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The Noblest Kind of Gardening for Boys: England

We will next turn to the selection of trees, and to the various wants of those who are likely to plant. The most popular trees in England at present are those noble evergreen pines. They are not all suited for town gardening, but very much so for most parts of the country. Around the beautiful mausoleum raised to contain the remains of the late Prince Consort at Frogmore, there is a row of these trees, mostly tapering and slender in habit, and very dark green. They have been planted by the various members of the Royal family in memoriam. The late Prince was very fond of these pine-trees, and many country gentlemen take the greatest interest in their planting. We merely tell you this to point out that the planting of trees is an object of ambition with many of the best and the highest in the land. When Her Majesty, and many other distinguished persons, visit a nobleman's place or a public park, one of the most graceful acts they can do is to plant a tree; and the custom is very general. Let us hope, then, that many boys will imitate the example of Rousseau, and say, why should not we too plant trees? But to return to our pines, or conifers, as they are called. The race in a wonderfully beautiful one--so much so, that you must take care, or you may plant things that will do very well for a few years, perhaps, but get quite killed by the first very severe frost. It is a sad sight to see a tree which has perhaps grown to considerable size and beauty killed to the very ground by a frost such as we had in January, 1866--some of our noblest pines perished then; and therefore a list of the most thoroughly hardy kinds must prove useful. The giant Wellingtonia of California is fortunately hardy in all parts of these islands. So is the great arbor-vitae of Nootka Sound (Thuja gigantea), a specimen of which obtained the first prize for trees of this kind at the great Paris Exhibition. One of the most beautiful of all pines, one which has its "leaves," or little branchlets rather, as graceful as those of a fern, is Thujiopsis borealis, and it too is perfectly hardy. We regret that hard names must be used, but then, as thousands of our plants are not natives of England, they have of course no recognised English name, and to translate the scientific one would simply produce an awkward barbarism. In addition to the above, the following trees of this fine family may be planted with the confidence that we shall not see them perish in the vigour and beauty of youth:--Lawson's cypress (we give you the English name where possible). Nearly all kinds of juniper. Picea Pinsapo, nobilis, and Nordmanniana, all noble trees--also amabilis and cephalonica. Abies Albertii, Morinda, Menziesii, the Cedar of Lebanon, and the Deodar cedar--these are hurt now and then, but on the whole are hardy enough generally. The common spruce fir; the Scotch fir, always a picturesque tree. The deciduous cypress, a fine tree for the margins of water, where after a time its roots send up most curious knobs, in many cases nearly as big as a beehive, above the ground. It is quite extraordinary to see the specimens of this noble tree in the pleasure grounds at Syon, the Duke of Northumberland's fine place near Brentford. The new Japanese larch (L. Kaempferi), the Austrian pine, the Swiss nut pine (P. Cembra), the Corsican pine. The youthful gardener, who lives near a large nursery, park, or place like Kew, Glasnevin Botanic Gardens, near Dublin, the Botanic Gardens at Edinburgh, the gardens of the Crystal Palace, at Sydenham, or many places of this kind, would do well to examine specimens of the kinds named, or indeed any others, so that he may take his choice; making sure to inquire, however, that the particular kind he selects is perfectly hardy: a tree may be quite hardy in one part of the country, and quite tender in another. The curious and fine monkey puzzle (Araucaria imbricata), for instance, has been killed in some parts by severe frosts, in others it has always escaped with impunity. It is always easy to ascertain facts of this kind in a neighbourhood, and of course we should make a point of cultivating the things that are best suited to our climate and soil.

