It will be necessary to exercise great skill and forethought in arranging and planting the various trees with which it is intended to adorn the garden. Everything should be done to make the garden as unique, and at the same time as bright and attractive as possible. Now that such excellent varieties of golden yew are obtainable, a fairly large number of these should be planted. They should not, however, be allowed to predominate over the common green yew; but if a few be planted, it will help to relieve the sombre appearance of the ordinary English yew.
Box is another kind of tree that lends itself admirably to Topiary work, and one that should not be forgotten during the planting period, as a few of the different varieties of box will greatly add to the general effect. There are also the different varieties of holly and golden privet; but, as regards the former, unless it is purely for the sake of contrast, which is admired in all gardens, I should recommend its omission from the list of trees to be planted, as it does not lend itself to clipping. Its chief fault, however, is its untidy nature, which causes it to be a nuisance in a garden. It is perpetually shedding its leaves throughout the summer, when every garden should be looking its neatest.
No trees are more suitable for Topiary work than the different varieties of yew and the boxwood, as these are the most easily clipped and trained. Although the yew is an exceedingly slow-growing tree, it will, even with continual clipping, grow into a tree of large dimensions; and, if the whole garden has been planted at one time, instead of adding trees at intervals of a few years, there will be too much uniformity about it. This should be avoided as far as possible, and if a few box trees have been planted here and there, they will help to break the evenness of the garden, since box can be kept down to almost any size desired by the aid of constant clipping.
When the work of marking out the places and planting the trees is being done, avoid anything that will afterwards have a tendency to over-crowding. Allow plenty of space for each tree to develop into whatever size or shape may be desired, and then have plenty of space for each tree to be plainly and distinctly seen. Trees that are too thickly planted never have the same appearance as those that have been allowed sufficient space; neither is over-crowding beneficial. It has a great tendency to draw the trees up too quickly, at the expense of strong and robust growth.
When the planting operations are finished, each tree should be given a good mulching of farmyard manure. Nothing is more beneficial to the health and vigour of the trees than half decayed manure from the farmyard, applied as a mulching either to old or newly-planted trees. It is the best stimulant that can be applied, as it answers the two-fold purpose of imparting health and vigour to the trees and protecting the roots from frost during winter, although there is perhaps very little danger of frost doing any damage to the roots of the yew on account of its extreme hardiness. It is always safer to protect trees that have been recently planted, and the manure will certainly not be wasted.
CROSS IN YEW OVER THE GRAVE OF L.T.-GENERAL ARBUTHNOT, K.C.B., K.T.S., IN ST. BONIFACE CHURCHYARD, BONCHURCH, ISLE OF WIGHT
If the garden is an old established one and full of old trees, these will be greatly benefited by the aid of occasional top dressings of some sort of manure, or the trees will begin to show signs of deteriorating in course of time. More especially will top dressing be necessary if the ground or beds where the trees are planted is not liberally manured every year. But if manure is liberally applied, the necessity for top dressing the roots will not be so great; for the yew extends its roots for a long distance and therefore absorbs a great deal of whatever kind of manure is applied to the ground. Although chemical manures may be used for the sake of convenience, or lack of farmyard manure, they are not strongly recommended. Of course if farmyard manure cannot be obtained, then chemical manure of some sort will have to be resorted to, but this will not have the same desired effect in imparting vigour to the trees. The principal objection to farmyard manure arises on account of its unsightliness in the garden; but that can be remedied to a great extent by removing a few inches of soil from the roots and applying a layer of the manure, and afterwards replacing the soil. Liquid manure of any kind will be of the greatest benefit to old trees, and there is no doubt that chemical manure if applied to the roots at all, should be given in liquid form during spring or summer, when the weather is dry. It will greatly assist the trees in making good growth.
The clipped yew is of such a close nature that it takes very heavy rains to penetrate the roots.