Landscape architecture, as applied to the wants of the West : with an essay on forest planting on the Great Plains

Preface

The term "Landscape Architecture" is objectionable, as being only figuratively expressive of the art it is used to designate. I make use of it, under protest, as the readiest means of making myself understood, in the absence of a more appropriate term.

If the art is ever developed to the extent I believe to be within its legitimate limits, it will achieve for itself a name worthy of its position. Until it does so, it is idle to attempt to exalt it in the world's estimation, by giving it a high - sounding title. My object in these few pages is simply to show that, by whatever name it may be called, the subdivision and arrangement of land for the occupation of civilized men, is an art demanding the exercise of ingenuity, judgment and taste, and one which nearly concerns the interests of real estate proprietors, and the welfare and happiness of all future occupants.

A considerable portion of the " Essay on Forest Planting on the Great Plains," is made up from articles I have contributed from time to time to agricultural and scientific papers. All the correspondence, memoranda, etc., which I had collected on the subject for two years, during which I was engaged in its investigation, were destroyed in the great fire of October 9, 1871. The present essay has been prepared from recollection, with the aid of some of my previously published articles which had been preserved by friends, together with liberal quotations, bearing upon the subject, from reliable authors.

Chicago, Jan., 1873.

Forest Planting on the Great Plains.

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Chapter I

INADEQUATE IDEAS OF THE SCOPE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHI- TECTURE ITS TRUE DEFINITION.

HE appearance of Downing's "Landscape Gardening," about thirty-five years ago, conveyed to a large portion of the American public the first intimation of the existence of an art, having distinct principles and laws of its own, and dealing solely with the problems involved in the tasteful arrangement of public or private grounds.

Before the introduction of railroads, the luxury of a country residence for men engaged in active business in the city, was necessarily confined to so small a portion of the population, that no general interest was felt in the subject of the arrangement of grounds, and the demand for the services of an educated landscape gardener was too limited to warrant the adoption of the profession as a means of support. With the facilities of locomotion afforded by steam transport, came the demand for the luxury of a rural home, and every city began sending out suburban colonies along the lines thus rendered accessible.

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The new colonists had, however, for the most part, little knowledge of country life, and no conception even of the existence of governing principles for the arrangement of grounds, the grouping of trees to secure tasteful effects of shape and color, or the artistic development of naturally beautiful or picturesque features to attain a realization of the landscape painter's dreams.

To the large class who found themselves thus situated, delighted to escape from the restraints and the turmoil and dirt of the city, and eager to secure the utmost possible enjoyment from the new sources thus opened to them, yet feeling continually oppressed with the sense of their own ignorance and inexperience, Downing's book came like a new revelation, and attained at once a degree of success which was due alike to the admirable character of the work itself and to the fact of its appearing just in time to meet a great popular want.

Nothing like it had previously appeared in this country, and so few persons had any knowledge of foreign works on the subject, that his skillful adaptation of the principles of the art to our means, necessities and opportunities, had all the zest and freshness of original matter.

Since then the demand and supply have gone on annually increasing, till city and country have become so merged that it is hard to say where one ends and the other begins. The radius of available territory for suburban homes has extended with the opening of new roads, branches and lines of horse cars. Companies have made a lucrative business of buying attractive sites of comparatively wild land and arranging them tastefully

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as suburban additions, finding ready sales for lots at prices which pay a fair profit on the cost of improvement. Everywhere the demand has proved how readily the popular heart responds to the opportunity, and the revolution which has been effected in the condition of the country surrounding every large city affords sufficient evidence of the innate love of nature, and the longing to secure the enjoyment of her attractions, which pervades the popular heart.

As a natural consequence, books and treatises upon landscape gardening and rural art, have multiplied till they have became an important branch of literature. Volumes and pamphlets of all sorts and sizes; original works, compilations, republications, and essays in the pages of horticultural journals have flowed from the press, till it would seem that no farther elucidation of the subject was required, or could be conveyed through the medium of publication; yet after twenty years experience as a professional landscape gardener, I am continually impressed with the inadequate conception of the scope of the art, which generally prevails, and I am convinced that the popular writers on the subject are largely responsible for the general ignorance. Not that they have failed to explain lucidly, and often in charming style, the esthetic principles of the art, and the management of the almost endless variety of combinations of natural and artificial decorations, whose tasteful introduction may often add very essentially to the beauty and interest of a country home ; but that they have confined themselves so exclusively to such details that the idea has became almost

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universal that landscape gardening is solely a decorative art, the duties of which are comprised in the grouping of trees to secure the best effects of form and color, the disposition of wood, lawn and water, to form an artistic landscape, and the arrangement of all the details of ornament, such as flower beds, shrubbery, rustic work, fountains, waterfalls, etc., for the purpose of rendering the place attractive.

