The Country Gentleman s Magazine 



6i 



Jlrborixultart. 



EVERGREENS FOR SMALL PLEASURE GARDENS. 



COPYING, or doing just what others 

 have done, is a far too prevalent habit 

 among our people. If one man plants a Nor- 

 way Spruce or Austrian Pine in front of his 

 house, or upon a lawn, all of the neighbours 

 immediately follow the example, and procure 

 the same kind, without the least regard to 

 size of garden or adaptation to the sur- 

 roundings. 



There is scarcely a garden, either in the 

 dense portions of our cities or suburbs, that 

 has not, at some period in its history, con- 

 tained one or more of these coarse-growing 

 evergreens. More beautiful or desirable trees 

 do not exist than the Spruces and Pines ; 

 but they are as unsuitable for small gardens 

 as an elephant would be for a house-pet. 

 When growing in nursery rows, they appear 

 the perfection of comeliness, and the novice 

 looks upon them as they are at the time — 

 not as they will be at some future day — 

 giants that require room to expand, or perish 

 for the want of it. By the free use of the 

 knife and pruning-shears, the larger growing 

 evergreens may be kept within certain 

 limits ; but graceful and natural outlines 

 are destroyed in the operation. Through 

 the enterprise of our leading nurserymen, the 

 necessity for planting the coarse-growing 

 species, and then resorting to the knife, is 

 done away, and we now have an abundance 

 of beautiful dwarf evergreens, alike suitable 

 to small gardens or toning down large groups 

 in more extensive grounds. By the use of 

 these dwarf trees, a great variety can be 

 cultivated in a comparatively small space, 

 and a miniature forest of evergreens reared 

 within the limits required for two or three 

 specimens of the larger species. 



The number of dwarf species in cultivation 



is far too great to be enumerated here ; but 

 we v/ill mention a few that seem to be almost 

 indispensable in every well-arranged garden, 

 and also add that they are all hardy in this 

 country. 



Abies alba juajia, or Dwarf Spruce. — Grows 

 only about i foot high, but very compact, and 

 of a deep green colour. 



Abies Gregorya?ia, or Gregory's Dwarf 

 Spruce. — A very handsome variety, but larger 

 than the preceding. Habit similar to the 

 common Norway, but more dense, and leaves 

 and branches much smaller. 



Biota Mehlensis. — A very handsome variety 

 of the Chinese Arbor-vitse, with very minute 

 leaves, and of an exceedingly dense habit. 

 As it grows very readily from cuttings planted 

 in the open ground, some of our gardeners 

 are using it extensively for edgings, in place 

 of the dwarf-box. 



Biota aurea, or Chinese Golden Arbor-vitce. 

 — The light green or golden colour of the 

 foliage makes this a desirable plant in a col- 

 lection. 



BiLxiis, or Box. — There are several species 

 and varieties, all of rather slow growth, and 

 suitable for small gardens. 



Junipers. — Like the Box, there are many 

 desirable species and varieties. J. hibernica 

 (Irish Juniper) and J. suecica (Swedish Juni- 

 per), are small, but compact, slender growing 

 trees, requiring but little space. 



TYit/nnipenes pendi/la (Weeping Juniper), 

 is also a very desirable species, being one of 

 the most graceful in habit. There are also 

 several trailing species, such as J. prostrata 

 and J. squamata, that are worthy of a place 

 among the best. 



Finns. — There are a few species and varie- 

 ties of dwarf Pines that may be admitted into 



