480 Shrubbery and Ornamental Planting. 



their pleasing effect at maturity. I must remind the young 

 planter that "there are no gains without pains ; " and that, in 

 all operations, more especially in planting, due deliberation, a 

 little patient industry, and the exercise of judgment, will event- 

 ually insure the saving both of money and of time, and will 

 prevent great, and often irreparable, disappointments. 



The prevailing errors, in boundary and internal ornamental 

 plantations, appear to me to be :■ — '1st, An injudicious selection of 

 trees with reference to the various ends the planter may be sup- 

 posed to have had in view. 2dly, The positions of the various 

 trees and shrubs, without reference to their relative character of 

 growth, whether producing flowers or not, or whether evergreen 

 or deciduous, and to various other important particulars : for 

 how often do we see plantations, the state of which it seems im- 

 possible to account for on any other supposition, than that the 

 planter must have ordered the trees by the waggon-load, and 

 left the arrangement of them to a parcel of mere labourers ! 

 3dly, The distance of the trees from each other; for trees are 

 usually planted so closely, that they soon run together in a mass ; 

 and, when the necessity of thinning at length becomes too obvi- 

 ous to escape notice, and the process is commenced, it is found 

 that the removal of every shrub leaves a dismal gap ; the foliage 

 of the under branches of all its neighbours having been entirely 

 destroyed by the want of sun and air. This deformity is, of 

 course, not to be endured : the thinning is stopped ; and, after a 

 few more years, the only remedy is found to be an almost entire 

 renewal of the plantation ; at a period when, under proper ma- 

 nagement, it could have been in the greatest perfection. Then 

 the proprietor learns the lesson which I wish to impress on the 

 young planter ; namely, that, for want of a little thought, and a 

 few hours' attention at starting, he may eventually lose years in 

 attaining his end ; if, indeed, he ever attain it at all. 



I will now offer you a few suggestions as to the means of 

 avoiding the evils I have detailed ; and, in order to make myself 

 intelligible, I will assume an object; and no one ought to plant 

 a single tree in a pleasure-ground without one. I will assume 

 the object to be, shelter from the north and east winds, or to hide 

 buildings, and the like. First, consider whether an external fence 

 be required ; and, if so, whether it will be visible from any ap- 

 proach, or other part of the pleasure-grounds. In this case the 

 fence should be of holly or furze ; the latter I have heretofore 

 recommended as very ornamental. (VIII. 678.) Farther experi- 

 ence of furze fences induces me to recommend planting two rows 

 at 6 ft. distance. Furze is apt to become hollow at the bottom ; 

 and, as it shoots very freely when cut off close to the ground, 

 if two rows be planted, one may be cut off every five or six 

 years, leaving the other as a fence. I have also tried laying 



