Close to the House 
nor clip them into stiff or formal shapes, 
nor trim away their lower branches and cut 
back their heads to make them look like 
dwarfed trees. All pruning and training 
should be done with a view to bringing out 
the distinctive character of the shrubs ; none 
should be forced into alien and unnatural 
forms. Shrubs which stand in front of a 
plantation should sweep the grass with their 
branches. Behind these may stand others of 
a different habit ; but to place individuals 
which naturally grow their branches high 
above the soil in the foreground, or to clip 
others till they present a similar but, of 
course, less pleasing appearance, is to give 
any shrubbery a bald, ill-grown, and un- 
graceful look. Nor is there any shrubbery 
where this look is so unfortunate as in one 
the very purpose of which is to unite the 
base of a house with the ground upon which 
it stands. If a shrub thus placed grows too 
large, take it out, and let its neighbors grad- 
ually fill the space or plant a smaller one in 
its stead. Severe cutting will only spoil it, 
and in spoiling it you will injure the effect 
of the whole group to which it belongs. 
83 
