PLANTING 215 



mixed shrubbery would be as uninteresting as its 

 neighbours. 



Where wind-breaks are required for shelter, 

 evergreens should predominate, and the plants 

 must be close enough to slightly interlace. It is 

 interesting to note that the same species spoil each 

 other less than a mixture. One may see silver 

 birches growing into each other, or a grove of 

 larches, or yews, and though the individuals are 

 slimmer than they would be if independent, they 

 do not seem distressed. The confused jumble 

 of thujas, laurels and privets that too often masks 

 a boundary is nothing but an eyesore to any one 

 who cares for plants. If all one sort had been 

 planted, or one sort at the back and a shorter one 

 in front, a dense screen could have been formed 

 without crippling the .individuals. A narrow 

 band of mixed evergreens is often planted where a 

 deliberately clipped hedge would be more suit- 

 able. 



The practice of clipping trees and shrubs merely 

 to make them conform to a required size is to be 

 deprecated. Stuff that is naturally small ought 

 to be selected where space is limited. Overplant- 

 ing is a fault most frequently seen in small town 

 gardens, where planes and cedars are set on lawns 

 only big enough to carry thorns and similar 

 flowering trees. And here I would plead for a 

 wider use of fruit trees for shade and ornament 

 on small lawns. They are beautiful in flower 



