The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Landscape Gardening
For this reason it must not have a bristling sky line if smooth and round headed smaller trees are to appear in front of it. And the opposite mistake must be guarded against. One time with another, the background may best be darker than those groups which intervene between it and the usual point of view. This rule cannot always be adhered to, for it would force all dark colored species out of the fore and middle-ground; but the reverse presentation must always be looked upon as less desirable.
In the foreground, where all plants are under comparatively close scrutiny, only those should be used which will bear such examination. Flowering shrubs and herbaceous plants may be used here. In most cases plants for the foreground must be small; and though we like to have large trees next the walk so that we can enjoy their shade, and though this demand should be met, to a degree, yet a tree so placed adds nothing to the picture, and too many such trees shut off the view entirely. It is a common fault, in the plantings along drives and walks, that they do not give a satisfactory view of the landscape.
There is a great wealth of medium sized trees and large shrubs which look well in middle-ground. Of these are the buckeyes, altheas, lilacs, and the interesting koelreuteria. The middle-ground is an advantageous place for the exhibition of all tree specimens. If the form of a tree specimen is to be admired it will be put far back in the middle-ground; if it is the beautiful foliage, it will come to the nearer middle-ground. Middle-ground plantings sometimes serve the purposes of background to foreground plantings; and this contingency is always to be kept in mind.
It not infrequently occurs that there are beautiful objects visible from the grounds under treatment and yet lying wholly outside them. It may be mountain scenery, a lake, a view of the ocean, a glimpse of a pretty village, or any other exterior object which bears an interest to the users of the grounds but which is itself wholly beyond the control of the designer. Sometimes these exterior objects are of commanding importance, as, for example, when a house lot fronts on the ocean. In such an extreme case the intelligent gardener will seek to make his entire work contribute to enhance the beauty or effectiveness of the chief object. This means, of course, that all his effects shall be subordinate to the principal interest. It would be a blameworthy act to place anything in the garden which would draw attention to itself and away from the outside view. In any case he will have careful regard to these exterior views, and will arrange his groupings so as to avail himself of whatever extraneous beauties may be at hand.
