2 TREES AND SHRUBS 



Few other plants can stand against its greedy, 

 searching roots, and its vigorous branches and big 

 leaves kill other leaf-growth near them. Grown 

 in the proper way, that is, as an isolated shrub, 

 with abundance of space to develop its graceful 

 branches and brilliant green leaves, the Cherry 

 Laurel is a beautiful evergreen ; it is quite happy 

 in shady, half-wooded places. But grown, as it is 

 so often, jammed up and smothering other things, 

 or held in bounds by a merciless and beauty- 

 destroying knife, its presence has not been to the 

 advantage of English gardening. 



When the planting season comes round, think of 

 some of the good shrubs not yet in the garden, and 

 forget pontic Rhododendron, Laurel, Aucuba, and 

 Privet. By this is not meant rare shrubs, such as 

 may only be had from the few nurseries of the very 

 highest rank or from those that make rare shrubs a 

 speciality, but good things that may be grown in any 

 garden and that appear in all good shrub catalogues. 



Perhaps no beautiful and now well-known shrub is 

 more neglected than beautiful Exochorda grandiflora 

 (the Pearl Bush). Its near relatives, the Spiraeas, are 

 in every shrubbery, but one may go through twenty 

 and not see Exochorda. Even of the Spiraeas one 

 does not half often see enough of S. Thunbergi, a 

 perfect milky way of little starry bloom in April and 

 a most shapely little bush, or the double-flowered S. 

 prunifolia, with its long wreaths of flower-like double 

 thorn or minute white roses and its autumn bravery 

 of scarlet foliage. The hardy Magnolias are not 



