ORNAMENTAL CONIFERS IN THE LOWER THAMES VALLEY. 107 



NOTES ON THE ORNAMENTAL CONIFERS IN THE 

 LOWER THAMES VALLEY. 



By A. Worsley, F.R.H.S. 



In this short article I can only deal with thosa ornamental exotic Conifers 

 that have been planted as Garden and Avenue trees in this district. 



Plenty of information can be found in several carefully compiled works 

 -dealing with the ConifcrcB generally, but such works are, as a rule, only 

 studied by a small number of readers, and are not readily accessible to 

 all and sundry who have a garden and wish to plant a few trees. It is 

 to place before such persons, in a condensed form, and free from techni- 

 calities, the observations which I have made on the Conifers of this 

 district — their requirements as to soil, and especially their powers of 

 resistance to the varied physical conditions of the suburban districts — that 

 this article is written. 



In the average suburban garden it is evident that Conifers have been 

 planted without any knowledge of whether they would succeed in the 

 positions allocated to them. 



Every day can be seen, in the grounds of public institutions and of 

 private owners, trees being planted which have proved unsatisfactory in 

 the district, and which can by no possibility give pleasure to anyone. 



In treating this subject it should be remembered that as the pall of 

 London's wasted fuel spreads over new areas, so does it become no longer 

 possible to grow certain trees which, perhaps, in bygone years flourished 

 there. 



Also that the unwatering of the subsoil by the sinking of deep wells 

 has rendered some soils too dry for certain trees which used to grow in 

 such places, and has at the same time made it possible for Cedars to be 

 planted. 



It goes without saying that, throughout the Conifcrce, those with 

 yellow or golden foliage require full sunlight to show their beauty, and 

 should never be planted within the smoke-fog area. Those who will have 

 golden evergreens, better plant the golden English and golden Irish Yews ; 

 but even these will not stand in the worst districts, although they still do 

 fairly at Isleworth. 



I have not attempted to deal with the hosts of garden forms to be found 

 in nurseries, unless such trees have been in cultivation long enough for 

 us to see them in a large state. Many of these new trees are of extreme 

 beauty when small, but with them we live in a land of promise, not of 

 achievement. 



The Cedaes. 



All forms nourish in dry soils, even within the smoke-fog area sur- 

 rounding London. Cedrus Libani has proved itself to be the finest 

 evergreen tree among the Conifers for these situations, and is too well 



