IRISH GARDENING 



Garden Weeds. 



Wekus uic OIK- ut lla- guiclem-r's greutest eut'iiiios, 

 and all those wlio liavc toiled at the .baL-k-aching 

 job of haiKl-wivdiiig. cv^iKiially during a hot .suni- 

 luer dav, will wish that tluro wore no suoh things. 

 But whilf wi' ri-garil thoiii as enemies we must 

 not forget that in the olden days most of them 

 liad their medieinal uses. Nor must we overlook 

 the faet that many of our line herbaeeous plants 

 and our vegetables were orignially weeds. It is 

 through the patienee of the hybridist and seed 

 •seleetor ' that we have got Herbaceous i)Uuits 

 sueh as we have to-day. 



A good instanee of the above is furnished by the 

 groundsel. It is a weed, but ."^enertv clironini, 

 ami Seiii'iio r/<yc(;i.v-, whieh belong to the 

 same family, are beautiful eultivated plants. 



Onee when I luid written an article on weeding, 

 for a paper read by country lovers, 1 was replied 

 to bv a correspondent who asked uie what a weed 

 was"- 1 replied that it was a plant in the wrong 

 place, also 1 mentioned that it was usually a 

 rather coarse plant without remarkal)le good 

 llowers, and was to be found in woods, fields, and 

 eommons. So a weed shall be a plant in the wrong 

 place, and as a plant in the wrong place spoils the 

 effect of flowers or checks the growth of vegetables 

 (besides taking a vast lot of nourishment from 

 the soil), that plant must come up. 



Just the same as our herbaceous plants, weeds 

 also belong to a vast number of Plant families. 

 Perhaps the commonest weeds, the Daisy (Belhs 

 prrrnuis). Dandelion {Taraxacum officinalis), the 

 Hawkweeds {Ilieraciitra [tiloscUa and H. horcalr). 

 the Groundsel. {Venecia cuUjaris). the Coltsoot 

 (Tussi-ahjo Faifara), the Hawkbit {Lrontodon 

 autumiatlis), the Sow-thistle {Sonclnis dleraccits). 

 the Yarrow (AcliiUea millcfoHum), and one or 

 two otliers— all these belong to the great order 

 Composit8e. To this order belong some of our 

 finest garden flowers; for instance, Chrysantlic- 

 mum vHtximinn, Pyrethrum, Erigeron speciosus, 

 Doronicum, etc., etc. Other weeds such as chick- 

 weed (SteUariti media). Mouse-ear (Cerastivm 

 vutfjatum), and Stiehwort (SteUaiia Ji'iJosfea) 

 belong to the order Caryophyllaceee, from which 

 come Carnations, picotees and pinks. A vast host 

 of garden weeds lielong to the order Cruciferse, 

 from which we get such garden plants as Stocks, 

 Wallflowers, etc., and' .vegejtables, such as the 

 Turnip. Cabbage, etc. Some of these weeds, such 

 as Sheplierd's Purse (Capsello Bursa-pasforis). and 

 Charlock (Sinnpi.t on-rx.s/.s), are very trouble- 

 some to get rid of, and the first often appears 

 by the thousand every spring. Docks (Bum ex). 

 which are some of the w-orst weeds, belong 

 tf. ti\r> order Polygonacoas (as loes the rhubarb). 

 And this order includes Sliepherd's Sorrel (Bumpx 

 ArpfnseUo), Knotgrass (I'ohjrjnnnm aricxdnrp) etc. 

 Another bad weed is the Bindweed {ConrolritJux 

 arrensis (Order Convolvulaceae). In some places it 

 is found everywhere, but in this district. I am glad 

 to sav. we have none of it. Other well-known weeds 

 are the common Nettle (Urtica), the Buttercup 

 (Rununculacese), the celandine (Chelidrniivm 

 majus). Clovers and Vetches (Trifoliums and Vicia 

 — these two belong to the Pea Family), the Dead 

 Nettle (Lamivm piirpurevm). the Faiiiitorv (Fvm- 

 aria officinalis), the Goose-foot (Chevopodivm 

 allntm). the Gout weed (JEgopodium podfigrarin), 

 the Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), the Toad-flax 



{Linuria vulgaris), the Twitch-grass {Triticum 

 rtpens) etc. 



Much of my space has been taken up in talking 

 of the weeds "themselves, ami readers will 'e say- 

 ing that what is more use to them— -namely how to 

 get rid of the weeds — has been sadly neglected. 

 However. I will proceed to make amends for tliis 

 in the space at my disposal. 



Too much importance cannot be attached to the 

 (lian cultivation of the land. When one views 

 •wardens thick witli wild weeds, such as Coltsfoot, 

 Varrow. and IJandelions, one sighs very greatly, 

 for if things had been taken in time the garden 

 would never have got into such a state. 

 Given that the gjirden is fairly clear of weeds at 

 the beginning of the summer, or rather the spring, 

 there is no reason why it should get the tophand 

 over the gardener. If the hoe is brought out and 

 kejit goiii!.' a. I April and into May, halt the weeds 

 will never get a start at all. Weeds seed very 

 rapidly, and the hoe is only able to be used in the 

 early stages for getting them up. If they are 

 allowed to grow, then hand-weeding is the only 

 way, and Dandelions and Docks nave to be got I'p 

 -.ill- the aid o. a fork. We 'Is sometimes gro'v olc:c 

 to annuals and perennials in the borders, so then 

 they have to be taken up with great care. I am 

 a great advocate of an early start being made. If you 

 get the top side of them at once you are all right. 



Now^ what shall we say to those who come into a 

 neglected and very weedy garden or to those who 

 make a field into a garden ? The soil in both cases 

 is sure to be full of seeds and roots of weeds. It 

 will be a hard fight, but the gardener will w^in. 

 One way is to trench two feet deep and bury the 

 first spit at the bottom of the trencli. Another way 

 is to burn the whole of the top six or nine inches of 

 soil, and spread it on again. Yet another way is to 

 well dig or double dig the soil, picking out every 

 scrap of weed. You see, this though the hardest, 

 is the best. Then whenever weeds begin to make 

 their appearance they must be fought with the 

 hoe and fork, being raked off and burnt at once, 

 and the ground well limed. If possible it .should 

 be cropped with mid-season potatoes the first year, 

 there is nothing like this for cleaning the ground. 



E. T. E. 



Annuals for Beds. 



Amateur gardeners frequently tell one that they 

 fail to get satisfactory results with grow-ing 

 annuals, and they ask one's advice. Naturally one 

 enquires how they have been growing and what 

 sorts, and on obtaining this information advice 

 can be given. The most general method of grow- 

 ing annuals is to sow out of doors in well prepared 

 beds in April. 



Our English climate, however, is not exactly 

 ideal for this method, though some years results 

 are splendid. But in case it may be of interest 

 I am giving below another method which for several 

 years past has been proved highly successful, 

 and at the end of this article will be found some 

 of the many annuals which may be grown by it. 



The method I have found best is to sow a large 

 pot of each annual in good soil during the month 

 of March. The pot.-^ are put into a warm dark 

 cellar till the seeds germinate, and are then moved 

 and put into a cold frame, which is covered with 

 mats in severe weather. As soon as they are large 



