thick. Like the
Common Green Yew, it succeeds in almost any kind of soil, but it colours
best on a deep yellow loam in a thoroughly exposed position.

ULEX EUROPAEUS (Common Gorse or Whin).--This common British plant needs
little description here. When seen in its wild state, where it is
thoroughly naturalised, it presents a most charming sight. Half-wild
patches of land may easily be made suitable for it at little expense.
During winter the land should either be ploughed or dug, and the seed
sown during April, either in drills or broadcast, and the seedlings
thinned to a fair distance apart during the following spring. When once
thoroughly established, little trouble will be experienced in keeping
the ground well stocked. Occasionally, when the old plants become leggy,
they should be cut close to the ground immediately after flowering, and
in a short time these will break away freely from the bottom. _Ulex
europaeus flore-pleno_ is an invaluable plant for all kinds of
ornamental planting, and is struck from cuttings, which are potted up.
In this way the plants are distributed; nevertheless, it is a most
important plant to have. The flower is a much brighter yellow than the
common form, is produced more freely, and lasts a considerable time in
beauty. It is very suitable for either making beds or forming large
patches of colour behind rocks and among the fissures of the rock
garden. It should be planted about 3 feet apart, in fairly good ground,
and about every fifth year pruned down close to the ground.

VIBURNUM TINUS (_Laurustinus_).--A beautiful evergreen flowering shrub,
and generally well known, but unfortunately it is not sufficiently hardy
to plant in many parts of the country, especially in exposed positions.
It will grow and flower profusely in very shallow and, indeed, in almost
any soil. It makes a handsome bed, and should be planted 4 feet apart.

The Hon. Vicary Gibbs has taken keen interest in the tree and shrub
planting in the gardens of Aldenham House.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE USE OF HARDY CLIMBING SHRUBS[2]

The best and best known of our good hardy climbing shrubs are by no
means neglected, but yet they are not nearly as much or as well used as
they might be. Such a fine thing as the easily-grown _Clematis montana_
will not only cover house and garden walls with its sheets of lovely
bloom, but it is willing to grow in wilder ways among trees and shrubs,
where its natural way of making graceful