"First there is a good extent of lawn about the building, the path to the door is slightly curved and pleasingly so, a fine little maple stands out rather interestingly on the side lawn, the flower garden has a good mass effect, the screen of poplar trees at the back acts as a stately rear guard, and the vines over the outbuilding hide what was once a blemish.
"Let us go back to the lawn. A good extent of open lawn space is always beautiful. It is restful. It adds a feeling of space to even small grounds. So we might generalize and say that it is well to keep open lawn spaces. If one covers his lawn space with many trees, with little flower beds here and there, the general effect is choppy and fussy. It is a bit like an over-dressed person. One's grounds lose all individuality thus treated. A single tree or a small group is not a bad arrangement on the lawn. Do not centre the tree or trees. Let them drop a bit into the background. Make a pleasing side feature of them. In choosing trees one must keep in mind a number of things. You should not choose an overpowering tree; the tree should be one of good shape, with something interesting about its bark, leaves, flowers or fruit. While the poplar is a rapid grower, it sheds its leaves early and so is left standing, bare and ugly, before the fall is old. Mind you, there are places where a row or double row of Lombardy poplars is very effective. But I think you'll agree with me that one lone poplar is not. The catalpa is quite lovely by itself. Its leaves are broad, its flowers attractive, the seed pods which cling to the tree until away into the winter, add a bit of picturesqueness. The bright berries of the ash, the brilliant foliage of the sugar maple, the blossoms of the tulip tree, the bark of the white birch, and the leaves of the copper beech—all these are beauty points to consider.
"Place makes a difference in the selection of a tree. Suppose the lower portion of the grounds is a bit low and moist, then the spot is ideal for a willow. Don't group trees together which look awkward. I never should have Peter and Myron march together in school. Why? Because they look wretchedly together. Myron makes Peter look short and Peter causes Myron to look overgrown. So it is with trees. A long-looking poplar does not go with a nice rather rounded little tulip tree. A juniper, so neat and prim, would look silly beside a spreading chestnut. One must keep proportion and suitability in mind.
"I'd never advise the planting of a group of evergreens close to a house, and in the front yard. The effect is very gloomy indeed. Houses thus surrounded are overcapped by such trees and are not only gloomy to live in, but truly unhealthful. The chief requisite inside a house is sunlight and plenty of it.
"There are no shrubs on the school grounds. You had spoken of doing that but bulbs took up the attention of the girls this fall. And as for you boys—you were attending to your own crops. Shrubbery is very pleasing if properly placed. It is just the thing to fill in corners near buildings, to help define the turns in walks, and to use as hedges. Usually one shrub standing by itself is not nearly so pleasing as one tree by itself. It has a squatty and isolated appearance. There is a corner close by the school building where shrubs should go. Why? Because the place looks bare and staring, and the building is very ugly at that point; the shrubs would fill in the space, and make the building look much better.
"As trees are chosen because of certain good points, so shrubs should be. In a clump I should wish some which bloomed early, some which bloomed late, some for the beauty of their fall foliage, some for the colour of their bark and others for the fruit. Some spireas and the forsythia bloom early. The red bark of the dogwood makes a bit of colour all winter, and the red berries of the barberry cling to the shrub well into the winter. This list of shrubs which Philip has made out will be a help to you in this work.
PHILIP'S SHRUB TABLE
| COMMON NAME | BOTANICAL NAME | HEIGHT | COLOUR | SPECIAL POINTS |
| March | ||||
| Spice Bush | Benzoin odoriferum | 6-15 ft. | Yellow | Flowers appear before leaves. Crimson fruit in fall. Aromatic odour. |
| Daphne | Daphne Mezereum | 4ft. | Purple | The only hardy deciduous daphne. Plant in light soil and in shade. |
| April | ||||
| Barberry | Berberis-Thunbergii | 2-4 ft. | Yellow | Prefers dry soil. Berries all winter. |
| Golden Bell | Forsythia suspensa | 5-8 ft. | Yellow | Flowers appear before leaves. Hardy; free from insects. |
| May | ||||
| Red-osier Dogwood | Cornus stolonifera | 4-8 ft. | White | Red branched. Plant in moist soil. |
| Japanese Snow Flower | Deutzia gracilis | 1-3 ft. | White | Very beautiful when flowering. Needs well drained soil. |
| Japanese Snowball | Viburnum plicatum | 8 ft. | White | Not as likely to have lice as common snowball. Larger balls. |
| Lilac | Syringa vulgaris | 15 ft. | Purple | Very fragrant. Will grow anywhere even in some shade. |
| June | ||||
| Deutzia | Deutzia Lemoinei | 1-3 ft. | White | Hardy; flowers showy. |
| Weigela | Diervilla Florida | 6 ft. | Pink White Red | May have white or red flowers. Flowers under trees. Lives where other shrubs die. |
| Spirea | Spiræa Van Houttei | 4 ft. | White | Most showy of spireas. Grows anywhere. |
| Mock Orange | Philadelphus Coronarius | 10 ft. | Varieties of different colours. Fragrant; makes good screen. | |
| Smoke Bush | Rhus cotinus | 4-10 ft. | Purplish | Hardy. Beautiful all summer. Purple colour changes to smoke colour. |
| July | ||||
| Spirea | Spirea Bumalda, var. Anthony Waterer | 3 ft. | White | Flowers run from white to deep pink. Late flowering. Hardy. |
| Sweet Pepper Bush | Clethra alnifolia | 3-10 ft. | White | Moist soil or sandy. Late blooming; fragrant flowers. |
| August | ||||
| Althea, Rose of Sharon | Hibiscus Syriacus | 12 ft. | White to purple | Very hardy. Plant in any good garden soil. |
| September | ||||
| Hardy Hydrangea | Hydrangea paniculata | 8 ft. | White to pink | A showy shrub. Flowers remain on all winter. |
| October | ||||
| Witch Hazel | Hamamelis Virginiana | 6-20 ft. | Yellow | Grows anywhere. Likes moisture. Fruit "explodes." |
"Certain shrubs are good to use for hedge purposes. A hedge is rather prettier usually than a fence. The Californian privet is excellent for this purpose. Osage orange, Japan barberry, buckthorn, Japan quince, and Van Houtte's spirea are other shrubs which make good hedges.
"You have to remember that not only should grounds look well to the passerby but they should look equally well from the inside of the building. As your mother is working in the kitchen during the hot summer or sewing during a long dull winter afternoon, would it not be a joy to her to look out at a syringa sweet with blossom or a barberry with nodding red berries? Landscape gardening is not only for the purpose of adding beauty to the earth's surface, but also for the putting joy into the heart of a person as well.