624 Ornamental Gardening. 



month or two in summer, but for the remainder of the year 

 they make the house gloomy and damp, choke the gutters 

 with dead leaves, and give the whole place an uncomfortable 

 appearance. If the garden is not large enough to have large 

 trees at a distance from the house, dispense with them altogether, 

 or be content with one or two, or at Worst enjoy your neigh- 

 bours'. There are scores of ornamental evergreen and deciduous 

 shrubs to select from, and creepers against a wall do not keep 

 a house so damp as overhanging trees. 



The selection of the trees and shrubs would depend upon a 

 variety of circumstances, such as soil and subsoil, or subjacent 

 rock, elevation above the sea, distance from the sea, and, in the 

 case of tender species the latitude, and more especially whether 

 near the eastern or western side of the island. As it is not 

 commonly the case to build a residence on an estate quite 

 destitute of arborescent vegetation, some idea of what would 

 flourish might be gathered from the condition of the species 

 already in existence. On elevated ground exposed to bleak 

 winds, it will be found necessary to plant, thickly at first, and 

 in larger groups, with perhaps such trees as Populus nigra or 

 Pinus Austriaca, for shelter. These trees are both valuable for 

 this purpose, and the Poplar will grow and nourish in the 

 stiffest clayey soil, where scarcely anything else would live. 

 In fact, nearly all the species of Populus will do well in a poor 

 soil, and bear exposure to the bleakest winds with impunity. 

 Amongst our large forest trees the Oak and Beech are perhaps 

 the most susceptible of the influence of the direct sea-breeze. 

 The Elm will succeed well in a gravelly soil, especially in the 

 vicinity of water. The Lime, Horse Chestnut, Sweet Chestnut, 

 Plane, many Conifers, etc., will succeed in almost any ordinary 

 soil. But for further particulars we must refer our readers to 

 the review of arborescent and frutescent vegetation, pp. 599 to 

 609, and to the respective genera in the descriptive part of 

 this Work. Lists of species suitable for the sea-side and town 

 planting will be found at the end of this volume. The plantations 

 of trees and shrubs will vary in size according to the extent 

 of the grounds, and may be composed of one species, or several 

 different species, according to fancy. In forming a composite 

 group the main object should be effective contrast of foliage, 

 with an intermixture of flowering trees. Some deciduous species 

 form a pleasing contrast between themselves ; and the introduc- 

 tion of here and there a dark-leaved Conifer, or Purple Beech, 



