514- RemarJcs on the Mode of laying out 



The second thing I will advert to is, the scarcity of evergreens, 

 which is apparent in very many places round the metropolis : 

 take, for instance, the line of the New Road from Paddington to 

 Islington, in many of the frontages of which line not a single 

 evergreen is to be found. Perhaps I may be told that evergreens 

 thrive but badly in these situations; and if this has been proved, 

 I must, of course, succumb; but, if otherwise, it is much to be 

 regretted that they have been so sparingly made use of; as, 

 throughout the winter season, they would give a liveliness to the 

 scene, and compensate, in some measure, for the loss of the 

 foliage of the deciduous kinds. In fact, it is my opinion, that 

 evergreens ought to preponderate considerably in situations of 

 this kind ; and, if a few of the variegated sorts were judiciously 

 sprinkled among them, they would add much in giving variety 

 to the whole, particularly in the winter. Were I to plant out a 

 line of frontages, I should do all in my power to encourage the 

 growth of evergreens, in all the variety possible, of the sorts I 

 might hope would succeed ; and I should be careful to plant no 

 deciduous tree of a heavy foliage to overshadow them. With 

 respect to the deciduous kinds, 1 should make choice of the most 

 light, ornamental, and flowering ones ; and so dispose of them 

 as that, when grown up, they should just be seen among and 

 through the interstices of the evergreens, in such a way as to 

 display their flowers to the eye of the passenger. 



In the third place, I beg to notice the very bad taste that is 

 frequently displayed in suffering gravel to come in contact with 

 paved walks. I have already advocated the laying down of 

 paved walks (p. 434<.), and still feel disposed to do so, having 

 more particularly noticed them since. In some instances, I 

 have observed the walk from the entrance gate to the house 

 only paved, and the small walks, on the sides, laid down with 



small trees as we could ; such as different species of Cratse^gus, Pjrus, Prunus, 

 Cerasus, Ameldnchier, Cotoneaster, Cytisus, i?hamnus, &c., which are, at the 

 same time, trees having showy flowers and fruits. There are upwards of forty 

 very distinct sorts of Cratae^gus, every one of which forms a most picturesque 

 small tree, which grows rapidly till it attains the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft., and 

 then becomes comparatively stationary for many years, flowering and fruiting 

 abundantly every year. This is exactly the sort of tree suitable for a suburban 

 garden ; more especially when we consider its four seasons of preeminent 

 beauty ; viz. the budding season, in March and April ; the flowering season, in 

 May aiid June ; the fruiting season, in September ; and the autumnal colouring 

 of the leaf in October and November. The leaves of some of the crataeguses, 

 such as C. trilobata, flpiifolia major, flava, &c., die off of a blood-red colour ; 

 and others, such as purpurea, altaica, &c., of a purple so dark as to approach 

 to black. We have figured both the tree and the botanical specimens of up- 

 wards of thirty species ; and of leaves, we have figured upwards of fifty sorts ; 

 so that we hope this most desirable genus of small trees will no longer be neg- 

 lected in the manner it has hitherto been, in the planting of suburban gardens 

 and public squares. — Coiid. -<:. 



