CHAPTER  XIII
 

                       Pendulous  Trees.



In the garden proper, pendulous-branched, or  " weeping," trees are often

undoubtedly very effective ornaments.   But it is  easy to plant them  too

abundantly and thus produce an effect of  monotony.   To  my  mind  a

weeping tree is  seen  to  best advantage  in a position isolated from other

trees.  If that  position be on a lawn  so much  the better, for nowhere

else do the best of weeping trees, such as  the pendulous forms of holly,

hawthorn, ash, beech, wych elm, and birch, look so well.   A weeping tree

is essentially a product  of the garden;  it  has no  place in the sylva of the

British Isles.   Therefore it is better  fitted  for the  trim neatness of the

garden than  anywhere else.    Even  in  the  park,  where  the grass is

grazed or only  mown once annually, weeping trees do not  meet one's

sense  of  fitness.  On  lawns  near the house,  weeping trees  of more

spreading form, like the  beech and wych elm, make  delightful  shady

arbours in summer.  Weeping trees,  again,  have a  peculiar  value in

association with buildings whose contours  are severe and  angular, just

as rigid-branched  trees like  cedar  of Lebanon enhance the  effect of

domed buildings  and  rounded architectural  lines  generally  with  which

they may be associated.

   In the training  of  weeping trees  it  is important to attend  to  the

training up of one  or more leading shoots until the tree has attained the

desired height.   Unless this  is  done  the  tree increases  extremely slowly

in height,  and loses much in elegance by keeping  low and dumpy.   Many

weeping trees are  really prostrate in  habit, and  unless  grafted on high

standards or  artificially trained to form an upright stem,  would  merely

remain low sprawling shrubs.  On the other hand,  a  number  of trees

naturally pendulous, like Salix babylonica and Tilia petiolaris, although

they  form no  distinct leader,  increase  sufficiently  in height  without

assistance, as does  also a third type  of  weeping tree which forms  a

clean  erect leading  shoot and  stem  whilst its branches are  pendulous;

this  latter type  is  illustrated among others by an ash, Fraxinus excelsior

var.  Wentworthii, and a beech, Fagus sylvatica var. miltoniensis.   Other

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