12 



IRISH GARDENING 



JANL'ARY 



spixial varii-tii-s aiul strains, ilu- n siih ol var.-fiil si-loi-- 

 tioii by this celcbralod firms own I'xivrts, aiv lisli-il aiul 

 dcsi-ribod. Tlio book is lavishly illustraU'il. llu- larj,'^i- 

 pajift's ifivinif froo si'opi- for i-tVoitivo ilisplay. 1 liroiii^h 

 the courtesy of Mi'ssrs. Webb we are able lo n'prodiue 

 one of the sin iller illiistr.ilions -a new eartniiie i^i-ni 

 Ksehseholl/ia showinj;: its in-i-iiliar eliaiin as a iiit 

 flower. 



J he Month's Work. 



Fhnvcr Garden and Pleasure Grounds. 



i>y i:. Knowi.imn. l-.R.ll.S. 



WHAT Willi tli.iwini;- ami liveziiiK, aiul fiveziui,'- 

 and thawinir, anil all sorts aiul eoiulitions of 

 soil saturation between, a jj-laiue at the tlower 

 garden is pretty well sufficient. Vet, where we see, as 

 recentlv seen, the shaky state of the frost-lifted wall- 

 flowers massed in beds, the first opportunity of a diy 

 surface for firminjif liiem in should not be neglected. 

 This must be done by hand where the May-flowering 

 tulips are planted between, but where beds are wholly 

 given up to the wallflowers one may carefully negotiate 

 the whole with the feet, and the wobblers like it. So 

 do all else in fact, when partly lifted by frost, incKiding 

 aubretias, sileiu', saponaria, and violas. Speaking of 

 violas, we are aware that in not a few ganliMis lliey do 

 not now occupy a promiiu'iit position in Uu> spring. 

 bedding, being scarcel\- at their best, and the earliest 

 flowering ones at that, ere the lot must perforce be 

 cleared for the summer crop. Vet late autumn propa- 

 gation by cuttings affords violas which can be made to 

 play their own part in summer gaiet}^ either as bor- 

 derings or as a ground work for bigger plantings. 

 Everybody knows that, of course, but we want to put in 

 a plea for the viola, as we cannot but think its capa- 

 bilities in the hands of the florist are far from exhausted. 

 Our first acquaintance with the viola biings up the 

 memory of one, stricta azurea, lavender blue, long 

 lost sight of, yet to memory dear, w^hich owing to its 

 never-producing seeds flowered the whole season 

 through — from spring till late autumn, and if we could 

 only get a race of the stricta type in various colours 

 they would be of incalculable advantage to summer 

 bedding. It is, we feel, rather a far cry to summer, 

 but after all. and apart from comparative lateness for 

 the spring garden, with a wealth of colour spring 

 provides in the aubretias, alyssum saxatile, the early 

 Dutch tulips, and a host of things, violas are scarcely 

 wanted for that, and to sum up the flower-garden part 

 of our programme for this month there is little to be 

 done. Some, indeed, will say there is litttecan be done 

 at present in any direction within the confines of our 

 heading, but Vl.ere is a little in most places, and that 

 little if not done now is ver}- probably not done at all. 

 This in allusion to the pleasure-grounds. 



Having at last reached the main object of this 

 month's dissertation, which is the trees, there is 

 less need of an apology for tackling them than 

 there is, perhaps, of pointing to the importance 

 of giving them that consideration they surely 

 deserve, Vet, there js need of it ; we see the need 



daily, monthly, yi'.irly. .mil llu>sc pl.ices where the 

 siinpli- but necess.ii y atti-ntions <//-c paiil lo tlu-m are 

 the exceptions rjitlu-r th.in tlu- iiile. To point a moral : 

 it may be menlioiu'il when visiting an exci-lleiit garilen 

 wluMC all w.is exceeilin^ly well iloiie we M-iy diploina- 

 licilly ilrt'W up the neglected lii'i's to have them very 

 summarily ilismissi-il by the ihief-in-charge with the 

 obvious statenu'iit. " they wen- tlu-re before me .and will 

 be tlu-re after me," which wi- interpreted they were 

 there before he came to the pl.ice, anil the same neglect 

 woiiltl be carrieil forward with compound interest, and 

 one could almost imagine the luxuriant ivy was smiling 

 in its h.indgrips with a whole line of trees forming the 

 homui.iry of the otherwise well-kept place at the 

 obsei-\alion. l^ut what a difference it iill makes when 

 master ami man. as tree-lovers, view the subject single- 

 evetl. aiul knowing what should he done h;ive the 

 energ\- to ilo it 



Where the legac}' of neglect handed down by a past 

 generation, as shown in twin trunks springing from ten, 

 twenty or thirty feet up. or whatever it may be, and 

 each evergrowing awaj- from the vertical line of safety 

 as exemplified in the straight single trunk, much may 

 be done to avoid disaster by lightening the heavy over- 

 hanging branches on either side. Needless to say, 

 where such bifurcation occurs corrective measures 

 should have been taken in the tree's youth to train it, in 

 tlu; way it should i^o, of a single trunk. This, of course 

 applies to all trees but it is chiefly ;uitongst the 

 ileciduous kimls, ouv oaks, elms, beach, aiui ash, that 

 the sins of omission are in evidence, whether we 

 regard our noble trees from the sentimental or com- 

 mercial point of view— as ornaments, or as timber, and 

 the most sensible point of view, perhaps, includes both 

 the same principle rules. When it is necessary to 

 remove heavy overhanging limbs the more they diverge 

 from the vertical to the horizontal the greater care 

 will be taken to avoid splitting, and besides the safe- 

 guarding by a good undercut in the first instance it is 

 often necessary to rope them from above. It is not 

 good in this heavy pruning of middle aged speci- 

 mens to leave what is termed a snag — two or three feet 

 at the junction — the better way being to cut in as close 

 as possible, all amputations being clean pared and then 

 painted lo prevent the ingress of fungus-spores. 

 Personally, we prefer the paint to tar, pro\ided it is 

 good, thick while-lead painl sutlicienlly toned down 

 with black to approach the natural colour of the bark. 



With "tall, ancestral trees" which have seen genera- 

 tions come and go and possibly with a little attention 

 will do so 3'et. the first and outward visible signs of 

 decay in the way of w-.aterholding cavities at the spring 

 of the branches, forked trunks, or elsewhere, should be 

 stopped at once. We have done this tree surgery on a 

 pretty large scale, in one case the cavity formed bj- a 

 long-ago split off limb in a superb beech taking a whole 

 barrowload of brickbats to fill, over which Portland 

 cement was plastered. The face when finished being 

 seme thirty inches long by two feet at the widest part. 

 Nature was not quite satisfied, however, for year b}' 

 year the bark stole over the masonry till it was all 

 enclosed and we have often wondered what the cross- 

 cut sawmen will say when they get f/ieir teeth into it, 

 ever they do. Many an ancient elm might be spared for 



