October, 1917 
43 
FIRST STEPS in SHRUB 
SELECTION 
General Principles and Simple Rides to 
Enable You to Choose and Plant Wisely 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
W HY should you set out shrubs this fall? 
Not alone because this is the season 
when most shrubs should be planted, but be¬ 
cause, if you leave them until next spring, the 
chances are that they will not be planted at all. 
And again, every year you go on without shrubs 
you are not only losing the pleasure given by 
the enhanced beauty which their presence lends 
to a place, but also overlooking a real invest¬ 
ment. The comparatively few dollars required 
to purchase shrubs for the ordinary small place 
cannot be charged up under the heading of the 
year’s pleasures, as though they had been in¬ 
vested in flower seeds or perishable bedding 
plants, but may be considered as having added 
actual money assets. For the shrubs which 
they purchased will certainly add a hundred 
per cent to the appearance of the place, and 
proportionately to its value, within the space 
of two or three years. 
I fancy that one reason why we do not find 
shrubs more universally employed in beautify¬ 
ing the grounds about the average home is that 
there seems to be a widespread and persistent 
misunderstanding as to their cost. Do you 
realize that for twenty-five cents you can get 
good standard sized plants of many of the best 
varieties, and that most of the others cost but 
fifty cents or a dollar ? And do you realize that 
after they are once set out they will take less 
time for care and are less liable to injury from 
exterior sources, insects, diseases and drought, 
than anything else you can plant? 
Analyzing the Planting Problem 
Possibly you have hesitated about purchas¬ 
ing shrubs because, having had no experience, 
you could not decide exactly what to get. That 
is a matter about which no hard and fast rule 
can be laid down. It will depend partly upon 
your own taste, partly upon the place—its 
size, location, etc.—and largely upon its sur¬ 
roundings. Possibly your neighbor has built 
a garage next to your line which you would 
like to obliterate from the landscape; or you 
may have a view down a valley or a glimpse of 
a distant hill which you would not want to 
shut off for all the shrubs that ever grew. So 
the first thing for you to do, unless you want 
to employ a landscape architect, is to study 
carefully your own problem. 
Without any very intimate knowledge of 
shrubs you can decide where they are needed 
and how tall they should be. That is the first 
step. Keep in mind, however, that shrubs 
should be planted as much as possible in 
masses, instead of dotted here and there over 
the expanse of lawn. 
As to what you will plant in the various 
places where you have decided that something 
should be put, that will be a question of taste 
and will depend upon personal preference. If 
it is possible for you to do so, the best thing 
will be to visit some good nurseries, as in no 
other way can you get so definite an idea of 
the various things which will be available for 
your use. If that is out of the question, you 
can make a satisfactory selection after a care¬ 
ful study of a good catalog, if you make use 
of the following suggestions. 
(Continued on page 66) 
Over the arch can clamber pink Dorothy Perkins 
roses (1), flanked by Spiraa van Houttei (2), Caly- 
canthus floridus (3), and Philadelphus Pekinensis (4) 
An entrance planting susceptible of considerable variation includes (1) 
Spircea arguta; (2) Deutzia gracilis, rosen; (3) Deutzia scabra, cre- 
nata; (4) Berberis Thunbergii; (5) Deutzia gracilis; (6) Rhodo- 
typos kerrioides; (7) Azalea mollis; (8) Viburnum acerifolium; (9) 
Diervilla sessilifolia 
A STANDARD SHRUB LIST 
Name 
Height 
3' 
Flowers 
Blooming Period * 
Daphne Mezereum. 
lilac 
April 
Forsythia fortunei. 
8' 
yellow 
April 
Cercis Japonica - . 
20' 
rosy-pink 
April 
Berberis Thunbergii. 
4' 
yellow 
May 
Prunus triloba. 
5' 
pink 
May 
Lonicera Morrowi. 
6' 
white 
May 
Spiraea van Houttei. 
8' 
white 
May 
Viburnum opulus. 
12' 
white 
May 
Syringa vulgaris. 
12' 
white, lilac 
May 
Potentilla fruticosa. 
3' 
yellow 
June 
Philadelphus Pekinensis.. 
5' 
creamy 
June 
Diervilla floribunda. 
8' 
crimson 
June 
Cornus sanguinea. 
12' 
white 
June 
Crataegus crus-galli. 
25' 
white 
June 
Spiraea tomentosa. 
4' 
purple-pink 
July 
Hydrangea quercifolia.... 
6' 
white 
July 
Amorpha fruticosa. 
10' 
blue 
July 
Callicarpa Japonica. 
4' 
pink 
August 
Hibiscus Syriacus. 
12' 
white, pink 
August 
Caryopteris mastacanthus. 
4' 
blue 
September 
* These dates show the beginning of the period of 
cases the flowers last into the next month. 
bloom. In many 
