6^ ^J' 24 THE CULTIVATED EVERGREENS 





needed. The jumble of blue and Norway spruce, attended by 

 golden juniper, which eventually die or become too big for 

 the place, is seen from many a living-room window. Surely 

 this kind of planting can be much better conceived, with a real 

 unified relation to house and attendant objects. A few kinds, 

 and not many of them, seem a safe rule for first attempts at 

 this kind of planting. Plantings at entrances, doorways, street 

 gate or portal of the garden, call for evergreen material. If 

 the entrance is narrow, columnar junipers could be the main 

 feature; when a feeling of space is desirable, Mugho pine and 

 dwarf yew may mark the entrance. Good proportions in 

 heights, diameters, textures, and colors suited to the type of 

 gateway and their use seem to be the first requirement and 

 often least considered. 



In northern latitudes, the broad-leaved evergreens are 

 mostly shrubs or woody herbs. Holly is, perhaps, the only 

 broad-leaved evergreen tree, and its use is restricted by its 

 needs. The chief difference in this type of plant material is its 

 dissimilar foliage in size and texture. The flat, leathery, shiny 

 leaves bear little relation to the needles of the conifers, and 

 rhododendron and box do not look well united with juniper 

 and Mugho pine. Still dwarf yew and box can be used harmoni- 

 ously with Mugho pine and yucca. Since the cultural require- 

 ments of the two groups are so different, best results are 

 expected when they are planted wholly separately. The 

 broad-leaved shrubs can be easily combined with deciduous 

 shrubs, the crucial place being where the two extremes join. 

 Semi-evergreen shrubs of broad leaves, as Lonicera fragran- 

 tissima, make attractive the transition between mountain 

 laurel and spirea. Winter is marked by extreme contrast, 

 assisted by bright berries, or twigs, on the leafless ones. 



Partly because of difficulties of cultivation and maintenance. 



