Wild bushes are nearly always attractive in form and habit when planted
in borders and groups. They improve in appearance under cultivation
because they are given a better chance to grow. In wild nature there is
such fierce struggle for existence that plants usually grow to few or
single stems, and they are sparse and scraggly in form; but once given
all the room they want and a good soil, they become luxurious, full, and
comely. In most home grounds in the country the body of the planting may
be very effectively composed of bushes taken from the adjacent woods and
fields. The masses may then be enlivened by the addition here and there
of cultivated bushes, and the planting of flowers and herbs about the
borders. It is not essential that one know the names of these wild
bushes, although a knowledge of their botanical kinships will add
greatly to the pleasure of growing them. Neither will they look common
when transferred to the lawn. There are not many persons who know even
the commonest wild bushes intimately, and the things change so much in
looks when removed to rich ground that few home-makers recognize them.

[Illustration: Fig. 31. Making a picture with rhubarb.]

Odd and formal trees.

It is but a corollary of this discussion to say that plants which are
simply odd or grotesque or unusual should be used with the greatest
caution, for they introduce extraneous and jarring effects. They are
little in sympathy with a landscape garden. An artist would not care to
paint an evergreen that is sheared into some grotesque shape. It is only
curious, and shows what a man with plenty of time and long pruning
shears can accomplish. A weeping tree (particularly of a small-growing
species) is usually seen to best advantage when it stands against a