April, 19 14 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



175 



clematis are very effective in combination 

 with shrubs. 



One of the first essentials for mass 

 effect is to plant close together. Shrubs 

 in borders are not treated as individuals 

 but merely as part of the whole composi- 

 tion. As such it is not desired that each 

 shrub should make a full symmetrical 

 growth like a specimen plant, nor should 

 it draw the attention like a specimen, but 

 should look well in relation to its neigh- 

 bors and be allowed to interlace its branches 

 loosely with them. 



Japanese quince and Japanese barberry 

 have a complex interlacing of flat branches 

 which makes them valuable as foreground 

 shrubs and the similarity of their habits 

 make them very effective when used to- 

 gether. Stephanandra and Spircea Thun- 

 bergi are also well adapted for this fore- 

 ground use. When planted together there 

 is abundant spring bloom, and a delicate 

 foliage effect. The burnt brown of the 

 Stephanandra and the hazy brown of the 

 spirea make a very conspicuous though 

 soft color effect in winter. The snowberry 

 has an arching habit especially effective 

 when it droops under its weight of berries, 

 and the Indian currant's upright arching 

 is especially interesting when its flowers 

 hang down all along the underside of the 

 stems. 



All such ground covers as yellow root 

 and fragrant sumac are useful foreground 

 plants, and many of the vines are also 

 good. The evergreen quality of Hall's 

 honeysuckle foliage is very effective with 

 Indian currant, the matrimony vine with 

 kerria, the clematis with fragrant sumac, 

 the climbing roses with barberry. 



Deutzia parviflora, Rosa spinossissima 

 and some of the smaller Philadelphus are 

 effective together and make good fore- 

 ground shrubs. Wild roses, especially 

 Rosa nitida and Rosa blanda, are very 

 effective in this use. 



Deutzia gracilis is particularly adapted 

 for foreground use for such shrubs as 

 Spircea prunifolia and common barberry. 

 These two, while they are small enough to 

 be considered as foreground shrubs, have 

 such upright arching branches that they 

 can well afford a smaller shrub in front of 

 them. The forsythias, on the other hand, 

 while in reality among the taller shrubs, 

 have pendant habits which make them 

 into splendid foreground shrubs. The 

 most pendant is F. suspensa. Forsythia 

 viridissima and F. Fortunei combine well. 

 F. Fortunei has the more effective blossoms, 

 F. viridissima the more prominent foliage. 

 Viburnum dentatum, Cornus paniculata, 

 Cephalanthus and Cornus stolonifera have 

 a bushy growth good in foreground mass- 



ings. Regel's privet and Lonicera Mor- 

 rowi make effective combination as fore- 

 ground shrubs. Viburnum tomentosum has 

 a habit particularly good for foregrounds. 

 Its horizontal branches would be quite 

 unhappy if not allowed to spread out. 



This foreground massing is particularly 

 necessary for lawn enclosures and when 

 the shrubbery borders are looked at from a 

 little distance. On narrow paths when 

 you naturally look down on a shrub or 

 into its branches it is not so necessary. 



In the best border planting masses of a 

 few kinds of shrubs are used. The num- 

 ber of kinds should not be so limited that 

 the planting is monotonous, nor should the 

 number be so great that there is a hetero- 

 geneous collection of material. This prin- 

 ciple is often hardest to understand in the 

 planting of small places. 



Massings of a few kinds help toward 

 greater unity of foliage texture and of 

 shrub habit and form. It emphasizes 

 variety in height. 



It aids in the selection of shrubs for dis- 

 tinctive effects. Japanese barberry looks 

 well in front of Regel's privet for unity of 

 habit and especially for winter contrast 

 of red and black berries. Eleagnus longi- 

 pes and Lonicera Morrowii have a similarity 

 of habit and a combined fruiting effect- 

 iveness in July. Indian currant, common 



A massed planting of shrubs, deciduous and evergreen used as a screen 



A rose garden; the arching branches, snow-laden, are distinctly decorative 



