PLANTING 



PLANTING 



2679 



3029. Attractive winter objects. 

 Cones of white pine. 



by a noble hemlock forest on the other. In the pmetum 

 at Highland Park, Rochester, New York, the walk runs 

 through the grassy center of the valley, with dwarf 

 evergreens ascending the banks, these being disposed 

 at convenient levels and distances for the eye, so that 

 the different textures may be enjoyed to the full. The 



apparent height of this 

 shallow valley is in- 

 creased by planting the 

 ridges with the tallest 

 evergreens. 



Shrubby winter-gar- 

 dens. Every arbore- 

 tum or botanical gar- 

 den is likely to have a 

 fruticetum, or collec- 

 tion of shrubs. A gar- 

 den composed almost 

 exclusively of shrubs 

 is attractive through- 

 out the growing sea- 

 son, as well as during 

 winter. There is a 

 naturalistic winter-gar- 

 den at Llyndanwalt, 

 Abington", Pennsyl- 

 vania, where a wood 

 of about an acre near the house has been provided with 

 features of year-round interest, including a rhododen- 

 dron collection, a dense underplanting of young hem- 

 locks, and a border of shrubbery selected with special 

 reference to winter beauty. From the outside, these 

 shrubs give privacy, shelter, and color in delightful con- 

 trast to the ordinary wooded pasture, which is rather 

 colorless. From the interior these shrubs animate the 

 trails and enliven the outlooks that have been purposely 

 left toward the best features of the landscape. 



Skating-ponds. It is now the fashion to border 

 skating-ponds with shrubs that have brightly colored 

 twigs. On sunny days these furnish bold masses of 

 color that harmonize with the vigorous mood and gay 

 costumes of the skaters. After providing for the casino 

 and for the snow that must be removed from the ice, 

 there is generally ample room for a collection of showy 

 dogwoods, willows, and wild roses. At Rochester, 

 New York, is a charming example, the shrubs being 

 allowed to interlace like an old woodland border, so that 

 the color of the twigs steals upon one unconsciously. 



Gardenesque effects. That it is possible to spoil even 

 a winter landscape by overdoing color has been much 

 demonstrated recently in parks, where nurserymen and 

 gardeners have been allowed to plant large masses of 

 Siberian dogwood and salmon-barked willow, the 

 brightest of all winter reds. Such swamp-type plants 

 are particularly inappropriate and gaudy on hilltops. 

 A more poetic effect is produced by the ''sunset willow" 

 of the prairie states, a species of uncertain botanical 

 status known to collectors as Salix longifolia. It is 

 common along middle-western streams. The most bril- 

 liant but least tasteful effects produced with shrubs that 

 have brightly colored bark are in reality the carpet- 

 bedding system. The willows and dogwoods are cut to 

 the ground every year or two, in order to produce the 

 greatest number of showy shoots, which are kept at a 

 height of about 3 feet. This system sacrifices height, 

 habit, and dignity to display. A standard park effect is 

 white pine bordered by Siberian dogwood, which is 

 about the strongest contrast that is in good taste on 

 lawns. Perhaps the strongest contrast furnished by 

 nature in the North is hemlock and canoe birch. 



Winter walk-s. The cheapest and most practical 

 winter-garden for the largest number, may be a simple 

 walk leading to the front, back, or side door, bordered 

 by shrubs and trees, of which half or more have winter 

 attractions. Brick set on concrete is considered pleas- 

 anter to the eye and foot than concrete, and is drier 



170 



than grass. The tapestry type of brick set on edge is 

 expensive, but gives a rich texture. 



Materials for winter-gardening. 



One hundred and twenty-eight trees and shrubs that 

 have pronounced winter beauty were listed by John 

 Dunbar from the Rochester parks, not including the 

 evergreens or plants that lose their vivid color before the 

 end of the holidays. With such a wealth of material 

 there should be little excuse for bare and ugly surround- 

 ings. Only the classes of materials may be mentioned 

 and exemplified here. 



Broad-leaved evergreens. These are often more 

 expensive than the narrow-leaved evergreens, and of 

 smaller stature, but they have more ample foliage and 

 frequently showier flowers or fruits. All require special 

 care. Examples are American holly, mountain laurel, 

 Rhododendron catawbiense and jR. maximum, evergreen 

 thorn, trailing myrtle, evergreen bitter-sweet, box, and 

 its substitute, Ilex crenata var. microphytta. The Eng- 

 lish standard of beauty is European holly, laurel, and 

 hybrid rhododendrons, because the darkest and shiniest 

 foliage is commoiuy thought to be more beautiful than 

 the duller and yellow-green type. A more practical stan- 

 dard for our climate is furnished by American holly, 

 laurel, and rhododendron. In nurseries where both 

 classes of plants may be observed, the European kinds 

 are unquestionably rich and aristocratic, but sound a 

 foreign note, while the native kinds have a cheery, sunny 

 color that is eloquent of adaptation to our climate and 



3028. A good subject in the winter- 

 garden. Fruits of the barberry. 



scenery. The same principle applies 

 to the narrow-leaved evergreens, 

 Irish yew being commonly but mis- 

 takenly preferred to Canadian or 

 Japanese yew. Semi-evergreens, like 

 Hall's honeysuckle, are listed in this work under 

 A ut u mn-Gardening. 



X arrow-leaved evergreens. The European standards 

 are Scotch and Austrian pine, Norway spruce, silver fir, 

 Irish juniper, and Irish yew. These are climatic misfits 

 in America and constitute the bulk of the evergreen 

 planting east of the Rockies that proves unsatisfactory. 

 The American standards are white pine, hemlock, 

 Douglas spruce, concolor fir, red cedar, and Canadian 

 yew. The types of beauty represented in the two lists 

 are not closely comparable. 



Deciduous trees and shrubs. Though lacking in bril- 

 liant color, the following are standards of quiet beauty. 



