lawn. Snowdrops and crocuses planted through the lawn are beautiful. They cannot disturb the typical effect, but just blend with the whole. One expert bulb gardener says to take a basketful of bulbs in the fall, walk about your grounds, and just drop bulbs out here and there. Wherever the bulbs drop, plant them. Such small bulbs as those we plant in lawns should be in sets of four to six. Daffodils might be thus planted, too. You all remember the grape hyacinths that grow during Katharine's side yard.

The area for a flower garden is generally at the medial side or rear of the house. The backyard garden is a wonderful idea, could it be not? Who wishes to leave a beautiful looking front yard, turn the corner of a house, and locate a dump heap? Not I. The flower garden might be presented formally in neat little beds, or it may be more of a careless, hit-or-miss sort. Both have their good points. Great masses of bloom are attractive.

You will have in mind some notion of the blending of colour. Nature appears not to consider this at all, and still gets wondrous effects. That is due to the tremendous amount of her perfect background of green, and the limitlessness of her space, while we are confined at the very best to relatively small areas. So we ought to endeavour never to blind people's eyes with clashes of colours which do not at close range blend well. To be able to split up extremes of colours you can always use masses of white flowers, or something such as mignonette, which is in effect green.

Finally, let us sum up our landscape lesson(modern landscapes). The causes are a location for the home or buildings. Open, free lawn spaces, a tree or a proper group well placed, flowers which do not clutter up the leading yard, sets of shrubbery they are points to be remembered. The paths should lead somewhere, and be either straight or well curved. If one starts with an official garden, you ought to not mix the informal with it before the job is done.For more information about Landscape Gardening visit Landscaping Ideas    X6NBWWVG9ZW9