Page 32 



BETTER FRUIT 



May 



SHRUBS AND WHERE AND HOW TO PLANT THEM 



THAT the use of shrubs has been 

 delayed until such a late period in 

 the development of our landscape 

 architecture is unfortunate in many cases. 

 There are many places where their use 

 will change the entire appearance of the 

 environment. Nature has continually 

 hinted to man the advisability of using 

 shrubs in connection with the beautify- 

 ing of his surroundings. A glance at 

 Figure 1 will illustrate this point very 

 well. It has been said that nature abhors 

 a vacancy. If man does not improve 

 such spaces nature will rapidly do so. 

 It may not always be filled with the kind 

 of plants we especially desire, but never- 

 theless there is a natural beauty about 

 the same that we cannot help admire. 

 Weeds are plants out of place. In other 

 words, we consider that plant a weed 

 which springs up and interferes with 

 the production of plants more useful 

 to mankind. The charm of shrubs and 

 vines lies in their purely natural adapta- 

 tion to nooks and corners about build- 

 ings, in the borders, about well kept 

 lawns, at the edge of trees and their 

 true sense of quiet and peacefulness 

 (Figure 2). The beginner in plant 

 grouping is apt to make all of his groups 

 alike. This is very easy to do, and can 

 be avoided by the planter having in mind 

 the finished effect before he begins to 

 plant. A background is made up most 

 naturally of trees of various kinds and 

 sizes. In this border many specimens of 

 rough and uncouth growth can be used 

 which do not look uncouth when a 

 judicious planting of shrubbery is made 

 in the foreground. The gardener should 

 bear in mind that plants in the fore- 

 ground must stand close examination. 

 For this reason special care should be 



BY W. H. WICKS, HORTICULTURIST, IDAHO 



exercised in their choice. Flowering 

 shrubs and herbaceous plants are espe- 

 cially adapted for use in such places. 



Anyone who' has attempted to beautify 

 his grounds soon realizes that the use of 

 shrubs plays an immense part in the gen- 



attracted to the ground line in small 

 areas the place looks bare and unpleas- 

 ing. Shrubbery allows the landscape 

 gardener to introduce a great variety of 

 form, texture and color in all his work. 

 This materially relieves the openness 



Photo by Horticiilt lira! Department Neiv Hampshire Agricultural College 

 Figure 2— WHERE SOME PUBLIC-SPIRITED CITIZENS HAVE CARRIED OUT GOOD IDEAS 



ON THE USE OF SHRUBBERY 



eral composition of the finished whole 

 (Figure 3). It is just as important to 

 improve the ground line in our land- 

 scape composition as it is to plant trees 

 to secure a pleasing skyline. If the 

 vision is not arrested and the attention 



l iGUKE 1 -A HI.\T FROM NATURE IN THE USE OF SHRUBS 

 These plants in tlieir struggle for life have grouped themselves in an artistic manner 



and crudeness of areas simply planted 

 to trees. A glance at Figure 4 will illus- 

 trate this point quite forcibly. This is 

 a reproduction of a small city park. The 

 money expended in flower beds in this 

 park would have purchased a great num- 

 ber of choice shrubs, which, if judi- 

 ciously used, would make the place very 

 inviting. Almost all the important 

 groups of trees in parks and nature have 

 shrubbery growing at the base. These 

 groups almost invariably contain a good 

 collection of shrubs, and we wonder why 

 our modern parks are so attractive and 

 inviting. 



Shrubbery has many specific uses. It 

 affords the most excellent screen to cut 

 off undesirable objects. Most of us have 

 a chicken yard, clothes yard or an 

 unsightly rear fence which we can screen 

 from public view by the use of shrubs. 

 If we have barren places or banks which 

 are inclined to wash shrubs can be used 

 here to great advantage. High founda- 

 tions, rocky areas and unmanageable 

 corners about buildings are all fit places 

 for the planting of shrubs (Figure 5). 

 Shrubs planted under wide eaves and 

 near buildings have a tendency to tie 

 the building to the green sward. Figure 

 6 shows a pleasing effect at the base of a 

 public building. 



It would be unwise for the writer to 

 mention a number of shrubs for planting 

 and expect the reader to choose only 

 from this list. Shrubs must suit the 

 objects for which they are intended to 

 beautify. The writer thinks no shrub- 



