GARDEN SCENERY. 
179 
summit. The soil in which these American plants are grown is composed of ' two- 
thirds of sandy peat (heath mould), and one third of rich loam. The loam is abso- 
lutely necessary to promote vigorous growth of Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and almost 
all kinds of American shrubs." 
It is not probable that any error exists in this statement by so accurate an 
observer as was Mr. Loudon, and we can vouch from partial experience, that the 
Indian Azalea may be moved, planted out, and repotted ; also that the late Mr. 
Brown, of Slough, assured the writer, that he was in the habit of tinning out many 
of his Azaleas annually into peat or bog beds, to stand there during summer. Fur- 
ther than this, one of the Surrey growers, at Sunning Vale, lifted many of the Ame- 
rican plants with entire balls, re-set them immediately, and thus was able to retain 
the roots in a compact state and ever fit for removal. Still, however, unless a soil 
be very congenial, and the operator knowing and adroit in his work, the attempt 
might be perilous. The roots should not be disturbed, and they may by judicious 
treatment be always kept compact ; but whether moved or not, fresh, and frequently 
renewed soil are essentials. Over the great Azalea bed at Claremont, a stratum of 
suitable earth was laid yearly, and thus an upper tier of roots was enabled to advance 
into an appropriate medium. Pure sandy bog appears to be too poor ; a better soil 
would be light loam, leaf mould, and heath soil. 
Grouping, in respect to trees and shrubs, and parterre planting in masses, have 
come much into vogue since the year 1834, when Mr. Loudon wrote the article 
which furnishes our present model. In it he impresses as a principle, that all 
flowers and shrubs should be planted in masses of one kind, for thereby brilliant 
groups of the same colour are produced. This is unquestionably of moment ; but 
there is another motive to be taken into the account ; for although it be true that 
plants of miscellaneous character will live and display bloom in soils which are not 
strictly applicable to all, yet it is equally so that a number of plants of the same 
kind must flourish better in a soil which is precisely adapted to their individual 
habits ; and as, moreover, the greater number of parterre groups are re-planted every 
year, it follows that entirely new soils, suitable to each, may conveniently be supplied 
to the beds ; and thus, by taking away to the compost-grounds, or to the shrubberies, 
the mould of last year, and conveying to the beds new loam, bog-earth, half-decayed 
leaves, or combinations of some or other of such like materials, Roses, Geraniums, 
Heaths, Azaleas, Lobelias, Verbenas, with other greenhouse, half-hardy, and hardy 
plants, may be made to flourish with a richness of verdure and bloom of which most 
ordinary cultivators can form but a very inadequate conception. 
There is one plant, of extreme beauty, which (if it thrive at all) appears to 
require no renewal of soil ; it is the Fuchsia, in all the varieties of it that are 
sufficiently hardy to withstand the utmost rigour of our winter : such are the original 
F. coccinea, gracilis, virgata, globosa, &c. We have plants by us growing in the 
same spot, and improving, where they were originally set out ten years since ; the 
soil is the staple loam of the garden, to which leaves and other vegetable matter 
