Mattie E. Hewitt, Photo 
Pictorial and utility values of Evergreens are unusually well combined in this vista where the Arborvitae hedge, 
serving as a screen to the cultivated spaces beyond, also leads the eye invitingly to the naturalistic grouping 
of Cedars, etc. with deciduous trees in the background. Gardens of Mrs. John Magee, Mt. Kisco, N. Y. 
EVERGREENS FOR HEDGES AND SCREENS 
HENRY WILD 
Landscape Gardener and Planter 
Great diversity of plant materials that adds color, tone, and texture value 
to the garden frame while also serving the practical purpose of winter shelter 
T IS all very well to determine to plant Evergreens 
a h° u t the home; but the making of that decision opens 
u P an °ther lot of questions, such as: which? and what 
for? Nor is it a complete answer to say that they are 
wanted because they are evergreen. Like everything else used 
in constructing the garden, these trees, tall or dwarf, must be 
used for a proper purpose — to enliven the general scenes by inter- 
mixing with deciduous shrubbery, thus giving color in the bare 
periods; to serve as screens to unsightly objects; or as accent 
places in the landscape. Another adaptation is their use as hedge 
material. Here, indeed, the Evergreen is of unmeasured value. 
A hedge does much more than mark a boundary — it gives a 
background to nearer objects and serves as a transition medium 
blending the foreground with the distance, and by softening the 
barrier lines gives a feeling of greater area to the piece that it 
encloses. This is especially true of the suburban plot which 
may be made to look actually bigger by the proper use of Ever- 
greens for the boundary. 
There is such a wide and varied assortment offered to the 
prospective planter that the important question of where to 
plant the various types looms up quite large. 
There are Evergreens (be it understood, of course, that 
here we mean coniferous Evergreens — not the “broad-leaved”) 
for every place and purpose; some grow rapidly and soon form a 
natural screen having practically the same appearance the year 
round, while others are more suitable as individual specimens 
for the lawn or garden. 
Strange as it may appear, some of the stronger growing forms 
are best suited for hedges. The Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), 
the White Pine (Pinus strobus), the Norway Spruce (Picea 
excelsa), and the White Spruce (Picea alba) are all excellent 
for hedges; yet they all form magnificent specimen trees when 
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