24 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 1910 
air and view. Vines 
clothing walls 
should likewise be 
trimmed sharply 
away around case¬ 
ments and other 
openings; indeed 
the effect is better 
if they are not al¬ 
lowed to cover an 
entire wall surface 
but are restrained 
at suitable points 
so that the wall 
itself is visible for 
perhaps a third of 
its area. The con¬ 
trast between wall 
and foliage is usu¬ 
ally more pleasing 
than the unbroken 
expanse of green— 
and cornice lines, 
corners and angles 
here and there 
should always be 
left uncovered to 
reveal unmistakab¬ 
ly the definite form 
and strong, sharp 
outline of a build¬ 
ing. 
The use of 
flowering climbers 
against a house is never a source of any particular pleasure to 
the dwellers therein, for the blossoms are borne where they 
cannot be seen excepting from without. It is well to bear this 
in mind in selecting and planting — not that it is a reason for not 
planting flowering climbers, but rather 
that it is a reason for planting two of 
them—one against the house, if you 
will, and one against a trellis or arbor 
or outbuilding, where it can be seen 
from the house. 
It is a good rule to keep the green 
and leafy vines for the dwelling, how¬ 
ever, because of their freedom from 
insects and the absence of litter in the 
shape of falling petals and flowers. 
Roses require spraying invariably, 
and other flower-bearing climbers are 
apt to—and it is a great nuisance to 
accomplish this where they are trained 
against a surface which may be 
stained by the spray. 
Climbers are the one means whereby 
Nature's green may creep up and 
cover foundation walls where thev 
rise from the ground — and that is the 
particular place where they need cov¬ 
ering. The work of garden construc¬ 
tion on any place is well begun when 
plants to furnish this cover are once 
established. The planting of shrubs 
later, at points along a foundation, is 
a matter to be decided by the plan of 
the place as a 
whole — and must 
wait for such plan 
to be matured. 
As a first step, 
then, it is safe to 
say that Boston 
Ivy (cmp el op sis 
tricuspidata). or 
one of its varieties, 
may always take 
its place on a 
building's sunny 
side, while English 
Ivy (Hcdcra He¬ 
lix) may be used 
where no sun will 
reach, if one 
wishes. The Eng¬ 
lish Ivy is more 
formal in growth 
of the two and is 
therefore especially 
suited to buildings 
of a very formal 
nature or style, but 
its hardiness in 
this climate de¬ 
pends on its being 
protected from the 
warmth of the sun 
during cold weath¬ 
er — the sun kills it, 
not the cold — and 
this of course renders its general use on all sides of a structure 
out of the question. 
On buildings other than dwellings several vines may some¬ 
times be mingled with good effect, if the right kinds are chosen. 
With those which, like the Honey¬ 
suckle, are inclined to be bare of foli¬ 
age near the ground this combination 
planting is indeed quite essential to a 
pleasing result. Clematis also needs 
the leafiness of some companion to 
make up for its own lack of foliage, 
especially low on the stems. 
Combinations to insure all-summer 
bloom are easily worked out, while 
striking hedges made up of a tangle 
of two or three like Honeysuckle and 
Wistaria, supported by and mingling 
with the common wild rose of the 
fields and roadsides (Rosa litcida) or 
the even lovelier Michigan Rose (Rosa 
setigera) that form a practically im¬ 
penetrable barrier, will grow almost 
for the planting. They require more 
ground, to be sure, than an ordinary 
fence, but they are a garden in them¬ 
selves, and the only care they need is 
the cutting away of enough of all 
three annually to prevent them from 
choking each other. The Honeysuckle 
will require the severest pruning usu¬ 
ally, being a rampant grower. 
(Continued on page 54) 
If you plant English Ivy on a stone wall or 
brick wall keep it trimmed back from the 
window openings and do not let it obscure 
the entire surface 
“Wyck,” a famous old home in Germantown, where a 
trellis for vines covers the whole wall 
There is a wonderful opportunity in specially 
designed lattice work as a support for 
vines in place of the chicken wire or string 
that is too often seen 
