INTRODUCTION 3 



I lately read in one of the great morning papers elabo- 

 rate directions for pruning Clematises ; whether one should 

 prune last year's growth, or this year's growth, or some 

 other year's growth. It was probably written by one of 

 the " lady students " at some horticultural college. If we 

 had one here we could hardly place her forty feet high in 

 a Corsican pine to prune a Clematis. By giving up all 

 pruning trouble is saved, and one gets a more picturesque 

 result. We have plants on walls and in all sorts of posi- 

 tions, and we have had no serious losses, though some- 

 times a holly or an apple-tree may have been weakened a 

 little. 



For climbers on walls the great thing is to see that the 

 trees are not crucified, and that the natural toss of the 

 plant is allowed full play. The best way to secure such a 

 result is to use oak or chestnut battens in a rough simple 

 way, and tie the shoots to them. All that misery of nailing 

 with shreds with cold fingers on frosty mornings should 

 go. It is not enough to have healthy plants ; one must also 

 show their grace of form. The strongest and best of all 

 ties is the red willow shoot. A few dozen red willows in a 

 wet hollow will furnish a useful stock of withies cheaper 

 and better than the grocer's tarred twine. 



It is a mistake to clothe walls with climbers that do not 

 need any such comfort. Ivy, for instance, is often used in 

 this way, although it will grow in the woods, on rocks, on 

 rough banks, and in many other places. Ivy should not be 

 put on a house or wall, nor should we use the rougher and 

 coarser Clematises, or even the Indian C. montana, in that 

 way. It is a common mistake to suppose that the north 

 side of walls is against success with many things, for they 

 may be better off on the north than the south side. One 



