I/O 



IRISH GARDENING. 



The health of the ])lants, in liis moraines, is 

 sufficient in-oot- that tlieir requirements have been 

 satisfied, and tliat the texture of the moraine is 

 most suitable for the locality. 



This list is by no means complete, but space 

 forbids its enlargement. One word in conclusion. 

 When making your moraine, be careful to include 

 the line di'bris of the crushed stone. I find it is 

 the general i)ractice to riddle the broken stone, 

 and, disregarding the stone dust, to mix only the 

 small-to-large lumx>s with the sprinkling of soil. 

 The result being either (a) that the moraine 

 " packs " badly, owing to the lumps being too 

 far apart (this allows air to get to the surface of 

 the lower stones, and the })lants wither and die 

 or don't flourish), or else (h) one has to add a 

 larger i)roportion of soil. Tliis makes the moraine 

 " pack " well, but clogs the roots of the plants in 

 winter, and they rot off. If the stone dust be in- 

 .coriJorated with the broken stone, very little 

 additional soil need be added, and the plants 

 retain their health. 



Hints to Novices. 



By May Crosbie. 



One fact cannot be too often impressed upon 

 gardening beginners, and that is that without 

 thorough cultivation of the soil real sviccess will 

 not result. The more thorough the digging and 

 trenching that is carried out during the winter 

 months, the greater will be the success of next 

 season's crop, be it flower, fruit or vegetable, and 

 the earlier the work is started the better, as the 

 soil is niuch easier to work before the heavy 

 winter rains and the longer time it has to weather. 

 All ground, as soon as the croj) is taken off, 

 should be double dug — that is. broken up two 

 spits or spades deep at least, mixing with the 

 bottom .spit, leaves, rotted grass clippings, rotted 

 weeds, road scrapings, and. if available, putting 

 a layer of manure between the two spits. Leave 

 the surface in rough ridges all through the winter, 

 so that a larger .surface area will be exposed to 

 frost, snow, &c. When planting or sowing time 

 comes in the spring the soil will be found quite 

 easily worked, fine and friable. The soil ought 

 to be ])eriodically trenched. The main difference 

 between trenching and double digging is that the 

 top and bottom spits of .soil change places, the to]) 

 spit becoming the bottom one and vice x'ersd. 

 Old garden ground, poor ground, or ground that 

 is intended for permanent i)lanting, such as fruit 

 bushes, shrubs or a herbaceous border, ought to 

 be trenched at least two feet deep, adding a layer 

 of good manure between the two spits. In cases 

 where the garden has not been well cultivated for 

 years it is often a mistake to trench, as the 

 bottom .spit of soil would be too ]>oor to bring to 

 the surface ; in such circumstances double dig 

 for a few years before doing any trenching. 



At this season another matter of importance 

 for the beginner is the conversion of garden 

 rubbish into fertilizing material, because, as a 

 rule, there is a general tidying up going on now. 

 Garden rubbish includes weeds, cli])pings of trees 

 and shrubs, leaves, vegetable refuse, ])runings. 

 &c., &c. The two main niethods of dealing with 

 it are by burning or by storing it to rot. Of the 

 two, personally I prefer burning, because the 

 heat destroys all disease s])ores and weed seeds, 

 and the resulting ash is invaluable as a manure. 

 But in small gardens the smoke of a fire is objected 



to, and the rubbish may often have to lie about 

 a long time before it is dry enough to burn, and 

 in this case the other method must be resorted to. 

 Oi)en a hole three feet square by three feet deep — 

 this ought to be large enough for the ordinary 

 villa garden of about half an acre, but it is easy 

 to vary the size of the hole — ])ack the rubbish, 

 and when it is as full as ])ossible cover it over 

 with a light covering of .soil. Then o])en a second 

 hole the same size, and when it is full the stuff in 

 the first ought to be .sufficiently rotted to dig into 

 the ground. Leaves ought to be collected by 

 themselves and heai)ed in a sheltered ]jlace ; tread 

 them and pack them as com])actly as ])ossible, 

 and if dry when collected ])our water on them, 

 as this hastens their decay. When they are 

 rotted they form what is known as leaf -mould, 

 one of the most valuable ])lant foods. 



Probably the planting out of spring bedding 

 will be left until this month, as in the ])ast fine 

 month the .summer bedding was still very gay. 

 But early in this month all Wallflowers, Forget- 

 me-Nots, Violas, Polyanthus, Auriculas, Bachelors' 

 Buttons, Aubrietia, &c.. ought to be in their 

 flowering quarters. Dig and manure the ground 

 well before i)lanting thena, and if you have grown 

 on the ])lants yourself, lift theni carefully with 

 good balls of soil. 



A common practice in gardens is to cut down 

 all herbaceous plants within a couple of inches of 

 the ground now. This in several ways is a loss — 

 first, the loss of sa]) to the i)lant by cutting down 

 the still green stems, which would naturally go 

 down into the root as they withered ; and 

 secondly, the brown stems and autumn tinted 

 foliage and the seed heads are most beautiful, 

 and a border in which the plants have been 

 allowed to wither away naturally is a great 

 contrast to one which has nothing to show but 

 bare earth until spring comes round again. 



If room is available in a cold frame, make use 

 of it by sowing a few boxes of annual flower seeds, 

 and next year your annuals will be worth looking 

 at. See that the boxes have holes for drainage, 

 and put in the bottom a layer of cinders or 

 broken crocks covered with a layer of moss or 

 fibre before putting in any soil, as good drainage 

 is most essential, as the seedlings will remain in 

 these boxes all the winter. Any old potting soil 

 mixed with leaf-mould and very little old manure 

 makes a good com])ost. Sow seeds very thinly, 

 water sparingly, and keep the lights off the frame 

 any dry day. Such annuals as Larkspur (rosy 

 scarlet and ])ale blue), Candytuft (white spiral 

 and carmine), Clarkia (Fire King and Salmon 

 Qiieen), Lavatera (rose and white mallows) are 

 perhaps the best. Watch the Larksi)urs ]jarti- 

 cularly, as slugs are very fond of them. 



Campanula Hillside Gem. 



Few of the Bellflowers flower .so late or have 

 such an extended flowering season as this. It 

 commences to open its flowers in early .July and 

 flowers ])rof\isely for many weeks, so that even 

 now — late October — it is still a mass of flowers. 

 The blue (;up-sha])ed flowers are quite two inches 

 across, and being carried in quantity an estab- 

 lished ])lant is very beautiful when in flower. 

 This ])lant grows only about IS inches high and 

 forms a nice com])act plant with .stiff upright 

 stems. Really a gem for the rock garden and 

 sure to become popular with ])lant lovers, as i(> 

 will flourish in any good soil. 



