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The Garden Magazine, July, 1922 



can get the tree from seed and it seems quite as free as the nat- 

 ural form; it is therefore worth having by those who care for color, 

 and the Purple Beech is not a garden form but is found wild. 



Tulip Tree (Liriodendron). One of the noblest trees of the 

 American silva. Its color is soft and fine, and in autumn mostly 

 so in the case of old trees. My own plantations, however, are 

 young, but there are many Tulip trees in the home counties, best 

 in warm valley soil. 



Tupelo (Nyssa). This is about the most brilliant of hardy 

 trees that come to us from America. It is quite hardy and 

 happy in our country, rising to over one hundred feet in moist 

 ground in its own country. It is long known to us, but is rare in 

 nurseries, and in fact is neglected in them. My trees are poor 

 and small but they give fine color and I regret that 1 cannot get 

 vigorous saplings. The one most likely to succeed in marshy 

 places is sylvatica, and it thrives in ordinary cool soil. 



Maple (Acer). In this great family of northern trees there 

 are many with some beauty of color, but best of all is the Norway 

 Maple, in woodland and copse splendid for its autumnal color. 

 After the Norway Maple, for beauty, comes the Silver Maple of 

 America, a tall and graceful tree. The wild tree is far better as 

 to endurance than any of its varieties. Our native Sycamore 

 is varied in color, and a good brown form comes true from seed, 

 which is the best way for the wood. Our native Field Maple 

 in many districts shows a pleasant color in the autumn, and so 

 does the Red Maple. The Japan Maple in its varieties often 

 gives fine color, but it has not the tree form essential in woodland. 



Chestnut (Castanea). This is the best tree of Europe in view 

 of the value of its wood, its fruit, and the beauty of foliage with 

 which it carpets the ground a lovely color in autumn. The 

 terms Italian and Spanish and Sweet Chestnut applied to these 

 are best dropped — this King tree is best with its simple name. 

 The few other species known are of less value from our present 

 point of view, though all have pleasant color in the fall. 



Willow (Salix). The most beautiful tree of our islands is 

 the White Willow, grown in marshy ground or on riverside, and 

 grouped. It is good in color all the year round and fine in sum- 

 mer storms. The hybrids of this, the Huntingdon and the 

 Bedford Willows, are like in effect. One is said to be the true 

 bat Willow [used in making cricket bats], but the men 

 who seek bat wood are quite happy to get trees of the true White 

 Willow. The facility of increase of the Willows from cuttings 

 is such that many people never think of any other way, but it is 

 wiser to look to the seed for the best grown trees. Willows from 

 seed are not to be had in nurseries, so that one who cares for 

 them must raise seedlings for himself. Next in value in the 

 landscape comes our native Golden Willow, sometimes grown 

 in nurseries under the name of Cardinal Willow; it is fine, too, 

 all the year round. Merely planted as a "specimen," it has 

 only a slight effect; but grouped, it is a fine winter tree to see 

 growing in moist ground, but best on riverside soils. A gray 

 bush Willow (Salix rosmarinifolia) gives a welcome color as 

 undergrowth near water. Beautiful trees in riverside soil are 

 the Babylonian and other Weeping Willows, but those in some 

 upland soils with a rocky bottom are short lived and quite poor 

 in effect. The finest effect of all is from our native Golden Wil- 

 low in the winter sun. 



Poplar (Populus). Near the Willows come the Poplars, 

 which give character to the rivers of France and the woods of 

 North America. The Canadian and the common Poplars pass 

 into good color in autumn, the most distinct among them 

 being the White Poplar, superb in rich hollows. Of recent 

 years another fine tree, the Black Poplar (Populus trichocarpa), 

 has come from Oregon and the region near, where it grows two 

 hundred feet high. It is fragrant, a rapid grower, and striking 

 for its silvery effects in woodlands. Our native Aspen, which 

 here passes off into modest color, in certain calcareous soils as- 

 sumes a fine claret color. 



