Shrubs — Why And How To Use Them — By ElsaRehmann, 



New 

 Jersey 



PRACTICAL REASONS FOR THE PLANTING OF'SHRUBS IN EVEN THE SMALLEST GARDENS — HOW THEY SAVE LA- 

 BOR AND MAGNIFY RESULTS. SUGGESTIONS FOR COLOR HARMONIES AND PLANTING FOR SUCCESSION OF BLOOM 



Planted in masses, shrubs will give character to the garden at all times of the year. This photograph, taken in May, shows the Rouen lilac in full flower, Berberis Thunbergii 



beyond. The latter gives color in late fall and winter with its foliage and berries 



SHRUBBERY plays an import- 

 tant part in the planting of 

 grounds. Shrubbery is planted 

 along the foundations of our 

 buildings so that foliage and graceful lines 

 connect walls and ground. Driveway and 

 path are bordered with shrubbery, some- 

 times the overarching branches make 

 shady tunnels, sometimes the sunny grass 

 paths meander, first wide then narrow, 

 between gardenesque shrubs. With shrub- 

 bery we border our streams to deepen the 

 reflection and to emphasize the play of 

 light and shadow on the water. Shrubbery 

 borders divide one part of the grounds from 

 another. Shrubbery enclosures put flower 

 gardens into restful secluded settings. 

 Shrubbery enlivens the flower borders with 

 harmonious color contrasts between shrub 

 and herbaceous plant and tides over with 

 winter interest the lapse between the last 

 chrysanthemum and the first crocus. Shrub- 

 bery makes foreground masses for the 

 frame of tall trees around large open 

 lawns. On the small place shrubs make the 

 main boundary and lawn enclosure; they 

 are particularly good for the small place 

 because their size is in proportion to it. 

 Moreover their easy cultivation helps to 

 make good gardens where there is not the 



means nor the desire to care for the con- 

 stant upkeep of flowers. 



We make practical use of shrubs in 

 screening buildings. We make economic 

 use of them when we cover banks with shrub- 

 bery and so keep them from winter washing. 

 With advantage can trailers and shrubbery 

 replace grass on many slopes that are too 

 steep for walking. The annual lawn up- 

 keep is minimized by lessening the grass 

 area through shrubbery plantations. 



For all these uses shrubbery has two 

 excellent qualities, permanence and beauty. 

 It also gives wealth of bloom, especially in 

 the spring. In summer the foliage gives rest- 

 ful green in heat and sunlight; in autumn 

 brilliance. Color of twig and berry, which 

 make a winter interest quite independent 

 of the evergreens, make deciduous shrub- 

 bery especially valuable for borders. 



Yellow blooming shrubs start and end 

 the flowering season. There is a Japanese 

 witch hazel that is seen blooming as early 

 as January in sheltered places. Then follow 

 spice bush, cornelian cherry {Comus mas) , 

 Japanese and common barberries, all the 

 golden bells or forsythia varieties, the fra- 

 grant sumac {Rhus aromatica). The pend- 

 ent bells of Jasminum nudiflorum come into 

 bloom in March and April. In May we 



have the clear yellow and rich orange 

 shades of the Chinese and Ghent azaleas. 

 In May, too, golden yellow flowers hang in 

 wisteria-like pendants on the golden chain 

 {Laburnum vulgar e) . In June comes the 

 yellow of the pea-shaped Caragana and 

 Colutea flowers, the small rose-shaped 

 potentillas, the coppery tones of Harison 

 Yellow and Persian Yellow roses. In July 

 come the light yellow flowers of the honey- 

 suckle (Diervilla Lonicera) and the bright 

 yellow of the St. John's worts. Even in 

 autumn nature is not satisfied with the 

 varying yellow of the fading leaves. It 

 must have yellow blossoms on our native 

 witch hazel {Hamamelis Virginica). 



Of the white flowers the fragrant bush 

 honeysuckle {Lonicera fragrantissima) is 

 among the very first to bloom. I have 

 seen it in Central Park, New York, as early 

 as March 31. Spircea Thunbergii and 

 Magnolia stellata bloom in April. For a 

 splendid early effect there is nothing better 

 than the starry white magnolia amid the 

 filmy green of the new leaves of other 

 shrubs. Spirea is good at all times. In 

 early spring it makes a color contrast with 

 forsythia, in July its delicate foliage com- 

 bines beautifully with the feathery rose 

 sprays of the tamarix, in August Hypericum 



