later, for such thinning is apt to be neglected. Only under special and most 

 unusual conditions should planting be made continuous across the base of a house 

 front. The most important position for plants is that on either side of the main 

 house entrance. This front door should be the center of interest of the who^e 

 picttu-e, and the finest shrubs should be used here — usually a pair of shapely and 

 similarly formed plants. Rounded forms are always good, and in fact, are usually 

 better than conspicuous pointed forms, since the door, rather than the plants, is to 

 be the main object of interest. If it is difficult to obtain suitable mature plants, 

 it is sometimes possible to put three or more plants together to make one large 

 plant. 



At the house corners one or more plants frequently look well. Here either 

 single plants or compact groups should be used, and these shrubs may be taller 

 than those at the door, as well as more free-growing in habit. If there is a garden 

 on one side of the house, it is likely that dense planting — a shrub border, or a 

 hedge, or even a wall — ^from the house to the boundary will be required to 

 enclose the private area. If continuous border planting is used, the plants 

 composing it should be for the most part larger shrubs, or medium-sized or 

 large trees, all of which must have low branches from the ground up. This 

 characteristic is essential to the finished appearance, as other wise the bare ground 

 would show under the plants. This large material is very desirable, in order 

 that the planting as a whole may be in scale with the tree-and-lawn scenery 

 of the street. 



Density of growth and color of foliage are factors of first importance in the 

 selection of plants for front yards. Flowers on shrubs, or herbaceous flowering 

 plants, are transient, and although their leaves may remain, many flowering 

 plants look shabby after their flowers are gone. Some shrubs and trees have a habit 

 of branching more densely than others, and this density gives them a winter value, 

 as their form and appearance are nearly as good then as in summer. Shrubs 

 which in winter display only a few scraggly branches are not desirable for front- 

 yard use. Evergreens are best suited for the front yard, at least in part and where 

 the best effects are desired, but one should be advised as to the hardiness of 

 evergreens, and should also be sure of their ability to thrive in exposed, or, 

 perhaps, dusty situations. In the selection of evergreen or deciduous plants, 

 dark and normal greens are preferable. If flowering shrubs are selected, at no 

 time during the growing season should there be a greater predominance of flowers 

 than of green foliage, and white flowers are always best. The plant element 

 should be used in such a manner as not to attract undue attention to itself, but 

 rather to frame and to set off the front door and the house front. If the house 

 is sjrmmetrical in design, the planting should be nearly or quite as symmetrical; 

 but if the door is at one side and if the house itself is nearer one side of the lot 

 than the other, then the center of interest should be kept at the door by the use 

 of more planting, taller plants, or by the arrangement of more interesting plant 

 groups on the narrower side. 



The intel-est should be centered on the front door, and balance should be 

 restored if the house is not in the middle of its lot, and this can be accomplish- 

 ed mainly by the clever arrangement of planting. 



It is not always necessary to resort to shrubs for front-yard planting. Es- 

 pecially if the scale of design is large and if the house is dignified in appearance, 

 trees alone may accomplish the result, and that in a more simple and pleasing 



