254 



NOTES ON THE EVERGREEN IVY. 



and cheerful tone. One such instance, in 

 Philadelphia, has caused us often to visit 

 the parlor from which it is seen for this 

 object alone. A very singular effect pro- 

 duced by ivy, occurs in the approach road 

 to Warwick castle, within the outer wall. 

 The road is cut through a solid bed of sand- 

 stone rock, and its sides are in some places 

 upwards of 12 feet high, and perpendicular 

 and smooth. Ivy has been planted on the 

 upper surface of the ground, forming the 

 summit of these perpendicular walls of 

 rock, in order that it might creep down and 

 cover their face. Instead of creeping, how- 

 ever, the ivy has grown over without at- 

 taching itself; and its long, pendulous, 

 matted roots, trailing even on the coach 

 road, waving to and fro with the wind, 

 might be compared to an immense sheet of 

 water, falling over a perpendicular rock. 

 In close shrubberies, in gardens, where 

 neither grass nor any other green plants 

 will grow on the surface, the ivy forms a 

 clothing of perpetual verdure. Trained 

 against espaliers, lattice work, iron hurdles, 

 or wire frames, it forms, in a very short 

 time, most beautiful evergreen walls, or 

 hedges, for the separation or shelter of 

 flower gardens. In short, there is no ever- 

 green shrub capable of being applied to so 

 many important uses as the common ivy ; 

 and no garden can dispense with it. The 

 London gardeners have a plan which we 

 commend to the notice of our own; they 

 raise immense quantities in pots, and train 

 it to stakes of from 6 to 12 feet in height, 

 so that, at any season of the year, a hedge 

 may be formed of it, or a naked space 

 covered with it, at an incredibly short no- 

 tice. By placing pots of ivy in the balco- 

 nies of the different windows of a perfectly 

 new house, the whole front, in one day, 

 may be covered with rich evergreen leaves, 

 as effectually as if it were an old building, 



in a secluded rural situation. Another va- 

 luable use, to which the ivy may be ap- 

 plied, is to form external framings to the 

 windows instead of architraves. 



But we have not done with the uses of 

 this beautiful plant. Some ladies of our 

 acquaintance train it round four stakes; 

 thus making green walls into which they 

 place their pots, or glasses of Hyacinths 

 and Tulips when in bloom. Nothing can 

 be more ornamental. Others plant it in 

 boxes, and train it on light bamboo espa- 

 liers, where it forms a rustic screen for the 

 window. With a green baize on the back 

 or parlor side, the effect from the street is 

 superb ; and in very large drawing-rooms,, 

 plants in boxes or vases, trained on wire 

 parasols or eapaliers, will form a rustic 

 canopy for small groups of parties, who 

 may seat themselves under its shade, in 

 the same manner as parties sit under orange 

 trees in the public rooms of Berlin, and of 

 other cities of the continent. Where the 

 view from the window of a town house is 

 contracted, or disagreeable, it may always 

 be improved by ivy, planted in boxes, and 

 trained as espaliers, — being placed within 

 the room at a sufficient distance from the 

 window not to exclude the light, and yet 

 sufficiently near to serve as a screen ; or 

 by so disposing of plants on the outside as 

 to conceal or disguise the disagreeable ob- 

 jects, and create an allusion to the coun- 

 try.* Another great advantage of the ivy 

 in small and suburban gardens is, that by its 

 berries it attracts birds in early spring, and 

 by its dense foliage it forms excellent situa- 

 tions for nests. Whether it is injurious to 

 trees or not is a disputed point ; but we 

 believe that in time the network that is ul- 



* In these remarks, there is nothing impracticable. The 

 giant or Irish variety should be used on account of its rapid 

 growth ; the plant bears the heat of the parlor admirably, and 

 a little time only will be required to produce all these effects. 

 As a division fence for burial lots in our rural cemeteries, the 

 ivy, trained on the new and cheap wire fences, would be ad- 

 mirable. 



