THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHA.N. 



Vol. XXI. 



JULY, 1S79. 



Number 247. 



Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



A respected correspondent thinks our remarlis 

 on lawns were not perfect. He believes it is a 

 mistake to leave the mowings on the grass. It 

 shades and weakens the finer grasses, and in 

 this way assists the coarser ones that we should 

 rather repress ; and again he thinks we should 

 have laid some stress on the necessity of an oc- 

 casional weeding out of the larger and coarser 

 weeds. For these hints we thank him, and have 

 little to object to in his statement of them. It 

 is pleasant to note the growing interest in lawns. 

 Neat and well kept grass is amongst the best 

 ornaments of a country home. 



Early in June the hedges should have their first 

 trimming. Successive seasons of observation have 

 shown that the hint we threw out a few years 

 ago in regard to the injury of early pruning 

 hedges is correct. A young hedge of Osage, 

 Honey Locust, or anything, should not be cut 

 at all till it is two or three years old ; not indeed 

 till the shoots are one or even two inches thick. 

 Then they should be cut even with the earth in 

 the Winter time, and the following year they 

 will throw up a luxurious mass of sprouts, which 

 may be trimmed into shape the next June, and 

 before the Fall we have a complete, perfect, 

 impenetrable fence. Of course this and all other 

 hedges should be trimmed so that the sides 



j slope from apex to base, in order that all the 

 leaves may have as much light as possible. 

 Some people prune trees in Summer time^ 



j when pruning is desirable, instead of deferring 



[ it to the Winter season ; and the practice has 

 some advantages. 



The Rose season reminds us to say that we are 

 almost sorry they are so generally grown on 

 their own roots, for it was such a nice employ- 

 ment for many people, not professional gar- 

 deners, to bud them on the Manetti stock. But 



I the suckers from these wild stocks came up, and 

 in time so weakened the grafted part, that it 

 soon died. Florists would say that amateurs 

 should keep the suckers cut away ; but it is not 

 easy for amateurs to distinguish one from the 

 other. Yet we hope the pleasant practice of 

 budding roses will not fall into disuse. Any 

 hardy kind can be used for a stock, and one may 

 have a dozen or more kinds on one plant in this 

 way. In budding roses, or indeed in budding 

 any kind of plant, strong healthy stocks should 

 be selected, and above all, strong healthy buds. 

 It is chiefly when weak stocks or weak buds are 

 used, that failure follows. On a recent visit to 

 Boston, we saw especial reason to refer to this 

 matter of budding roses. A person was com- 

 plaining that his fine English imported Roses — 

 beautiful a few years ago, were " running out," 

 and he doubted if the Boston climate was good 

 for the rose; but we found the "running out" 



