GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 25 June 1914, Page 59

GARDENING NOTES

J- By Mil. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christ church. Having in my former notes given a few practical hints to the amateur how to manage his small garden, it may not be out of place now to oiler a little advice to the person of larger means who intends to build a residence and lay out a more extensive garden with lawn and shrubberies, in keeping with such a residence. The first step to be taken is to have the 'advice of a good practical landscape gardener, lie should visit the grounds, so as to advise as to the most suitable site tor the residence, and give a. general idea as to what the garden and surroundings are to be like. A considerable amount of trouble and expense may be saved by the timely advice of an experienced man on choosing The proper position for the house and other necessary outbuildings. Then the landscape gardener should be employed to furnish a. plan for laving out the grounds. He can see at a. glance the capabilities of the site, and his plan will giVe an idea of what the grounds will be like when laid out. Then there will be no mistake or misunderstanding as the work proceeds. It must, be understood that all gardeners do not understand landscape work. For instance, the nurseryman's business is not to lay out gardens, hut to grow everv tree and shrub to supply the wants of the professional landscape gardener. lie has to study the nature of every tree, flower, and shrub, under his care: the proper soil and positions suitable for their growth, with proper treatment for the successful culture of his plants, lie has to learn the nature of his plants; the country they are natives of; what was the position they occupied in their habitat * and he treats them in his nursery as near as possible to suit their constitution. If they are natives of a hot or tropical climate, he places them in his stove or hot house, if of a more temperate clime, he screws them in his greenhouse. So, too, will he place his hardy and half-hardy trees and shrubs in suitable positions in his nursery. So that the nurseryman lias not .much time to occupy his mind with landscape work. There is also another gardener, who comes on the scene—this is the professional gardener. This man takes possession after the landscape gardener is finished. His duty is to look after the garden, and keep everything in proper order from year's end to year's end, for the pleasure of the proprietor. Thus, the three branches of the profession go hand in hand. Each may excel in his own department without being an expert in the other. It takes years of study and experience, with a natural taste tor designing and planning, to beautify the landscape, so as to make Nature's defects to harmonise, and please the eye. The landscape gardener must have a considerable ex-

pricncc in all the branches of his work, so as to produce the best effect, lie has to have a knowledge of all Hie trees, shrubs, and flowers which he has to plant, and the nature of the different soils to suit the subjects which he has to operate on. lie must also study the climate of the district where his work is carried out. If it is on the open plain, the sloping hill, or the sheltered yalley, or if the site is subject to trying northwest or easterly winds, his knowledge and experience will come to his aid in choosing and selecting the proper variety of trees and shrubs to suit the different aspects, so that there will be few mistakes. The landscape gardener knows how to convert an ■unsightly object or aspect into a thing of beauty, turning gullies into terraces, water courses, and ornamental lakes and ponds, etc.

The work of the landscape gardener is always a source of pleasure to the proprietor. Every tree and shrub should be at home in their proper place, and the graceful bends of the winding walks and borders should be made pleasing to view. Every object should harmonise like a well-executed picture. The painter embellishes his picture with a variety of color to give effect to his subject. So, too, with the landscape gardener : he paints his picture on the natural landscape, and gives color and variety in the scene by a judicious blending of shrub, tree, and flower.

It is an acknowledged fact that well-laid-out grounds, properly planted with trees and shrubs, enhances the value of a property to a considerable extent, so hat the money paid to the landscape gardener brings in a few years a very good interest. Some proprietors, with the assistance of inexperienced men, undertake to carry out the work of laying out their grounds, and the result is that alter a loss of time and money incurred in an injudicious or amateurish manner, the proprietor cannot explain why his garden has not a pleasing effect. The mistake arises through not employing a qualified man in the first instance. [Owing to lie transposition of a line in the ‘Gardening Notes’ in our issue of June 11, the names of three ‘ late pears’—Napoleon, Vicar of Wingfield, and Easter Beurrc — came under the heading of ‘ late apples.’]