

Some Interesting Small Conifers— By J. t. withers 



New 

 Jersey 



TREES FOR SMALL GARDENS, CITY LOTS AND FOR MASSING IN BEDS— EVERGREENS THAT CAN BE 

 PLANTED ON NARROW ROADSIDE CUTS AND ON ROCKY FACES— QUAINT, SMALL SHRUBS FOR THE LAWN 



IN a very small garden even one specimen 

 of such a tall-growing tree as the hemlock 

 or the Norway spruce might be overwhelm- 

 ingly disproportionate. In suburban gardens 

 of somewhat larger size, where the house is 

 placed at an appreciable distance back from 



32. Trailing yew, which sometimes forms a mat 

 fifteen feet broad and less than two feet high. It has 

 bright-red berries and will grow in damp shady places 

 (Taxus Canadensis). Sometimes called ground hemlocK 



the street, and the approach is by a drive- 

 way winding through or around a lawn, there 

 is room for a different treatment. Plant a 

 few individual trees of the larger dimensions, 

 either open or in masses, according to the 

 general scheme of the place, gradually 



Photographs by Henry Troth 



diminishing in size as they are distant from 

 the house and nearer the street. 



Fortunately, among the conifers there are 

 plenty of small-growing trees that seem 

 to be just made for confined situations, and 

 which reproduce on a small scale the effects 

 of the larger evergreens. 



I have seen the country effect brought 

 right into the heart of even New York City 

 by the planting of a few low-growing ever- 

 green shrubs (the Mugho pine) where there 

 was no room for the taller and more spreading 

 trees. The small city, or the suburban 

 garden which is practically an actual apart- 

 ment of the house, needs furnishing for 

 comfort and beauty with as much care as is 

 usually given to the inside rooms. Abrupt- 

 ness should be avoided in both, and so far as 

 the garden is concerned, evergreens offer 

 us the only means of accomplishing this end. 



MAKING THE GARDEN LOOK BIG 



Plant the dark green junipers, yews and 

 Japan cypress in the more distant beds, to 

 give as much apparent dimension as possible. 

 Plant yellow-foliaged varieties in places where 

 foreshortening is not objectionable, or use 

 them only as accents or sentinels to mark the 

 main lines of composition. 



On small lawns, where there is no oppor- 

 tunity for an apparent increase of dimensions, 

 small evergreens planted in beds give in- 

 finitely more pleasure and far less trouble 

 than annually replanting such gaudy things 

 as scarlet geraniums and golden-leaved 

 coleus. A few of these may be well enough, 

 but not whole beds. Moreover, with a back- 

 ground of evergreen foliage a few of these 

 highly colored objects really show to better 

 advantage. 



WHAT TO PLANT 



Don't buy the tender fancy evergreens 

 that the English garden books tell about 

 unless you are sure of proper protection. 

 While the Irish yew and Lawson's cypress are 

 unequaled for columnar effect, they are not 

 hardy in exposed places in New England. 

 The best small evergreens for all purposes, 

 either as specimens or in masses, are the 

 Retinosporas. For a single specimen plant, 

 the Japanese umbrella pine (Sciadopitys 

 verticillata) is not easily equaled, and it 

 stands the New England winter. 



For banks, and at entrances where a 

 permanent evergreen effect is wanted, and 

 yet where there is a little space, the dwarf 

 mountain pine (Pinus montana, var. Mughns) 



33. A natural arbor for the children. The Japanese red pine {Pinus densiflon), noted for its picturesque habit when old and its numerous horticultural varieties 



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