168 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1913 



than its informality. It has an all year 

 around interest in its cycle of changing 

 colors, from spring's yellow flowers to 

 winter's red berries. It has a spreading, 

 somewhat graceful habit that makes it 

 good for its position here on the top of a 

 low terrace. Hedge and terrace together 

 form a barrier of six or seven feet, which 

 gives just enough privacy to the front lawn, 

 and the trees on the street help toward this 

 privacy. Hedge and trees do not give the 

 exclusiveness of a walled garden, but they 

 do not leave it open to full view so that 

 nothing is left to the imagination. Over 

 the hedge you can see the tree near the 

 entrance porch, the wistaria on the corner 

 of the house, and you can get glimpses of 

 the shrubs near the entrance. It gives you 

 just enough for an hospitable invitation 

 inside; moreover, it does not disappoint 

 you when you enter. 



The first impression you get, once inside 

 the hedge, is the feeling of space on the 

 front lawn, though its irregular space is 

 no more than 80 feet in width and varies 

 from 30 to 40 feet in depth. This feeling 

 of space is due to the smooth, uninterrupted 

 lawn. A tree or shrub that is put in the 

 middle of a lawn divides it up into small 

 sections; every additional plant stuck in at 

 haphazard adds to the number of divisions 

 until it is a place of specimens, with little 

 patches of grass around each one, and loses 

 entirely that first essential of a lawn, the 

 uninterrupted greensward. 



But there is no picture in just a green 

 lawn. The second essential of the lawn 

 and the very essence of it is the surround- 

 ing line of trees and shrubbery. This is 

 the source of its beauty; it gives to it the 

 color of the flowers and the varying green 

 of foliage; it gives to it the changing shad- 

 ows which is the best of its charms. Here, 

 the street trees enter into the scheme again 

 for they supply the large trees without en- 

 croaching on the lawn space, and form with 

 the hedge one of the bounding lines. The 

 shrubbery along the house and that on the 

 south side complete the surrounding green. 



Shrub planting along the house founda- 

 tions is a problem in the use of low growing 

 plants with often a little variety to be 

 gained through the use of taller shrubs or 

 vines or small growing trees. It is the 

 purpose of the small shrubs to soften the 

 fixed rectangular lines of the house with 

 graceful curving and spreading branches, 

 to nestle close to the foundations and be a 

 link between house wall and lawn. The 

 masses of curving branches and dense 

 foliage ought to be without a suggestion of 

 the stems or trunks that carry them. In 

 order to do this, the older branches are 

 gradually cut away so that the new shoots 

 and branches are given room to develop 

 vigorously. This will give quite a different 

 effect from shrubs that are clipped and 

 trimmed and cut off flat at the top. Such 

 treatment is shrub mutilation and develops 

 shrubs with naked old trunks and stiff 

 branches which make them ungainly and 

 characterless. 



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General plan for a hillside suburban lot with wood- 

 land effect at the rear. Note the open lawn 



The shrubs should be planted closely 

 together to give continuous effect of foliage 

 in summer and of twigs and branches in 

 winter. The use of but one kind of plant 

 along the house wall is monotonous; the 

 use of too many kinds is spotty, not only 

 in flower effect but in foliage values. 



Here, Thunberg's spirea and Stephan- 

 andra are planted along the front, an 

 actinidia vine tumbles luxuriantly over the 

 porch railing, a wistaria vine climbs up the 

 corner of the house, and climbing roses and 

 peonies are planted under the south win- 

 dows. Together they form a succession 

 of bloom from late April until late June. 

 The spireas are exceptionally well adapted 

 for planting close to the house. Spircea 



Thunbergii and Spircea Van Houttei are excel- 

 lent used together; and these two, with one 

 of the Deutzias, either the dwarf gracilis, 

 or the small crenata, or the larger Pride of 

 Rochester, do good triple work. Japanese 

 quince makes an excellent combination 

 with the spireas and adds a great deal to the 

 group with its dark foliage and very early 

 bloom of red or pink flowers. One of the 

 wild roses, the prairie rose (Rosa setigera), or 

 the small Rosa blanda, or the always satis- 

 factory Japanese rose (Rosa rugosa), used 

 with the spireas, lengthens the bloom into 

 July while the spireas and the snowberries 

 (Symphoricarpos racemosus) or the Indian 

 currants (Symphoricarpos vulgaris), or the 

 sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), or 

 one of the St. John's worts (Hypericum), 

 distribute the bloom between the spring 

 and midsummer. The two symphoricarpos 

 and the roses have an additional value of 

 berries during the autumn and winter, and 

 the spireas vary in misty shades of brown 

 all winter long. 



The variety that the vines contribute 

 here in height effects can be obtained, very 

 often, through a few taller shrubs. Some 

 of the bush honeysuckles are of medium 

 height and good for this purpose; and the 

 Russian olive (Elcsagnus longipes) combines 

 well with them in foliage effect and espe- 

 cially in fruiting time in July. The pearl 

 bush (Exochorda grandiflora) is a good 

 shrub for this higher effect and its dark 

 foliage and its large white flowers in May 

 combine well with spireas and wild roses. 

 A small tree planted close to the house is 

 another means by which to vary the height 

 of the planting. 



Some of the magnolias (M . Yulan, M. 

 stellata, or M. Soulangeana) , or hawthorns 

 (Crataegus cor data, or C. coccinea), are good 

 for such purposes. Here the Chinese 

 lilac (Syringa Pekinensis) is used. It is a 

 graceful tree with large dark foliage and 

 great clusters of white flowers. Its July 

 bloom lengthens the succession of bloom 

 of the house shrubbery while its companion 

 does the same in the south shrubbery. 



The lilacs are used to form the high part 

 of the south shrubbery. The lilacs, both 

 white and purple, are the main feature of 

 the shrubbery. A predominence of one 

 kind of shrub, especially in so small a 

 border, is one way to insure a harmonious 

 foliage effect and to avoid spotty effect 

 of bloom. With two kinds of golden bell, 

 rugosa roses, and snowberries the bloom 

 lasts from very early April to August. The 

 spirea and forsythia give a white and yel- 

 low effect which is bright and cheerful in 

 the early spring; later the wistaria and 

 lilacs give a quieter effect of lavender and 

 purple. 



Unfortunately for the north side of the 

 lot, the first attention was given to the 

 south side which is most naturally empha- 

 sized as it is seen from the main living room. 

 The original plan calls for a wall on either 

 side of the drive and for shrubbery on the 

 north edge of the lawn. It would hide the 

 drive from the front lawn and complete 



