September 28, 1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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Michaelmas Bat. 
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Sale of Bulbs at Stevens’s Booms, Covent Garden. 
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17th Sunday after trinity. 
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TREE AND SHRUB PLANTING. 
(C^gj^r^lS the subject exhausted? 
f am i^ ar that I have repea 
iV 
No ; but it is so 
repeatedly decided every¬ 
body must know all about it. Sooner or later, 
however, this conclusion invariably proves 
erroneous, and we feel constrained to put forth 
a helping hand to those who are willing to be 
helped and are sensible of their need. It is for 
such that I once more offer a timely word of 
warning and advice about planting, for the season for 
this important operation is fast approaching, and suc¬ 
cess or failure as regards the subsequent health and growth of 
the trees depends very much upon early planting and close 
attention to every detail of the work. 
In the first place decide forthwith what to plant. Why are 
you going to plant at all ? If for shelter for house or garden, 
then consider how this may best be done. Sturdy fast-growing 
trees are undoubtedly best for house shelter, and of such, if 
the soil be somewhat shallow, dry, and poor, take common 
Beech, Spanish Chestnut, two of the Willows—Salix alba and 
S. caprea, white Birch, the London Plane (Platanus occiden- 
talis), the Tulip Tree, wild Cherry, Larch Fir, and Locust 
Tree (Robinia Pseud-acacia) among deciduous trees ; and of 
evergreens common Silver Fir, Austrian Pine, Pinus insignis 
if the position is moderately elevated or on steep slopes or hill¬ 
sides, Scotch Fir, and Corsican Pine. But if the soil be deep 
and heavy, then to the Beech, Plane, Tulip Tree, and Chest¬ 
nut add the common Oak, Turkey Oak, Scarlet Oak, the hand¬ 
some evergreen Lucombe Oak, and common Ash, which is not 
half so much planted as it ought to be, for it soon becomes a 
fine tree, and its foliage is very beautiful. Never plant for 
shelter solely with evergreen Firs ; the effect is invariably 
heavy and monotonous. Let evergreens predominate if you 
will, but blend with them enough deciduous growth to impart 
variety and summer fullness and brightness. Avoid straight 
lines and formal belts as much as possible. If a belt is un¬ 
avoidable, then let its front be made picturesque with boldly 
projecting clumps, not in mere serpentine outlines, but suffi¬ 
ciently far out to arrest the eye and take it along glades of 
greenery before the background is reached, and then it will 
never have the harsh repellent air of an ordinary belt. 
Garden shelter may, of course, be imparted by any of these 
trees, but much may be done in exposed situations by throwing 
up banks and planting them with shrubs. I have made a per¬ 
fect screen in this way by using common Holly. At Rose- 
mundy, on the north coast of Cornwall, the garden is admirably 
sheltered from the heavy gales that so frequently blow there 
from the Atlantic by banks clothed with Japanese Privet, and 
at Battersea Park excellent examples of this easy mode of 
shelter exist in several parts of the gardens. Such banks also 
give privacy to roadside gardens, and are less expensive and 
more ornamental than walls, the inner slope being available for 
both shrubs and flowers. 
If it is intended to plant tree and shrub groups for orna¬ 
mental purposes, again strive for cheerful combinations and soft 
flowing outlines. Circular groups are my especial favourites, 
whether standing alone or in clusters. They should never be 
less than 30 feet in diameter, unless you are much crippled 
and confined for space, and when in clusters 10 or 12 feet 
of turf between them affords ample space for inspection, and 
nothing can be more delightful than a stroll among them when 
their occupants are in the full beauty and freshness of spring 
and early summer. If there is but little lime in the soil Rho¬ 
dodendrons will, of course, predominate. Plant thinly, and put 
in plenty of Lilies, such as L. aurantiacum, L. speciosum, and 
L. auratum among them, so as to have a succession of bloom 
after the Rhododendrons have flowered. Break up the soil 
deeply and drain it well, for Rhododendrons do not answer in 
close retentive soil. 
Mixed groups are lovely, and we have a rich store to choose 
from. Here are a few favourites of proved merit:—Forsythia 
viridissima, with golden yellow flowers clustering thickly along 
its long flexible growth in spring, more beautiful this year 
than I have ever known it. Hibiscus syriacus of varied 
colours, blooming in autumn. Ribes, yellow, white, and 
crimson, with a double-flowering kind which comes later than 
the others, but all flower early in the year, as do the Berberises, 
of which Darwinii with its rich yellow flowers is best either 
for clumps or alone. Then there are the Spiraeas, to which 
attention has recently been given, and Weigelas of various 
shades of pink ; Hydrangeas, so beautiful just now ; the lovely 
Rhus Cotinus, with soft, downy, rosy-purple inflorescence ; 
Escallonia macrantha, a mound of glossy green foliage and 
abundant bright pink flowers both in spring and autumn ; 
Japanese Privet with bold white flower spikes in summer ; the 
best of the Andromedas, which are A. formosa, A. Catesbaei, 
and A. floribunda ; Kalmias glauca, rubra, and latifolia ; the 
tall-growing Heaths, Erica codonoides, E. herbacea, and E. 
mediterranea. A mixed group of hardy Heaths is very orna¬ 
mental ; most of them are fading, but Allportii, vagans alba, 
carnea, and rubra, the Cornish Heaths, and the Irish Heaths 
are still good. 
Of trees much, except in a general way, cannot be written 
in this brief paper; but I would strongly advise the more 
general planting of Pinus insignis. It does not succeed in low- 
lying, cold, damp situations, but it is so beautiful as to be 
worthy of a trial in all others. At Lamorran, where it has 
become a timber tree, it has the advantage of being planted 
upon the slopes of the valley ; but its elevation above the sea 
level is by no means considerable. Thuja Lobbii, of which I 
planted some hundreds about eleven years ago, proves very 
ornamental near the sides of carriage drives and among deci¬ 
duous growth. Some of them are upwards of 20 feet high, 
probably nearly 30. Cupressus Lawsoniana was also planted 
in considerable numbers at the same time. It has thriven and 
is ornamental, but is inferior to the Thuja. Of the Piceas 
Nordmanniana has taken the lead. The growth is free, stout, 
handsome, and symmetrical, with every appearance of making 
fine trees; P. nobilis, though far behind it, is doing well. 
Jto. 118.—Yon. Y, Tbiud Bum. 
Ko. 1774 .—Yol. LXYII1~ Old Sbriks. 
