CHAPTER XXV 

 SHRUBS FOR DRY POSITIONS AND POOR SOILS. 



A FREQUENT problem in gardens is the furnishing of arid slopes and poor 

 soils with an ornamental shrubby growth. Such places are, of course, ill- 

 adapted to the cultivation of the majority of those trees and shrubs on 

 which the ornamentation of our gardens chiefly depends. There is, 

 nevertheless, a considerable number of shrubs which not only thrive in 

 these dry places, but even succeed better there than in ordinary soils and 

 positions. Many of them are of great beauty in flower, and it is always 

 more economical and often much more satisfactory to rely on them than 

 it is to attempt the cultivation of more exacting plants, by supplying good 

 soil and giving extra attention in watering, mulching, etc. 



In preparing pieces of ground of this character, it is essential to 

 remember that although the plants mentioned below withstand and even 

 enjoy heat and drought when fully established, they need some help and 

 consideration until the roots have taken hold of the ground. The soil, 

 therefore, should be deeply dug over, and freed from weeds both before and 

 after planting. It is also a help to mulch the ground the first summer. 

 The greatest success is obtained by planting small specimens. Most of 

 those mentioned below transplant badly and should, if possible, be grown 

 in pots until they are 6 to 1 2 ins. high. Some, like the brooms and gorse, 

 might be sown on the spot 



No better shrub for a dry slope can be found than the double-flowered 

 form of gorse. It gives a dense, evergreen effect in winter, and its habit in 

 such a spot is dwarf and close. It is much to be preferred to the common 

 gorse, which in a few years becomes gaunt in habit, and whose flowers do 

 not last in beauty anything like so long. Ulex nanus may also be 

 planted and, in the south and west, U. Gallii, both useful in flowering 

 late in the season. Dotted about among the gorse may be planted 

 Spartium junceum, valuable in flowering from midsummer onwards for 

 many weeks. Its base, which is always naked, will be hidden by the 

 gorse. 



Several species of Cistus are excellent for these places, the hardiest 



