SEASHORE GARDENING AND PLANTING, 



11 



By the use near the sea of small-leaved trees like the Tamarisks, Sea Buck- 

 thorn, and small Willows, we very soon get a bit of shelter, and by backing 

 these with the close-growing conifers like our common Juniper and some of 

 the sea-loving Pines like Pinaster, and the Monterey Cypress (C. macrocarpus) 

 and the Monterey Pine (P. i?isignis), we soon get shelter for our trees, and fifty 

 yards away we may soon walk in warm woods. Having got our shelter in this 

 way the growth of the hardy Pines of the northern world seems as easy by the 

 sea as anywhere ; indeed, more so, because if there is any one place where the 

 rather tender Pines are grown well it is near the sea in places around our coast, 

 where, if the soil is good, one has not to be so careful about the hardiness of 

 trees we select as we have to be in inland places. 



The evergreen Oak is the most precious of the trees near the sea ; but as 

 it is not very easily transplanted from nursery-bought plants, it is just as well 

 to raise it on the place and plant it young. Seed may be scattered with some 

 advantage in places we wish it to grow in, as it grows freely from seed. This 

 evergreen Oak withstands gales better than any other tree. It is a precious 

 tree for the south and west and all seashore districts, and should never be for- 

 gotten among the crowd of novelties among trees. Like many other trees, it 

 suffers from indiscriminate planting with other and sometimes coarser things, 

 and is rarely grouped in any effective way, although here and there, as at Ham 

 House, Killerton, St. Ann's, Tregothnan, and Holkham, we may see the effect 

 of grouping this tree in picturesque ways. There are many noble trees of it 

 in coast districts in England and Ireland ; but where there is room the tree 

 should be grouped or massed, as, apart from effect, we get the best shelter 

 in that way. The tree, also, is an enduring one, and will remain with us when 

 severe winters will make the difference between Californian and British very 

 clear. 



Among the taller Pines the best is the Corsican, and, both from the climate 

 of its island-home, on the mountains, and the result of trials in various parts 

 of England and Ireland, we may make up our minds about it. 



The Pines of the Pacific coast, too, are well used to sea influences, 

 and hence we see in our country good results from planting them near the 

 sea, as, for example, Menzies' Spruce at Hunstanton, the Monterey Pine at 

 Bicton, the Redwood in many places near the sea. One good result of 

 planting in such places is that we may use so many evergreen trees, from 

 the Holly to the Cedar, and so get a certain amount of warmth as well as 

 shelter. 



For lower-sized trees and intermediate shelter two groups of low trees 

 are excellent and as yet little used : the Arbutus, all in cultivation, good for 

 our purpose and beautiful, too ; and the Phillyrea, all of which love the shore, 

 as do the Escallonias, often pretty within reach of the spray. 



