COMMONPLACE NOTES. 



285 



COMMONPLACE NOTES. 



The best Pines to Plant by the Seashore. 



The following reply was given to certain queries on the subject of 

 growing pine trees in situations near the sea by a very well-known 

 authority on Go7iifercB. " The pine of all others for such a situation 

 as you describe is the black Austrian pine (to give it the name by 

 which it is best known in the trade). Next comes the Pinaster, but 

 that suffers from the wind and becomes scraggy. Pimis contorta is 

 good, but not very common in nurseries ; Pinus montana is low-grow- 

 ing ; Pinus Banhsiana is very hardy, low-growing, but not often met 

 with ; Pinus insignis will do if not too much exposed ; Pinus sylvestris, 

 the common Scots fir, will do if protected in its early stages. I might 

 mention other pines, but they are not common in the nurseries. So 

 much for pines. Then, as the situation is not at all exposed, I should 

 certainly try Cupressus macrocarpa : it grows fairly quickly on chalk 

 and makes a splendid screen. The evergreen oak does excellently 

 on the chalk close to the sea. To sum up, I should try Pinus austriaca, 

 Cupressus macrocarim, Quercus Ilex, with undergrowth of double 

 gorse, Lycitim sinense, tamarisk, to serve as nurse plants and be cut 

 away as the pines get up. A look round the gardens at Eastbourne 

 would doubtless supply other hints." 



Trees and Shrubs for the Seaside. 



On many occasions recently we have been asked what may be planted 

 successfully by the seaside, more especially for places on the Eastern 

 Coast and positions where the soil is poor, and frequently nothing but 

 shingle. One of the best trees we know is the evergreen oak ; but 

 many say, " Oh, w^e have tried it, and it dies ! " The reason of this is 

 that few trees are more difficult to transplant than the evergreen oak, 

 and unless they have been moved annually previously they are almost 

 sure to die anywhere, and for that reason it is advisable to purchase 

 plants in pots and plant them out in sites specially prepared for 

 them by the addition of good soil, some well-rotted manure, and, if 

 convenient, the ashes from a burnt garden refuse heap. This would give 

 them a good start, and if followed up every year with a light mulch of 

 rotten manure it is astonishing how rapidly they will grow and form a 

 delightful screen inside of which less hardy shrubs may be placed. We 

 have seen Picea sitcheiisis answering admirably by the coast in exposed 

 cold places, and the common alder is not to be despised for an outer 

 belt. All the varieties of thorns, again, succeed very well, and if there 

 is no objection to acubas and euonymus they may be planted in 

 exposed positions. Another tree we can recommend is Pinus austriaca, 

 and with a little shelter Pinus insignis. Most varieties of the holly 



