234 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



A Visit to Wm. Falconer, Gardener to 

 Charles A. Dana. 



Among American gardeners no name 

 stands higher for ability and intelligence, 

 and none is more widely known than that 

 of William Falconer, Glen Cove, N. Y. a 

 gentleman who writes as well as he gardens 

 and whose articles in this and other periodi- 

 cals are always eagerly sought and read. 

 It was with much pleasure that the writer 

 of this embraced the opportunity to visit 

 Mr. Falconer on the afternoon of June (ith, 

 in order that the garden which his pen had 

 long before acquainted him with, might be 

 seen, and some account of the same be given 

 in these columns. 



Mr. Falconer is gardener on the island 

 home of Chas. A. Dana of the New York 

 Sun. This island is on the north side of 

 Long Island, 37 miles from New York and 

 so close to the mainland as to be connected 

 with the latter by a bridge. It consists of 

 42 acres, all of which is devoted to the pur- 

 pose of a complete country home. The 

 views from the island across the Sound and 

 along the irregularly defined north shore of 

 Long Island, in itself decidedly picturesque 

 in this region, are very fine. 



Entering the grounds one is soon impress- 

 ed by the large number of specimen trees, 

 shrubs and plants here brought together, 

 and by their fine appearance. Mr. Falconer 

 is a master in tasteful arrangements, conse- 

 quently the individual trees and shrubs in 

 addition to showing their own fine qualities 

 are made to contribute to a handsome 

 general efEect. From the mansion which 

 occupies an elevated central position a 

 beautiful wide lawn stretches in a southerly 

 direction towards the water's edge. Scat- 

 tered over the lawn but chieflly along its 

 borders are a large number of specimens, 

 in this part mainly evergreens, in clumps 

 and so arranged as to afford numerous vistas 

 as seen from the residence and from various 

 parts of the grounds. 



That evergreens are a favorite class on 

 this place is evident, by the large assort- 

 ment present and their fine appearance. 

 Here one may see the beautiful Abies con- 

 color, and Abies Veitchii, the latter some- 

 what like Alcock's Spruce as to the blue 

 color on the underside of the leaves, and 

 not unlike Nordmann's Fir in the intense 

 dark green of the older foliage. The Japa- 

 nese Hemlock is an attractive tree pro- 

 nounced by Mr. Falconer one of the best of 

 evergreens. Abies 

 Cephalonica is anoth- 

 er favorite and very 

 handsome. Nord- 



mann's Fir as beauti- 

 ful an evergreen as 

 one could wish to see 

 is made by the pecu- 

 liar treatment it here 

 receives to look some- 

 what different from 

 its form as commonly 

 met. We refer to the 

 fact that all ever- 



pnining Everffrecns. 



greens here are pruned in some measure 

 to keep them within boimds, and for pre- 

 serving their beauty indefinitely. 



The pruning of evergreens as practised here 

 consists in the main ot simply pinching 

 back the ends of the leader and main shoots 

 soon after the new growth starts in the 

 spring, as shown in Fig. 1 annexed. If by this 

 course the natural freedom and irregularity 

 of growth is somewhat overcome, perhaps 

 not always with advantage to the beauty of 

 young subjects, on the other hand that 

 greatest charm of all evergreens : having 

 the tree densely furnished with branches 

 and foliage to the groimds is invariably 

 secured. As an instance of this advantage 

 we have but to cite the beautiful Balsam 

 Firs in Mr. Dana's garden as compared with 



the wretched specimens, of these, denuded 

 at the base, which one constantly runs 

 across where no attention is given to prun- 

 ning as here practised. The latter style of 

 tree is illustrated in Fig. 3, while the same 

 kind as grown on these grounds appears in 

 Fig. 3. Thus in the Balsam Fir, always one 

 of the handsomest evergeens when young, 

 it is possible by pruning to preserve its 

 beauty indefinitely, while otherwise it 



:.'i;*3<^j 



Pig. 2.— I7if Balsam Fir Fig. a.— The Balsam Fir 

 as usually met. as it appears icith pruning. 



soon becomes one of the homeliest of ever- 

 greens. The same lesson will apply in 

 some degree to the Norway Spruce and 

 many other conifers. 



Among other evergreens of striking 

 beauty, we noticed Cedrus Atlantica glauca 

 the most beautiful thing in glaucus-leaved 

 trees we have seen. Pica polita the most 

 rigid of all Spruces, Colorada Blue Spruce 

 always charming, Douglass Fir one of the 

 hardiest and best evergreens. Abies alata 

 is a very fine tree, but one in which if the 

 ends are not pinched out as suggested above, 

 its branches become grotesquely long, un- 

 fitting it for the best effects. Pica alba var- 

 ca?rulea is a form of the White Spruce which 

 here is matchless for beauty, the form 

 being conical with the branches bend- 

 ing gracefully outwards and downwards, 

 making it a veritable Fountain Evergreen, 

 A clump of three Douglass Junipers form 

 a beautiful low mass on the lawn, and by 

 their golden hue yield a beautiful contrast 

 with other evergreens in the collection. 



