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Preliminary Considerations (Soft and pretty when it)

soft and pretty when it is well grown, but unfortunately, in spite of care, it has a habit of dying back at the bottom, giving it a straggly appearance. Norway spruce, arborvitæ and Japanese cypress are to be preferred on this account. The American arborvitæ is a little less expensive than the other evergreens and is a fairly rapid grower. Variety Pyramidalis is more dense in its habit of growth than the American arborvitæ and retains its color better during the winter. The average lifetime of arborvitæ is about seventyfive years. When it is possible to do so, the writer advises a visit to the nursery so that a personal selection of plants can be made. Choose those that are healthy looking and bushy from the bottom up. The number of plants needed will depend entirely upon the size of the bushes purchased, and the nurseryman will solve this problem if given the number of feet to be planted.

Each spring it will be necessary to prune off a few inches of the new growth so as to encourage the formation of side shoots, in this way the plants will eventually grow together and form a solid bank of green. If this pruning is neglected in the beginning, a topheavy growth will form. It is a mistake to be in too great a hurry with an evergreen hedge, because if pruning is entirely neglected a weak, spindly enclosure is the [7] result. If the planting is done in spring do not start the annual pruning until the following spring. It is as necessary to make the top line as straight with evergreens as it is with privet hedges; any branches that protrude toward the front must also be clipped, so that the vertical line will be as straight as the horizontal. To prepare the soil, open a trench eighteen inches or two feet deep as for privet, directions for which have been given. If at any time the foliage becomes sickly in appearance, an application of Scotch Soot may be put on about two inches thick.

A masonry wall is a most attractive enclosure for the garden, especially when it adjoins the house. In this case it must be constructed of the same material as the house-brick, stone or stucco. The soft tans and grays of stucco and stone make a lovely background for flowering vines, as, for example, the pale lavender blooms of wisterias, and certain varieties of climbing roses such as Christine Wright, Gardenia and Silver Moon.

Outside of the garden the lines of the wall may be softened by means of a shrubbery planting. Evergreens and flowering fruit trees, introduced at the corners, give a contrast of height and background that adds character to the garden inside as well as out. [8]