2 VILLA GARDENING PART I 



steeped iu preconceived notions, seldom get out of the deep 

 groove they and their fathers have made for themselves. If the 

 track is to be broken up and a new departure made, the chief 

 impetus must come from without. Though good soil is essential 

 in all-round gardening, yet there is no soil so bad but something 

 may be made to thrive in it, and no atmosphere so murky but 

 some living plant will adapt itself to it ; and success in gardening 

 is often a question of adapting means to ends, and finding out 

 what we can and what we cannot do. Though the experience of 

 others will be a great help to us, yet so varied are the conditions 

 under which we work that in the main each one for himself has to 

 work out his own position, and find that eternal fitness of things 

 for which all men are striving, but which is sometimes so difiicult 

 to explain or point out. 



Next in importance to the soil being of fair gardening 

 quality (a light loam being the best for most things and clay 

 the worst), comes the question of shelter from winds. The 

 motion of the atmosphere, when not too violent, is beneficial 

 to most things ; but where the currents are fierce and frequent, 

 the list of plants that are capable of resisting their force is 

 limited. Still, though limited in number, if made use of in the 

 right way, shelters can quickly be created, and here again comes 

 in the question of adapting means to ends, as the sheltering 

 beds or groups that would suit one position woidd not fit in 

 everywhere. A very exposed position on the top of a hill miglit 

 require elaborate preparations, but I have never seen a position 

 that might not be sheltered from cold cutting winds if set about 

 in the right way. In situations where it is important that shelter 

 should be quickly raised, a mound might be thrown up on the 

 windward side and jjlauted with wind-resisting plants. On the 

 outer margin might be planted a thick verge of the common 

 Gorse. The margin need not be of the same width throughout, 

 but it should possess a sufficient depth to arrest and lift up the 

 swift cm-rents of air, robbing it at the same time of its icy 

 coldness. Inside the Gorse might come a belt of Austrian Pine, 

 among which may be thinly planted the Huntingdon Elm. The 

 Gorse and the Pines alone might suftice in some cases, and in 

 others the Elms would be sufiicient ; the latter bear pruning well, 

 are tough and elastic, and not easily splintered by the wind. 

 There are other trees which may be employed for this purpose — 

 the Wych Elm, the Lime, and the Ash-leaved Maple all bear 

 pruning until a dense habit capable of offering a great resistance 

 to the wind is created. There are many ways of sheltering our- 

 selves and our dwellings from rough winds, but there is nothing 



