1978 



WILD GARDEN 



WIND-BREAKS 



While the wild garden was creatud to make a place 

 for plants outside the garden proper, it does not ex- 

 clude the garden favorites. For example, an individual 

 larkspur, foxglove or harebell in rich garden soil often 

 grows so tall and slender as to require staking, and 

 stakes are always objectionable. In the wild garden a 

 lusty colony of any of these species may he self-support- 

 ing. All the leading border favorites can be used in 

 the wild garden — peony, poppy, phlox, larkspur, iris, 

 columbine and the rest. The tall-growing plants that 

 are used in the back row of borders are nearly all suit- 



borders, preferably well towards the rear of the place. 

 However, there are degrees of wild gardening, and it is 

 often in place against the rear buildings or even against 

 the rear of the house. Figs. 272.3, 2728. 



Everyone who desires a wild garden should own a 

 copy oif that charming book "The Wild Garden," by 

 Wm. Robinson. The latest edition, illustrated by Alfred 

 Parsons, is the most desirable. The wild garden 

 should not be confined to "wild" things, but may well 

 include many exotics. In this way the wild garden be- 

 comes something more than an epitome of the local 

 flora; and there is jiractically no limit to its in- 

 terest and development. '^r jj_ 





-4:M 







2726. Jerusalem Artichoke, one of the perennial sunflowers. 



A nuisance in ciiltiviited ^roinid, l>ut often usefiil in the 

 wild garden. 



able for ■wild gardeiM^.—Pohfrjoviivi Sarlialineyise (Fig;. 

 2725) , Bocvonia cordata , Clm icifnga r'i<:<')nosii , Hera- 

 cleura, Aruudo (Fi^. 2727), Rheum, hollyhocks, sil- 

 phiums (Fig. 2724) and perennial sunflowers (Fig. 2726). 

 There are only three tewts which a candidate for the 

 wild garden must pass, — hardiues.=^, vigor and interest, 

 for of course every cultivated plant should have some- 

 thing to make it worth while. 



To the many amateurs who wish to cultivate a few 

 colonies of tlowers in a small space, the naturalizing of 

 free-growing hardy tilings is especially attractive. Give 

 the wild tlovers a lied by themselves. Avoid mixing 

 cultivated and wild plants in the same border, for the 

 hand of the stranger may "weed out " the wild things in 

 favor of the "thers. 



The place of the wild garden is somewhere near the 



WILD ALLSPICE. See Benzoiv. W. Balsam- 

 Apple or Wild Cucumber. Ecliinovyaiis /"bufa. 

 W. Ging"er. Asarmn . W. Hyacinth, in England 

 Srilhi iiuftDis: in America, ^/>.niii/--<si(i Fnisi^ri. 

 W. Indigo. BapfL^ia tincfm-la , [ponicea pandtt- 

 rii fa . 



WILLOW. See SaUx. 



WILLOW, DESERT or FLOWERING. See 



Cli Hops is. 



WILLOW HERB. Epilohhim. 



WILLOW, VIRGINIAN. Ilea Virgivica. 



WIND-BREAKS, in horticultural usage, are 

 plantations of trees or other plants designed to 

 check the force of the wind or to deflect it to 

 other directions. Wind-breaks are often of the 

 greatest use, and at other times they are detri- 

 mental. In regions of very strong prevailing 

 winds, they may be necessary in order to pre- 

 vent positive injury to the plants. This is true 

 along seashores. In the dry interior regions, 

 wind-breaks are often useful, also, to check the 

 force of di'y winds that would take the moisture 

 from the land. In other cases, they are employed 

 for the pu.rpose of sheltering the homestead in 

 order to make it more comfortable for human 

 occupancy: such wind-breaks are usually known 

 under the name of shelter-belts. 



Whether wind-breaks shall be used for orchard 

 plantations, depends wholly on circumstances. In 

 regions of very strong prevailing winds, as near 

 large bodies of water or on the plains, such breaks 

 are usually necessary on the windward side of 

 the orchard. However, if the prevailing winds 

 are habitually warmer than the local tempera- 

 ture, the winds should not be stopped or wholly 

 deflected, but they should be allowed to pass 

 through the windbreak with diminished power in 

 order that, while their force may be checked, they 

 may still prevent too low temperature. In re- 

 gions that are very liable to late spring and early 

 fall frosts, a tight wind-break is usually a disad- 

 vantage, since it tends to confine the air— to make 

 it still — and thereby to increase the danger of light 

 frosts. If windbreaks are employed in such instances, 

 it is best to liave tliem somewhat open so that atmos- 

 pheric drainage may not be checked. In most regions, 

 the greatest value of the windbreak for orchard plan- 

 tations is to protect from the mechanical injuries that 

 result from high winds and to enable workmen to pursue 

 their labors with greater ease. The lessening of wind- 

 fall fruit is often sufficient reason for the establish- 

 ment of a windbreak. Usually very cold and very dry 

 winds should be turned from the orchard; very strong 

 winds should be checked ; temperate winds should 

 nearly always be allowed to pass through the orchard, 

 if their velocity is not too great; care must be taken to 

 allow of adequate atmospheric drainage. 



Wind-breaks for orchards require much land, and 

 crops near them are likely to suffer for lack of food and 

 moisture, and also from shade. In small places, there- 

 forp, itmnybe inipossihic to establish Invi^e wind-breaks. 

 It is well to pUmt the wind-break at some distance from 



