Page:Report of the Park Board 1903.djvu/63

. Few gardeners seem to discriminate in such cases. They are apt to extend turf all through wild woods and even over steep slopes where they do not want the public to walk. On most of the steep slopes in the park, it is extremely desirable to cover the ground with vegetation of a more varied and more picturesque character than grass. Where planting has been done more or less with exotic trees and shrubs, there is no better plant for this purpose than the dwarf periwinkle, especially if used as a ground covering among rhododendrons and other evergreen shrubs. The English Ivy is also very useful as a ground covering plant in dense shade where it will not cause too much trouble by covering and smothering shrubs. On the other hand, where the wild native trees and shrubs prevail the Sallal, evergreen huckleberry and other native plants should be used as a ground cover, although not so easy to transplant as periwinkle and English Ivy. Among the comparatively inexpensive improvements which can be made in this park, there is none more pressingly needed than the substitution of low bushes and creepers for turf on steep slopes.

In general, there should be more shrubbery, especially such as will endure shade, in the wooded portions of this park. High, dense shrubbery increases the difficulty of properly policing the park, so that it should be used rather sparingly, but this objection does not hold against shrubbery that is little more than knee high and low-growing shrubbery can therefore be used freely wherever the formal, smooth effect of turf should be avoided.

There are too many trees on the old portion of the park to remain permanently, and it will be much better to remove a considerable number now than to allow them to grow up so crowded that they will be mere poles with a tuft of foliage on top, or one-sided, ugly specimens when thinning shall have been done hereafter.

Where high screens of foliage are desirable, they should usually be of comparatively low-growing, moderate-sized trees. It is noticeable that besides being crowded, the trees are trimmed up for the most part to a uniform height from the ground. This produces a very monotonous effect which should be remedied wherever possible by the addition of shade-enduring shrubbery.

It is likely to produce the most agreeable effect if a comparatively small selection of trees and shrubs is used for the greater part of the planting, so that without monotony there will be a prevailing effect of unity and continuity. Those trees and shrubs which are introduced for the sake of variety and because of their individual interest, should be used very sparingly, and most of them should be placed where they