CHAPTER  XIX
 

                  Fine-foliaged  Trees and  Shrubs.



None of the native trees and  shrubs  of  Britain have leaves at all striking

for their large size, but among N.  American, N. Asiatic, and S. European

species  there are many which  are well worth growing  for  the beauty,

striking dimensions and shape of their foliage alone.  There are the long-

leaved walnuts  of N. Asia, for instance,  such as Juglans mandshurica,

cordiformis, Sieboldiana and  cathayensis, whose beautiful pinnate leaves

are 2 to 3  ft. long on young trees.   Of a similar but scarcely as remarkable

a type are the N. American species, J. nigra and J. cinerea;  also several

of the hickories, like Carya tomentosa and C. alba.  Such trees, essenti¬

ally of  an exotic type, give to  the garden landscape a peculiar interest

and variety.   The following  is a  representative  but not exhaustive  list

of some of the best of such trees and shrubs.

   Those marked with an asterisk (*) are especially to be recommended

for cutting down annually, with  a  view to  the production of strong shoots

bearing leaves of unusual  size.   For this mode  of cultivation  a rich loam

1J ft. deep is required, annually  enriched by a top-dressing of manure.

The plants, kept to from  one  to three leads, are cut back in spring nearly

to the old wood.  Of the several young  shoots  that start,  the strongest is

selected and the remainder rubbed off.   The leaves produced  on  such

shoots are remarkably large and  striking.   One may, for instance, measure

leaves of Paulownia 3 ft. in diameter grown in this way.   Both for effect

and convenience of cultivation, it is best to grow such shrubs in  beds

or groups.  The bareness of  the ground in spring may  be  relieved by

planting early flowering bulbs  there.  In order that the stump at the base

may  be kept low and unobtrusive,  the  spring  pruning should be as

"hard" as possible.  Trees like  Paulownia  cultivated  on  this system

are not long-lived.  They maintain an astonishing vigour  for six or eight

years and  then begin to decline, or decay may attack the stumps.  When

this begins to be evident a new plantation should be made.

      Acanthopanax ricinifolium.               ^Isculus indica.

      Acer macrophyllum.                       „    turbinata.

     *Ailanthus glandulosa.                  Alangium platanifolium.