CHAPTER XXI 

 TREES AND SHRUBS BEARING COLOURED TWIGS 



The trees and shrubs in the following list are those whose twigs are 

 coloured sufficiently to make them of value from a landscape stand- 

 point. The colour effect of twigs may be interesting from two points 

 of view: either because of the vivid colouring, such as is seen in the 

 red-twigged dogwood, and in the glossy rose, or of the general tone of 

 colour such as seen in the American olive and the golden-barked 

 willow, in which the colour as a mass is much more effective at a dis- 

 tance than upon close examination. 



I Many of the interesting shrubs included in this group are often- 

 times selected because of the sharp contrast between the colour of their 

 twigs and the white background of snow or the green background of 

 evergreens during the winter months. This is especially true of the 

 birches and the dogwoods. In fact, there is equally as much interest 

 during the winter months in a planting of this kind, properly de- 

 veloped, as in the difference of foliage effects during the summer 

 months. It is a feature of landscape plantings to which very little 

 'attention has been given and one which demands careful study in order 

 to be successfully worked out. 



On extensive lawn areas, in our parks and large private estates, 

 many specimens of these plants can be tucked away in large groups, 

 where during the winter months the colour effect of the twigs will 

 lend an interesting tone and more feeling of life to the otherwise mo- 

 notonous effect of the background. 



The development of many vistas is oftentimes emphasized through 

 the careful selection of such plants as the birches, willows, and Russian 

 olive, to give the feeling of greater depth in the landscape picture. 

 Such specimens, planted in the immediate background, with a heavy 

 texture of planting in the foreground, will greatly add to the suggested 

 feeling of distance. 



The plants included in this group are those which carry an interest- 

 ing and vivid colour of the branches and twigs throughout the winter 



i68 



