Gardens for Small Country Houses. 



1 1 1 



CHAPTER XT.— CLIMBING AND OTHER PLANTS ON WALLS 



AND HOUSES. 



Misuse of Ivy — Of Ampelopsis—Of Wistaria — Various Climbers — Shrubs Trained 



to Walls. 



THE appearance of many a house is made or marred by the wise or injudicious 

 use of cHmbing plants. A house of no special character may become a thing 

 of beauty ; one of architectural value may have that whole value obliterated 

 and the structure greatly damaged. In the latter case the danger is so great and 

 negligence so frequent that it will be well to offer some words of warning. Many a 

 fine old gateway of carefully- 

 designed brickwork or of 

 wrought stone has been allowed 

 to become smothered with ivy. 

 Ivy is of the nature of a true 

 hard- wooded tree. When the 

 mortar has fallen out of the 

 joints of old masonry, these 

 open joints are just the places 

 seized upon by the fast-growing 

 ivy shoots. The shoot, at first 

 a bare eighth of an inch thick, 

 quickly swells, hardening as it 

 grows. Soon it fills the joint, 

 and, ever increasing, acts as a 

 wedge with irresistible power, 

 and eventually forces the stones 

 apart. Ancient buildings and 

 ruins that are of historical and 

 archaeological interest are the 

 easiest and most usual prey of 

 the devastating ivy, but many 

 fine old houses throughout the 

 land are even now suffering 

 from its dangerous overgrowth. 

 In some cases, from the pic- 

 torial point of view, the need 

 for abolishing the ivy is some- 

 thing of a misfortune, especially 

 in the case of old ruins ; but 

 its removal is a necessity if the 

 evil is not to be aggravated. 

 In the case of a new bare wall 

 where the joints are sound, 

 and level with the face of the fig. 147.— overgrowth of ivy on sculptured gateway. 



