THE BOOK OF SHRUBS 



INTRODUCTION 



To those who take something more than a superficial 

 view of the ornamental aspects of the garden and are 

 well acquainted with the more beautiful shrubs and the 

 trees of small growth, it has long been a matter for 

 regret that there should, in relation to arborescent vege- 

 tation, be so much poverty in gardens of all classes. 

 They have known that botanical gardens and many of 

 the leading nurseries have abounded in shrubs and trees 

 of wondrous beauty, while gardens were being more or 

 less given up to the growth of such as properly 

 belong to the hedgerow and the rustic woodland. In 

 some cases the planting of these kinds in the garden has 

 been due to a desire to effect a small saving in the initial 

 cost of the gardens ; but in others the errors in planting 

 have resulted from a want of knowledge of the many 

 beautiful forms that properly belong to the garden. 



Of late years owners of gardens and those responsible 

 for their formation and management have become better 

 acquainted with shrubs and trees, and have effected con- 

 siderable improvements in their selections, but much has 

 yet to be learned before the choicer kinds at the com- 

 mand of planters can be taken full advantage of and 

 properly utilised in the formation of garden scenery. It 

 is hoped, and, indeed, believed, that this work will do 



