IRISH GARDENING 



All roads and walks in the arboretum which 

 have got out of repair should be attended to at 

 once if possible, as they are now comijaratively 

 soft, but with the advent of drying winds will 

 soon become hard and unworkable. Where the 

 surface has become worn and uneven it should be 

 broken with the pick, recrowned and levelled, 

 burying any big stones which may have come to 

 the surface. If possible a dressing of stones about 

 the size of walnvits should be applied, and the 

 whole then thoroughly rolled with a good heavy 

 roller of the water ballast type. Walks designed 

 for light traffic only may be treated similarly, 

 but the stones may be liner, and a hand-roller 

 thoroughly and frequently applied will generally 

 be sufficient. Grass i)aths should be rolled after 

 sweeping, and indeed all grass that is kej)t mown 

 short should be frequently rolled before the 

 machines are allowed on it at all. 



The first three weeks of January have been 

 comparatively mild and free from frost, conse- 

 quently the earliest flowering shrubs have 

 bloomed very well. 



The winter sweet Chimonanthus fragrans gave 

 lots of its sweet-scented flowers all tlirough the 

 month, and rarely has Jasminum nudiflorum 

 shown such a wealth of bloom. Both of these are 

 grown on walls for the protection of their early 

 blossoms. Hamamelis mollis and H. arborea 

 bloomed well for several weeks, and the new H. 

 Japonica rubra likewise. I confess to having had 

 some doubts about the latter when first I saw it 

 catalogued, but there is certainly a suffusion of 

 red in the ]>etals, and the calyx is of a deep reddish 

 chocolate colour. Our plant is quite tiny, but a 

 fair-sized bush should be attractive. H. vernalis 

 has also flowered, but is less attractive than the 

 others. Parrotia ])ersica. an ally of the Hama- 

 melis, is now opening its curious flowers, composed 

 of bunches of red stamens. This is a viseful small 

 tree for planting on lawns and in light soil ; the 

 leaves assume brilliant hues in autumn. Rhodo- 

 dendron dauricum has been magnificent, and for 

 once in a while the flowers escaped destruction 

 by frost. Lonicera standishi is now flowering 

 profusely, the white sweet-scented flowers being 

 most welcome so early in the year. Cornus 

 officinallis, which is very similar to C. Mas, is 

 opening its flowers : a large bush a^jpearing qviite 

 yellow in the distance. Prunus davidiana, both 

 the pink and white forms, is just coming into 

 flower : and P. microlepis has been opening its 

 flowers since Christmas, and has yet to reach the 

 zenith of its beauty. Xumerovis forms of the 

 Mediterranean Heath are giving colour about the 

 grounds, and coax one to believe that spring is 

 at hand; but, alas! experience warns us that many 

 cold days must be endured ere the balmy breath 

 of spring awakes to life the still quiescent flowers 

 of spring and summer. B.. Dublin. 



Rhododendron parvifolium. 



This is one of the early flowering set, and is 

 interesting on that account. The habit of the 

 shrub is not attractive, being sparse, with rather 

 thin, slender branches bearing a few small leaves 

 at the extremities. The small leaves are furnished 

 with scales and the flowers are ])roduced in 

 clusters of four or five in .January and February ; 

 they are of a rosy-purple colour, and attract 

 attention appearing so early in the year. It is 

 useful for the rock garden planted among dwarf 

 Heaths and similar peat-loving plants. 



Hints to Amateurs, 



By R. M. Pollock. 



IIerbackous and alpine plants that are pushing 

 up soft yovmg growths are very tempting to slugs, 

 and some form of protection is necessary. A 

 mixture of soot and linie scattered round the 

 plants, or cinders, tobacco powder, or any of the 

 advertised preventives, will to a [certain extent 

 ward ofiE these enemies, but by far the most satis- 

 factory method of destruction is that ado])ted by 

 the evening garden jn-owler. armed with a 

 lantern, a trowel and a bucket, who goes to the 

 root of the trouble and looks carefully under the 

 plants as well as on them, and who eventually 

 digs a hole and buries the shigs with a few hand- 

 fulls of common salt. There is a certain satis- 

 faction in knowing that at any rate one lot of 

 slugs have been removed entirely from further 

 attacks. Unless the gardener is out early in the 

 morning he will not catch very many, as they are 

 wonderful at the game of hide and seek, and they 

 love darkness better than light, and their deeds 

 are surely evil. 



Where seed of alpines and herbaceous ])lants 

 was collected late last autumn, preparations may 

 now be made to get this seed sown. If none was 

 saved, some of such i)lants as the gardener is 

 short of. or of which a new stock has to be raised, 

 should be ordered at once. The herbaceous 

 ]ilants sown now will by the autumn be nice 

 strong little plants, which will be able to stand 

 being planted out in a nursery bed and left there 

 during the winter. There is a tendency in pur- 

 chasing seed to order far more than is required, 

 and there is a still greater tendency to sow this 

 ssed too thickly. The idea presumably is that 

 no seed should be left over, and that the more 

 seed sown the more seedlings will result. This 

 is not the caso when the sowing has to be done 

 in a limited space, such as pots or in pans, and 

 where the seedlings are so close that damp will 

 set in, or they will be too weak and crowded to 

 bear pricking out. A thin sowing resulting in a 

 small number of strong healthy seedlings is far 

 better. Also, it is often advisable to keep pver 

 what will make another sowing, in case of failure 

 or accident, especially in the case of some plant 

 about which little is known or which has not 

 ])reviously been raised from seed. 



The value of a small unheated frame is often 

 overlooked. A structvire of this kind, which can 

 be moved from a sunny corner into shade, and 

 vice versa, is of the greatest help to the seed 

 raiser at this time of year, and can be used with 

 advantage all the year through. At the present 

 time seeds of Pansies, Violas for summer 

 flowering. also Pentstemons, Antirrhinums, 

 alpines. herbaceous ])lants, and a first and early 

 batch of annuals for the summer flowering, which 

 can be jn-icked out direct into their permanent 

 quarters, will more than fill the frame, and will 

 give them just sufficient protection. In the 

 summer and autumn it will be invahiable for 

 striking clottings, and later on the first batch of 

 bulbs in pots can be given its protection and any 

 treasvire from the rock garden or border whose 

 hardiness is doubtful. It need never be empty, 

 and is of far greater value in a small gard'^n than 

 an unheated greenhouse. 



Shrubs on walls will all need looking to, and 

 wall Roses, other than the Ramblers, may be cut 



