THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



23 



34. The Japanese dwarf cypress, an odd little 

 conifer which looks as if it were contorted by heavy 

 winds. No two alike. Used in rock gardens on sea 

 cliffs and wherever a small weird dark-green plant 

 is desired. Nursery name, Retinospora obtusa nana 



will always be satisfactory, and it is certainly 

 one of the very best of all conifers for a 

 smoky city. It has a naturally dingy green 

 color which seems most at home in dull or 

 even dirty surroundings. 



Another plant for banks, and one that can 

 be used in combination with that just 

 named, is the wild yew or ground hemlock 

 (Taxus Canadensis), common in the woods as 

 an undergrowth shrub, where its lively green, 

 and red berries, show up to great advantage. 

 Its perfect hardiness makes it unusually 

 valuable in the colder regions. It can be 

 transplanted with the greatest ease when 

 young and comes easily from seed, but is best 

 propagated by cuttings of hard wood taken 

 in winter — January or February. These, 

 put in a temperature of 50 to 60 degrees, will 

 root in about two months. 



What beauties the Japanese cypresses, the 

 Retinosporas of the nursery, are, too, for our 

 small garden! The obtusa type is especially 

 important for its quaintness. It takes 

 years to grow to a moderate size and can be 

 used for formal effects, although it has a 

 certain freedom of habit. There are plenty 

 of others of the family which are well known 

 to all who delve in gardens. 



As a perfect little tree the dwarf white pine 

 or Jersey pine (Pinus Strobus, var. hrevijolia) 

 commends itself especially for a soil that has 

 a tendency toward clay, although it does well 

 in sandy loam. It grows rapidly up to about 

 six feet, which is its natural height. Larger 

 in its spread, and especially adapted to a 

 moderately large garden, is the Japanese 

 Pinus densiflora — a tree all too lightly ap- 

 preciated. Its rugged habit and its very 

 informality when mature give it a special 

 charm that is all its own. 



A little way south (Philadelphia is its 

 northern limit of hardiness, unless in a very 

 well-sheltered situation), the charming Thuy- 

 opsis dolobrata can be grown. It is the most 

 beautiful of all the arborvitas type, but has its 

 limitations on account of its more delicate 

 constitution. 



35. A dwarf Norway spruce, out of which rises 

 a tall dark mass which is clearly a reversion to 

 the typical form. This is not a case of suckering 

 (growth from the stock of a grafted plant) 



Both the Norway spruce and the native 

 hemlock have given endless numbers of 

 dwarfs. Wherever there are natural growths 

 of the hemlock one is almost sure to find an 



36. The commonest dwarf pine, a variety of the 

 Swiss mountain pine {Pinus Montana, var. Mughus). An 

 excellent cover for road banks, terraces and hillsides. 

 A compact button usually twice as wide as high 



abundance of these "sports," many of which 

 are grown in nurseries and offered for sale 

 under various fancy names. 



The hardiest and dwarfest shrubs are: 

 Thuya occidentalis, vars. globosa, com pacta 

 and Hoveyi, all varieties of the arborvitce, and 

 there are many others grown in nurseries 

 varying a little in habit of growth. Better 

 go to the nursery and pick out the ones you 

 fancy most. None of those named grow 

 more than six feet in height, and can be kept 

 smaller by shearing in early summer. 



For variegated (golden) foliage not more 

 than six feet high: J uni perns communis, var. 

 Douglas Golden; Taxus baccata, vars. a urea 

 and Washingtoniana, and the golden arbor- 

 vitas, George Peabody (Thuya occidentalis, 

 var. luted). 



On rocks, on steep banks and in shrubbery 

 foreground, plant the junipers — any number 

 available — which can be seen in a nursery. 

 Here are some to inquire about: J uni penis 

 Sabina, J . prostrata, J. communis prostrata, 

 J . Chinensis prostrata. All these are perfectly 

 hardy, grow easily from seed, and the amateur 

 can easily increase his stock by sowing in the 

 garden border in fall (the seeds, however, 

 take two years to ripen on the plant), giving 

 a slight protection over winter by a mulch of 

 leaves or evergreen branches. Although a lit- 

 tle more labor, the quickest way to get a stock 

 of these is from cuttings taken in winter and 

 put in sand in 50-60 degrees. 



37, A dwarf variety of the white pine (Pinus 

 Strobus, var. brcuifolia) , known to nurserymen as P. 

 Strobus, var. nana or pygmaea. Remarkable for its dwarf, 

 compact, round head and short leaves 



38. This tree (Thuyopsis dolobrata) is probably the 

 most beautiful conifer of the arborvitae type. Reason- 

 ably hardy in Massachusetts, but suffers from summer 

 drought. Needs shelter, shade, cool air, moist soil 



39. The silver fir and Norway spruce have many 

 dwarf varieties with erect, pendulous or abbreviated 

 branches. This is Picea excelsa, var pygmaea. At 

 Dosoris, Long Island. Estate of Mr. Dana 



