THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 9, 1907. 
724 
grow, and dry weather should be selected 
for the operation, otherwise the lawn sand 
would be washed away off the Daisies. It 
acts upon any broad leaved subject like 
Daisies, Plantains, and Dandelions, causing 
them to wither up in the course of a day or 
two. Select dry weather, therefore, so that 
it may perform its work before it gets dis¬ 
solved and washed away by rain. 
ROSES. 
2344. Tall Hedge of Roses. 
I have a loose old Laurel hedge dividing 
the vegetables from the lawn, but would like 
something brighter. Do you think Poses 
would succeed ? The soil is a good dark 
loam, and has sun on, it all day. I could put 
up a high fence of rails, say 6ft. high, if 
you think the Roses would flower well to 
this height. (iH. Lazenby, Shropshire.) 
There seems no reason why Roses should 
not succeed on the site of the Laurel hedge, 
seeing that the soil, is good and the ex¬ 
posure to sunshine likewise. First of all, 
grub up the hedge, then proceed to take out 
a trench 2ft. or 3ft. wide where you intend 
to plant the Roses, and at least 2ft. deep. 
Loosen up the soil beneath this. Get plenty 
of farmyard manure, put some of it in the 
bottom of the trench, then fill it partly up 
and put more manure on it. The Roses can 
either be planted then or later on when the 
soil put in has had time to settle. If you 
can do this sometime during the first fort¬ 
night of November, the Roses will get partly 
established before spring. We have se¬ 
lected a number of Roses that will easily 
grow to the height you mention or more. 
If the number is too great for your purpose 
select the first half dozen at least. The 
varieties we recommend are Dorothy Per¬ 
kins, Lady Gay, Crimson Rambler, Hia¬ 
watha, Queen Alexandra, William Allen 
Richardson, Leuchtstern, Electra, Blush 
Rambler, Ards Rover, Aimee Vibert, and 
The Wallflower. 
2345. Pruning a Banksian Rose. 
What is the best time to prune a Banksian 
Rose to make at flower, and what is the best 
way to do it? Since I have had it I have 
always pruned it in March, cutting it well 
back, but it flowers very poorly. The situa¬ 
tion faces -south-east, and it makes a lot of 
growth, but I cannot get it to flower at all 
well. (Puzzled, Sussex.) 
The Banksian Roses do not require prun¬ 
ing in any sense of the term. Thinning is 
what is chiefly required if the shoots are 
too numerous to fasten to the wall. Iif they 
are in any way crowded cut down entirely 
some of the .older stems, then lay the strong 
main stems at regular intervals over the 
wall, then fasten in or nail the side shoots. 
In the third year very short side shoots 
would be given off from these laterals, and 
such bear the flowers. You could calculate 
then that a stem only comes into bloom after 
the third year. First the main stem, then 
the strong laterals, and during the third sea¬ 
son these side shoots will give off shorter ones 
bearing the flowers. No doubt the reason 
why your plant failed to flower is that you 
cut away the shoots which would have pro¬ 
duced the blooms. In your district there 
should be no difficulty in getting flowers if 
you pursue this system, the plan in a nut¬ 
shell being to retain just sufficient wood to 
cover the space, then to cut the remainder 
away. The beginning of April is the 'best 
time to thin out and nail the Banksian Rose. 
TREES AND SHRUBS . 
2346. Shrubs to be Crown in Tubs. 
I intend having some shrubs to stand about 
on the lawn in front of the house, and would 
like the names of six or eight that would 
be suitable for the purpose (evergreens pre¬ 
ferred). I do not want tall growing ones 
except two upright plants to stand by the 
doorway, as they must not shut out the view 
from the windows. (R. Tilling, Wilts.) 
Evergreens of dwarf habit that would 
make neat specimens in tubs for .the lawn 
would be Olearia Haastii, O. stellulata 
(often named O. gunniana), Veronica Tra- 
versii, Buxus japonica aurea, Ligustrum 
ovalifolium foliis aureis (best known as 
Golden Privet), and Phillyraea angustifolia. 
The first three above named are flowering 
plants. The other three, although flowering 
plants botanically, are only valued for the 
sake of their foliage. All of them are ever¬ 
green. The Golden Privet loses the last of 
its leaves towards spring, but it soon com¬ 
mences growing again, and is hardly ever 
bare even in spring. These may be kept 
down to two or three feet in height without 
difficulty. They are spreading and bushy 
rather than upright. For a tub on either 
side of the door, you might have two pyra¬ 
midal specimens of the Sweet Bay (Laurus 
nob ills), or you could have the Golden Irish 
Yew. Both of these are valued for their 
foliage, and we think they would look better 
in pairs of a sort than to have the two 
plants different in that position. 
2347. Pruning: a Clematis. 
On 'the wall of the house is a large plant 
of Clematis with small white flowers. What 
is the best time to prune it, and how do you 
recommend it to be done, as it is very untidy 
and hanging away from the wall? (R. 
Davidson, Cumberland.) 
According to your description the plant 
in question must be Clematis Flammula, 
which blooms in September and October. 
You can prune it any time after the fall of the 
leaf, though the beginning of March would 
be as suitable a time as any. As it blooms 
upon the young wood made during the sum¬ 
mer, you can prune it fairly hard in spring. 
