SHRUBS
While trees make the major feature of any garden, shrubs are chiefly used to fill in between them, or in small gardens the only woody plants that can be used are often shrubs. Within the last two or three years the Government has prohibited the importation of plants from abroad, upon the ground that various insect pests and fungous diseases were likely to be carried into the country upon such plants. For this reason American gardeners will have to propagate their own plants and we shall have to use more native plants than European and Asiatic species, which made up the bulk of our gardening material in the past.
There are excellent reasons for using native shrubs upon quite other grounds than the difficulty or danger of importing foreign ones. Native plants fit into the natural landscape better than introduced sorts, and very often the garden enthusiast can go out into the country and dig out small specimens instead of buying them.
In the list of native American shrubs given below, there are directions of where to use them, their heights, their flower color and other information about them that will help the amateur gardener to select his shrubs for definite effects. All of the shrubs listed can be gown in most parts of the country, and from the list nearly every wish of the garden planner may be gratified. This list is a practical one and has been used by landscape architects and others. It was written by the author for “The Garden Magazine” whose publishers, Doubleday, Page & Company, have kindly allowed its use here.
It will be noted that under each month group the names are arranged in botanical sequence so that allied plants are brought together. All the ninety-four species are offered for sale in American nurseries. Those in the column “Remarks and Notes” as well as about twenty others not included, must be collected in the wild.
A word now as to cultivation and care. Most of the shrubs, except those so noted, can either be planted in the spring or fall, as this is a matter that should be determined by the planter’s convenience. In digging the holes make them twice as wide and deep as the size of the roots apparently demand. Note carefully the column “Preferred Habitat,” so that the shrubs may find congenial surroundings. Pack the soil well around the roots, water thoroughly, and frequently if the weather is dry and windy. The first winter or two a heavy mulch of leaves, or leaves and manure mixed, to be dug in the following spring, will well repay the expense and trouble.
It will be noted that some of the shrubs are marked with an asterisk (*). These all belong to the heath family and require special treatment. A soil composed of rotten sods and leafmold, about half and half, is most essential for the successful cultivation of these plants. They require peculiar acid soil conditions well approximated by the above mixture, and a mulch, preferably of red-oak leaves, or the leaves of the mountain laurel if available. Never disturb the roots of these plants by digging in the mulch, which is better left on indefinitely. Soils with much lime in them must also be avoided when growing these heath-family plants.
It is often somewhat difficult in arranging a shrubbery planting to group the plants according to the color of their flowers. For the greater ease in using the larger table, and so that one can arrive at the relative frequency of the various colors desirable for use in the scheme, the following table is appended. The numbers refer, of course, to those in the table below. The figures given in parentheses are the total of plants in each division.
By color of flowers. Yellow-green (10): 1, 8, 9, 10, 30, 31, 36, 44, 49, 86. Brown-green (10): 2, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 27, 39. Yellow (5): 5, 25, 41, 84, 92. Pink-purple (4): 7, 74, 75, 83. White (35): 6, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 28, 29, 32, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 51, 55, 57, 58, 59, 69, 70, 71, 72, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 88, 89, 90. Green-white (11): 16, 23, 33, 50, 52, 63, 64, 65, 66, 87, 94. Pinkish-white (10): 26, 37, 38, 54, 56, 61, 67, 73, 77, 93. Pink (5): 34, 60, 62, 85, 91. Lilac (1): 35. Violet-purple (2): 48, 68. Orange-red (1): 53.
It often happens, too, that we have some definite spot, such as a small stream or swamp, a dry hill-side, or a shaded wood, that we wish to beautify. Therefore: