Border plantations need not be entirely composed of non-flowering plants in 

 order to serve as backgrounds, but flowering plants selected for this function 

 should qualify as to suitable foliage when there are no flowers. And while it is 

 natural for one to see first the beauty in the flower color, he should endeavor to 

 turn his attention to the question of the beauty of the greens of the foliage. If 

 one cannot easily divorce himself from his all-absorbing interest in flower color, 

 he should realize that, except for a short time in early summer, there are practical- 

 ly no flowers. If the flowers were with us all year round, we might not be so inter- 

 ested in them. The spring is a season of flower, the summer, a time of greens, 

 while in the fall, color is presented to us in still a different aspect; and therefore 

 it is surely expedient, if nothing more, to make the most of each season. But 

 while we enjoy the evergreens when winter takes all other color from us, we should 

 prize them more than we do, considering their all-year-round value, and their 

 usefulness as backgrounds for color, and their intrinsic beauty. 



If one wishes to know how to assemble plants to produce effects in accordance 

 with a prearranged plan, he must observe all their important characteristics and 

 become well-informed respecting them. For example, there are many kinds of 

 trees, and in height alone they will vary from twenty or twenty-five to fifty 

 feet or more. Some trees, under all ordinary conditions, assume their character- 

 istic form, rounded or pointed; and according to the density and compactness 

 of their manner of growth, this characteristic form or outline will be more or 

 less sharply defined. Other trees will vary markedly under conditions of soil, 

 moisture, and crowded or exposed environment. The same may also be said of 

 shrubs. Evergreen trees and shrubs are more conspicuous than deciduous forms 

 if the latter predominate in a scene or a landscape. Unusual characteristics make 

 all plant forms conspicuous, and they are even more so if in contrast with nearby 

 plants. Size, habit, color value, texture, and like characteristics are the factors 

 which should determine the choice of plants which are intended to produce the 

 effects embodied in a general plan. 



To be suitable, the general appearance of the several areas of the yard should 

 be different, and to a considerable degree this must be effected by the selection 

 and arrangement of the vegetation. Even within the lawn itself it is desirable to 

 avoid a monotonous border. Focalization of interest by means of architectural 

 features or suitable plants is desirable at certain points in the border, usually 

 those farthest from the house but plainly in view. Focalization of interest by 

 the use of plants whose characteristics give them individuality also requires the 

 use of other plants about .them to constitute a suitable background. These 

 background plants should not stand out as individuals, by reason of interesting, 

 curious, or even unpleasant characteristics; rather, they should lose their identity 

 in order to produce a mass effect of unobtrusive but pleasing foliage. Thus it 

 should be evident that a planting plan for a yard requires both plants that are 

 individually prominent and plants that are suitable for collective or mass effects. 

 Some analysis of the plant element of the yard and an arbitrary classification of 

 plants producing different effects will perhaps clarify this matter and simplify 

 the process of selection. Let us therefore group all the vegetation to be used into 

 two classes, one including plants which are primarily useful for background 

 effects, which, growing together, tend to merge into a mass and produce an 

 effect of green foliage varied only slightly in form, tone, and skyline, or silhouette, 



