Causes of Poor Planting

Poor planting may result from other causes than lack of sufficient thought having been given to the basic design. Lack of knowledge of what plants will grow into after they are set out will lead to the use of the wrong things. This is particu larly true of some evergreens. In the nursery the young plants, carefully sheared and tended, are much too attractive. The fact that they will grow into huge spreading trees and bushes is not evident in their demure appearance. But plant them under your windows or close to a pathway and see what they will do in five years time! If you know your plants both as infants and as mature specimens, you can more easily select the right plant for the right place in your compositions.

Avoid quick-growing shrubs and evergreens which are in expensive because they do grow quickly, and choose the slower, longer-lived sorts that will not outgrow their places too soon. Avoid overplanting and remember always that a small shrub grows into a big one. Provide in your plans ample space for future development. Don't get sentimental about plants any more than you can help and use only those that will carry out the design effectively.

Since landscape gardening is a fine art and not a science, as is horticulture, planting design, which is the carrying out of the basic design in terms of plant material, is no less an art. It must be approached with the underlying principles which govern good design, whether it be painting, architecture, sculp ture, or gardening, in mind.

Avoid too much emphasis on raising perfect specimens, and keep away from minute subtle combinations in small groups which may be charming if you happen to notice them, but which are usually lost in the largeness of the garden as a whole. Avoid too becoming a hobbyist in plants. Grow many varieties rather than just one or two, for only with several sorts of plants available can you do much in a pictorial way.

Keep in mind always the over-all picture of the garden, and create a series of small pictures within that framework which harmonize with each other and with the design as a whole and you cannot go far wrong.