THE 



GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Volume XXVII. 



SEPTEMBER, 1885. 



Number 321. 



Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



We have become so habituated to rapid work 

 that many good practices of the slow old times 

 have become nearly forgotten. , For instance, 

 trenching ground for trees and flowers is so utterly 

 neglected that few know even what trenching 

 means. But trenching provides that the ground 

 be loosened two feet deep. In such soils flowers 

 or trees rarely suffer, though they have to go 

 through a drouth that would tax the memory of 

 the oldest inhabitant to remember the like. A few, 

 however, stick to the good old rules for deep 

 digging, though at some risk of being laughed at. 

 The longest memory knew nothing equal to the 

 severe drouth in this part of the world last sum- 

 mer. Numbers of shrubberies had the plants 

 destroyed. Few things suffer more m these exi- 

 gencies than Rhododendrons and similar plants 

 with hair-like roots, that do not run far below the 

 surface. But we know a friend in love with the 

 old fashioned practice, who has his Rhododendron I 

 bed dug two feet deep, and has the earth mixed 

 with nearly one-half its bulk with brush wood | 

 and rubbish, and although this admixture neces- 

 sarily raised the finished bed far above the sur- 

 rounding soil so that much water would run oflF, 

 the plants are in glorious condition today in spite 

 of the long drouth, though not a drop of artificial 

 watering was bestowed on them. There is no 



doubt that very much of ill success in growing 

 flowers, shrubs and trees, comes from carelessness 

 in preparing deep and rich soil. This is particu- 

 larly the case with herbaceous plants and bulbs. 

 If one would have these satisfactory, a cool, deep, 

 and rich soil is indispensable, and we have espe- 

 cially in our mind Lilies and other bulbs that are 

 usually set out at this season of the year. Of the 

 Lily especially, we may say that it is but a waste 

 of time, money, and good temper to plant them 

 in ground that dries out easily in summer time. 



We would again call the attention of those hav- 

 ing places of limited extent to the great number 

 of beautiful shrubs that have been introduced of 

 late years, and the opportunity they give for a 

 great variety of beauty in a small place. In some 

 classes of plants, particularly, so much variety has 

 been introduced that we might make a collection 

 of one kind of plant alone, and still have a charm- 

 ing feature. There are, for instance. Lilacs in 

 great variety, and of the Japanese Maples, 

 scores that aftord an immense variety in the 

 color and form of the leaves, as well as in 

 habit and general character. The catalogues 

 of Ellwanger & Barry ; Parsons Sons & Co.; 

 Saul, and others, give full descriptions of these ; 

 and the catalogues of any of the larger firms 

 will well repay a careful consultation for novelties 

 before deciding what to plant. We annex a cut 

 of the larger blood-leaved Japan Maple, which 



