iO4 THE LANDSCAPE GARDENING BOOK 



rather than by any thought for the garden's future appearance. 

 This attitude is allowable to meet the limitations of a small 

 place, if one is willing to throw out unsuitable material as fast 

 as it becomes unsuitable. As a matter of fact, the growth of 

 the horticultural varieties which produce these various forms 

 is so slow that, after all, changes will seldom need to be made 

 because of increase in size; and the pruning shears may be de- 

 pended upon to keep them to the lines which they are expected 

 to fill, if they show any tendency to overstep. In many, the 

 forms are pretty well fixed and they adhere to them without 

 pruning. 



Boxwood should find a place in every garden, great or small, 

 the selection of its form also being guided by the style of the 

 garden or of the house. The formal, pyramidal box naturally 

 takes its place in the formal, stiff and precise garden, or at the 

 entrance of the dwelling that is symmetrical in its line. The 

 rugged and unconventional bushy box suggests old dooryards, 

 and the easy lines and picturesque charm of farmhouse or cot- 

 tage, or the tangle of old-time gardens suggesting at the same 

 time its suitable environment beyond doubt or question. 

 Ordinarily evergreens are not regarded with any consideration 

 for their shade, yet they offer a most restful depth of it and a cool 

 dimness that deciduous trees do not have. The nearest trees 

 to a dwelling, however, should be from twenty-five to thirty- 

 five feet distant, where their shadow cannot fall upon it. Always 

 plant them near enough together to support and defend each 

 other under the stress of severe storms, thinning out in subse- 

 quent years when they begin to crowd. And plant always two 

 deep at least two deep in an irregular grouping, not two rows, 

 one back of the other. 

 And, finally, place the deciduous members of a boundary 



