18 THE CULTIVATED EVERGREENS 



various genera and species becomes a demonstration in 

 solid geometry. This fact is made use of and heightened by 

 chpping, and the vegetable solids of topiary work are the 

 extreme of this idea. (See Fig. 1.) Many undipped evergreens, 

 however, have a very complacent well-groomed appearance. 

 Most pines, hemlocks, and Douglas spruce, and perhaps others, 

 mingle their branches fairly well even in small groups. Even 

 if their outline has a fairly close line relation, and although 

 their foliage is similar to a marked degree in the genera, never- 

 theless their sharpness of outline and the individual characters 

 of each make their mass formation a mixture and not a unified 

 composition. It is advisable to have few species and fewer 

 genera on display in any one section of a planting. The more 

 numerous the species, the greater the diversity in skyline 

 and composition. 



The masses of conifers are darkest and densest of all vege- 

 tation; so also are their shadows very black on lawn or across 

 structure or other vegetation. Coniferous evergreens are the 

 deep tones in pictures out-of-doors. As contrast to structures, 

 as background, low foreground, or horticultural adjunct, the 

 shadows they cast have great pictorial value. Too many ever- 

 greens, because of depth of shadow, may make the picture too 

 dark and dismal. Use of the lighter shades of green will help 

 to offset this difficulty, as the selection of white pine instead of 

 Norway spruce near a dwelling. Though the shadows may be 

 as dark, they will be tempered by the lighter foliage color. 



It is easy to see, therefore, that one evergreen in a planting 

 may have more pictorial weight than any deciduous tree or 

 several of them. Since its value in the picture is so great, its 

 relation to the nearest vegetation is very important. In the 

 grouping of the various conifers, avoiding the intense forms of 

 color, any sorts that site and . soil will allow to thrive may be 



