SEPTEMBER: THIRD WEEK 237 



clipped boxwood or privet hedge to the naturalistic abandon 

 of a mixed border planted against a wall or a boundary line 

 with every appearance of having grown there as naturally 

 as the weeds by the roadside. 



Shrubs can be bought at from fifteen to fifty cents apiece, 

 the majority of them for not over a quarter, so that a few 

 dollars a year invested in them will soon make a represent- 

 ative collection. Even if only a few shrubs are set out, 

 care should be taken to select those that bloom at different 

 seasons of the year. With half a dozen, flowers can be had 

 practically throughout the summer and early fall. In 

 estimating the number of shrubs required for a bed or border 

 of a given size allow about five feet each way for the taller 

 sorts and three for the lower. A good principle to keep in 

 mind, either in making groups or in placing individual 

 specimens, is to maintain what landscape architects call 

 the "open center." Do not set the plants indiscriminately 

 here and there, breaking up the lawn and abruptly termi- 

 nating views from the front porch, veranda, windows or 

 other frequented places. Keep the shrubbery plantings 

 rather at the outer margins and be careful to use low- 

 growing shrubs where some nearby attraction or distant 

 vista would otherwise be shut off. 



Preparation for Planting Important 



As a rule, shrubs are not particular in regard to soil, 

 but it is highly important that the best possible prepara- 

 tion should be given. And as several years' supply of nour- 

 ishment is to be incorporated a generous supply of coarse 

 ground bone and acid phosphate, as well as some potash, 

 should be included with the manure to be dug into the 

 soil. For the shrub border the whole space to be planted 

 should be plowed or dug. Where individual specimens 

 or small groups are to go the ground may be prepared by 

 digging out and enriching holes of suitable size. Where a 

 hard subsoil is encountered it may be advisable to loosen 

 it with dynamite. 



