SCHOOL AND HOME GROUNDS. 379 



in one place and higher in another, and in 

 the background merging into a clump of tall 

 shrubs or small trees, the effect will be much 

 more natural than the closely sheared, stiff 

 hedge. 



Where a number of varieties, species, or 

 genera of varying habits are brought together 

 in a group of shrubbery, the effect produced by 

 the shades of differences in form and color and 

 texture is usually more pleasing than that of a 

 group formed from any one kind alone. 



For screens and masks, tall-growing, graceful 

 shrubs should be used for the background or the 

 center of the mass, and the outlines should 

 gradually lose themselves in the lower plantings 

 and green sward (Fig. 144). The plantings must 

 be dense enough to conceal the view and to 

 hide all trunks. Neither trees nor shrubs should 

 expose long, bare trunks, making them look as 

 though they were upon stilts. For this reason it 

 is better to plant thickly, and cut out some 

 shrubs when they need thinning. 



In massing shrubbery, again the gardner needs 

 to know his plants. He should know those that 

 first put forth their leaves in spring, the time of 

 blooming, and the character of flowers and fruit. 

 In general, mass those shrubs with the darker, 

 restful colors in the background and those of 

 lighter shades in the foreground. Those forms 

 that blossom successively should be selected, for 



