EVERGREENS OF COLORADO 45 



green to the winter landscape when other trees are naked. Evergreens 

 are best situated when they are planted along the borders of the grounds 

 or at the sides or rear of buildings, where they may form a background 

 for shrubs and flowering plants and a setting for the buildings them- 

 selves. The presence of evergreens in the front lawn where they will 

 obstruct the view from the windows of the dwelling and where they cast a 

 dense shade throughout the year, is decidedly against the best principles 

 of landscape gardening. Specimen trees as a rule should not be freely 

 used except on large grounds where they can be given plenty of room 

 for perfect development and where they will not interfere with the view 

 nor fill up the spaces which should be devoted to open stretches of lawn. 

 They should be placed at a sufficient distance from other trees so that 

 they can spread out naturally and should not be pruned except occasion- 

 ally to remove any great irregularities that might develop. On extensive 

 grounds, the evergreens appear to best advantage when planted in groups 

 or massed in situations where it is desirable to divide the area or to hide 

 objects from view. If planted in sodded ground, the sod should be re- 

 moved and the soil deeply spaded and a circle of bare earth four or five 

 feet from the trees should be kept well cultivated during several years. 



A great many evergreen trees, as well as other kinds, are lost every 

 year by planting them in small holes cut in the sod where they must com- 

 pete at once with the grass. 



It is usually undesirable to plant evergreens close to the south side 

 of the dwelling, for, on account of the fact that they retain their foliage 

 throughout the winter season, they cut off the sunlight during that por- 

 tion of the year when it is most desired in the rooms of the home. It is 

 not uncommon to see evergreens planted in the front yard of a small 

 place, directly in front of the windows in such a way that the view from 

 and toward the house is almost entirely cut off when the trees reach any 

 considerable size. A common practice in such cases, in order to restore 

 the view, is for the owner to prune off the lower branches and thus 

 produce an unnatural effect in the trees themselves. As the beauty of 

 an evergreen consists in securing the most natural and characteristic 

 growth of which it is capable, the pruning which is often given such trees 

 approaches mutilation. 



While there are many different ideas concerning the planting of 

 private grounds, the most pleasing and restful effects are those which 

 approach as closely as possible the most characteristic growth of the trees 

 and shrubs which are used as seen in the way Nature handles them. For 

 this reason, sheared and clipped evergreens, except when used in the form 

 of hedges, are more suited to the formal treatment in public parks and 

 extensive grounds where this style of treatment harmonizes with the type 

 of architecture usually employed in such places. It is advisable, there^ 

 fore, to plan well in advance the position of each tree about the home 

 grounds and to take into account the crowding which may result from 

 future growth. 



Where privacy and seclusion are sought, evergreens are well suited 

 to such purposes. Thus they are excellently adapted to form a screen to 



