236 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



FOEMING AND PLANTING THE AMERICAN GAEDEN. 



BY ROBERT OUBRIDGE, 

 Church Walk Nursery, Stoku Newington, W. 



JUDICIOUSLY arranged and well furnished American 

 garden presents such a glorious appearance during the 

 early summer months, and has such a bright and cheer- 

 ful look at all other periods, that the cost of its for- 

 mation will always be well repaid. Hitherto, American 

 plants, such as the hardy rhododendrons and azaleas, have not 

 perhaps received so much attention as they deserve, through its 

 being supposed that they will not thrive iu anything but sandy peat ; 

 whereas they will grow freely and flower abundantly in almost any 

 light and friable soil. 



The situation selected for the formation of the American garden, 

 should be in a rather secluded part of the grounds, so that visitors 

 need not go through it excepting when the plants are in bloom. 

 But when the cultivation of American plants is limited to a few 

 beds upon the lawn, they should be planted at the farthest point 

 from the windows of the dwelling-house, and the dark foliage will 

 form an admirable background to the beds of flowering plants. A 

 picturesque arrangement of the beds with winding walks between 

 them is undoubtedly the best that could be devised when the 

 American garden is shut in from the other parts of the ground, but 

 a group of circular, oblong, or oval beds, surrounded with a raised 

 bank of evergreens, will be sufficient for small gardens, and in 

 many cases the most desirable plan to adopt, because of its simplicity 

 and the small amount of expense attached to the preparation of the 

 ground and the formation of the beds. 



When the beds are upon the lawn, and form part of the general 

 arrangements, they must of course conform in size and shape to 

 those devoted to the ordinary bedding and flowering plants. 

 In low-lying and damp situations, it will be advantageous to 

 raise beds nine or twelve inches above the level, to prevent the 

 possibility of the roots perishing through being submerged in 

 water during the winter months. These plants, however, require an 

 abundance of moisture at the roots when making new growth, and 

 therefore the bed must not be elevated at all, unless the condition 

 of the sub-soil during the winter mouths is such as to render it 

 imperatively necessary. Generally speaking, a layer of broken 

 stones or brickbats, to a depth of twelve or fifteen inches under the 

 soil of which the bed consists, will be sufficient to keep the roots safe. 

 In the preparation of the beds, the first steps it will be necessary 

 to take will be to remove the soil to a depth of three feet, if the sub- 

 soil is of a retentive character, and two feet if it is sufficiently open to 

 absorb the superfluous moisture. The extra twelve inches is for 

 the drainage, which may consist of any loose rubble, such as broken 

 stones or brickbats. The drainage should be put in with a certain 

 amount of care to insure its being of one depth, and one degree of 



