Page 215 [215]
OCR
Sa arn el eee KTK JI Historic sGARDENS OES VIRGINIA = me — —— — a el plants were pulled out by hand, and the soil between rows frequently worked with a hoe. I commenced by the first week in April to water the box plants each day, if it did not rain, so that the ground below the surface never lost its moisture. By the first part of May they were growing most encouragingly. I wish to emphasize that the most important thing in growing boxwood from slips, after they are rooted, is to water them incessantly. I don’t believe you can use too much water. My boxwood 1s now eighteen months old, and from six to nine inches high. This November it will be transplanted to the walks throughout the lawn. Ever since a visit to beautiful old Brandon several years ago, I have dreamed of boxwood hedges, and I must have boxwood hedges. I found the one way I could get them was to grow them, and so I started in, and all of you practical gardeners know the joy of watching something grow hardy and beautiful, when in the beginning it was but an experiment.” South of the house and sheltered by it from the full sweep of the north winds, lies the garden which has long been noted in the annals of Virginia. In form it is semi-circular. A ten-foot turfed walk extends between clumps of althea, lilac and syringa, crepe myrtles, spiraea and mimosa trees, and beds rich in iris, paeonies and other perennials. Hackberry, ash and elm trees overshadow the rose-draped fence and trellises at the entrance. These are covered with a profusion of century-old damask roses of marvelous perfume, and scores of others, some of the names of which are all » but forgotten amid the motley throng of modern blooms. © Beginning at the garden entrance and multiplying farther on stand sempervirens box trees, their tops modified in pointed arborescence. ‘These splendid box trees, defiant of time and trimmed to perfect cones, throw their shafts fifteen feet into the sky. With scattering knots of dwarf box they add great dignity to this garden laid out many years ago. It is gratifying to tell that the [132]
