132 COMMON SENSE GARDENS 



and ungraceful; and remove some of the side 

 branches that stick out and destroy the general 

 symmetry of the bushes. Except for cutting out 

 the large suckers the Lilacs should never be touched 

 with shears, but allowed to grow in their natural, 

 own sweet way. For the rest, the pruning may 

 be left to the common sense of the owner, with the 

 gardener kept at a distance. 



There are so many shrubs that are attractive and 

 desirable that it is hard for the novice to make a 

 choice. If he leaves the selection to a nursery- 

 man he will get a little bit of everything, for the 

 average nurseryman thinks that variety is the 

 spice of planting. One does not realize how large 

 a shrub bill may become until it is sent in, and 

 then it is difficult to check up the various items 

 that have been scattered over two or three acres, 

 for many of them even in that short space of time 

 will doubtless have died from want of care and 

 knowledge on the part of your gardener, or be- 

 cause they were weaklings when they left the 

 nursery and should have received the attention of 

 a trained nurse. You should superintend the 

 planting carefully, for you cannot be sure that any- 



