SCREEN PLANTING FOR QUICK EFFECT 
NORMAN K. MORSE 
Landscape Architect 
When Large-Sized, Quick-Growing Trees and Shrubs Serve 
a Really Useful Purpose From the Time They Are Set Out 
HAS ALL THE APPEARANCE OF AGE 
Large-sized shrubs of quick-growing 
nature were used and this practical 
screen is only a few months old 
RDINARILY, the regulation 
size of nursery stock is the most 
practical to use, but it not in- 
frequently happens that in the 
late summer plants can be had with all 
the season’s growth and which planted 
early enough will establish themselves in 
the new location without serious check. 
The newly built house in particular 
stands in need of this sort of handling 
before the winter sets in. The main 
angles can be blocked out and a partial 
screen set in front of the accessory build- 
ings, such as a garage, etc., or even to 
screen the necessary woodpile. There 
is a double advantage in such plant- 
ing for besides having the benefit during 
winter, the backbone, as it were, is ready 
for the requirements of spring. 
In the case illustrated California 
Privet which had been allowed to grow 
in the nursery with plenty of room all 
around was used, the plants being about 
six feet in diameter and ten feet high. 
Privet transplants with small danger of 
loss and grows quickly. 
Lombardy Poplar in a straight line 
is frequently used for this sort of 
screen and it answers the purpose to 
some extent; but a much more attrac- 
tive planting could be made where the 
space is available, by using the Poplars 
in small groups interspersed with some 
of the faster growing trees such as the 
Silver Maple, Carolina Poplar, Ailanthus, 
Catalpa speciosa. Linden, Plane, Willow, 
etc. And these trees can be “feathered 
flowering shrubs to cover the trunks 
HIDING THE WOODPILE 
AND OUTBUILDINGS 
Compare with the plan and judge 
the effectiveness of the screen 
California Privet 12-14 ft. 
Hemlock before Privet 
Flowering shrubs 2-6 ft. high 
Hemlocks fronting Dogwoods 4-10 ft. 
Rhododendron fronting Hemlock 
Rhododendron fronting Barberry 
Flowering Shrubs 2-6 ft. 
Summer House 
down” with some 
and fill the gaps. 
spring and will then 
than was the original 
THE GARDEN SCREEN 
California Privet, Weigelas, Vibur- 
nums, Rhododendrons were used 
freely. (Three years after planting) 
A screen consists not altogether in 
covering the actual view of the objec- 
tionable feature, but in creating at the 
same time an interesting spot to hold 
the eye. The principal disadvantage 
with the screens which grow quickly 
is, of course, the fact that they are 
not permanent. This can be overcome, 
however, by planting more lasting ma- 
terial at the same time, and, as it de- 
velops, cutting out those things of rank 
growth. 
As an example: with the above- 
mentioned plants set out in fall with 
some of the Evergreens to give the 
all-year-round effect, some Oaks of vari- 
ous kinds, and Beech, Walnut, Ash, 
Sweet Gum, Sour Gum, Hickory, etc., 
could be added in spring. The best 
Evergreens would probably be the Pines 
— White, Himalayan, Scotch, and Aus- 
trian; and, if in the Northern States, the 
Norway Spruce and Balsam Fir. These 
could be feathered down with Hemlocks 
and Rhododendrons, with Leucothoe and 
Pachysandra on the fringe. 
In selecting trees for a screen planting 
take those of rather a bushy, low 
branching growth which can be had 
from the nurseries just as easily as the 
high branching, single trunk plants — and 
sometimes they are a little less in price. 
If you must take the thin, single trunk 
kind it can be thickened quickly by 
cutting back the top about a third, 
which will force out the shoots in the 
make a growth that is much thicker 
tree; a device worth trying. 
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