Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-08
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

shoot out, but the shrub begins them
at or near the ground. Some shrubs
| will develop into mass of main stalks
arising in a. circle Of a foot or two
in diameter.
Other shrubs. and notably the lilac
and althea, will develop main trunks
and will grow into near-treeS II given
a bit of help along that line. There
are in Washington many specimens Of
these shrubs which have grown into
veritable trees. Large lilac trees are to
be seen in the small park on Penn
sylvania avenue in front of the Depart
ment of Commerce Building, at Nine
tenth and II streets.
Altheas in tree form grow on Nine
tenth street, we believe, about l. and
NJ streets. With lilacs it is often neces-
sary, if they are to grow into small
trees, to prune out the suckers" as
they are called, which grow up at the
base. Thus by keeping the plant to its
single main trunk this becomes husky,
end the plant is forced to bear lateral
branches above and to send forth all
its blossoms on them. The althea more
naturally assumes the tree form and is
more prone to send out lateral shoots
as its main trunk grows up.
X y *
One of the linguistic ancestors of our
word shrub is a Norwegian word
which means dwarf" Here, again, we
have the comparison with the trees
The woody character of the shrubs
makes them akin. 1t is not always real
lied that the rose, the queen of flow
ers, also is a shrub although its bark
is less woody, seemingly. except on GER
tain types, such as the rugosas.
The lost opportunity for most home
owners, in regard to the use of shrub
in ho fof to iV1c
rate enough Of it in boundary plant
ings. The drawback of the shrub as
foundation planting is that it is not,
except in few instances, evergreen.
In Winter its branches are bare and
Understanding. No true shrubs will
ever take the place of the best ever
greens for foundation paintings.
Nor does the shrub. as such, shine
particularly as so-called specimen plant
for front lawns. Here, too, its Winter
habit of shedding its leaves is not to
the betterment of the front elevation
of a home.
1t is along the boundary lines of the
property that shrubbery has its real
place. And it is here that it so often
| is used in niggardly fashion. No
0oubt, there still exists belief on the
part of some that hedging materials
are somehow unnecessary or an indi-
/ caIlOn OF SnODDlSQneSS.
Every yard, no matter how small or
large, ought to be divided off from its
neighbcr by a tangible boundary of
some sort. Brick walls, fences of vari-
Gus types, hedges and shrUbbery COM
prise the four common methods of di-
vision along party lines.
Often two of these may be combined
such as walls with shrubbery planted
inside or fences with shrubs. Fences,
unless covered with climbers and
planted with carefully grouped masses
CT evergreens or shrubs. or combinations
of both. are likely to be bare and for
| lorn-looking
Where shrubbery shines Is in fur
nishing the homeoWner with medi-
umly cheap boundary planting all by
itself Except in the rougher types of
neighborhoods, a shrubbery border will
be enough for all practical purposes,
AS a medium for Identification of a
property it has no peer. with the eX-
ception Of evergreens, and these often
tend to give a home a cold look, II
planted exclusively.
The shrubbery border, whether plant
ed in hedge formation or more loosely
as groupings. merely. will add variety
to the landscape which nothing else
will. Many shrubs are interesting the
year around, with their variously hued
berries and colored bark.
When covered with snow, they take
on the appearance Of visitors from
fairyland. Their flowers, in season. are
uneuualed. What would the world do
without the beauty and fragrance of
the lilac, the grace of the Spireae Van
Houttei, the golden sprays of the For
sythia?
We will discuss in later article sew
eral of the lesser known, but almost
as beautiful, shrubs, which we would
all do well to plant in larger quantities.