Fast Shrubs Grow at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Using too many plants often results from not knowing how fast shrubs grow and their ultimate dimensions. Desire for immediate, filled in, finished appearance is also responsible. Where the latter is important use a few, large specimens rather than many smaller ones. The cost may not be much greater, the effect will be better and the shrubs won't crowd and spoil each other quickly. Alternatively, set moderate sized plants that are to remain permanently at distances appropriate to their mature less important than foliage; if you use them be sure the colors go with your house— magenta azaleas against red brick are disturbing! Evergreens should form a substantial part of all foundations; they may be used alone or in combination with leaf losers. Use plenty of groundcovers to tie the shrubs together.

Hardy perennials are very valuable in the garden and play a major role, as most of them are relatively cheap, grow quickly, and can readily be increased in several ways, including by seed, division, or cuttings. Most of them, like trees and shrubs, live for many years. In addition, most of them, unlike trees and < shrubs, are herbaceous as they have soft stems which die down in the fall and grow again the following spring. A number of them have evergreen leaves, and one or two grow in the winter and die down in the summer. Not all herbaceous perennials are in fact hardy, but here we are concerned only with those that are. Herbaceous perennials may be used in a variety of ways in the backyard.

In addition to the hardy hybrid rhododendrons there are a great many other kinds which are excellent garden shrubs, all evergreen and all disliking chalk or lime. They succeed best in loamy or peaty soils and though some will grow in full sun most prefer a partially shaded place. Many are first-class shrubs for planting in thin woodland.