So much for coniferous trees. We will next turn to a far nobler group, so far as regards our wants-deciduous trees, or those that lose their leaves in winter. These are generally quite hardy, and make large and long-lived trees. They may be grown in many places where the pines would not live, and are therefore admirably suited for Places in and near towns. They should be preferred by all boys who live in suburban gardens, as in such the leaves of pines and evergreens are sure to be soiled and disfigured, if not half-killed, by smut. Many of these deciduous trees flower beautifully, and in not a few the leaves, even in our dull clime, assume rich and varied tints in autumn. The following list includes the noblest, best, and hardiest known:-The great Columbian maple, the silvery maple (A. eriocurpum), the red maple (A. colchicum rubrum), the Norway maple, the purple-leaved sycamore, and the variegated negundo; the double norse chesnut (the flower of this lasts very much longer than the single kind), the red chesnut, the Hungarian lime-tree, and the Mississipi lime, the tree of heaven (Ailanthus glandulosa), the tulip-tree, the Japanese sophora (a noble tree, fine for dry soils), the Kentucky coffee-tree (not a large tree, but with very graceful leaves), the hawthorns in variety, both red and white. Some of the hawthorns bear handsome fruit, and of such the most distinct is Aronia, Layi, Celsiana and Douglasii. The flowering ash, the showy Chinese Pyrus spectabilis, the American ash, the Canadian ash or lancewood; the Cornish, Chichester, and Irish elms (the last being a tree of large growth) and also most particularly the weeping variety of the wych elm; the black walnut, and the yellow-twigged willow; the silver-leaved poplar, the Carolina poplar, and of course the Lombardy poplar; the splendid western plane, which does so well in towns, the Eastern plane, and the Spanish plane. Lastly, we will name the noble oaks, both the American and our own. The American oaks are among the finest trees of the world. The best of them are Q. ambigua, Prinus, the champion oak, the scarlet oak, the black oak, and the willow oak. Any of these will form long-lived and noble trees.

The preceding remarks and instructions generally apply to the wants of boys whose parents have gardens of some size. But a very large class are not so fortunate--have not sufficient space to develop a good tree, and perhaps live in or near towns, where it may be difficult to grow a good one. For convenience sake, we will divide these into two classes--those who have small gardens in the country, and those who have small gardens in or near towns or cities. In the former, it will be better to pay full attention to subjects of a comparatively dwarf though hardy and long-lived habit, and to fine hardy shrubs like the hollies, &c. Except on the very margins of a small country place, it is a mistake to plant great trees, as at some time they are pretty sure to become an overshadowing nuisance, too near the house to be seen to advantage, and also too near to be agreeable or healthful. Of beautiful dwarf evergreen trees suited for such, there is nothing better than the comparatively new Retinosporas, which are at once graceful, hardy, and beautiful. They are natives of Japan, and in any large nursery various handsome and comparatively dwarf pines may be selected suitable for the same purpose. For the town or suburban garden the best things are decidedly beautiful dwarf and free-flowering deciduous trees, like the almond, the various finely coloured double peaches, the beautiful double cherries, the Chinese crab, the silvery eleagnus, the better kinds of hawthorn, and if there be room for a large tree, the plane is the best. Of course there is great difference in the climate and atmosphere of what are called suburbs. Thus, in many of the suburbs of London it is nearly impossible to get a pine-tree to live, while in the suburbs of many other towns and cities the choicest trees flourish freely. But ten or twelve years' increase of smoke and increase of houses may make a sad difference to the pleasantest of suburbs, and things that flourished healthfully at one time may gradually perish from increasing smut and vileness of atmosphere. The best trees of the pine tribe for town planting are the dwarf and beautiful Thuja aurea, well suited, from its dwarf size, for the pleasure ground or flower garden; the Austrian pine, the common arbor-vitae, and perhaps a few others; but as a rule, it is better not to plant pines where they will be exposed to the evil effects of a city atmosphere. On the other hand, all trees that lose their leaves in winter are likely to do well in such places, because they are leafless and quite at rest in the winter, when every chimney is vomiting forth poison, and the air is thick with filth. Then, when the atmosphere begins to clear, and the spring returns, they put forth their leaves and expose them during the best of the year, while the poor pine or evergreen has to stand exposed at all seasons.