CHAPTER VI 



SHRUBS FOR SEASIDE PLANTING 



BEFORE the garden is definitely planned and 

 planted, there are also innumerable shrubs 

 that cry for place and consideration. And 

 well may this be so, since they offer to the seaside 

 dweller a wealth of beauty equal to that given by the 

 flowers. Shrubs are really the advance guard of the 

 garden; in turn they are protected by the great, endur- 

 ing trees. They form the middle link between the 

 trees and the garden. 



There are many seashore homes that have no 

 gardens, and yet the grounds about them are kept 

 gay as a carnival by various shrubs which unfold in 

 succession from early spring until the autumn, and 

 even hold their greenness over the winter. In general, 

 they can be planted near the sea more indiscriminately 

 than trees, that is, if it is ever well to plant anything 

 without due regard to character and location. While the 

 majority of shrubs can do well near the sea, or rather 

 in its vicinity, they cannot be expected to thrive if 

 placed in its very jaws. 



Shrubs respond quickly to the first warm touch 

 of spring. Like other green things of nature, they 

 make the calendar of the year. Even when spring 

 is wild and uncouth, color and force return to their 



[55] 



