SHRUBS FITTED FOR PLANTING IN BEDS. 
233 
in England ; and this is the less to be regretted, because they would materially 
weaken the plants. 
A plant which may be maintained, by judicious pruning, at the height of nine 
inches or a foot, and is admirable for placing in a bed of moderate limits, is the 
Gaultheria Shallon. The careful application of the pruning-knife to it while in a 
young state will render it almost inconceivably bushy, and we have witnessed 
specimens, so treated, from four to five feet across, and not more than a foot high 
all the upper surface being covered, in summer, with long and graceful spikes of 
delicate pinkish-white flowers. The amplitude of its evergreen foliage is also a 
noble characteristic, and a tolerably large bed, containing nine or ten specimens, so 
far apart that they did not touch each other, would be exceedingly beautiful. One 
of smaller dimensions, capable of holding four or five, would likewise be highly 
ornamental. It is readily increased by layers, and grows luxuriantly in loam, or 
loam and heath-mould. 
We have frequently been surprised that the much-admired Cydonia japonica is 
not more used for planting in beds. The peculiar showiness of its blossoms, and 
the long season through which they are developed, give it strong claims to notice 
as a tall shrub and a climber ; and we do not perceive why its susceptibility of 
various treatment should not be taken advantage of by retaining it dwarf. Few 
plants endure pruning with less injury ; in fact, it belongs to a tribe which will 
always flower better for pruning, if not grown in an extravagantly rich soil. Its 
tendency to throw out suckers from the base, when freely pruned, is another 
reason why it should be made to subserve the end we allude to, as, by that pro- 
pensity, it would the sooner fill a bed. Our plan would be to begin pruning it 
when it is quite young, and to continue pruning as it advanced, layering the 
lowermost branches, and reducing the suckers as well as the original stems. Plants 
not more than a foot in height might thus be made to occupy the entire surface of 
small beds, and others, of greater height, would similarly fill beds of larger size. 
The pale-flowered variety can be treated in the same manner, and we know 
nothing with which a conspicuous bed can be more advantageously furnished. A 
good supply of light and air are only needful for it, as it will grow in the commonest 
soil. 
Two species of Cotoneaster — C. rotundifolia and microphylla — are chiefly made 
use of in rockeries and borders ; but they nowhere exhibit themselves more finely 
than when grouped together in beds. Their habit is naturally trailing, and the 
inequalities of a rockery demand that a trailing plant shall have tolerably pliant 
branches, in order to adapt itself to the surface. In an ordinary border, again, a 
trailer is almost lost amidst the numbers of taller and more prominent plants. 
Planted in a bed, on the other hand, such species as these must command attention, 
and the nature of the surface is exactly suited to their character. They unfold 
immense quantities of pretty white flowers in April and May, and these are 
succeeded by showy bright scarlet berries, which, with the leaves, remain on all 
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