THE NEW SHRUB BEAUTY 277 



poorest. A gardener of a certain type will give double 

 the attention to preparing a bed for the purpose of win- 

 ning a prize of a few paltry shillings for Onions than he 

 will devote to making a lasting home for noble and 

 beautiful shrubs. Deep trenching or bastard trenching 

 and liberal manuring are even more necessary for a shrub- 

 bery than for a kitchen garden, and the best that is given 

 to vegetables should not be thought too much for shrubs. 



With thorough ground preparation the shrub-planter 

 will ensure that annual production of vigorous young wood 

 which makes pruning simple and easy, and means 

 abundant crops of the finest flowers every year on those 

 kinds which are grown for the beauty of their blossoms. 

 He is never compelled to hesitate about cutting out old 

 wood in autumn because of the paucity of new branches 

 for taking its place the most unfortunate position 

 possible for a shrub-lover whose experience has told him 

 that the great majority of flowering shrubs produce the 

 finest bloom from the new wood. 



Flower gardeners who have a fair amount of ground 

 should consider forming beds and borders of shrubs, 

 not merely as wind-breaks, but as permanent features 

 of beauty. If beds of Roses in prominent parts of the 

 flower garden, why not beds of various beautiful shrubs ? 

 The objection that the deciduous kinds, although often 

 very beautiful when in bloom, are bare and unsightly for 

 several months of the year, may be met by reminding 

 the gardener that he is quite at liberty to associate ever- 

 greens, and species with brightly coloured stems, with 

 the kinds that he grows mainly for their bloom, should he 

 care to do so. 



Beds and belts of good shrubs add enormously to the 

 beauty and interest of a garden a fact to which many 

 garden-owners have awakened during the past few years. 



