The Right Use of Evergreens 
A LESSON IN THE PROPER GROUPING OF EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS FOR LANDSCAPE EFFECTS— 
THE THEORY AND THE PRACTICE OF PLANTING —AN ATTEMPT TO WIPE OUT SOME OLD DOGMAS 
by Grace Tabor 
Photographs by Nathan R. Graves 
E VERGREENS are expensive garden material — which is one 
reason why they should be used with great discrimination 
and a very clear understanding of what one is about. They are 
also very positive garden material 
— the most positive in the world, — 
which is another and even better 
reason for knowing exactly every 
why and wherefore concerning 
them. It is, indeed, the great big 
reason for studying them and 
working out theories concerning 
their merits and decorative possi¬ 
bilities; for cost is, after all, a 
passing episode, but garden effect 
is a permanent condition. 
There are, of course, many 
evergreens which do not grow to 
large size. These, we have been 
assured again and again, are prov¬ 
identially provided for the small 
place; but there are many more 
that become large forest trees just 
as soon as they are able—obviously, by analogy, to give the man 
with acres a chance. The two kinds are impartially used to¬ 
gether, however, on both large and small places, in those ever¬ 
green groups which so many are persuaded to plant — how, I do 
not know! I wish I did ; for, in order to correct an evil, one must 
get at the reason of it; and I very much wish to correct this. 
Undoubtedly the trade is partly responsible for many of our 
garden errors, since the lavish use of fancy forms is still en¬ 
couraged by some. But there is a responsibility resting upon the 
gardener which cannot be shifted; and on two distinct counts he 
alone must answer. There is, for one thing, the everlasting 
impatience which demands something now — to-day! — at once!— 
but is regardless of to-morrow. And there is the lack of real 
taste which our superficial attitude towards everything in general 
allows. These two together are 
the faults which each must recog¬ 
nize and wrestle with and over¬ 
come. 
As a beginning — a first step in 
the right direction, — suppose we 
put aside all the ideas which the 
alluring literature of the trade may 
have promulgated, and get down 
to the actual truth about ever¬ 
greens themselves, before we un¬ 
dertake to decide how they shall 
be placed anywhere. This is not 
to say that just as many may not 
be used in the end as are used 
now; nor is it to imply that un¬ 
truths have been written concern¬ 
ing them. But there is no doubt 
that a biased point of view has 
been presented; this is what must be made straight and true. 
The final test of any planting is the test of truth. Whatever 
the material may be, the plants must be so placed and so com¬ 
bined that they are true to nature and to themselves. Mind, I do 
not say they must be planted naturally; this would be a prepos¬ 
terous general garden dogma. But they must be true to their 
best possibilities; in other words, to their nature, just as a human 
being, properly educated and rightly developed ethically, is true 
to himself, although almost inconceivably removed from the 
“natural” or primitive state. What is the truth about ever¬ 
greens? This, then, is the question: What is their nature? And 
The planting at the extreme right is good, but against the house 
berry bearing shrubs should have been used for winter effect 
1 he screen planting should be something more than a screen, it should be a natural bit of landscape. This is, in a large degree, a desirable plant¬ 
ing where the trees are both well placed on the lawn and where they conceal an unpleasant view. The evergreens used in this landscape are 
with but a single exception all the same species. Compare this result with that on the next page 
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