BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS 169 



Such combinations are doubly appropriate because most of 

 these evergreens belong to the heath family, and most of them want 

 the same cultural conditions, viz., a permanent mulch and pro- 

 tection from winter winds and sunshine. 



Is it any wonder that hundreds of English estates should 

 lavish space and money on developing such an idea? It is a pity 

 that there is no good name for this type of gardening. The Eng- 

 lish call such a garden an "American garden," but we can hardly 

 use that name. I have ventured to call it the "peat garden," 

 because everybody used to think that these shallow-rooting 

 evergreens were peat-lovers. Now we know that they are merely 

 lime-haters and we can even grow them in a limestone country by 

 digging out three feet of soil. Moreover we need not even use 

 peat, for leaf mould will do. There are now special booklets and 

 catalogues devoted to this type of garden, and the idea is well 

 worth your investigation, for we can grow many of these American 

 plants better than England can. 



THE HEATHER EFFECT 



Whether it is possible for us to grow heather by the acre here 

 or not I do not know. There is a big patch of it at the park 

 in Halifax. It is a wonderful plant for waste places, covering 

 miles of cold-bog in Scotland, yet covering dry, gravelly slopes, 

 as I saw at Cliveden. It makes a gorgeous show in August, but 

 its colour is harsh and there is usually no shade to soften its garish- 

 ness. Moss pink will clothe an American hillside with equally 

 violent colour at less expense, though not, of course, in summer. 



The main reason why heather is so precious in the old country 

 is that every foot of ground worth cultivating is made the most 

 of and therefore the wildness which the heart craves is some- 



