"Wall Gardens 



(436) 



Walls 



A Selection of Varieties : 



Hingla : 

 Blood Bed, 1' to 1", red- Golden Tom Thumb, 1', 



dish br. yel. 



Cloth of Gold, 1 , yel. Harbinger, 1',', br. 



Eastern Queen, 1', cham- Old Castle, 6", yel.; ex- 



ois, changing to salmon cellent for walls, old 



red ; a distinct colour. ruins, dry banks, etc. 



Ruby Gem, 1', ruby vio. 



There is also an early single annual Wallflower, 

 which, if seed be sown under glass in March, will 

 begin to flower in June and bloom till autumn. The 

 flowers are brown and very fragrant. It is excellent 

 for pot culture. 



Doubles : 



Double German, If, colours various, fragrant, 

 like double Stocks. The following distinct colours 

 can be obtained : yel., dark br., creamy wb., and 

 vio. A packet of mixed seed will give them all. 

 (Sec also CHEIBANTHUS.) 



WALL GARDENS. 



Much attention is now being paid to wall 

 gardening, an interesting phase of the art which 

 has for its object the decoration of walls by 

 covering them with plants. When planting is 

 properly carried out, these walls are not only 

 exceedingly ornamental, but frequently afford a 

 means of cultivating flowers which do not thrive 

 satisfactorily upon the level ground. Most people 

 are familiar with the pretty appearance of old 

 walls on which such things as Wallflowers, Pinks, 

 and Stonecrops have become established, or with 

 some rough wall against an earthen bank, through 

 which plants have grown, and veil the wall with 

 foliage and flower. Old walls with crumbling 

 mortar may be ornamented by scraping away 

 some of the lime from the joints, inserting a little 

 stiff soil, sowing seeds of suitable things in autumn 

 or spring, and keeping the walls moist until the 

 seedlings have become established ; but quicker 

 and better results are secured by fixing " pockets " 

 of stone filled with soil on the face of the walls, in 

 which plants may be placed. A still better plan 

 is to build a double wall of rather rough stones, 

 either without mortar or with plenty of spaces 

 between the stones for the plants, and having the 

 cavity between the walls filled with good soil. 

 For a retaining wall to a bank, the latter may be 

 cut away with a slight lean inwards, building the 

 rough wall against it, so that the bottom of the 

 wall is farther out than the top, and laying the 

 stones with the outer edges slightly tilted upwards, 

 so that the rain may enter at the joints. It is 

 advisable to lay the stones the same way in a 

 double wall, and some of the plants ought to be 

 placed in position as the work proceeds, ramming 

 the soil well in so as to leave no vacancies. To 

 cover an existing wall with pockets, drive a stout 

 spike nail into the joint of the wall immediately 

 below the pocket, fix on this a flat stone, cementing 

 it to the wall, lay on the edges of this stones fixed 

 with cement to form the front and sides, and fill 

 with good soil. Narrow stones on the top of the 

 wall with soil between form a good site for other 

 flowers. Watering the plants in wall gardens in 

 dry weather needs to be attended to, but plants 

 which can stand a good deal of drought should be 

 selected. Sedums, encrusted Saxifrages, Pinks, 

 dwarf Campanulas (such as portenschlagiana). 

 Androsace anuginosa, Arabises, and Aubrietias are 

 all very suitable for wall gardens. 



WALLICHIA (//. HAKINA and 

 WKIGHTIA of ROXBURGH). 



Dwarf, stove Palms (ord. Palnue). Propagation, 

 by seeds sown in brisk heat, and by suckers from 

 the parent plants. Soil, loam which has been 

 stacked with cow manure four parts, leaf mould 

 one part, and sand. 



Principal Species : 

 caryotoides, Jy., Ivs. 3' to densiflora, 12', plant stem- 



H' long, leaflets 1' to K' less, Ivs. wh. beneath. 



long, jagged ut the apex 



wh. beneath. 



Other Species : 



naua (now Didymosperma porphyrocarpa (now 

 namim). Didymosperma por- 



phyrocarpou). 



WALLS. 



Primarily the wall round the kitchen or fruit 

 garden is for the purpose of protection, not only 

 from undesirable visitors, who might make free 

 with the crops within the enclosure, but also from 

 cold and rough winds. As an aid to the proper 

 cultivation of fruit, however, these boundary walls 

 are of the highest importance. Wall-grown fruit 

 compares favourably with that obtained in the 

 open in earliness, appearance, and quality ; and 

 this being so it is manifest that every foot of wall 

 space should be utilised in some way. Walls with 

 a south aspect suit Apricots, Peaches, Nectarines, 

 Pears, Figs, and the better class of Gage Plums. 

 Plums and Pears do well on a west wall. Victoria 

 Plums are excellent for one facing to the east. 

 For the much abused north wall Morello Cherries, 

 late Gooseberries, Currants, and dessert Plums are 

 to be recommended. 



In the south of England, Peaches, Nectarines, 

 and Apricots will do even better upon a west wall 

 than upon one facing south. 



The height of these boundary walls varies con- 

 siderably. For a garden of, say, 2 acres they should 

 not be lower than 10' ; 12' will be better, and 14' 

 is not an uncommon height for large gardens. For 

 small ones 8' is a common height ; (V is occasionally 

 seen, but these low walls do not give the trees 

 much room for extension. With regard to thickness, 

 !l" work is usual for walls up to 8', 14" work for 

 those that are higher, and 18" is preferred where 

 great strength and durability are required. The 

 thinner walls have in most cases to be buttressed 

 to give them sufficient solidity. The coping should 

 project at least 2J" on each side, and if it is 

 made of stone slabs so much the better. Specially 

 moulded bricks are not uncommon. 



As brick walls are great absorbers of sun bent, 

 which they part with at night, it is only to be 

 expected that wall trees are earlier in coming into 

 bloom than others in the open. In some of the 

 princely old-fashioned gardens attempts were made 

 to artificially heat the walls I y building them of 

 great thickness and running flues through them in 

 various directions. The heat was supplied by 

 several fires in furnaces built into the wall. These 

 heated walls have, however, fallen into disrepute. 

 They were found to be expensive to build and keep 

 up, and there was more than a doubt as to their 

 efficiency. 



Wattisia, of Hegel (see Tillandai/i). 

 Wall I'i'iiiiyn-iirt (fiiti/litlmi I'mliilicmf). 

 Wall I'epper (see AVY/W/H ai'ri 1 ). 

 Wall Hue (we A*plen,iuni Ititta-miiraria). 



