39 
The threat aim of foundation 
planting is to tie the house 
to its site. Without shrubs 
the house would look bare 
and uninviting 
complete mental enjoyment. 
Just a word now about the 
principles used in this or al¬ 
most any style of good land¬ 
scape planting. In the first 
place, simplicity is most im¬ 
portant in the solution of the 
foundation problem. The rea¬ 
son so many places are spoiled 
is because of a desire to have 
even' kind of plant advertised. 
This results in a botanical col¬ 
lection rather than a land¬ 
scape garden. There must be variety and har¬ 
mony in the planting. Varieties should be 
selected which blend easily together to form the 
general mass effect. Attention should be given 
to the form of the planting, or the contour 
of the shrubs. Variety in this respect is 
secured by setting taller growing varieties 
at the corners of the house and on either side 
of the entrances. The other spaces may then 
be filled in with somewhat lower growing sorts 
and the taller or accent shrubs faced with low¬ 
er plants like the Japanese barberry, snow- 
berry, Indian currant, or dwarf spireas and 
deutzias. 
In planting, seasonal effects should be kept 
in mind. Shrubs should be so selected that the 
general beauty wall be year-round. I here 
should be good flower value in the spring and 
early summer, attractive summer foliage, bril¬ 
liant autumn leaves, colored fruits and barks 
for fall and winter. There are only about a 
dozen varieties of shrubs ordinarily used in 
foundation planting which are refined enough 
in texture. There are many other good kinds, 
but most of them are better for border or other 
types of planting. The twelve varieties are 
appended at the end of this article. 
The shrubs should be planted in thoroughly 
prepared and fertilized beds of pleasing out¬ 
line, long, smooth curves being the best. The 
plans indicate this idea clearly. The distance 
apart to plant varies with the different shrubs. 
The spaded beds should be kept cultivated dur¬ 
ing the growing season until the mass occupies 
the entire area. 
Autumn is the generally recognized season 
for deciduous shrub planting, for the reason 
that bushes set then can become thoroughly 
established before any demands upon them are 
made by the season of natural active growth. 
Only six kinds of shrubs are 
used in securing this effect. 
White kerria and snowberry 
flank the simple hooded 
Colonial entrance 
There is no reason, however, 
why spring planting cannot be 
successfully carried out if cer¬ 
tain rules are followed. 
The shrubs should be set as 
early in the spring as the 
ground can be worked. In the 
interval between their arrival 
from the nurseryman and 
actual planting their roots 
should not be exposed to sun 
or drying winds which would 
injure if not really kill the 
If they cannot be regularly 
smaller feeders, 
planted for several days after receipt it is a 
good plan to “heel them in”—lay them on 
their sides along the edge of a shallow trench 
and cover their roots with earth. 
Tall Shrubs Distance Apart 
White kerria . 3JA' 
Aralia pentaphylla . 3' 
Spiraea van Houttei . 3JA' 
Regel’s privet . 3' 
English Privet . 3' 
Persian lilac . 4'—5' 
Low shrubs 
Japanese barberry. 2'—2J4' 
Snowberry . 2' 
Indian currant . 2' 
Spirea Anthony Waterer ...... 2' 
Deutzia gracilis . 2' 
Spiraea callosa alba . 2' 
Stephanandra flexuosa . 2' 
