Cboice Urees anb Sbrubs 307 



tive, being stringy and wanting in fulness. It is 

 generally considered a sad-looking tree, suitable for 

 graveyards and pools of water, why it would be hard 

 to explain. The pussy willow {Salix caprea) is a fine 

 bushy kind. It is important to remember that the 

 members of the willow family need pruning strongly in 

 order to keep them in good shape. 



Other rapid-growing trees for the spring lawn are 

 poplars, the oriental plane tree, alders, birches, and the 

 forsythias, fortuni and mridissima. The latter kinds 

 are excellent shrubs, blooming early with abundant 

 yellow flowers and keeping a rich, compact, and in the 

 case of Forsythia viridissima a graceful foliage through- 

 out the summer and autumn. The viridissima looks 

 well on the borders of shrub groups, because its branches 

 droop close to the ground. There is another shrub, 

 Berberis ihunbergi, that is compact, of vigorous growth, 

 and fine throughout the season with its glossy foliage, 

 summer flowers, and autumn colour. It is one of the 

 best shrubs for the lawn. Its relative, the common 

 barberry, is also an excellent shrub, fine in masses with 

 its bright flowers and fruit. The Spircsa ihunbergi is 

 perhaps the prettiest of spiraeas with its light-coloured 

 graceful fohage, early white flowers in great masses, 

 and its lovely autumn colour. 



The horse-chestnut is fine in May with its fresh 

 green foliage and large white or red trusses of bloom, 

 but later on in July it is apt to lose its leaves and look 

 forlorn for the rest of the season. Hawthorns belong 

 to spring, and the most celebrated and beautiful in 



