PARK AND CEMETERY. 
600 
and is a little better than the average 
cemetery that has been designed upon 
the older ideas of cemetery designing. 
Too often we are asked what to 
plant to bring beauty into some spot 
that has wrongly been laid out. The 
time to have made the most satis- 
factory improvements was when the 
first plan was made. Then land 
enough could have been left along 
the street boundary to provide 
for a plantation of native evergreen 
trees and flowering shrubs that would 
have completely hidden the row of 
houses fronting upon the cemetery. 
Instead of straight streets, curving 
ones might have been made, with re- 
served spaces for groups of trees 
and shrubbery that would have re- 
lieved the dreary, open barrenness 
seen in so many cemeteries. The 
monuments for the most part are 
good, but as they are located they 
suggest a commercial establishment 
showing samples for sale. If it is 
possible to plant behind them a mix- 
ture of flowering hardy shrubs of 
varying height, with a few trees to 
vary the sky line, a very great im- 
provement would be secured. About 
the base of the monuments some 
ivy might be induced to grow, there- 
by softening the severe lines of the 
stone work. Possibly the small 
markers appearing in the front might 
be set level with the ground, thus 
securing more breadth of lawn. 
Cemeteries need not be “stone 
yards,” but if intelligently schemed 
out they may become spots of beauty 
— that is, in keeping with the mem- 
ories we endeavor to commemorate. 
Herbert J. Kellaway. 
Boston. 
^ * 
It is very obvious from the ap- 
pearance of this cemetery, as pic- 
tured, that a screen of planting is 
much needed along the line of hedge 
in the background. The houses are 
unduly prominent and the cemetery 
lacks seclusion, and the quiet restful- 
ness which we all desire in grounds 
of this nature. We can easily see, 
too, a lack of background for the 
lawns of the cemetery proper. 
My treatment of the problem would 
be along two lines. It is possible to 
make a screen of high evergreen 
trees edged down on the lawn front- 
age by the broad leafed evergreen 
shrubs. This is permissible if the 
distance from the viewpoint is suffi- 
cient to do away with any appear- 
ance of oppressive shade and gloomi- 
ness, which we often see, with the use 
of too large evergreen trees in too 
small quarters, such as the surround- 
ings of a small home. 
On the other hand, we could con- 
fine our use to deciduous planting, 
which would be highly desirable, but 
during the winter months we would 
have less of a screen than with ever- 
greens. A combination of the two 
might be best, with a careful selection 
of evergreen trees. But the tendency 
of the mixture of evergreens and de- 
ciduous trees is to deprive the ever- 
green trees of their lower branches 
and to crowd the deciduous trees into 
tall spindling shapes, which are not 
typical of natural shaped trees. 
Then, too, the maintenance of such 
a mixed plantation requires careful 
trimming and selection of the perma- 
nent trees, more so than is the case 
of a typical evergreen or a typical 
deciduous plantation. 
If you consider these plantings in 
detail, the screen of the evergreen 
planting could be arranged as fol- 
lows: For large evergreen trees you 
could select any of the spruces, Euro- 
pean larch, hemlock, and possibly 
some of the pines, while they were 
young. These would make the back- 
ground, being the taller sorts. Then 
in between the taller kinds and the 
lawn you could arrange plantations 
of the arbor vitaes, red cedars, 
Mugho pines and hardy conifers un- 
der 20 feet high at maturity. Con- 
tinuing the bank of foliage down to 
the lawn, among the several ever- 
greens and on the lawn edge you 
could bank large masses of Rhodo- 
dendrons, Kalmias and Andromedas 
and hardy Azaleas. Then under these 
on the lawn border, where they could 
be seen by passersby, you could in- 
troduce large quantities of the shade- 
bearing perennials, such as Colum- 
bine, Blood roots, Trilliums, with a 
fine selection of ferns, etc. 
If immediate effects were desired 
with the planting of evergreens, we 
could use temporarily poplars, ma- 
ples, willows and elms to secure a 
quick screen, which we would expect 
to cut out as soon as the evergreens 
could make a proper high screen of 
25 to 35 feet. 
In the consideration of the use of 
deciduous plantings for the high 
background, I would suggest birches, 
the various maples. Mountain ash, 
Catalpa, American ash and possibly 
the horse chestnut, among others. 
These should be arranged so that at 
maturity each one would have a 
proper separate space. 
Between these and toward the lawn 
I would use the larger arborescent 
shrubs, like tree lilacs, Siberian Pea 
trees, the various thorns, etc.; then 
fi .• the lower shrubbery we might 
use the red osier dogwoods, a good 
selection of lilacs, spiraea, syringas 
and other desirable ornamental 
shrubs. 
In the low border, to make the 
bank of foliage more perfect, we 
might find Indian currants, snow ber- 
ries, rhodotypos, Thunberg’s Bar- 
berry, dwarf spiraea, and on promi- 
nent points could locate the sun-lov- 
ing perennials in large masses, such 
as the da)' lilies, phlox, iris, peonies 
and so on with a wide range of selec- 
tion. 
With such a border I should ex- 
pect to use many quick growing 
kinds of trees, that could be cut out 
later. 
If there was a variation of height 
permissible, I would like to vary the 
sky line by the use of lower trees 
and shrubbery, in places, instead of 
tlie higher. But if the high screen 
was necessary throughout, I would 
add interest to the plantation by the 
use of large quantities of a few 
kinds of trees, planted at the proper 
distance for mature growth, and not 
mix the various kinds of trees more 
than necessary. 
In other words, I would consider 
it ideal to have in September and 
October a space of 200 or 300 feet 
of flaming red maples, or in June 30 
flowering catalpas placed together, or 
in April 30 or 40 of the Larch trees 
bursting into their tender green leaf. 
The same would apply to the ever- 
greens and other shrubbery. I would 
make the masses of one planting in 
such quantity as to be typical of that 
section of the plantation. I would 
direct attention to its perfection by 
its quantity, by this predomination. 
We can add variety by other selec- 
tions near by, but I would desire 
that such plantation be so interesting, 
so typical and in such generous quan- 
tities that it would direct the atten- 
tion of the passer-by. In other words, 
I would make a selection of lilacs, 
which w'ould be worth a visit to the 
cemetery, of all the horticulturists in 
that city, when they were in bloom. 
I would like to see a large mass of, 
say, white phlox, in such a quantity 
that it resembled a bank of snow. I 
could imagine nothing better than a 
background of 40 or 50 large blue 
Colorado spruces contrasted with the 
white snow of January. In this way 
good effects could be obtained, such 
as found in the forests and roadsides. 
It is such typical w’ork that makes 
so very attractive the lilac show of 
the Rochester parks, and the Rhodo- 
