582 Summary View of the Progress of Gardening, 



shady moist situations it may be left naked, in order to encourage 

 the formation of a carpet of moss. In short, for a grown up 

 shrubbery, any mode is better than a surface kept in a continual 

 state of movement by digging, hoeing, and raking; a conti- 

 nuation of the means long after the end has been attained, and 

 which, to those who think at all on the subject, can only give the 

 unsatisfactory idea of labour misapplied. 



It may be said, that in some cases this winter digging is so 

 far useful that it covers in the fallen leaves, and that these serve 

 as an annual manuring to the plants. Granted : but, where this 

 annual manuring is necessary, we would not admit of the digging, 

 but would rot the leaves in heaps in the back part of the shrub- 

 bery, and strew the mould thus produced over the surface. We 

 contend, however, that most shrubberies, after they have attained 

 a certain age, require to be starved rather than nourished, in 

 order to keep the shrubs within bounds ; and, at all events, that 

 the leaves which drop on the ground, and lie concealed by the 

 branches, generally afford nourishment enough to the plants. 

 In shrubberies where there is a mixture of trees, and the trees and 

 shrubs are continued along both sides of the walk, it frequently 

 happens, after a certain number of years' growth, that the walk is 

 completely covered, at the height of 10 or 12 ft. from the ground, 

 by the spreading branches of the trees. Such a shrubbery can 

 only be managed in the picturesque manner, and we should, 

 therefore, have no hesitation in covering the ground with ivy or 

 periwinkle, and allowing the leaves from the trees and shrubs 

 to rot where they fell, partially concealed, as they would be, by 

 the creeping or trailing evergreens. 



One of the worst points in the management of close shrub- 

 beries or plantations of this kind is, the treatment which the 

 verge or edging generally receives. If it was originally an edg- 

 ing of box, it soon, from the dense shade, and from the 

 neglect of filling up the gaps occasioned by death or ac- 

 cident, shows a ragged starved line of that plant ; or if it 

 has been a verge of turf, perhaps 2 feet wide, it becomes 

 reduced, by continued paring on both sides, to a strip of soil of 

 6 in. in width, with scarcely any appearance of grass. The 

 native oxalis has been proposed as a substitute by Mr. Mackenzie 

 of West Plean (p. 6^5.), and we have no doubt that plant would 

 answer in many cases; but, if the surface of the plantation were 

 covered with ivy or periwinkle, an evergreen clothing would be 

 formed, which it would only be necessary to keep within bounds 

 by the verge-shears. 



The keeping of a place may be defective from a want of con- 

 sistency, as well as from inappropriateness. By consistent, or, 

 in other words, by uniform keeping, we mean that keeping in 

 which every part of a place has a degree of care and labour 



