244 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



innumerable, and we only mention this one as an 

 example. When the taller shrubs are straight and 

 aspiring in their growth, those in between should be 

 of a more spreading and bushy habit; and these 

 smaller shrubs should be planted as close together 

 and be encouraged to grow as evenly as possible. 

 The ground must be well covered at all costs, and all 

 the shrubs must thrive, or else the effect wiU be more 

 ragged even than in the ordinary mixed shrubbery. 

 There is no reason why some of the tall Pillar Roses 

 should not have their place in such an arrangement, 

 alternating with Lilacs or some of the taller Spiraeas. 

 Nothing can look better than pillars of Dorothy Per- 

 kins encircled with Lavender or some other low-grow- 

 ing glaucous-leaved shrub. Where there are spaces 

 between the smaller shrubs they may be filled with 

 masses of German Irises or Pinks or any other plant 

 that keeps some of its beauty ■ all the year. But in 

 any case the shrubs, whether massed or single, should 

 be regular in their arrangement and but little varied 

 in kind. 



The use of shrubs about a lawn is a very difficult 

 problem, especially in landscape gardens where there 

 is no formal or quiet backgroimd to serve as a foil for 

 them. Shrubs seldom look well when they are planted 

 at regular intervals about a lawn, especially if they 

 are at all stiff or formal in habit. On the other hand, 

 single shrubs dotted here and there are apt to seem 

 pointless and forlorn; and so are beds of low-growing 

 shrubs such as Rhododendrons or Azaleas. These 