The evidences of this are continually brought home to me in the practice of my profession.

A man calls upon me for advice in regard to the arrangement of his grounds, and tells me he has built his house and made various improvements by grading and clearing, and now wants me to tell him how to finish it off. On visiting his place I find, perhaps, that he has placed his house in a position which may subject him to inconveniences which had never occurred to him, or that he might have secured advantages by placing it elsewhere which are impossible where it is. He has expended a large sum in grubbing up what he calls underbrush, and has thus destroyed the beauty of a natural wood, which now consists only of a collection of gaunt, naked looking steins of trees with mere tufts of foliage on their tops, which by no possibility can ever be made attractive either as individuals or groups. Elsewhere he has attempted to improve the grade by cutting down a hill which marred the even slope of the ground, but has succeeded only in giving it a formal look of cheerless discomfort. This he perceives, but instead of suspecting that it may be the result of his own mistakes, he only imagines it to be for

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the want of what remains to be done, which he expects me to direct. In other words, after destroying the natural beauty of the place, he looks to me to make it attractive by the introduction of artificial decorations, and not unfrequently he proceeds to give me directions as to the kind of ornaments he would like, and where and how they are to be bestowed ; a fountain garishly displayed for the admiration of every wayfarer on the street ; a rustic arbor or seat, not where any one would ever be tempted to make use of it, but where it may most conspicuously proclaim that this is the abode of rural felicity ; flower beds, rock-work, serpentine walks, all to be arranged with the same obvious purpose of display ; the idea throughout being that the place must be dressed up to look pretty, that the landscape gardener's duty is simply to arrange the dressing, and the test of his skill consists in making the most elaborate display of such baby-house furniture as the owner is willing to pay for. The proportion of those who have applied to me to arrange their grounds from the outset, fixing the positions of the buildings, and adapting the various subdivisions to the natural features of the place, so as to secure the utmost convenience, with the best possible development of graceful or picturesque effect, is insignificant in comparison with those who have sent for me after all these essential characteristics had been established beyond recall, and desired me to give the finishing touches which were to confer the crowning charm of attractive interest.

That writers on landscape gardening in this country have heretofore failed to give prominence to the really i6

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essential principles which lie at the foundation of the art, may be accounted for by the fact that they have supposed themselves to be addressing a class of readers inhabiting districts already brought to a condition of elaborate culture, and who would therefore be mainly interested in details of decoration. It is obvious that the new regions of the West require a vast amount of preliminary preparation before much attention can be paid to mere extraneous ornament. My object is to show not only that this preparatory work is justly the province of the landscape gardener, but that it is in reality the essentially important part of his art which gives character and expression to the whole, independently of mere decorations, which may or may not be in good taste, according as they correspond with the expression thus conferred. Yet the idea so generally prevails that the landscape gardener has no concern with these preliminary works, that I was repeatedly told when I first thought of establishing myself in the West, that I need not hope to succeed ; that people were too much occupied in the great work of developing the resources of a new country to have time or means to devote to artistic display, and that the most I could hope for would be an occasional call to lay out some rich man's garden near the city, and for that I should probably be indebted to the ladies of the family.

Perceiving that these opinions were based upon an entire misconception of the scope of the art, whose principles I conceived to lie at the foundation of all improvements of land, my first efforts were directed to making known through the public press, and otherwise, as oppor-

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tunity offered, the true definition of the term, which may be expressed in a condensed form as follows :

Landscape Gardening, or more properly Landscape Architecture, is the art of arranging land so as to adapt it most conveniently, economically and gracefully, to any of the varied wants of civilization.

For whatever success I have met with in securing employment since coming to the West (which I gratefully acknowledge to have been far beyond my expectations), I feel that I have been mainly indebted to the persistent urging of this truth, and the conviction it has carried to the minds of those interested in the great real estate operations of the West, that it is the original design of arrangement which confers upon any place its intrinsic expression or character of beauty or picturesqueness, the want of which cannot be atoned for by any amount of subsequent dressing or decoration.

