THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Volume XVIII. 



AUGUST, 1876. 



NUMBEE 212. 



XOWER GARDEN AND If LEASURE MROUND. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



In the last generation the effort of the wealthy 

 citizen was to have a home in the country, with 

 business in town. If very well ofi"he had a town 

 house and a country seat — the one for his sum- 

 mer enjoyment, the other to pass the winter 

 time away. The introduction of railroads has 

 altered all this. It is so easy now to "get away," 

 that the summers are not spent in the country, 

 on the farm, or in the garden ; but in the moun- 

 tains, at the springs, or by the sea shore. There 

 is, therefore, not the same want as there was, 

 and in consequence that class of gardening 

 which was called for in the olden times of coun- 

 try life, has by no means kept pace with the in- 

 crease of wealth and population. The best gar- 

 dens are now for the most part those which are 

 comparatively close to large cities, attached to 

 residences convenient to business by steamboat 

 or rail, and where the faiSilies are at home win- 

 ter and summer, all the year round. Those who 

 have now their town house for winter, and coun- 

 try seat for summer, are among the rarest of 

 American citizens. Gardening at country seats 

 is almost of the past. There is little demand for 

 that high class of horticultural talent that this 

 system called for. On the other hand it is a 

 pleasure to note that suburban gardening is 

 largely on the increase. The small places, from 

 one to ten acres, are more numerous, we think 

 than they used to be, while the love of flowers is 

 certainly on the increase. It will do no harm 

 to our gardeners to think over these things. The 



ornamentation and horticultural comforts of 

 small places are the great things for them to 

 study. 



It should not be forgotten that beauty can 

 often be acquired without great cost. By study- 

 ing the character of a piece of ground, and add- 

 ing to that which already exists, we can often 

 make a place as attractive as if we attempt 

 wholly to imitate at great cost some pleasant 

 garden scene that exists elsewhere. And not 

 only cost of improving, but the future should be 

 studied. 



In all suggestions for the improvement of 

 grounds, the subsequent cost of keeping in order 

 should be studied well. This is the rock whereon 

 so many strike. Walks and roads are particu- 

 larly expensive to maintain, and should never be 

 made without there is an evident necessity for 

 them. Shady grass walks, with masses of flow- 

 ering shrubs on each side, and kept mown a few 

 times a year, are as pleasurable parts of a plea- 

 sure ground as can well be provided, yet we very 

 seldom see them employed. 



The great fault with our gardening is, that we. 

 follow too much after foreign styles. In Eng- 

 land, for instance, they have fine evergreens, but 

 deciduous shrubs do not do well. They have, 

 therefore, to make their places gay by bedding 

 plants. Our country is the paradise of flowering 

 shrubs, and foreigners, when they come here, are 

 amazed at their beauty. Most beautiful effects 

 can be produced by massing them — beautiful 

 effects that can succeed each other from spring 

 to fall, and indeed continue to give interest 



