USE OF GRASS, TEEES, SlIKUBS, ETC. 185 



Starting out to use trees, shrubs, and flowering plants 

 to embellish our grounds, it is a matter of first impor- 

 tance to gain an adequate idea of the kinds and nature 

 of tlie materials. No one can enter upon a full exami- 

 nation of this subject, without being impressed with the 

 large number of, and the great variety in natural and 

 improved growths, suitable for such purposes. In Part 

 II may be found lists and descriptions of most kinds of 

 the^e that are adapted to the American climate. 



To compose fine garden effects, we must take into ac- 

 count the prevailing and strongly marked characteristics 

 possessed by the different materials at hand. I refer 

 more especially to the differences found in the colors, 

 sizes, and forms of foliage and flowers, and the great 

 variety in the habit of growth of different trees and 

 shrubs. 



As alluded to in Chapter XIII, we have advantages in 

 making beautiful garden scenes, unpossessed by nature, 

 in her most charming compositions, owing to the greatly 

 increased number and beauty of kinds obtained through 

 culture. We find nothing similar to and as strikingly 

 attractive in nature as an improved Purple-leaved 

 Beech, a Cut-leaved Oak, a Variegated Cornelian Cherry, 

 or any of hundreds of other improved trees and shrubs. 

 Not only is nature's own ample storehouse at our com- 

 mand, but there are besides a multitude of variations 

 from the best she possesses, that have been obtained 

 through culture. 



As between the two forms of woody growth, trees and 

 shrubs, too little regard is yet paid by planters to the 

 great value of the latter class. This is especiallv the 

 case as regards their eminent fitness for embellishing 

 small grounds. In beauty and diversity of form and foli- 

 age, they equal the larger trees. Most of them, in addition 

 to other merits, produce an abundance of flowers of great 

 beauty and sweetness, and in the different species, yield 



