From one basic design different designers would create as many different planting plans. Not all would be pleasing if carried out. Those in which attention had been given to the subtleties of planting design would be the ones that would be, in the end, the most satisfying.

Many people still think of a garden as just a place to grow flowers. It is more than that. It is a place set aside in which a series of compositions, pictures if you will, created out of plant material, are set forth for our enjoyment. Flowers there may be, and usually are, but there are many beautiful gardens that contain few or even none at all. The effectiveness comes from the artistic arrangement of plants which harmonize with each other into groups. These, in turn, harmonize with all the other groups in the garden to make one pleasing whole. If the growing of flowers were the only object, it would be sensible to plant them in straight rows in an open field where they could be more easily cared for.

Perfection of individual blooms, however worthy an object that may be for the horticulturist, is not the principal aim in a garden. The intention is quite otherwise-the creation of landscape pictures. One cannot begin to design the planting, therefore, with a list of plants, all of which must be included in the scheme. They may be incompatible. The better way is to choose and arrange the background material first, and then against this arrange herbaceous material that seems to be har- monious, whose colors will blend well, whose blooming period is the same or forms a desirable succession, and whose form and habit of growth permit accommodation in the available space. Lastly plants must be sufficiently interesting in them selves to warrant all this trouble in placing them. One sees gardens full of the most ordinary and uninteresting plants and one wonders why the owners bother with them. Use good varieties, not necessarily the latest and the most expensive ones, but rather those that have been on the market a few years and are of proven worth.

Good Planting Design Not Beyond the Amateur

Lest you feel that this sort of planting design is too difficult for you, let us state emphatically that it is not. Of course not everyone will be an expert at it immediately, but with practice your knowledge will increase and your skill develop. At first try a few simple combinations or groups. See how they work out. The second year correct last year's mistakes and go on to larger or more difficult problems.