Summer blooming shrubs and trees should be planted at once. Plan the plantings carefully, for, while the usual emphasis is on the kind of plants to use, the design for the garden is more important and should be carefully thought out and more carefully executed. Southern gardeners, especially, need to realize the importance of the garden plan.

Shrubs are used in four broad ways: for boundaries. for partitions and backgrounds, for specimens and for foundation plantings. We have discussed these uses of shrubs and the characteristics demanded by each use. Even at the risk of repetition, further discussion with the particular plans in mind may be helpful.

Shrubs are often planted on either side of an entrance from one “room” to another, or to mark the corners of beds. Here they are seen in detail and must have some particularly good features, such as bloom, foliage color or habit of growth, to warrant the special position.