332 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEX. 



SHELTER AND WIND SCREENS IN AND NEAR THE FLOWER 

 GARDEN. Few countries are so rich in the means of shelter as our own, 

 owing to the evergreens that grow freely with us and thrive in seashore 

 and wind-swept districts. Shelter may be near flower beds and distant 

 or wind-breaks, across the line of prevailing winds, and the north and 

 east winds, and may be of Yew, Holly, Cedar of Lebanon (never 

 Deodar) native Fir, and a few other hardy Firs, and the Ilex. 



In old times shelter was often obtained from clipped hedges of 

 Yews and Limes, but the fine evergreen shrubs we now possess make 

 it more easy and effective, as naturally grown shrubs soften the wind 

 better than clipped lines, while often themselves beautiful in leaf and 

 bloom. There is, indeed, in gardens the danger of planting too densely 

 at first, so that after some years the place becomes dank and the very 

 house itself is made cheerless. The pretty young conifers planted are 

 not thought of as forest trees, and parts which should be in the sun are 

 gradually overshadowed a great mistake in a climate like ours. 



Among the kinds of shelter, walls, thickly clad with climbers, 

 evergreens and others, are often the best for close garden work, 

 because they do not rob the ground, as almost any evergreen tree 

 will ; and in doing their work, they themselves may bear many of 

 our most beautiful flowers. Half-hardy evergreens, like the common 

 Cherry, Laurel and Portugal Laurel, should never be planted to shelter 

 the garden, because they may get cut down in hard winters. But happily, 

 even in the most exposed places, a good many hardy flowers may be 

 grown with success, such as Carnations, Pinks, and many rock plants 

 which lie close to the ground, and are therefore little exposed to wind, 

 and thrive in exposed places where soil and cultivation are not against 

 them. English gardens are often well sheltered by the house itself 

 and by old walls and enclosures, so that in old gardens it is easy 

 to secure shelter for plants. 



PLANTING NEAR THE SEA. Some are doubtful of planting near 

 the sea, considering the bleak look of things and the cutting winds. 

 Yet even in places where the few trees that are planted are cut sharp 

 off by the sea wind above the walls, as in Anglesea, we may see how 

 soon good planting will get over difficulties that seem insurmountable. 

 By the use near the sea of small-leaved trees like the Tamarisks, 

 Sea Buckthorn, and small Willows, we very soon get a bit of shelter; 

 and by backing these with the close-growing conifers like our common 

 Juniper and some of the sea-loving Pines like Pinaster, and in mild 

 southern and western districts the Californian Cypress and the 

 Monterey Pine, we soon get shelter and companionship, so to say, for 

 our trees, and fifty yards away we may soon walk in woods as stately 

 as in any part of the country. Having got our shelter in this way 



