Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens Part 15

Cupressus lawsoniana erecta viridis ... ... ... 25 2.8 7 Picea ajanensis, planted 1885 ... ... ... 24 1.7 10.6 Abies brachyphylla, planted 1885[m] ... ... ... 14 ... 9.7 ,, Veitchii, planted 1885[n] ... ... ... 20.9 1.4 10.2 ,, amabilis, planted 1885 ... ... ... 14.11 ... 9.5 ,, concolor violacea, planted 1885 ... ... ... 20.1 1.5 14.9 English Yew[o] ... ... ... 30 14.3 80 English Yew ... ... ... ... 10.8 ...

Tsuga albertiana (at Roman Bridge)[p] ... ... ... 75 4.3 ...

Picea orientalis, planted 1852 30 2.7 ... 49 3 ...

,, morinda, planted 1857 47 ... ... ... ... ...

Pinus Jeffreyi ... ... ... 57 4.9 ...

FOOTNOTES:

[a] At the ground this tree measures 16.9; cones freely.

[b] There are six others about the same size, and all are growing freely.

[c] Most of these have lately got a fungoid disease, viz., peridendrum.

[d] Many of these lost branches, and some were killed by frost in 1894-5. They cone freely, and young ones are growing from seed.

[e] A great many others about the same size, and all perfectly healthy.

[f] A beautiful tree quite distinct from the others; long, drooping branches.

[g] About sixty trees growing in the grounds averaging 50 cubic feet.

[h] Age unknown, but probably not less than 150 years.

[i] Probably thirty-five to forty years of age.

[j] Two trees, recently taken out, measured 12 cubic feet and 14 cubic feet.

[k] At ground this tree measures 29 feet.

[l] Inclined to go back.

[m] Will become a handsome tree. Coned last year. Some fertile.

[n] Very apt to lose its leader either by birds or wind. Coned last year.

[o] Very old; possibly 500 years. Many others of the same age and size.

[p] Quite a different form from the others, the lower branches being quite table-form.

CHAPTER XVII

CARE OF OLD TREES

The charm of many an estate is not the garden or the woodland, but the monarchs that for years have weathered the winter storm and stand out as n.o.ble specimens of their family. Often there are fine trees of rarer species which their owners naturally wish to preserve from decay as long as possible. Belonging to this cla.s.s are numerous specimens scattered over the country of American and other foreign trees that were amongst the first of their kind to be introduced to Britain, such, for instance, as the Tulip tree, the Robinia, and various oaks from America, the Sophora from China, and various European trees. The trees may have some historic a.s.sociations, but whether this is so or not, when they begin to decay efforts are made to save them from absolute death. Decay is harmful and objectionable in park and garden, and we are not sure that this matter of decay in trees has been so well considered as it might be, as bearing upon the health of other trees and of mankind also. A tree may be picturesque in decay, but we prefer it in health and beauty.

Experts are frequently asked for remedies to arrest decay in old trees.

The two princ.i.p.al causes of decay are starvation at the root and injury by storms and disease. Such trees as the Beech and Horse Chestnut, that root close to the surface of the soil--quite different from the Oak--may often be invigorated by covering the ground with a few inches of good soil or short manure. Artificial watering, during prolonged drought, when thoroughly done, is also very helpful to the tree. Trees with large crowns of branches are frequently seen thinly furnished with foliage, and altogether sickly owing to unhealthy or insufficient roots. The balance between top and bottom has been destroyed. To restore it in some degree the top-growth may be reduced by pruning out and shortening back branches here and there, wherever it can be done without spoiling the appearance of the tree. This demands careful judgment, but some old and sickly trees may certainly be restored in a measure by this help. It is of no value in the case of trees with decayed trunks, nor with those like our Common Oak, which will not break readily from old wood. But Elms, Robinias, and Red Oaks are among those that respond to this treatment.

Old trees with insecure branches can often be saved from destruction by fastening the main branches together on to the trunk. The common practice of putting an iron collar round the branch is a mistake. The iron prevents the branch expanding naturally, and ultimately chokes it.

A better way is to use a strong iron rod with a plate at the end, and instead of supporting the branch by encircling it, a hole is bored right through the centre of it, through which the rod is pushed from the outer side. The rod should be of tough iron or steel, and should exactly fit the hole bored by the augur; the portions embedded in the wood should be smeared with coal tar before they are pushed through, so as to make the holes as nearly as possible air and water-tight. One end of the rod should be "threaded" sufficiently to allow of the limbs being braced slightly by s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up the nut, and thus supporting some of their weight. Finally, the bark should be neatly cut away so as to let in each of the iron plates closer to the living wood, for by this means the time required for closing over the plate by new wood is shortened. In this way the weight is borne by the iron plate, which should, by removing sufficient bark, be allowed to fit close in to the wood. New bark will gradually close over and hide the plate, and instead of an ugly collar cutting into the wood, the only evidence of artificial aid is the rod coming from the inner side of the branch.

