270 



THE GAKDENEK'S ASSISTANT. 



sempervirens, S. gigantea, Cryptomeria japonica, 

 besides Thuias, Cupressus, Biota, and columnar- 

 growing Poplars, Elms, Acacias, Alder, Oaks, 

 Birch, &c. It must not, however, be concluded 

 that in the latter case these trees of pyramidal 

 habit must predominate in numbers, for com- 

 paratively few of them will be sufficient to 

 effect the required object. Similar upright- 

 growing trees should also be interspersed, al- 

 though sparingly, amongst the broad -headed 

 trees that stand at some distance from buildings 

 constructed in the pointed style, as they break 

 the monotony that would otherwise exist were 

 only such as have a spreading habit of growth 

 employed. In all cases a sufficient number of 

 trees should be planted at the eastern and 

 northern sides, to afford shelter, and impart to 

 the building an air of comfort. No arrangement, 

 however satisfactory, in the more distant parts 

 of the grounds, can make up for the bleak and 

 uncomfortable appearance of a mansion when it 

 is much exjDosed on those sides from whence 

 come the chilling winter blasts. 



Whether provided for shelter, or to give 

 immediate landscape effect, no trees should be 

 planted close to the residence. When the value 

 of fresh air as regards health was not so well 

 understood as it is at the present day, man- 

 sions were in numerous instances built on low 

 ground, and then so masked with trees that the 

 free circulation of air round the building was 

 impossible. The habit of the trees to be planted 

 should be known; the size to which they are 

 likely to attain, or rather the spread of their 

 tops, should be estimated; and, taking this into 

 account, they should be planted so as not to 

 approach, when of full size, within 10 or 15 feet 

 of the structure. 



It might be supposed in such an everyday 

 operation as that of planting trees in the vicinity 

 of a dwelling, few mistakes would occur as to 

 the distances at which they are placed in rela- 

 tion to the building and to each other; yet such 

 is by no means the case, for it is rather the ex- 

 ception than the rule to see trees intended to be 

 permanent placed in positions where they will 

 enjoy enough yet not too much room when they 

 arrive at their full size. In planting trees, 

 especially in the vicinity of a dwelling, it is of 

 the first importance that the bulk of them 

 should consist of only those kinds and varieties 

 which have been proved to thrive in the dis- 

 trict, for it is upon their healthy growth that 

 the effect they will produce in after -years 

 will depend. However handsome a particular 

 kind of tree may be in situations which are 



suitable, this should never induce the landscape- 

 gardener to plant it in any place where there is 

 any doubt of its succeeding. In determining 

 the distance at which the various trees are to 

 stand from a building, it is better to err on the 

 side of not placing them too near. Those that 

 stand nearest to it should have sufficient space 

 to be clear of each other, even when they have 

 attained full size. 



The form, colour of foliage, and outline of the 

 different kinds of trees employed should be well 

 considered, so as to get variety in moderate 

 amount, — too great variety tending to rob a 

 garden of its restful aspect. Thus the appear- 

 ance of any place, independent of the style of 

 the building, is improved by the introduction 

 of a limited number of the Lebanon and Deodar 

 Cedars; their distinctly horizontal habit of 



j branch growth contrasting well with either 

 pyramidal or round-headed trees, and the pleas- 

 ing tints of the foliage at all seasons, especially 

 in the spring, are very telling, especially when 

 introduced amongst those that are deciduous; but 

 Cedars should not be planted close to the mansion 

 unless the style and lines of the building are 

 such as to warrant their being so placed. Again, 

 the colour of the foliage in deciduous trees, both 

 in their spring and autumn garb, should be 

 taken into account in fixing their positions. 

 The deep reds, bronze, and various shades of 

 brown and yellow eventually assumed by the 

 Champion and other American species of Oak, 

 are especially telling when seen in contrast with 

 the yellow of the Elm, the Hornbeam, the Plane, 

 and numbers of others, which differ in the tints 

 of their autumn clothing. When the trees that 

 are intended to stand permanently are in their 

 places, the filling-in with nurse plants becomes 

 an easy matter. These nurses may consist of 

 various common Conifers, whose cost price is 



' low, viz. common Spruce, Larch, Scots Pine, 

 Austrian Black Pine, and Corsican Pine; and 

 of such deciduous species as Alder, White 

 Poplar, Horse Chestnut, Elm in variety, Willow, 

 Sweet Chestnut, taking care to plant no nurse 

 tree that will greatly outstrip the permanent 

 trees in annual growth. In any case, after the 

 first four or five years, annual thinning of the 

 nurse plants, or their reduction in size by prun- 

 ing, will be necessary, for they should not be 

 allowed to encroach on the permanent trees so 

 as to injure the proper development of the 

 latter, or stifle their lower branches, or en- 

 cumber the ground longer than their presence 



i is actually necessary; the object of planting 



I trees in pleasure-grounds apart from shelter 



