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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



June, 19 lo 



Garden Notes 



Conducted by Charles Downing Lay 



SEA SHORE PLANTING 



HERE is much waste and much disappoint- 

 ment in the planting done on the seashore, 

 because the trees and shrubs which will en- 

 dure the hard conditions found along our 

 coast are few, and planting anything out- 

 side of these tew things is sure to end in 

 failure. 



Conditions at the seashore are hard, not only because of 

 the high winds and the salt spray, but also because of the 

 poor soil, which may be sandy, gravelly or rocky. A rocky 

 shore is easier to plant, for where there are rocks there is 

 sure to be some soil in the depressions, and that can be 

 enriched or added to until it is sufficient to grow a tree. 



On the dunes and islands from Maine to Delaware, the 

 best deciduous shade trees are: the Ailanthus (hardiest of 

 all); the Oriental plane, which is handsomest; the syca- 

 more maple, which needs soil a little better than pure sand; 

 and the Norway maple, which will grow in a gravel bank. 

 These are named in the order of their indifference to salt 

 spray. 



For border plantations, as screens or wind breaks, the 

 wild cherry, catalpa, Carolina poplar, willows of many 

 kinds, but especially the small Salix pentandra, the yellow 

 locust and the honey locust can be used with good effect and 

 with assurance of their perfect hardiness. 



The shrub oaks which grow so luxuriantly along the 

 coast are excellent for large plantations, and can be grown 

 from seed if they are found difficult to transplant. 



I'he pin oak, red oak, scarlet oak and English oaks will 

 probably do moderately well. 



On a large place the mulberry, white birch, canoe birch 

 and hackberry might be tried, though the canoe birch seems 

 a little out of place on the sand. 



Among evergreens, the red cedar would be our first 

 choice for ornamental or protective planting, followed 

 closely by the pitch pine, red pine, Scotch pine and Austrian 

 pine. 



The more showy evergreens which will do well near the 

 sea are the white spruce, Douglas spruce, Norway spruce, 

 Colorado spruce and concolor fir. Of these the white 

 spruce is by far the best. 



There are few trees other than these which can be grown 

 on the dunes, because it is impossible to give them anything 

 except dry sand to grow in. Watering is of little use. 

 You cannot water enough in a dry time, nor can you add 

 manure or soil enough to improve the conditions very much. 



It is perfectly useless to plant hemlocks or sugar maples 

 or trees of similar tastes on the dunes. 



Of the shrubs which can be used, privet is the commonest 

 and in some respects the most useful, though I am sure 

 that our native sumacs, bayberry, beach plum and roses are 

 more interesting the year round, and in their season more 

 beautiful. 



Baccharis grows wild on the shore or on the edge of 

 the marsh, and is effective in mass. 



Rosa rugosa, rosa wichuraiana, lilacs, spiraea, tam- 

 arix, rose acacia and Bohemian olive will give a more 

 dressy appearance to the place. 



Barberry, elder, button bush and Indian currant can be 

 tucked away in odd corners, and will add much to the in- 

 terest of the plantations in winter. 



Among evergreen shrubs, the inkberry, the holly, and 

 the low junipers are particularly desirable. 



The Virginia creeper is the hardiest and the loveliest 

 vine. Honeysuckles are good, and are almost evergreen. 



The finest carpet for sandy soil is the bearberry, which 

 has leathery dark green leaves set close together on a long 

 trailing stem. One plant will in time cover a large space 

 with an unbroken carpet of green two or three inches thick. 

 It would be easy to cover a large area with barberry, 

 making a beautiful imitation lawn, but it would only do to 

 look at, not to walk on, as it^would not stand much 

 wear. 



Golden rod, beach pea, Hudsonia and many other weeds 

 and grasses can be bought in large quantities from the 

 collectors and planted in mass. 



Remember that in seashore planting the object is to 

 cover every inch of sand with something, so that there will 

 be no drifting in the wind, no marching of the dunes, and 

 no washing in hard rains. 



Once planted and growing, everything should be left 

 alone, until they begin to crowd and do each other harm, 

 and every effort must be made to prevent fire, which is the 

 greatest injury to seashore planting. The work of years 

 can be undone in seconds by a fire rushing through the 

 shrubbery and woods. 



If you must have a lawn, give it good soil and keep it 

 small and near the house. 



If you read seed catalogs you will see among the lawn 

 grasses red fescue recommended for sandy soil at the sea- 

 shore ; but this should be qualified by the statement that it 

 does not make a good lawn. What is really meant is that 

 it will grow and make a poor showing where nothing else 

 will succeed. Rhode Island bent grass, Agrostis canina, 

 is probably the best grass for dry, sandy soils. 



For paths on the sand, try tanbark as a substitute for 

 the soft carpet of pine needles which is such a delight under 

 the pitch pines. 



