GARDEN NOTES

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 111, 12 May 1945, Page 2

GARDEN NOTES

By “Ngaip.” Victory day can be celebrated in the garden in a permanent form by planting some special trees or shrub 3 in honour of the grand occasion. This can be done at once as the planting season is now here, and in order to get good specimen trees they should be purchased without delay. English trees arc the first to come to mind, and people with large gardens have a great opportunity to make one corner of their property anyway * * forever England. ’ ’ Oak, ash, elm, beech and birch are the favourites among the deciduous trees. A scarlet oak (quercus rubra) and the pin oak, Q. palustria, would be' a good choice. Both these have brilliant scarlet foliage which is retained on the trees for a long time. There are several types of English ash to select from. The usual form is Fraxinus Excelsa which has large black buds before the foliage opens out in the spring. The golden ash°, Faurea, i 3 a very lovely tree especially when it is gold from top to bottom in the autumn. Still another variety, F. Ray* woodii is admired for its wine-coloured leaves in the autumn and is known as the claret ash. Any one of the ash trees makes a good specimen treo and looks well planted on a lawn. Besides the familiar green beech which turns to such glorious colours in the autumn, tfyere are also the copper and purple beeches, and as well there is an unusual form of copper beecli called Fagus Skyvatica Tricolour in which the edges of the leaves are splashed with pink and cream—the foliage in this variety is very unusual and most decorative at all times. One of the English trees which does not take up so much room as the beeches is the silver birch (Betula Verrucosa Alba). Provided it can be given Xime shelter from prevailing winds which would cause it to grow crookedly this tree has a delicate graceful beauty of its own and is lovely at all times of the year, even in winter with its bare purple stems and branches and sib very trunk. Those who want a new variety should try B. Alba Purpurea which has the same form of growth but the foliage is purple. Probably the most popular English evergreen is the holly or Ilex. The green variety is rather sombre when it grows to a good size but there is a very handsome variegated one Marginata Argentia which has creamy or silvery edges to the leaves and looks very fine when covered in berries. Branches of this holly make most attractive and lasting indoor decorations for the winter. All the trees mentioned above make good specimen trees and can be planted in groups and are much quicked growing in this country than they are in England. To come to shrubs or trees more suitable for smaller gardens there are many which could bo suggested which, although not indigenous to the country, suggest the English scene. Laburnam, lilac, guelder rose, hawthorne, verbena and honeysuckle to name just a few which would be appropriate, and of course the national emblem—the rose..