Two things which exert a strong influence 

 on the well-doing not only of evergreens 

 but of all other trees on the lawns at Glen 

 Cove, are, first that they are never allowed 

 to crowd one another, second summer 

 mulching is freely employed. Mr. Falconer 

 makes it a rule, that before he permits one 

 tree to encroach on another one must bectit 

 away if it is worth a hundred dollars. Was 

 his excellent rule to be universally applied 

 to lawn, park and street trees how it would 

 reduce the tree cripples now so numerous 

 everywhere. His method of mulching 

 trees as illustrated in Fig. 4 is a capital one. 

 It consists in neatly cutting out a circle of 

 sward four or more feet across, the tree 

 being at the centre. About two inches of 

 soil is then removed from within the circle 

 and a mulch of straw applied to a depth so 

 that with settling, the surface of the mulch 

 will be about even with the surrounding 

 lawn. Thus the mulch hardly shows at all, 

 while in this liberal width the lawu mower 

 needs never to approach close to the tree 

 with the danger of barking it, a most im- 

 portant advantage. 



In deciduous growths the Wistarias trained 

 as standard here attract attention. These 

 are trees with trunks about five feet high 

 supporting a good head of branches, foliage 

 and in their season flowers. To fortify the 

 trees against the wind each trunk is assisted 

 by a stake of small size. The collection ot 

 Magnolias is an interesting one with parvi- 

 flora a leading favorite. As an indication 

 of the fondness of Rosebugs which have 



settled down on this island in large numbers 

 for the sweet flowers of this species, Mr. 

 Falconer at the time of our visit could in 

 some instances gather a handful of the 

 horrid pests from a single flower. The 

 Cercidiphyllum Japonica thrives admirably 

 here in the low lands near the water, the 

 only place where it is thought it would suc- 

 ceed. Some Hornbeam trees twenty feet 

 high by twenty feet across were as fine as 

 we ever have met, a fact in part also to be 

 attributed to their standing on low land. 

 The Japanese Larch shows splendid adapt- 

 ability to this locality forming large vigor- 

 ous trees. 



The Japanese Viburnums (F. pUcatnm) 

 were in full beauty on the day of our visit,and 

 it was easy to agree with ovu: former conclu- 

 sions that in this, we have the handsomest 

 of all hardy shrubs. The form of growth 

 is charming, being slightly inclined to irreg- 

 ularity, the foliage of deepest green is beau- 

 tifully plaited, and the flowers borne in 

 great profusion excel every other Vibur- 

 num in whiteness. Mr. Falconer also speaks 

 well of a round-leaved variety of this shrub 

 {^'. })UcatU)n rotunflifdliinn) which he pro- 

 cured of Miller cS: Seaver of San Francisco, 

 Cal. It flowers a week earlier than the 

 species and otherwise possesses its leading 

 qualities. Here we met some remarkably 

 fine specimens of Weeping Dogwood. They 

 were fully ten feet in height and of admir- 

 able pendant form. They were said by the 

 grower to bloom even more freely than the 

 parent form the common Cornus Floridus. 

 In trees of golden hue Mr. Falconer places 

 the Golden-leaved Oak {Qucrciin rohur con- 

 c(iriiin) at the head of all others. Here 

 grown to a dense conical form, with the 

 beautifully formed leaves of a delicate wax- 

 like texture and rich golden hue they are 

 iudeed charming specimens. 



One of the groups on the lawn consists of 

 various Double-flowering Apples, trained to 

 form low trees clothed with branches to 



^^Cx^r? 





I 



Fig. i.—lllugtrating Tree mvlching "« tin iaion. 



the ground. Their attractivess in the season 

 of bloom was highly spoken of. Nearby is 

 the new Pyrus Parkmanii which Mr. Fal- 

 coner characterizes as the loveliest tree of 

 its season. A favorite shrub of this order 

 is the Beach Plum, a native of this part of 

 Long I-sland. It is a very free blooming 

 ing shrub, and will bear the most ruthless 

 cutting back after flowering, only to shoot 

 up freely again. Eleagnus longipes was 

 pointed out as one of the most desirable 

 trees ot its class, a class by the way not 

 sufficiently appreciatedwith growers. Eleag- 

 nus hortensis, with its beautiful silvery 

 white foliage, showed to special fine advan- 

 tage growing here at the water's edge. 



One of the attractions at the time of our 

 visit was a large mass of Wild Roses, includ- 

 ing the Blackben-y Rose (rtosti multifUirn) 

 and Rosa rugosa, both in color and white. 

 To mass the plants is the right way to use this 

 class. The Japan Dogwood (Coiiius Japon- 



