ORNAMENTAL PLANTING OF TREES AND SHRUBS 85 



The outlines of base plantings should always be sinuous, ex- 

 tending out at the corners and receding to the face of the building. 

 Where the width of the bed permits, the use of tall and low growing 

 plants (Fig. 82) adds greatly to the effect from the approach. 



■WHAT TO AVOID IN BASE PLANTINGS 



A popular practice today is the use of a miscellaneous assortment 

 of evergreens in beds close to the house (Fig. 83). When the plants 

 are small the effect is undoubtedly attractive and the contrast of 

 the blue, green and golden foliage pleasing. Builders of suburban 

 houses which it is desired to sell quickly have taken advantage of 

 this appeal and, without thought of the future, have used these 

 evergreen base plantings to the exclusion almost, in some commu- 

 nities, of the more desirable shrubbery groupings. This practice 

 should not be followed in planting the home grounds. Many of 

 the evergreens used are not dwarf t3rpes and soon outgrow their 

 positions. The effect becomes monotonous in the extreme and 

 lacks the variety of foliage, flower and fruit attainable by the use 

 of a judicious selection of shrubs and broad-leaved evergreens. 



PLANTS FOR BASE PLANTINGS — SHRUBS 



A good selection of shrubs of a rather dwarf character can be 

 made up from the following list: Spiraea Thunbergii, Spirsea An- 

 thony Waterer, Deutzia gracilis, Caryopteris, Berberis. Thunbergii, 

 Azalea mollis, Desmodium penduliflorum, Deutzia Lemoinei, Daphne 

 Mezereum, Forsythia suspensa, Spiraea arguta, Amygdalus nana, 

 Ceanothus americana, Coriaria japonica, Hypericum aureum, 

 Andromeda speciosa (Fig. 84). If the planting admits the use of 

 larger growing plants these varieties are splendid for use close to 

 the house: Spiraea Van Houttei, Rhodo typos kerrioides, Philadel- 

 phus Lemoinei, Neviusia alabamensis, Ligistrum Regelianum, 

 Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora. Hydrangea arborescens grandi- 

 flora alba, Calhcarpa purpurea, Weigela Eva Rathke. 



PLANTS rOR BASE PLANTINGS — BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS 



The broad-leaved evergreens are splendid for base plantings (Fig. 

 77), and will usually grow easily on any but a due southern 

 exposure. The attractiveness of the foliage in Winter recommends 

 them for liberal use in plantings near the house. Dwarf and tall 

 growing kinds may be had in a diversity of form and foliage. 



