12 



If the trees overtop them, the nearby plants are likewise less able to compete 

 for existence. Deeper soil in the beds is of course one remedy, but a careful selec- 

 tion of the plants to be combined is a better course and promises greater success. 

 Trees which are intended to overtop shrubs should have but a thin canopy of 

 foliage and thus cast little or no shade. Shrubs requiring full sunlight should not 

 be planted so close to trees that the trees, when mature, will shade them. There 

 are, however, several native shrubs and small trees which thrive under heavy 

 shading and mingle their branches and foliage with those of the adjacent trees 

 without giving any effect of crowding. Among these the witch-hazel is best, though 

 the viburnums and cornuses also do fairly well. Most trees look best if they are 

 clothed from the ground up with their own foliage, and used in this fashion they 

 interrupt the monotony of the shrubs more effectively. Shrubs may be tempo- 

 rarily planted about trees for the better appearance of a newly planted border, 

 but if this is done, they should be taken out before they crowd the lower branches 

 of the trees. 



Trees are essential in a border, as both their foliage and their forms as a whole 

 contribute to produce an expression of larger scale and a better quality of back- 

 ground. Therefore, in some manner, provision should be made for them. With 

 little difficulty, and with even less care than would be necessary for shrubs occupy- 

 ing the same space, trees may be trained to grow more laterally along the line 

 of the border, rather than forward over the lawn. The leaders of branches may 

 be pruned at any distance from the trunk of the tree. This may even be done 

 occasionally to all branches on one or more sides of the tree and without noticeably 

 changing its appearance, if the pruning is done in a somewhat even manner. 

 Trees planted within a few feet of a boundary fence will, of course, spread over 

 the fence; but neighbors seldom object to this. If a street adjoins, it is possible 

 to make the border trees serve also as street trees, or at least to so space them 

 that they shall not interfere with other street trees. Street trees may be selected 

 to combine as they grow with the plants within the yard. But whether trees com- 

 pose a majority of the border material or only a few are included in the borders 

 their effect should not be entirely omitted. If the largest trees cannot be used, then 

 smaller-growing kinds should be selected. 



A brief description of the various kinds of border planting should call attention 

 to the possibilities and the advantages of hedges. In the popular conception, hedges 

 are from two to four feet high, are usually scraggly and thin at the base, and are 

 ordinarily composed of barberry or privet. As a matter of fact, hedges may be 

 grown to almost any desired height or width, according to the choice made for 

 them of trees or shrubs, and according to the spacing and trimming they receive. 

 Many small city yards may appropriately be enclosed by hedges of tall-growing 

 shrubs or small trees, in order to save space. An inexpensive, woven-wire fence 

 on the outside, through which the hedge will grow, will soon be hidden, but re- 

 mains to protect the hedge at the base and to make a more effective barrier. The 

 plants may be set in single, double, or triple rows, or in as many rows as are re- 

 quired, in accordance with the habits of the plants used, to produce the desired 

 width. A row of taller-growing plants may be planted in the center with rows of 

 lower-growing and more spreading plants on either side. Similar or different kinds 

 of plants, as are thought suitable, may likewise be used. A hedge may be trimmed 

 to a square, a rectangular, a truncated, or a rounded section, or it may even be 



