452 



BANKS 



BANKS! A 



Planting. 



On low banks and terraces, where soil may be thor- 

 oughly prepared and well cared for, turf or any vigorous 

 plant can be established. In elaborate garden designs, 

 such planting is often trimmed or trained to a uniform 

 surface or arranged to make a part of a formal pattern. 



On high banks, landscape beauty of distinction may 

 be created by the selection, arrangement and manage- 



468. Banks held by moderate planting, the scenic features 

 not being obscured. 



ment of artificial plantations or the natural growth. 

 High banks uniformly drained and graded to prevent 

 slipping, such as railroad and reservoir slopes, may be 

 turfed. Such treatment is not recommended in large 

 operations in which an interesting and varied surface- 

 cover, or a low maintenance cost, is desired. When 

 large bluffs require many thousand plants and limita- 

 tions of cost require that they be planted with little 

 soil preparation, varieties must be selected that will 

 grow well in the soil presented. They must be plants 

 that can be procured in large quantities at low cost, for 

 the bulk of the planting, and it is desirable that they 

 have such special characteristics as underground or 

 surface stolons or trailing stems that root strongly at 

 frequent intervals, or stems that root at the tips. 

 There are also varieties with very densely matted 

 fibrous roots that hold soil well. 



The following plants meet these requirements for 

 the soils indicated: 



Low evergreen plants for the sandy or gravelly soil 

 of the North: Bearberry (Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursii) an 

 ideal evergreen trailing giound-cover for sand or gravel, 

 of which collected plants must be used that are not 

 easily transplanted. Trailing juniper (Juniperus com- 

 munis). Savin juniper (Juniperus Sabina). These 

 three species are not procurable in large quantities at 

 low cost, and collected plants do not transplant readily. 



Low evergreen plants for good soil in shade: Ever- 

 green spurge (Pachysandra terminal-is), excellent for 

 shade and hardy over a wide territory. Myrtle or large 

 periwinkle ( Vinca major) , from Virginia south. Periwin- 

 kle (Vinca minor), from Pennsylvania north. The last 

 three plants are offered by nurseries in large quanti- 

 ties, the latter at low cost by collectors, and collected 

 plants transplant well. Japanese evergreen honey- 

 suckle (Lonicera japonica). This climber and trailer is 

 one of the best bank-covers in states south of New 

 York, and it can be obtained in nurseries or from col- 

 lectors in large quantities. Spring planting should be 

 done very early. 



For low deciduous trailers or medium high shrubs for 

 nearly all soils, the tip-rooting species of blackberry, 

 such as Rubus canadensis, R. dumetorum, R. occiden- 

 talis, and the species with underground stolons, such as 

 the cultivated high-bush blackberries, and red raspber- 

 ries, are serviceable and can be obtained in large quan- 

 tities at low cost. Plants having a similar habit, may also 

 be thus secured, as the matrimony vine, the Indian 



currant, the weeping golden bell (Forsythia suspensa), 

 the wild roses, (Rosa lucida or R. nitida), the staghorn 

 sumac (Rhiis typhina). Of low-cost trees, the common 

 locust, soft maple, box elder, and Russian mulberry are 

 all suitable. 



Of mat ted -root plants, the Japanese barberry, the 

 hop-tree (Plelea trifoliata) , the European euonymus, 

 the common buckthorn, can usually be readily procured. 



Of small trees for shade, the flowering dogwood and 

 red-bud are especially suitable and attractive from 

 Massachusetts and New York south. 



Of tall evergreen trees, the white pine is more ser- 

 viceable for light soils and more easily procured; tin- 

 arborvita; and red cedar are the most available mrdinni- 

 height trees for average soils. 



In California, the mesembryanthemums are largely 

 used for bank-covers. 



It is very desirable to establish a ground-cover of low 

 shrubs and especially herbs under trees on banks as soon 

 as practicable. By using hay containing wild asters, 

 thoroughworts, blazing star, goldenrod, perennial sun- 

 flowers, and the like, for mulching young plantations, 

 many of these plants will be introduced from seed, 

 especially when seeds are mature. These will gradually 

 be superseded by such shade-loving plants as ferns, 

 violets, woodland asters, and goldenrods, especially if 

 colonies of these plants are introduced as soon as the 

 plantations are high enough to give shade. 



Arrangement. 



If it is important to retain an extended open view 

 from the top of high banks, then high trees must be 

 confined to the lower edge, medium-sized trees and large 

 shrubs to the central zone, and trailing plants or low 

 shrubs to the upper zone. If the bank is a low one, then 

 low trees or large shrubs must be substituted for the 

 large trees at the bottom of the bank. It is often more 

 interesting, however, to allow the bank to be covered 

 with tall trees and then open vistas and views through 

 these trees 

 by cutting 

 branches and 

 thinning out 

 as they de- 

 velop. Banks 

 offer rather 

 an unusual 

 opportunity 

 for the de- 

 velopment of 

 interesting 

 detail in the 

 development 

 of the plant- 

 ing, because 

 of varying 

 conditions of 

 moisture and 

 soil. Such in- 

 teresting de- 

 tails should 

 be made ac- 

 cessible by 



trails following along the slope on easy grades that can 

 be made at the time the bank is first graded or at later 

 periods as the growth develops. 



WARREN H. MANNING. 



BANKSIA (Sir Joseph Banks, 1743-1820, famous 

 English scientist). Proteacese. Australian evergreen 

 shrubs or trees with handsome foliage, but not widely 

 known in cultivation here. 



Leaves variable, often deeply incised, usually dark 

 green above, white or brown downy beneath : fls. showy, 

 sessile, usually in pairs, spicate; spike terminal or axil- 

 lary, mostly crowded within the bracts and floral Ivs., 



469. Flat plan of a bank treatment on the 

 right of the plan; and good planting against 

 the residence, and up a bank at the rear. 



