The woodland garden 1 39 



nursery trade offers. Only hardy things should be 

 used, and in southern places we may have a little more 

 variety of evergreen undergrowth. Some of the new 

 Bamboos would help very much for effect, such as 

 palmata, which keeps the ground clean and is fine in 

 habit. In open and poor soils the Heaths would tell 

 well, such as the Cornish Heath, and the Common 

 Heather in its stoutest varieties. Sweetbriers, Wild 

 Roses, and Brambles, would naturally be welcomed, 

 and it would be well to encourage native bushes like 

 Viburnum, Sloe, and the beautiful Spindle-tree (Euo- 

 nymus europaeus), and plants such as Solomon's Seal 

 and the Ferns, which often form a pretty undergrowth 

 in woods. Wherever natural covert exists, as it often 

 does in large woods in the shape of tall evergreen 

 Sedges like Carex paniculata, or masses of Bracken, 

 it should be kept, as there is no better covert. 



The planting of covert had better be done from early 

 autumn until March or April, but much may be done 

 throughout the year in clearing the ground and getting 

 rid of weedy plants. That is even better done in 

 summer, as we are then more certain to make an end 

 of them than in winter. When planting Holly in places 

 overrun by rabbits it will be necessary to wire, and if 

 we plant in large, bold masses, as we ought, the wiring 

 is easier. Happily rabbits do not attack Box, which is 

 a great gain when seeking covert for hungry soils or 

 poor dry bluffs. 



