A few well-chosen plants placed at important points are all that most houses need to soften their lines and tie them into the rest of the landscape. A pair of interesting shrubs each side of an entrance, and something at the corners to soften angles usually suffices. To hide an unsightly leader pipe, to cover an areaway, to mask a break in the outline of the house, to soften or accent a feature, as the case may be, other plants may be added, the whole being tied together into a more com plete composition by some low-growing plants.

The bulk of the planting should consist of low slow-growing plants, not necessarily dwarfs, but certainly not pines, spruces, and firs. Many originally attractive foundation plantings out- grow their places. Unless they are replaced, the tall growers reach even to second-story windows.

Rhododendron, laurel, and azaleas, many of the junipers and yews, and a number of deciduous shrubs make good foundation plants because they are relatively slow growing, make good masses, and face themselves down well at the front edges. Although many home-owners prefer such a rich plant ing, it is possible to use deciduous plants, or a combination of deciduous and evergreen. Evergreens have the advantage of being attractive in winter.

Avoid too much variety in foundation plantings. This is not the place for an arboretum or a collection of strange shapes, exotic colors, or specimen plants. Mass effect is needed here with only an occasional accent. Two or three varieties will be enough. More defeat your purpose. With the evergreens men tioned or even in place of them, you might use low-growing, compact, deciduous shrubs-Deutzia gracilis, Cydonia mau- lei, Neillia sinensis, various barberries, most of the lower growing cotoneasters, and a few compact upright shrubs, such as enkianthus, Viburnum carlesi, Symphoricarpos chenaulti, and Euonymous alatus compactus. These are good for high points, blank walls, or extremely high foundations. (Plate 31.)

The foundation planting is not a separate problem but re lated to the rest of the planting. The whole landscape scheme should be thought of as an entity, not as a collection of inde pendent parts: foundation planting, garden, shade trees, shrub borders, and-so on. If you use evergreens in the founda tion planting, use enough of the same varieties in the nearby flanking groups or in the shrub border to form adequate tran sitional elements. If the foundation group is precise and fin ished with carefully laid-out curves and edges or under planted with ivy, pachysandra, or myrtle, continue this same precision in the nearby plantings so as to avoid too abrupt contrast.

The Green Garden

A green garden, as the name implies, relies heavily on foli age and form for effect, rather than on color and succession of bloom, as in other gardens. The green garden is often an extension of the house or terrace and can be treated in much the same way. Green gardens are admirably suited to places where the only possible site for a garden is shaded, and suc cess with more usual schemes is doubtful.