The upkeep of a garden can be very hard work. Cultivation and manure are needed. Pruning must be done. Crowded clumps must be thinned out. Sheared trees must be kept sheared, and mowed lawns must be kept mowed. The walks and drives must be kept graded and surfaced and free from weeds. Buildings must be kept painted, and fences put together and standing straight.

And dozens of similar matters demand constant attention, or else the finish of the garden's composition is marred and its whole effect is diminished. Maybe upkeep is only a matter of good care; but sometimes a gardener becomes so absorbed in taking good care of his shrubs and flower beds that he forgets the general upkeep of his grounds.

In public parks the lawns and walks rapidly become littered with all kinds of garbage, and large statues are neglected and become grimy. This can quickly reach a point where it can actually interfere with everybody's enjoyment of the park.

In the farm yard, where good attempts at ornamental gardening are made, a regard for cleanliness would mean that a wheelbarrow is not left standing in front of the house unused for a week, and that chicken coops, dog kennels, grindstones and other agricultural paraphernalia should be put behind the main house, or at least kept off the lawn.

On any grounds, some amount of litter is bound to accumulate. It this may eventually amount to enough to spoil the effects of unity, variety, character and propriety. This is actually a more practical concern than you may think.

In the management of city parks, for example, finish is more important, practically, than primary design. In park work this is called maintenance, and maintenance is what costs money. Consider for a moment that the ordinary city spends something like $500 an acre a year—often more—for the maintenance of its parks.

Now, we have an idea of what cleanliness and organization are worth to the average person in their own housekeeping. Landscape maintenance is really just good housekeeping, and good housekeeping is what is meant by 'finish'.

Even after the landscape gardener has done everything within his power, has gathered the last perfect plant specimen and placed it with the artist's best effect, he is still dependent. Even though he can control the planting and placement and design, nobody can control outside elements such as weather.

No one will see a delicately penciled sky line or a softly harmonized background through a blinding dust storm; and a bed of the finest roses is always to look sorry and drab during a cold rain. Differences in sunshine, light and atmosphere make very surprising differences in the effect of landscape views. All this should be taken into account by the gardener when he makes his plan.

Besides the modifying influence which light and atmosphere exercise on landscape views, they are themselves often a very important part of the picture. Who cares to look at anything else on a day when an early, feathery snow fills the atmosphere with a softening, luminous, hush-compelling haze?

And sometimes there are clouds and a sunset as beautiful as the woods or as sublime as the ocean. These do not belong to the gardener, but they may fit into his picture, and enhance the overall pleasure.