CHAPTER  XXIV
 

               Trees  and  Shrubs for  Wet Places.



In this connection  I  do not propose to discuss trees and shrubs which

will thrive near the  sides of ponds or lakes, with their roots near but not

actually in the water.   Such plants are, as a matter of fact, very numerous,

and include a large  proportion  of those described in this work.   Planted

on the  sloping banks of a piece  of water,  trees and  shrubs are really

placed in a very favourable position.  They can extend their root system

towards or away from the water as suits their individual requirements, and

can scarcely suffer from drought.

   It is very different  when we come to  discuss trees whose  roots are

wholly or mostly in water,  or those that will  grow in permanently wet or

swampy ground.  The number of such trees and shrubs is not very great,

especially after those  belonging to  two or three genera, such  as Salix

Populus and Alnus, have been allowed for.

   Swampy areas, from their very nature,  are not frequently planted for

ornament.   Where  they are small, the  coloured-stemmed willows, such as

the red and yellow barked varieties of Salix  vitellina, Salix daphnoides, and

S. acutifolia, should be  used.   The  economic value  of larger  sites is not

so frequently taken  advantage of as it might be.  At  the present time, for

instance, no English timber is so valuable,  or gives such quick returns, as

the cricket-bat willow—Salix cazrulea.  The timber of Salix fragilis, and

the strong, quick-growing poplars like  Populus serotina  and P. Eugenei,

is much in  demand for those ephemeral uses of which, in  modern civilisa¬

tion, there  are  so many.   Individual trees of the cricket-bat  willow sell

readily enough, but of the others plantations must be fairly extensive to

be remunerative.   The expenses connected with felling,  cutting up and

hauling are proportionately so  much more in the case  of odd trees that

timber dealers will not give paying prices for them.

   The following may be recommended for boggy ground:—