there is a most harmonious relation of all accessories—trees, contours, vistas, roads, and so on—there is sure to come a time of wearying monotony, caused by a realization of the fact that we had not been quite equal, through our lack of experience, to develop the place as it might have been developed.
A piece of ground in the rough must first be shaped up by draining, removing trees or stones, planning roads and such things, before the smoothing process can be attempted, and it is in this roughing-out process where the future landscape picture is either made or destroyed.
Here is where the professional landscape man can save you many dollars and much disappointment. I have seen so many sad results in cases of land development where too much confidence has been the stumbling-block on the road to
success, that I feel justified in harping on the necessity of asking advice from those who are competent to give it.
Saving Trees
Great consideration should be given to the matter of saving trees, whether these are large or small. Small trees can be handled like so much merchandise, and successfully moved from place to place. It is preferable to move these in winter. Dig about them so that there will be a ball of earth large enough to keep intact; then it is necessary merely to allow this ball to freeze up hard before tilting it onto a stone drag, shifting it and its fellows to positions that will most benefit the landscape.
Large trees can be moved, but at considerable expense, and such work should
be left to the professionals. They have the facilities and from experience the knowledge and knack of it, and this means much for success. Some companies will even give a bond to guarantee their work.
Trees about which the grade is to be raised should be protected, so that the soil will not come within some distance of the trunk. A rough piling of stones about the tree, or a circle of drain pipe about it will give the needed protection. Trees play such a vital part in the adornment of a piece of land, whether large or small, that none that is needed should be sacrificed until every effort to save it has failed.