Branches or snags that have to be removed should be sawn off quite close to the trunk or larger branch from which they spring. When a stump, even not more than a few inches long, is left, the new bark and wood are unable to close over it, and the wood ultimately decays and acts as a medium for moisture and fungoid diseases. The saw should travel from point A to B, as in the sketch. When a stump is left (as would be done by sawing off at C D) decay sets in sooner or later. Although the tree often succeeds in healing over the dead part, it more often fails to do so until the decay has reached the trunk itself. With the softer-wooded trees like the Horse-Chestnuts disease frequently reaches the heart of the tree quickly by these means. A coating of liquid tar over the wound, renewed once or twice until the new bark has closed over, is a sure protection against these evils.

A good deal may be done in the early training of a tree to so control its building up that it may best withstand the violence of gales. And the most important matter in this connexion is the development of a strong erect trunk, a central axis of such height and strength and bulk as to be capable of supporting its head of branches easily. In other words the leading shoot should always be watched, and, by the repression of any rival leaders that may appear, allowed to retain its predominance. In the best English nurseries only trees with good "leads"

are sent out.

[Ill.u.s.tration: When a broken stump, such as is here shown, has to be sawn off, the proper place to amputate it is from A to B; the wrong place from C to D.]

Trees decayed in the centre, with only an outer layer of healthy wood, are, of course, doomed, but by filling up all holes in the earlier stages of decay, and thus keeping out moisture, their term of life can be lengthened by many years.

Holes made by woodp.e.c.k.e.rs can sometimes be plugged up with a piece of Oak. This, if left on a level with the bark, will often enable the latter to close over the hole. Large holes may be filled with cement, or even built up with bricks, the surface being made water-tight and tarred over.

CHAPTER XVIII

TREES AND SHRUBS FOR WATERSIDE

Many of the brightest garden pictures at the present day are by the well-planted pond or lakeside, where shrubs of large growth are grouped to give colour through summer and winter.

The wild plants of the riverside are in themselves for the most part large of stature and important of appearance. When one sees the upright growth and large leaves of the Great Water Dock (Rumex) and the broad round ones (2 feet or more across) of the b.u.t.ter-Bur (Petasites), and the beds of the Common Reed (Phragmites), 8 to 10 feet high, with its great brown-black plumes, and the curious bright-green Horsetail (Equisetum), and the rosy banks of Willow-herb and Loose-strife, and the calm wide breadths of the white Water Lily in the still backwaters; when we see all these lessons that Nature teaches by the riverside we perceive that for the best of good effect of waterside gardening we need not be afraid of planting things of bold growth largely.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _ALDERS NEAR WATER (Catkin time)._]

When we come to garden plants there are many families that are never so happy as when close to water, or in soil that always feels the cool, moistening influence of water within a few feet below them. Such are the whole range of the larger herbaceous Spiraeas, some of them plants of great size. Then we have the Thalictrums, the autumn-flowering Phloxes, the stately Heracleum; Telekia, Bamboos, _Arundo Donax_, the Swamp and Meadow Lilies of the northern states of America; and coming to smaller though scarcely less important plants, the Scarlet Lobelias, Oriental Poppies, many Irises, the Michaelmas Daisies, and Day Lilies; all these thrive by the waterside.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _WHITE WILLOW (Salix alba) BY WATERSIDE._]

There are many shrubs that prefer a moist place, such as the Guelder Rose and the beautiful North American Halesia, Quinces, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Kalmias, while the lovely Fritillaries, Globe-flowers, and the double Cuckoo-flowers love damp gra.s.sy s.p.a.ces. We think we may safely advise those who are making gardens by river or lake to go forward and plant with confidence, only selecting such things as are mentioned below.

As the things named are described elsewhere in this book a list only is given.

TREES AND SHRUBS FOR SWAMPY PLACES

Willows (Salix) in great variety: _S. alba_ (White Willow), _S.

babylonica_ (Babylonian Weeping Willow), _S. purpurea_, _S. p. pendula_ (American Weeping Willow), _S. Caprea_, _S. C. pendula_, the fine Kilmarnock Willow, Cardinal Willow and Golden Willow--both these are very beautiful in winter; the stems of the former are crimson, and of the latter golden yellow, and make a remarkable picture of intense colouring; plant them in large groups--_S. daphnoides_ (the White-stemmed Willow), _S. fragilis_ (Crack Willow), _S. f. basfordiana_ (Red-barked Willow), and _S. hippophaifolia_ (Sea Buckthorn-leaved Willow).

_Populus alba_ (White Poplar), _P. deltoidea_ (Canadian Poplar), _P.

nigra_ (Black Poplar), Lombardy Poplar, and _P. tremula_ (the Aspen).

But the Poplars must not be overdone, and by pond or lakeside are often out of place. In such places the Cardinal and Yellow-barked Willow, Sea Buckthorn, and similar shrubs are more appropriate.