My object in the following pages is to prove the truth of the above definition by familiar illustrations, and set forth the extent and importance of its application to the wants of the West. I am not aware that any writer has ever attempted to apply the principles of the art, on the scale which I believe to be required to meet the demands which devolve upon us, yet I am confident that no one will deny that it involves issues of vital moment to the future of our country which deserve timely consideration.

Chapter II

ILLUSTRATION OF THE MEANING OF LANDSCAPE ARCHI- TECTURE AS APPLIED TO A PRIVATE ESTATE.

N order to make my meaning clear, I propose first to show what constitutes landscape architecture in the arrangement of a private estate, and then to illustrate the application of the same principles to larger areas.

Inexperienced persons continually deceive themselves with the idea that no art is required in the arrangement of ground for the ordinary purposes of domestic use as a family residence, beyond the exercise of intuitive skill and ingenuity, and almost every man imagines, till he tries, that he can do it to suit himself much better than another can do it for him, and many a one pays dearly for the experience which convinces him of his error.

In selecting a building site ; in arranging the relative positions of the buildings to each other, and to the objects for which they are designed ; in making such disposition of the different departments as will best facilitate the convenient and economical performance of the objects of use or pleasure to which they are devoted, taking advantage of natural features whenever they are available to save otherwise unavoidable outlay ; having due regard to

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necessities of drainage, or other possible provision for health or comfort, to say nothing of possible future wants to which reference should be had, many problems are involved, the satisfactory solution of which demands the discipline of study and experience. Objects of utility or convenience may often be secured by availing one's self of natural advantages, which it would require a large outlay to attain by artificial means. Present or future wants may occur to the mind of one who has had the advantage of experience which might not suggest themselves to a novice, and a professional man might find means of providing for such wants which an inexperienced person would never think of. All these things are comprised in the essential duties of the landscape architect, independently of the artistic skill which enables him to preserve a unity of design throughout, and thus to give an expression of grace and beauty to the whole by the harmonious blending of its parts. The point I wish especially to impress upon the reader is that this primary work is what really confers character upon the place. Decorations of whatever kind may be subsequently added, and if tastefully and appropriately introduced, may tend to heighten the effect, or increase the attractive interest which pertains to the whole, but in no case can they render a place beautiful which is not intrinsically so, or atone for awkwardness, inconvenience or incongruity in the general arrangement, and moreover it is by no means impossible that elaborate ornamentation should destroy or seriously detract from the general expression otherwise conveyed, as for instance by conferring an air of ostentatious display upon an other-

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wise pleasant and attractive home, or detracting from the dignity of an imposing situation, by diverting the attention from the sublime or beautiful natural features, which are sufficient in themselves to excite admiration and occupy the attention.

In selecting the position for a house, which is to become a family homestead, on an estate comprising the usual variety of rural scenery, in the form of hills, valleys, wood, water, etc., either within or immediately adjacent to its own limits, it should be remembered that the immediate wants of its first occupants comprise but a single link in the chain of circumstances, which should be taken into consideration before making the final decision. The building about to be erected may outlast several generations of occupants, and it would prove a source of constant annoyance to discover, when too late, that an error had been made in its position, involving disagreeable consequences which might have been avoided, or failing to secure advantages which another situation would have afforded.

Such mistakes are very common, and a consideration of some of the questions involved will show that the probability of their occurrence is very great.

If any considerable elevation, commanding an extended prospect, is included in the area, the first impulse of an inexperienced person will be to select the summit as the most desirable site for the residence. The importance of securing such a view from the windows, as conducive to the happiness of the daily life of the occupants is apt to be over-rated in the enthusiasm excited by its first con-

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templation. Most people become indifferent to it, when its novelty is destroyed by daily habit, whereas the annoyances attending the access to an elevated position, which at first seemed a cheap price for the treasure to be secured, are never diminished by repetition. The necessity of climbing the hill at every return to the house, in all conditions of weather, through rain and sleet, and icy winds and broiling sun ; whatever the condition of roads, mud or dust, ice or slush; under all circumstances of health and temper; suffering with a headache which makes life a burden ; harassed with petty vexations, or hurried by unexpected necessities which no man escapes, renders it after a time so serious an evil that only the utter hopelessness of relief constrains the sufferers to submit in silence.

