In the world of landscaping, there is no such thing as being too explicit. In fact, it is good if plans locate every lilac bush and spiraea and clump of columbine. If they demand that the lilac shall be a Frau Dammann, the spiraea a prunifolia, and the columbine of the variety Skinneri, so it shall be.

This is because of undeniable fact that the best considered plans will not always work out exactly upon the ground. Problems are always arising in the const ruction; exigencies which require this addition, that omission, or an entire change. This makes it all the more important that a predetermined scheme be followed wherever and whenever possible.

The ideas of the author give a definite suggestion for the subsequent treatment of other parts which have not yet been determined, and this should never be ignored. Even if some other item seems, at the time, to be better than the original idea, there is no excuse to change the scheme. Only a few of these changes are required to alter radically the original idea, and possibly to destroy forever the unity of its expression.

Even in the smallest compositions, such as the planting of a town lot or the ornamentation of a cemetery block - garden statuary, a definite and explicit plan should be decided upon at the outset; it should be recorded as a hard copy, and should ever after be conscientiously followed.

There are two great styles of landscape gardening—the natural and the architectural. The former is sometimes called the English style, simply because it received its first great development at the hands of the English gardeners; and the latter is often known as the Italian style, from having been brought to a high degree of perfection by Italian artists.

There are, of course, other legitimate styles, and room is accordingly made for a method of treatment not seldom employed, called here the picturesque style. This is neither "natural," in the sense of belonging to the English school, nor in the least architectural. It is more closely akin to the Japanese style than any other; but so little is known of the Japanese style.

This "picturesque style" is not commonly spoken of as a distinct method; yet it seems better to treat it here as such, and to point out that there may be other distinctive styles adopted in special cases, though none has yet become sufficiently prominent to be named and classified.

These several styles are, to a great degree, mutually exclusive. It is not simply that a landscape gardener is likely to be a partisan of one of the great schools,—though that is true,—but the different styles, especially the natural and the architectural, are utterly diverse in their objects and their methods, so that when brought together they produce nothing but discord.

Within wide space limits two styles may be used, but it requires a skillful hand to create coherence along the line of junction. The Wooded Island and the Court of Honor in the World's Fair grounds at Chicago provide an excellent illustration of this. Even here the English was not mixed with the Italian style; but the two were separated as widely as the room permitted.

Just imagine the architectural features of the Court transferred to the midst of the Island, and feel what a raging discord would have resulted. In the broadest terms it is correct to prescribe that some one style must be chosen and consistently followed throughout the development of any landscape plan. This is the first step toward securing unity.