HORTICULTUEAL JOURNAL. 335 



more beautiful effect when its branches float over the firm and dark holly or 

 bay-tree. In some situations the bare trunk of trees may be shown ; in 

 some it should be concealed by evergreens and creepers. Vines, also, may 

 be suffered to embrace it, and form natural festoons, where the extent of 

 ground will allow of wilderness scenery. In all situations nature may be 

 assisted, but should never be deformed by clipping ; for ingenuity ought to 

 be employed to disguise art, not to expose it. 



The beauty of plants cannot be displayed when they are too much crowded ; 

 as they are then drawn up into unnatural shapes. Therefore, the oftener 

 open spaces can be admitted, the more will the shrubs exhibit themselves to 

 advantage, and the more cheerful will be the walk ; for it becomes insipid 

 and gloomy when confined for any distance. The winds also claim our 

 attention. Care must be taken so to arrange the position of trees, that 

 only those gales which are most congenial to the growth of particular plants 

 should be allowed access to them. 



The undulating appearance of a plantation will be considerably assisted 

 by a gradual progression from the lowest shrub to the highest tree, and 

 again from the highest to the lowest. But, as some shrubs will not flourish 

 under certain trees, their respective situations demand consideration. These 

 shrubs may indeed exist under such unfavorable circumstances, but their 

 unhealthy appearance will never be pleasing. Where the shade of any tree 

 is too powerful for laurel or privet to thrive, ivy may be planted with advan- 

 tage, if it be desirable to cover the ground with evergreen. 



In proportion as the shrubbery or plantation recedes from the dwelling, 

 it should become more rural in its character, more especially if the house 

 be in the cottage style. Here climbers, and such plants as require the sup- 

 port of others, are to be introduced. The most delightful groups in a plea- 

 sure-ground are generally those where nature, freeing herself from the 

 shackles of art, depends only on her own assistance for support. Her 

 beauty is chiefly to be seen there, where her various creations combine 

 spontaneously, and without restraint. 



The means by which these plants raise themselves up, so as to offer their 

 flowers to the sun, are as various as they are curious, and they seldom blos- 

 som whilst trailing on the ground. The ivy and bignonia ascend by the 

 help of little fibres, which fix themselves to the bark of trees or crevices in 

 walls so tightly as to render their disengagement a difficult thing to be ac- 

 complished without injury to the trunk or building they are attached to. 

 The honey-suckle, like the hop, twines itself spirally around the trunk or 

 branches of tree3, and often clasps them so closely as to make an impression 