Better by far to select a less commanding position for the house, reserving the summit as an objective point for an evening stroll, when weather and disposition are favorable, under which circumstances the extended view will never fail to be appreciated and enjoyed. As a matter of taste also in securing the most agreeable aspect of the place from points of approach, the summit of a hill should be avoided as a building site, since a house thus situated has always a bleak, exposed look, especially if seen in whole or partial relief against the sky, whereas if the land rises in the rear of the house, the summit crowned with wood, and in front assumes the form of a gently sloping lawn, with groups of trees tastefully arranged to prevent the appearance of bareness, the effect will be to give a home-like and attractive expression, which every person of good taste will recognize with pleasure.

It is moreover not unfrequently the case that more attractive though less expansive views can be obtained from the lower point, by arranging plantations of trees or shrubbery so as to conceal offensive objects, and direct the eye to graceful or picturesque bits of landscape which are varied as the position is changed, and thus rendered more interesting than when seen in the single prospect from the summit which embraces them all.

It is not improbable that other and more serious objections may be urged against the supposed site than have yet been stated. The importance of reserving abundant room in the rear of the house for domestic convenience and pleasure, secluded from public sight, can hardly be over-estimated as an element of daily comfort, and if in order to secure the fine view, the house is placed upon the apex of a hill, — the ground sloping to the road in front so as to be fully exposed to view, and falling off in the rear also, so rapidly as to leave no room for domestic offices, wood yard, laundry yard, play ground, garden, etc., shut out from public gaze and amply large for all the demands of the family — the continual sense of discomfort and inconvenience resulting from the want will far outbalance the advantages gained. The position of the stable, both as regards its own requirements and in reference to the house, is a matter of essential importance. It should be convenient of access, yet not so near as to be in any way offensive; not prominently conspicuous, though I do not consider it an objectionable feature if unobtrusive, and it is all important that it should be capable of approach by a farm lane, instead of being

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solely accessible by the carriage drive past the front door. Advantage may often be taken of a side hill to economize construction by means of a basement in which the cow stalls may be constructed, with a large sliding door opening on the barn yard at a lower level than the stable and carriage house, and thus out of sight from the house. Much of the essential interest and pleasure derivable from whatever attractions the place may possess, is dependent upon so placing the house that the windows of the rooms which will be most occupied may command the most desirable views, and to this end it is of vital importance that the architect and the landscape gardener should act in concert, otherwise the portions of the grounds which possess the best capacity of tasteful development may be overlooked by the kitchen windows, while the parlors may command only a cheerless outlook upon the road. Architects would no doubt be more ready to join in consultation with landscape gardeners, if the latter were as a class more conscious of the duties and responsibilities of their profession, and better able to fulfil them. The question of an easy and graceful entrance drive by which the house may be approached from the road, and easy access to the stable must of course be taken into consideration in determining their relative positions, and also the subdivision of the land into useful and ornamental departments, of garden, orchard, lawn, wood, etc. And, finally, the arrangement of the plantations of trees and shrubbery requires the exercise of a degree of skill and taste which are never attained without study and experience. It is generally at

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this stage that the proprietor becomes conscious of his own deficiency and seeks the aid of a landscape gardener.

Tree planting is the first positive step in the work of redemption from the cheerless condition to which the place has been reduced, and if the owner has attained a conception of the possibility of a more graceful arrangement than that of formal rows, and attempts the arrangement of groups and irregular belts, he speedily becomes aware that he is going beyond his depth, and is fain to call for aid. He cannot satisfy himself in regard to their positions, and is utterly at a loss when he tries to imagine what will be the effect when they have attained their full size. Of their relative size, form and colour of foliage he has probably no idea, and if he attempts to stake out the ground for the planting of a group, it is probable that he will set the stakes within five or six feet of each other, and label them with the names of such trees as he has bought of a travelling agent, who has assured him of their desirable characteristics. He soon becomes sensible of a perverse tendency of the stakes, in. spite of every effort on his part, to assume a formal character in their relative positions, which is very inexplicable. His determination was to stick them in as irregularly as possible, and he finds on looking them over that he can see squares, and triangles, and straight rows and quincunx figures continually repeated. And perhaps in the midst of his work he happens to cast his eyes into an adjoining meadow upon an elm which has been growing in undisturbed beauty for a century, and the thought flashes across his mind that he has been for an hour labelling stakes and

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sticking them in the ground as guides for the planting of elms, maples, ash trees, pines, hemlocks, and cedars, and there before him is a single elm covering in the spread of its branches a larger space than he has devoted to the whole group. The truth flashes upon him that he is working at a trade at which he has never served an apprenticeship, and he speedily arrives at the conclusion that it will be safer and cheaper to seek the aid of one who has learned the business.

