268 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1910 



White birch and evergreens 



17. Corner group of evergreens to be seen 18. Corner group of evergreens to be 

 from the inside seen from the outside 



Red-barked dogwood 



planting around an outer corner is the 

 subject of the next, with a bay window 

 group that may be fitted to a flat wall by 

 adding one shrub, finishing the list. This one 

 shrub should be number n, and its place is 

 back of the pair of number 3, on the line 

 between 11 and 16 already shown. 



The long, narrow lot, with the long, narrow 

 stretch back from the street between its own 

 house and its neighbor is very usual. And 

 I think the feeling of hopelessness with which 

 it is confronted is very, very general; there 

 seems so little room to do anything for the 

 situation's relief. Here is a suggestion in 

 number 10 that is perfectly practical in spite 

 of its limitations. The hemlocks close the 

 vista; with the silvery branches of the white 

 birch swinging before them and the scarlet 

 branches of the willow standing out sharply 

 against both the white and the dark green, 

 the commonplace "tunnel" between the 

 houses is transformed, to the observer from 

 the street, into as charming a color picture 

 as the dreariest winter day could make one 

 long for. Increase the number of hem- 

 locks and plant the same combination of 

 willow and birch against them anywhere, to 

 screen an outbuilding or anything else that 

 the landscape would be better off without. 



The large corner planting shown in detail 

 number 11 may serve as a screen or simply 



a border enclosing a broad sweep of lawn. 

 Strictly speaking a group which does not 

 hide something can hardly claim to be a 

 screen, therefore evergreens seem essential 

 when actual screening is to be done. 



The next detail fulfills this requirement, 

 affording at the same time a background 

 for the shrubs which are set before it. These 

 may be omitted if it seems desirable, and 

 the evergreens planted alone with eminently 

 satisfactory results. 



For details of a right-angled corner 

 planting, two deciduous and two evergreen 

 groups conclude the list. If a combination of 

 evergreen and deciduous is wanted, drop 

 the large outer shrubs from 15 and set the 

 remaining ones inside of number 17, if you 

 are arranging a mass to be viewed from 

 within the angle; if the reverse, eliminate 

 the inner shrubs from 16 and the outside 

 small evergreens from 18 and replace the 

 latter with what remains of the former. 



The fruits, or berries, of the shrubs here 

 listed range in color from white through pink, 

 yellow, orange, scarlet, blue and purple to 

 blue black. Some have, in addition to these 

 gaudy berries, vividly colored branches. 

 The evergreens vary in their greens from 

 the deep, rich pure color to blue, golden, 

 and a silvery pallor. 



All varieties of ilex and the sea buck- 



thorn {Hippophae rhamnoides) must be 

 planted in combinations of two or more in 

 order to get the fruits, for these are dioecious 

 species. The details indicate (by the sign c?) 

 which should be the staminate plants. One 

 in a group is sufficient and the object, of 

 course, is to locate it where its lack of ber- 

 ries will be missed as little as possible. 



Myrica cerifera is also dioecious but as 

 this is chosen for its foliage color and its 

 value as a low growing bush, rather than for 

 its berries, it does not seem advisable to use 

 it in the numbers necessary to secure both 

 kinds. 



With these separate little links ready to 

 be welded into a complete whole, the task 

 of combining them is simple enough, and 

 the results cannot fail to be excellent, if just 

 one simple, fundamental rule of landscape 

 design is strictly adhered to. Keep the cen- 

 tre open, massing the planting always along 

 boundaries; if you wish specimens of any 

 particularly beautiful or favorite shrub 

 separated from the massed group, place 

 them in relation to the others as number 25 

 is placed in detail 15 — that is, sufficiently 

 detached to be distinct, yet not actually 

 independent of the group. Let nothing, 

 however beautiful it may be of and by itself, 

 ever tempt you to depart from this tried and 

 true arrangement. 



