Plants, like human beings, have their own individuality.
Some plants to be at their best need association in a small colony or group; others love the company of multitudes, forming a carpet on the forest floor or in the open.
Some speak much more forcefully alone, as, for instance, the cottonwood with its gray branches stretching up into the heavens as a landmark on the plains.
Some plants express their beauty in a lowland landscape and some on the rocky cliffs.
Some fulfill their mission in the rolling hilly country, and some belong to the vast prairies of Mid-America.
Others sing the song of sand dunes, still others of rocky lands.
A grove of crab-apple trees on the edge of the open prairie landscape gives a distinct note to the plains.
The timid violet sings its song and fits into a different composition from that of the robust aster.
To try to force plants to grow in soil or climate unfitted for them and against nature’s methods will sooner or later spell ruin.
From Siftings by Jens Jensen, landscape architect and contemporary of the Olmsted Brothers.
No comments:
Post a Comment