Let me not be understood to say that there are not frequent instances of the exercise of the highest degree of skill and taste as evinced in the results of the work Of amateurs who have had no professional training. To one such I am indebted for some of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned, but it is worthy of note that such men are ever the readiest to seek the aid of competent professional authorities, while inexperienced men will proceed without hesitation and commit the grossest blunders with a blind confidence that nobody can instruct them. On the other hand it cannot be denied that many of the so-called landscape gardeners are men whose practical knowledge is not governed by an innate taste, and whose pedantry and arrogance is the result of their ignorance on all other subjects. A little experience with one of this class is apt to prove so offensive that a man possessed of ordinary sensibility becomes disgusted, and prefers falling back on his own common sense, and working out the problem for himself with such aid as he may incidentally secure.

It will, I trust, be evident that this primary work of

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arrangement which I have been describing is what really constitutes the " landscape architecture " of the place, to which all subsequent decoration is subordinate, and the skill and judgment of the artist are shown in the tasteful adaptation of the natural features to the necessities of the case, and the attainment of the most graceful development of whatever attractive features the place maypossess, without any sacrifice of the obvious demands of convenience. If the reader will consider the endless variety of combinations of natural features upon which it is the artist's province to operate, and the equally varied tastes and necessities of humanity which are to be provided for, he may perhaps obtain a realizing sense of the demands which are made upon his taste and ingenuity.

But apart from all considerations of the immediate wants of the proprietor is the necessity of reference to future possibilities.

This question is one of special importance in the West and particularly in the vicinity of growing towns, where land is rapidly increasing in value. It often happens in a very few years that such a demand for building sites may arise as will make it desirable to divide the estate and set off a portion for the purpose of selling it in lots. Even if the original proprietor does not wish to do so, it may become imperatively necessary for his children or successors, and special reference should be had to such possibility in making the primary arrangement, and the buildings and different departments so disposed that those portions which it would be most desirable to set off may

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be separated from the rest by opening a new road or otherwise, without disturbing the unity of the original place, or affecting it disagreeably, except by reducing its area. The importance of this will be readily apparent, and the necessity of exercising judgment and ingenuity in view of it, hardly less so. On the other hand, and almost of equal importance, is the possibility of external changes which may affect the value of the place or the comfort of its occupants, as, the probability of new roads being opened in its vicinity, or of neighboring tracts being made use of for purposes which may affect it favorably or otherwise. It is obvious that such questions possess an importance in a new and rapidly growing country which does not pertain to them .in an older region, and every design for the arrangement of any considerable area should have reference to them.

Chapter III

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE APPLIED TO THE ARRANGE- MENT OF TOWNS. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

INCIDENT TO THE WORK. RECTANGULAR ARRANGE- MENT OBJECTIONABLE EVEN ON LEVEL SITES.

ILLUSTRATED BY REFERENCE TO CHICAGO.

F I have succeeded in showing that even in the arrangement of a private estate comprising only a few acres, there is abundant room for the exercise of practical knowledge and skill in the application of the principles of landscape architecture, no argument will be needed to prove that very much more intricate and elaborate problems must present themselves when the area is enlarged, and the tastes, interests and future wants of great multitudes are to be provided for in the laying out of a town or city.

The existence of sanitary, economic and esthetic laws which should govern the arrangement of cities, is abundantly proved by the penalties which have so often been paid for their transgression. We cannot plead ignorance in excuse for their violation, and upon us more than any pre-existing nation devolves the duty of their further development and application.

The opening of the lines of railroad across the continent has developed so much that was unexpected in the

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resources and capacities of the regions they have penetrated ; has dispelled so many erroneous ideas in regard to their susceptibility of improvement for the purposes of civilized habitation, and has so facilitated the means of adapting them to such purposes, that it has become a task of almost equal difficulty to obtain a realizing sense of the opportunities which are dawning upon us, or of the responsibilities they involve.

The vast regions yet lying undisturbed between the Mississippi and the Pacific comprise such resources of wealth and variety of sublime and picturesque features of natural scenery as can be seen on no other portion of the earth's surface, that is accessible to civilization. This is the raw material which is placed in our hands to be moulded into shape for the habitations of a nation, and such as we create, it must essentially remain for all future time. All coming generations are to inhabit the cities and towns, and go to their daily labors in the streets, and seek recreation in the parks and pleasure grounds, and be laid to rest in the cemeteries, the foundations of which we are laying or preparing to lay, and whose essential features of arrangement are immutable from the time they are first occupied.