330 THE GARDENER. [July 



The first time we saw Irish Yews used for this purpose the effect was 

 very much admired, being studded all over with its reddish fruit, thus 

 greatly relieving its somewhat sombre appearance. The Irish Yew has 

 a very pretty appearance, if a good healthy plant, growing in good soil 

 and well drained, when managed well from first planting. On laying 

 every plant off regularly into its proper position, and trimming off 

 every superfluous shoot, there should not be the least overcrowding of 

 the branches at any place, more than is necessary to give proper effect. 

 To those who may not have seen Irish Yews used for this purpose, I 

 would say, give them a fair trial before forming an opinion of their merits. 



Arborvita3S are sometimes used for this purpose, requiring much the 

 same kind of treatment as Irish Yews. When judiciously managed, 

 these two associate well upon the same wall, and can be made to form 

 a covering of about equal thickness. However, the Arborvitaes have 

 a very ferny-like appearance — that is, when they are nicely trimmed 

 and well fastened against a wall. Their little fore-shoots or branches, 

 of from 4 to 8 inches long, often remind one of the tip of the fronds 

 of the Fern Filix-Mas, or the common Bracken (Pteris aquilina). 

 These two, when well managed, have nothing of a coarse appearance, 

 nor do they run long stretches, leaving some places naked, as many 

 plants are liable to do. 



Cotoneaster niicrophylla makes an excellent cover for a wall. We 

 have seen a plant of it covering a wall 4 yards wide by over 5 yards 

 high. This plant gives a greater variety of change with the seasons 

 of the year than either the Yew or Arborvitffi. It can seldom be 

 trained to have anything like the same loose graceful appearance, not 

 covering the wall so thickly as the two first named. However, its 

 close and generally very regular flowering habit during summer, and 

 being all studded over during the dull winter months with its lively 

 reddish berries, makes it a very valuable plant, adding variety and 

 interest as the season changes. 



Cotoneasters are, when planted into a shrubbery or in a border, 

 generally very straggling, and far from neat growers ; but they are 

 well suited for a wall when well attended to, and kept well fastened up. 



Pyrus Japonica is a far more coarse-growing plant than either of 

 the above, and seldom can be made to show such a neat appearance ; 

 but when once well established, it sometimes has an interesting appear- 

 ance. Where it is required to give a covering and a pleasing effect 

 upon any wall, it would be far better to plant them pretty close to- 

 gether — say at about from 2 to 3 yards apart — thus requiring fewer 

 branches trained off right and left, and consequently their natural 

 vigour will carry them higher up the wall. Many others are very 

 suitable when attended to by one who knows how to manage them. 



