PLANTS FOR HEAVY FORMAL EFFECTS

While many trees and shrubs in the hands of expert designers andgardeners may be used interchangeably for either formal or informaleffects, the fact still remains that there is a group of plants which arebest adapted for use to produce the heavier and more compact formaleffects. The effect of formality is obtained by emphasizing geometriclines or surfaces. Plants which are upright, slow-growing, and morecompact in their habit, are better adapted for this purpose thanplants which are more vigorous in their habit of growth, more spread-ing, and looser in texture and therefore less apt to retain a consistent,definite form.