78 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March, 1909 



This is the stuff that will attain the height 

 of a man in three or four years. The reason 

 you can buy it so cheaply is that it can all be 

 easily raised from cuttings; whereas the 

 costly shrubs have to be propagated by 

 slow methods, such as grafting, layering, or 

 seeds. 



The quick-growers are to go in the back 

 and the slow-growers in the front of the 

 border. Typical slow-growers are lilacs, 

 Japanese maple, white fringe, pearl bush, 

 Japanese redbud, dwarf horse-chestnuts, and 

 azaleas. These cost about fifty cents each 

 or more. 



Now draw the foundation line of your 

 house and indicate all the most important 

 windows, because we want a beautiful picture 

 from each window and each view is to be 

 strikingly different from every other. Nearly 

 all the foundation line should be hidden and 

 the ideal material for banking against a 

 house is broad-leaved evergreens. Consider 

 this material first, as it is the costliest of all. 



Then take the view from each window in 

 turn. Don't put your big flower show 

 opposite the most important window, because 

 flowers are short-lived. Put a winter effect 

 there, and be sure it has good foliage in 

 summer. Hold the list of effects by months 

 in your hand and think how twelve bushes 

 of each kind would look from each window 

 when the plants have grown to the height of 

 a man. Thus you will be sure of strong, 

 simple mass effects that are good to live with, 

 not a weak, spotty, distracting mixture. 



Next indicate directly on the plan where the 

 conifers or other evergreens are to stand. 

 You must do this now, because your winter 

 berries and branches will be ten times as 

 effective if seen against an evergreen back 

 ground. The same is true of forsythias 

 and all the April flowers, since these bloom 

 before the leaves. 



Now it is safe to indicate where each tall 



bush is to stand. When these are full grown 

 they will be six feet apart and for the finished 

 picture you may not need more than six of a 

 kind in any one group. But the right way is 

 to order three times as many small plants as 

 you need and set them two to four feet apart. 

 This always seems wrong to a beginner. It 

 looks just like a nurseryman's scheme to sell 

 more plants. But landscape gardeners and 

 park superintendents have no such interest 

 and at a recent convention the sentiment was 

 practically unanimous in favor of the old 

 rule, "Plant thick, thin quick." One 

 reason is that if you plant far apart, the place 

 looks raw the first two years. Again, it 

 costs more for cultivation. Again, the bushes 

 actually do not grow as fast, because they are 

 too far apart to shelter one another from 

 drying winds, etc. On the other hand, if 

 you plant thickly and begin thinning the 

 second year, you can sell the larger plants 

 you don't need or move them to some other 

 part of your grounds. That 's the cheapest 

 and quickest way to get the best bushes. 

 Don't try to save three years by buying 

 extra large bushes, except in the case of a 

 few near the house or in the garden where 

 immediate effect must be had. In three 

 years small shrubs will catch up "with big ones. 

 That is not the case with trees. 



THE FINISHING TOUCHES 



Last of all come the finishing touches. 

 You want some edging plants that arch over 

 to the grass, so as to make an easy transition 

 from lawn to tall shrubbery; therefore, choose 

 arching bushes that grow one to three feet 

 high, like Deutzia Lemoinei, Japanese bar- 

 berry, Thunberg's spirea, stephanandra, 

 and yellow-root (Xanthorrhiza). The first 

 thing the beginner thinks of is the spice — 

 such as purple-leaved barberry and varie- 

 gated dogwood. It should be the last to 

 enter into the garden scheme. 



Japanese snowball {Viburnum (Ollientositm, var. plicatum), showing the strength and purity that comes 

 -from massing many plants of one variety instead of mixing several. It has very beautiful foliage; 

 most shrubs famous for their flowers do not have 



The wayfaring tree {Viburnum Lantana) a type of 

 beauty in which, -with the aid of Japanese species, 

 we can beat Europe to a standstill 



When planting time comes interlace your 

 big masses instead of keeping each kind in 

 an absolutely solid mass. For instance, 

 suppose you have twelve cranberry bushes 

 that are to stand next to twelve common 

 barberries. Place one or two cranberries 

 a little inside the barberry mass and vice 

 versa. Then your mass effects will be just 

 as pure and strong as ever, but they will not 

 seem too studied. That is the last touch that 

 foresight can give. The crowning loveliness 

 age alone can bring. 



THE BEST ARTICLES ON TREES AND SHRUBS 



Anyone who wishes more specific knowl- 

 edge about shrubs may find the following 

 articles helpful. (G. M. and C. L. mean 

 The Garden Magazine and Country Life in 

 America. The numbers refer to volume and 

 page.) 



"Shrubs and Where to Put Them," C. L. 4 : 207. 



"How to Buy Trees and Shrubs Economically," 

 C. L. 12 : 48. 



"What Must be Planted in Spring, not Autumn, " 

 G. M. 7 : 140. 



"Shrubs for Fall Planting," G. M. 6 : 129 and 



131- 



"Planting for Winter Comfort and Beauty," 

 C. L. 9 : 155- 



"Shrubs Attractive both in Flower and Fruit," 

 C. L. 15 : 490. 



"Ornamental Fruits," G. M. 7 : 296, 344; 8 : 10, 

 70, 134, 184, 236, 292. 



"Flowers the Year Round," C. L. n : 534. 



"Shrubs That will Bloom the First Year," C. L. 

 13 : 500. 



"Trees and Shrubs that Bloom Before the 

 Leaves," G. M. 5 : 138. 



"Flowering Shrubs from April to November," 

 G. M. 3:30. 



Azaleas, C. L. n : 495, and G. M. 5 : 218. 



Barberries, G. M. 4 : 122. 



Cornus, C. L. n : 35. 



Hydrangeas, G. M. 2 : 66. 



Lilacs, G. M. 1 : 232. 



Spireas, G. M. 3 : 206; 7 : 284, 384. 



Viburnums, C. L. it : 3S. 



"Prune Your Own Shrubs," G. M. 1 : 225. 



"How to Prune Shrubs," C. L. 3 : 164. 



For any particular shrub, the "Cyclopedia 

 of American Horticulture " is generally the 

 most helpful. Among the nursery cata- 

 logues one tells the autumn color of the 

 foliage, another is strongest on American 

 shrubs, another gives the hardy equivalents 

 of the European kinds and at least two 

 are rich in pictures of shrubs. 



