TREES AND SHRUBS ON THE FARM 13 



the yard by four lines of trees or shrubs, with no attempt to break 

 the monotony by filling in the corners and planting here and there 

 a clump of shrubs to break up the straight lines. So we should 

 apply these rules to the planting of the home yard and make the 

 house the central figure but not the foremost. The trees and shrubs 

 should come to the foreground at the sides of the picture. Trees 

 may be planted along the front border of the lawn, provided they 

 are pruned up enough from below to give a good view of the yard 

 from the highway. Hedges are more often used to screen unsightly 

 portions of the home grounds, and unless one is ashamed of the 

 front yard they should seldom be tolerated as a front-yard fence. 



If the yard is small and there is no place for curved drives, 

 the lane should at least make a slight curve after it passes the 

 house ; then a few trees and shrubs properly placed will screen the 

 barnyard from the entrance to the grounds. If necessary to plant 

 windbreaks made up of trees and shrubs, planted in straight lines, 

 the picture may be greatly improved by filling in the square corners 

 with smaller shrubs and by planting clumps of shrubbery here and 

 there inside the windbreak where it borders the yard proper. Small 

 shrubs may be planted about the house to unite the house more or 

 less with the lawn and to break up the straight lines. They should 

 be used to fill in all retreating angles about the foundation of the 

 house. Shrubs to be planted about the house should be selected and 

 located with some care. In the first place they should be largely 

 low-growing varieties. So long as it does not cover a window or 

 crowd a doorway, a tall shrub like the lilac or honeysuckle may 

 occasionally be used in some deep retreating angle about the house. 

 Avoid planting trees and shrubs in places where they obstruct views 

 from windows. If clumps of trees are planted about the yard, a 

 few low shrubs planted near them will have the effect of finishing 

 the picture. 



A screen of shrubbery should separate the barnyard from the 

 yard proper. This should be far enough from the house to give a 

 roomy back yard which may serve as a children's playground, 

 clothes-yard, etc. 



A row of trees may border the lawn on the two sides opposite 

 the windbreak. They should not be low-growing trees, however. 

 Remember that at least from some points along the highway one 