The chief point to remember is to retain a 
sufficient number of vigorous, healthy stems 
to cover the wall and prune away the re¬ 
mainder. Owing to the intricate manner in 
which the leaf stalks interlace with one an¬ 
other it is difficult to separate the stems with¬ 
out breaking them. This plant is usually 
neglected for years, so that the mass of 
shoots really represents several years’ 
growth, whereas if you would take .the trouble 
of trimming it once a year it would not be 
such a laborious operation, and it would be 
easier to separate or cut away the dying or 
dead portions from those that are still alive. 
The shoots remain slender for a number of 
years, so that strong woollen shreds would 
be the best material for fastening the stems 
to the wall. Cast nails made for the purpose 
are the most suitable to employ because they 
may be driven into bricks or soft stone. 
2348. Straggling- Irish Yew. 
I have a large specimen of Irish Yew 
which has 'been becoming very ragged dur¬ 
ing 'the last year or two. Can I do anything 
to give it a more tidy appearance? The 
stems are very weak and hang over instead 
of standing upright. I have ’been told it 
can be tied up, but it would look full of 
sticks if all the stems have a tall stake put 
to them. (J. Roper, Lancs.) 
It is usually possible to tie up Irish Yews 
and similar trees without any stakes what¬ 
ever. Sometimes, as a result of shading or 
'too much crowding, the stems get long and 
slender, thus necessitating at least one stake. 
One would be sufficient, however, even in 
your case. The plan is to put the stake 
down the centre of the plant, drive it firmly 
into 'the ground with a mallet, then by 
means of 'tarred cord or twine all of these 
shoots should be looped up to the central 
stake. Even if the latter is not very firmly 
driven into the ground, it will answer the 
purpose because the stems- of the Yew thus 
support one another when looped together to 
the central stake. If the stems were fairly 
strong, all you would have ,to do is to loo 
them into position, so as to form a pyr; 
midal or columnar outline, neither too loos 
nor too compact. When held into positio 
like this for a year or two the spaces fill u 
regularly and the tree appears of unifori 
compactness. After treating it in this mar. 
ner you would be surprised at the neat cor 
dition in which you can keep it by a littl 
timely attention in looping in any stra 
shoots which the wind'or snow may bem 
down. 
2349. Solanum Not Flowering. 
I have a plant of Solanum jasminoide 
which every year makes a lot of young wood 
but very few flowers, and this year none a 
all. Some winters it gets a good deal cu 
with frost. Has this anything to do with if 
and what can I do to make it flower mor 
freely? lit is on a wall facing the east 
Can I move it to any other position, or wouh 
it be li-kel.y to die? (J. M’Kay, Renfrew.) 
The climbing Solanum you mention is no 
quite hardy, and that is the chief difficult’ 
in northern counties in getting it to bloom 
A southern aspect on a wall would be th< 
best position, and jif the soil is dry and in 
dined to be poor than otherwise, the sltem- 
will ripen better in autumn than in a riel 
soil. The plant is usually grown in a green 
house, even in the south, bu.t some gardener; 
and amateurs succeed in. growling it anc 
flowering it freely on walls of their houses 
especially where the soil is light, enabling 
the wood to ripen. You should leave it un¬ 
disturbed until the end of March. Then pre 
pare a site for it by trenching the grounc 
on some warm southern aspect. If the soi 
is in any way heavy, use plenty of sand ii 
it and see that the drainage is good. Y01 
should succeed perfectly in removing it ii 
you take the precaution to reduce the top 
considerably by shortening the stems. Then 
will be less drain upon the roots then until 
the latter become re-established. Then dur 
ing summer, when growth is being made, if 
you take the trouble to -thin out the weakest 
of the shoots and fasten the strong ones close 
into the wall, that would help the wood to 
ripen owing to the higher temperature en¬ 
sured close against the wall. The chief mis¬ 
take in many cases is allowing too many 
shoots, which hang down and crowd one an¬ 
other, thus preventing the sun from ripening 
the wood. 
2350. Shrubs for Seaside. 
Our garden is rather exposed to the full 
force of the winds coming off the sea. 
Could you please give me the names of a 
few shrubs that would be l-ikely to .thrive 
f'er .t'-rse conditions, because if they suc¬ 
ceed I think it would furnish some sheltex ( 
for the flowers we grow? (J. Hedley, 
Sussex.) 
A number of shrubs are well adapted for 
growing under the conditions you name. 
Some of the most suitable are Euonymus 
japonicus and E. j. foliis aureis, Holly, both 
green and variegated, the Sweet Bay (Laurus 
nobilis), Laurus-tinus (Viburnum Tinus), Es- 
calilonia maorantha, Tamarisk (Tamarix 
gallica), Veronica Traversli, Portugal 
Laurel, and tree Ivies. All of the above are 
evergreen, and seem to thrive under the in¬ 
fluence of the sea if the situation is not too 
persistently windy. The tallest growing 
amongst those we have named are the Escal- 
lonia and the Portugal Laurel. The twigs, 
of -the Tara-misk, being slender and pliant., 
with very minute leaves, would stand the, 
wind as well, perhaps, as anything, so thayt 
some bushes of -it could be placed in th!e 
more windy quarters. Several deciduov.s 
shrubs would also prove useful under tho'/se 
conditions, and even though hare in winter;):, 
the branches would serve to break the foi\ce 
of the wind. Among-st them we should na.jme 
the Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineu.j'm), 
the Lilac, the -Sea Buckthorn (Hippopliiae 
