SUGGESTIONS FOR PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS. 



41? 



at the back and graduate downwards towards the front, like a stage in a greenhouse, but rather 

 to bring some of the taller trees near to the eye so that the line is made irregular. Two 

 advantages will arise from this course : one will be enabled to plant a larger number of trees 

 in a given space, which is a gain where space is an object, and, further, your shrubbery will 

 appear larger and produce a better effect. It must be remembered that where trees are 

 planted for ornament and not for profit, it is essential that they should have sufficient room 

 to make their natural growth and to show their uninjured forms clear against the sky. Of 

 course in their early stages, when they are young, they are the better for the shelter of near 

 neighbours to protect them from the mischievous effects of frost and wind, but as they become 

 stronger and grow high enough for their heads to be above the frost level, then it is necessary, 

 if they are to become permanent ornaments to a garden, that their neighbours which overshadow 

 or impinge upon them should be ruthlessly cut away. From the above remarks it will be 



seen that it is desirable to 



decide as early as possible 



what trees you desire to be 



permanent, and to see that 



the plants in their vicinity, 



whether they be Larches if 



trees, or Privets and Laurels 



if they are shrubs, are cheap 



and unimportant, so that when 



the time comes for their 



removal or destruction no 



great sacrifice will be involved. 

 Many people seem to 



imagine that as far as the 



trees of a garden are con- 

 cerned, they only require to 



be planted, and can then be 



left to look after themselves, 



whereas the contrary is the 



case, and during the first 



five-and-twenty years of their 



existence, at any rate, they 



require close attention if they 

 are to be brought to perfection. 

 They should, if possible, never 



be allowed to touch one 



A GROUP OF ELMS IN ALDENHAM PARK. 



another, and this is particularly 



the case with coniferous trees, for though a deciduous tree which has been damaged will often 

 remake itself when relieved from its oppressive neighbour, a conifer that has once lost its 

 lateral boughs can no more reproduce them than a maimed man could develop a new arm or leg. 



PRUNING OF TRESS. — In the case of standard trees, special attention must be paid to the 

 leader, for an erect central lead is not only necessary to the ultimate production of a shapely plant, 

 but it is also certain that with this in existence the tree will grow better and more rapidly ; it is 

 not too much to say of a young deciduous tree that if the leader and roots are all right the lateral 

 boughs are bound to follow suit. Accordingly it will be found necessary to remove cleanly all 

 false or second leads close to the stem, and where both of two leads are equally strong and healthy 

 the more central must of course be retained ; if, however, the less central be much more vigorous 

 and promising, keep that, especially if the tree be young, for in the course of a year or two by 

 natural growth the kink or curve in the stem will disappear. If the leader be much out of the 