Birch (Betula). Coming of itself in all directions in woods, 

 our Native Birch needs no more said about it except that some 

 American Birches are as free and a little more decisive in color, 

 such as the Yellow Birch of which the seed is so abundant that it 

 may be thrown out of hand in the woods. The finest Birch so 

 far is Maximowiczi, which grows very well here but is not yet in 

 quantity enough for us to judge fairly — the few grown die off 

 into good color — a very handsome tree! 



Dogwood (Cornus). The Siberian is the best and a vigorous 

 grower in almost any soil, but it loves marshy ground and helps 

 as a weed-killer! Close set, as it should be for effect, its shade of 

 leaf is so dense that weeds which defy the hoe give up the ghost 

 after a few years in the embraces of the Siberian Dogwood. The 

 handsome American Flowering Dogwood does not thrive so well 

 here as we should like but it gives us fine color of leaf in the fall. 



Thorn (Crataegus). The world gets richer in Thorns every 

 day. Whatever their distinction, many of them are fine low 

 trees and we may look to them to give us some day good live 

 fence plants. All are well armed with thorns and beautiful both 

 in flower and fruit. There is nothing we want so much as a live 

 fence that will take care of itself. Our native Thorn is so often 

 in need of attention that it tempts many to neglect it for the 

 iron fence. We have used the Cockspur Thorn, and a fine wood 

 fence it makes, taking a brown-red color in autumn. 



Iron Tree (Parottia). This distinct hardy tree gives a good 

 display of color in the autumn with its large leaves. It is a na- 

 tive of the highlands of northern India and Persia. As yet we 

 do not know enough about it to judge of its character as a tree, 

 but there is no doubt about its hardiness and fitness for our cli- 

 mate. We grow it among trees partially shaded, but it might be 

 better in full sun. 



Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo). This beautiful tree, which is so 

 happy in our country in some old gardens, also gives us a rich 

 yellow in the autumn. It is handsome in fruit, and the male 

 form is the one mostly seen in our gardens. It is readily grown 

 from seed so grouping should be an easy matter; and old trees 

 are fine in color in the fall. 



For Wind Effects. Some of the most interesting are those 

 of trees that in their form show the half-hidden charm of the 

 leaves, as Oleasters wind-tossed in silvery or bronzy hues. Fin- 

 est is the large silvery leaved one introduced in our own day by 

 the bold collector, Maries, and most of the other kinds are worth 

 growing if only for their effect in storm. These are best grouped 

 in the sun, and not in manured earth. What is said here is true 

 also of many trees from the Japanese Bamboo (Bambusa metake) 

 to our hardiest tree, the Yew — a noble old tree when not in the 

 distortion of the topiarian. 



For Fine Color of Stem. By our British way of letting the 

 trees of the Pine order feather to the earth, much of their beauty 

 of stem is lost. The old Yews of our isles, trying in vain to 

 get rid of their worn-out branches, would afford us the loveliest 

 color, if free of them for twenty feet high. An old Yew that 

 does not show its stem is like a church without a steeple. Com- 

 ing here, a group of Yews, probably as old as the Manor near it, 

 were laden to the earth instead of pointing to the sky, the effect 

 as poor as poor could be. By taking off all these half-faded 

 branches to a height of twenty feet or more, we got a group that 

 men notice for color as well as form. 



Look at our native Fir — what a splendid stem in color! The 

 lamp-post way of planting the Pine as a specimen is against the 

 tree showing its beauty. The great spreading Oaks at Powys 

 and Shrubland are wonders of our British woods, but the same 

 Oak with a bole straight up eighty feet in the forest of Marly of 

 Bercy, has more dignity and more good timber, too. Nearly all 

 our native and other great forest trees have a beauty of stem, 

 making clear the folly of hiding it. No need for labor in pruning 

 to get the stem color and fine form; if planted in natural groups 

 and masses, nature will do the rest. 



