Evergreens for Windbreaks and Screens— By e. v. Warren 



HOW TO MAKE A HOUSE COMFORTABLE IN WINTER, SAVE COAL, SCREEN ANY 

 UNSIGHTLY OBJECTS, AND PROLONG THE FRESH VEGETABLE SEASON IN AUTUMN 



Photographs by Henry Troth 



"1 ~X 7HOLLY aside from their beauty, ever- 



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greens are the most useful of all 



trees to the home planter, because they give 

 the best protection from the winds in winter. 



14. A screen which hides lhe unsightly object until 

 the very moment you need to use it 



Windbreaks often make all the difference 

 between a house that is fit for merely summer 

 occupation and one that is in all respects fit 

 for a permanent home. 



EVERYBODY NEEDS A WINDBREAK 



People seem to think that windbreaks are 

 only for the professional fruit-growers' 

 orchards, whereas almost every home needs 

 something of the kind. It is money in the 

 pocket to plant evergreens; the saving in 

 coal alone will often exceed in five years all 

 that the trees have cost. Moreover, it is not 

 necessary to wait ten years or even five years 

 for evergreens to grow tall enough to shield 

 the house, because new methods of trans- 

 planting big trees have made it possible 

 to move evergreens 25 feet high at any time 

 of the year. Theoretically, there is no limit 

 to the size of evergreens that can be moved. 

 Practically, it is only a question of expense 

 and of whether the tree mover is competent. 



The important fact is that thousands of 

 people need evergreens who do not know it. 

 Drive along any city or village street and 

 notice how many offensive outbuildings there 

 are. All these eyesores could be shut out 

 from public, as well as from private view by 

 evergreens. It is all well enough to gush 

 about the beauty of evergreens, but their 

 practical mission in this world is to save 

 money, keep our families in better health, 

 and hide from view atrocious outbuildings. 



If you own a piece of country property that 

 is destined to become suburban, the cheapest 

 way to increase its value is to plant ever- 

 greens. Only the shrewdest real estate men 

 know this. The reason why Garden City, 

 Long Island, does not build up on the north 

 side is simply that no one had foresight enough 

 twenty years ago to plant evergreens on the 

 wind-swept prairie. 



HOW TO AVOID GLOOM AND MONOTONY 



Nor is it necessary to have gloomy or 

 monotonous evergreens, as many people seem 

 to think. Often a little grove of trees near the 

 dining-room window may serve a practical 

 purpose, just as well as a long, distant avenue 

 making a straight line, but not harmonizing 

 with the landscape. Hold your hand near 

 your face and you can shut out the sun. Line 

 your driveway with Norway spruces and you 

 may dampen the spirits of every guest who 

 comes to visit you, and if the trees do not 

 afford shelter from the prevailing winter 

 wind you will neither save a ton of coal 

 nor protect yourself from the nuisances that 

 are sure to come into your neighborhood 

 sooner or later. What we want is light and 

 cheerful evergreens about our houses, not 

 dark, heavy and dismal ones. In nearly 

 every case, plant deciduous trees among the 

 evergreens. Mixed plantings usually look 

 better than either kind alone, because twice 

 a year when deciduous trees are "doing 

 things," evergreens give them the best pos- 

 sible background for their unfolding leaves 

 or autumn colors. Evergreens alone gener- 

 ally look too sombre. 



If, then, we are investing in evergreens 

 primarily for comfort and privacy, and in- 

 cidentally for their beauty, the most im- 

 portant and practical problem is how to find 

 the best kinds for this special purpose. Does 

 a tree preserve its lower limbs or does it 

 let the wind whistle underneath? Can it 

 endure the alternate freezing and thawing 

 of winter as well as 30 or 40 degrees below 

 zero? How high does it grow, and how 



15. A bit of desolate prairie on Long Island 

 which the merchant prince A. T. Stewart designed 

 for a model city. It might have been had he planted 

 evergreen windbreaks on this treeless plain 



16. A pleasant contrast on the same Long Island prairie. A Cephalonian fir {Abies Cephalonica), not 

 considered hardy above southern New York, is thriving because it is protected by a hedge of California 

 privet which here holds its leaves a good part of the winter. It is typical of the many choice trees and 

 shrubs of warmer climes that are hardy if protected from the winter wind by evergreen windbreaks 



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