20 Evergreens. 



EVERGREENS. 



In a recent article upon treatment of rural grounds, I noticed an allu- 

 sion to the gloomy effect so frequently resulting from free use of evergreens 

 in planting, and a condemnation — based upon that assumption — of such 

 use. 



To my mind, this wholesale judgment betrays want of discrimination. 

 The case is one of many bearings, and I propose briefly to debate it. The 

 scale of planting affects the question seriously. Where wood or park 

 effects are sought, the exclusion, or even very limited use, of deciduous 

 trees, would certainly prove a great error ; but in our suburban estates, 

 where the scale is small, it is not in the use but in the abuse of evergreen 

 plantations that gloom instead of cheerful shelter can originate. 



Nature is the best teacher in this matter; and to her, always keeping one 

 desired object in view, we may turn for suggestion and example. Assum- 

 ing that we propose to occupy an estate throughout the year, and remem- 

 bering that our winter is at least seven months in duration, we may proceed 

 with the case in hand. 



Suppose, on some sunny winter's day, when the absence of snow 

 permits, we stroll through our grounds. The crackling, husky leaves, the 

 curled, crisp sod, the gray tints and the breezy coolness, of our deciduous 

 plantations, contrast drearily with the warmth, shelter, and balsamic fragrance 

 of our evergreen copses, where around us all is bright in color, while be- 

 neath our feet is spread the soft carpet formed by the red needles of the 

 pine and hemlock, varied by an occasional tuft of grass peeping green 

 from its warm cover. Among our cedars, red and white, we often meet 

 birds, the cheery reminders of the summer : not only the hardy snow-bird, 

 or lively chickadee, but even the red-breasted robin, may greet us with a 

 chirp of welcome. Under the feathery branches we may find the beautiful 

 pink kalmia, its fresh leaves resplendent with metallic lustre ; the glossy 

 pyrola; the scarlet-fruited partridge-berry; the exquisite andromeda, its buds 

 waiting but the first touch of spring to burst ; and the ferns, with their grace- 

 ful, fan-like fronds. If we gather from this great conservatory of Nature 

 a few branches for our flower-vases, in a short time, as if by magic, the an- 



