Landscape Plant Guide

The phase of home landscaping de­scribed here, the planting done near to the house foundation, is of great impor­tance because it may make or break the appearance of the home as it is seen from the street. Yet, it is often done with little understanding of the problems in­volved; disappointing results are all too common.

The landscape plant guide is for the amateur who is going to do his own designing and his own work. Em­phasis is given to plantings that will be in keeping `with a variety of one-story to two-story houses.

There will always be differences of opinion as to the kinds of plants to be used. Some prefer narrow-leaved ever­greens, some want flowering shrubs, and still others use a combination of the two. Narrow-leaved evergreens will provide green color through the year with some variation in the different varieties. Flow­ering shrubs will have bare stems in win­ter, some of which are very colorful, but will give an informal effect, as well as life and color to the planting during the summer. Broad-leaved evergreens, where they may be grown successfully, will be green throughout the year and give some flower color in spring. With these facts in mind each home owner should use the plants of his choice.

The best appearance of any particular house when the plantings are mature is subject to individual differences of opin­ion; what one person likes another dis­approves. Some persons feel that few plants, if any, should be placed near the house. There is merit to this idea, par­ticularly if the house is architecturally well designed and is in a setting of spa­cious tree-shaded lawns or if the house has large wall areas of glass. Other persons hold the view that many shrubs are needed, particularly around a house not well designed, which may need masses of plants to screen the imperfections. In any case, a landscape plant guide will help for most situations, and a compromise between the two extremes may be best.

Pit the Planting to Style of House. Probably there is better reason for more planting around the base of a house having a high foundation wall exposed above the soil line than there is around a house with low foundation walls. A large-growing shade tree placed 15 to 20 feet from the corner of a house mini­mizes rather effectively the high appear­ance of a house that is narrow and up­right. Plants with a horizontal branch­ing habit help, as do structural devices such as window boxes, window blinds, and two-tone painting. Horizontal lines reduce the apparent height, while narrow, upright plant forms increase the visual height. Regardless of the kinds of plants to be selected, they should all be chosen and planted in positions where they will not be too large for the area when they ma­ture.

Landscape plant guide