14 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



and they all establish themselves very quickly. Many 

 others might be named that are only a little more 

 impatient of drought, and will grow well enough on 

 a bank of good soil. But we have given enough to 

 show that any bank may be made beautiful, however 

 unpromising it may look, if once it is cleared of rub- 

 bish. It is useless, however, to attempt to grow any- 

 thing on a bank shaded with pine-trees or filled with 

 straggling hungry shrubs. All these must be cleared 

 away before anything can be done with it; and, 

 when it is ready to be planted, the planting should 

 be done with some taste and judgment, the plants 

 being arranged in drifts or masses, each drift at its 

 extremities being interwoven with a drift of another 

 species. The shrubs also should be massed here and 

 there in places where they will seem to grow most 

 naturally, and not aimlessly dotted about. By these 

 means many a bank which is now a mere eyesore 

 might be made the most interesting and beautiful 

 part of the garden, with very little trouble or ex- 

 pense. 



