160 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1909 



Instead of such collections, we seem to 

 prefer mass effects. But too often we 

 dump down carloads in a flat place near 

 the entrance to an estate, wipe out all other 

 vegetation, and jam the rhododendrons 

 together in such a way that visitors think 

 only of the cost. We ought rather to aim 

 at great landscape pictures like the one at 

 Deepdene, and anyone may reproduce the 

 spirit of that famous spectacle provided 

 he owns a valley about a quarter of a mile 

 long, with its banks crowned by tall trees. 



But most Americans who plant rhododen- 

 drons on a great scale simply scatter them 

 in their woods. A better idea is repre- 

 sented by the new art called "landscape 

 forestry," which transforms monotonous 

 woods into enchanting groves at small 

 expense and in only four or five years. 

 Some of the main ideas are saving the best 

 trees and giving them a chance to develop, 

 making trails or paths to all the most inter- 

 esting features, and breaking here and 

 there the fringe of shrubbery which generally 

 surrounds American woods, barring all 

 visions of the beauties within. Only by 

 some such plan can we have the grandest 

 wild garden effects with rhododendrons, 

 and we ought to produce even more ravishing 

 pictures than those of England, because our 

 Catawbiense and maximum are so much 

 better than the vile-colored Ponticum that 

 becomes a "weed" in English woodlands. 



THE PEAT-GARDEN EFFECT 



The great limitation of the spring garden, 

 however, is that it omits the mountain 

 laurel, which has the most exquisite flower 

 of all broad-leaved evergreens, and our 

 other great hero, Rhododendron maximum. 

 So the next step is to have a bed of ever- 



" The most gorgeous flowering effect in the world is that of rhododendrons." They have huge trusses, 

 many colors, and magnificent foliage the year round. A mass effect at Kew 



greens that will show flowers or berries the 

 year round. For example, one can have 

 a mass of bloom from mountain laurel 

 in late June, Rhododendron maximum in 

 July, heather in August, holly-leaved 

 osmanthus in autumn, and the red berries 

 of American holly all winter. 



Moreover, there are a lot of exquisite 

 little plants for edging and carpeting these 

 beds which are well-nigh impossible to 

 grow elsewhere, such as the everblooming 

 Daphne, the far-famed Shortia, the bronze- 

 leaved Galax, trailing arbutus, wintergreen, 

 partridge berry and that never-ending 



The typical 

 with azaleas. 



spring garden" in England — a collection of rhododendrons, which is often combined 

 Many varieties, all colors, a winding walk, different levels — new pictures at every step 



marvel, the mountain andromeda, which 

 holds up all winter sprays of white flower 

 buds somewhat like the lily-of-the-valley. 



Such combinations are doubly appro- 

 priate because most of these evergreens 

 belong to the heath family, and most of 

 them want the same cultural conditions, 

 viz., a permanent mulch and protection 

 from winter winds and sunshine. 



Is it any wonder that hundreds of English 

 estates should lavish space and money 

 on developing such an idea? It is a pity 

 that there is no good name for this type 

 of gardening. The English call such a 

 garden an "American garden," but we 

 can hardly use that name. Their phrase 

 "the bog garden" also overlaps this idea 

 a great deal, but unfortunately suggests 

 to the American mind mosquitoes, snakes, 

 and green scum. I shall be very grateful 

 to anyone who can find a good name for 

 this exquisite thing, because a worthy name 

 might help the idea immensely here. 



Meanwhile, I venture to call it the "peat 

 garden," because everybody used to think 

 that these shallow-rooting evergreens were 

 peat-lovers. Now we know that they are 

 merely lime-haters and we can even grow 

 them in a limestone country by digging 

 out three feet of soil. And we need not 

 even use peat, for leafmold will do. There 

 are now special booklets and catalogues 

 devoted to this type of garden, and the idea 

 is well worth your investigation, for we can 

 grow many of these American plants better 

 than England can. 



THE CLIMBING EFFECTS 



The most precious evergreen climber 

 in the world is the ivy, because it has been 

 loved longest by the human race. There- 

 fore we ought to grow it wherever we can, 

 but only on stone and brick buildings. 

 The English sometimes make the mistake 

 of sending ivy up tall trees. Why hide a 

 characteristic beauty, like the trunk of a 



