40 ARRANGEMENT OF SHRUBBERIES 



This, of course, is perfectly right, but too often the work stops at that. 

 Plants do not cry aloud, and, as we have so often been reminded since 

 Old Dumbiedykes uttered the profound truth, they grow whilst we are 

 sleeping. When the time comes that they are closing up and ought to 

 be given more space, the work is passed by in favour of something 

 seemingly more needful but probably less important. For when once 

 the proper time has passed by, it becomes increasingly difficult to treat 

 the shrubbery satisfactorily. The plants become drawn and their sides 

 thin, and any interference with them means, at the least, a temporary 

 unsightliness. The remedy for all this is the adoption of a definite plan 

 at the commencement and its rigorous carrying out afterwards. 



Value of Grouping. When either a tree or a shrub is to be grown 

 as an isolated specimen, with plenty of space for its development, as on 

 lawns or in parks, it has simply to be considered in its present and 

 ultimate relationship to the general features of the landscape. Its 

 natural increase in size and height does not involve transplanting and 

 rearrangement. It is, however, quite otherwise with the cultivated 

 shrubbery, which, either large or small, forms so important a part of 

 every garden. Such shrubberies are designed to mask boundaries of 

 gardens and to make secondary boundaries within the garden itself; they 

 are useful in forming dividing lines between diverse types of gardening, 

 as backgrounds for borders of herbaceous plants, as shelter-belts, and 

 so on. The point is, that wherever it is, or whatever its special object may 

 be, a shrubbery should be something more than a mere mass of greenery 

 serving to block out a view. It should, and can be, as much a feature of 

 beauty and interest as any other part of the garden. The initial mistake 

 that is so often made in the planting of shrubberies is in the indiscriminate 

 mixing up of the material employed. The value of grouping that is, 

 the bringing together of several individuals of one kind is not generally 

 appreciated. It is even more apparent in beds cut out on lawns than 

 it is in continuous shrubberies. Here an indiscriminate mixture looks 

 its worst, and here, more than anywhere else, should an arrangement of 

 shrubs, be it of one or of more species, strike a clear note. For large 

 gardens and spacious areas, I prefer the grouping together of individuals 

 of the same kind; in smaller areas an association of two or more 

 may be desirable or necessary. 



In the case of shrubs of medium and small size, and indeed of almost 

 all the smaller species we cultivate, it is essential, if their beauty and 

 garden value, or even their individuality, are to be revealed to the full, 

 that this system of grouping should be adopted. In fixing on the size 

 of these groups one has to consider the extent of the shrubbery or garden 

 of which it forms a part. ' In large gardens and in large shrubberies, 

 broad massive effects can be obtained that would be out of place where 



