48 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY 



at one time, instead of adding trees at intervals of a few 

 years, there will be too much uniformity about it. 

 This should be avoided as far as possible, and if a few 

 box trees have been planted here and there, they will 

 help to break the evenness of the garden, since box can 

 be kept down to almost any size desired by the aid of 

 constant clipping. 



When the work of marking out the places and 

 planting the trees is being done, avoid anything that 

 will afterwards have a tendency to over-crowding. 

 Allow plenty of space for each tree to develop into 

 whatever size or shape may be desired, and then have 

 plenty of space for each tree to be plainly and distinctly 

 seen. Trees that are too thickly planted never have 

 the same appearance as those that have been allowed 

 sufficient space ; neither is over-crowding beneficial. 

 It has a great tendency to draw the trees up too quickly, 

 at the expense of strong and robust growth. 



When the planting operations are finished, each tree 

 should be given a good mulching of farmyard manure. 

 Nothing is more beneficial to the health and vigour of 

 the trees than half decayed manure from the farmyard, 

 applied as a mulching either to old or newly-planted 

 trees. It is the best stimulant that can be applied, as 

 it answers the two-fold purpose of imparting health and 

 vigour to the trees and protecting the roots from frost 

 during winter, although there is perhaps very little 

 danger of frost doing any damage to the roots of the 

 yew on account of its extreme hardiness. It is always 

 safer to protect trees that have been recently planted, 

 and the manure will certainly not be wasted. 



If the garden is an old established one and full of 

 old trees, these will be greatly benefited by the aid of 

 occasional top dressings of some sort of manure, or the 

 trees will begin to show signs of deteriorating in course 

 of time. More especially will top dressing be necessary 



