28 



IRISH GARDENING 



IS yivcn fJii'iL ;i l-!i(;L<)u^iily .uond soakiiip; with, 

 water, and loft alone i'or tlirce or I'oui' (la> s. before 

 any more water is given. 



On the proper watering of the ferns, a good 

 deal of your success will depend. Never forget 

 the very simple and conuncn-sense fact that 

 wlien they ai-e actively growing — that is, making 

 and throwing up and developing new fronds, they 

 rerpiire much more water, than wlien resting, 

 that is, after the fronds are mature and tViey 

 simply want to live, and not grow any more. 

 Also, that they require more water in liot weather 

 than in cold weather, and more also in dry 

 weather than in da.iup or wet weather. So t.rue 

 is this, that my rockery gets no water from tlie 

 beginning of Noveml)er till tin; end of .January, 

 or if tiier(^ is frost and iiard weather, till tlie 

 middle or end of February. Some peonle will 

 liardiy credit this, but to my mind it, is t.lie most 

 important elenient in successfully growing ferns 

 in an unheated house, and saving them through 

 the winter. It musli not be forgotten tliat we 

 are dealing here with a rockery and not witlL 

 ]iot plants — for them some water is necessary 

 now and then, or they will certainly die, and if 

 just after watering them frost appears, they 

 will likely die. so the position with theni is 

 different and difficult. Jn the rockery, however. 

 the soil never gets, during tlie three \\ incer months, 

 s.^ dry that t!ie ]ilanis will suffer, th"ir roots are 

 tucked away under tl'.e stones in damj) cool earth, 

 tliere is little evaporation, and tlie plants vre not 

 actively growing. Extra water at this time will 

 make the soil cold and sour, will induce an over- 

 moisture-laden atmosphere, and damping or 

 mildew of the foPage will be the result ; besides, if 

 fiost penetrates, it will have a much more serious 

 (•rfeet on the wet earth than it woidd on dry. 

 killing the roots where it penetrated. 



The next, perhaps stai'tling, propositio)i is. dc» 

 not water your ferns overhead- that is, do no^ 

 si)rinkle or wet the foliage. The only exce|)tion 

 lo this rule is in the case of filmy ferns (e.g.. 

 ICillarney fern). These, on the other hand, must 

 be constantly waf ered over head, so as to keep the 

 fronds damp. Sonie few' xerns make such an 

 abundance of spores, that these and the spore 

 (^jises when shed cover the foliage with thick 

 Virown dust wdiich may be objected to ; some of 

 this may be removed with a feather brush, or 

 it may bo syringed off — in tViafc case a dry airy 

 day, witliout cold wind, sliould be selected, tlie 

 plant or plants syringed, the excess juoisture 

 shaken off, the door and ventilators all opened 

 wide, so <.h;',t free dry air circulates and dries tlie 

 foliage rajndly. Then the doors and ventilators 

 are closed again, and the still moist atiiuisphr-re 

 again maintained. .Many peo])le think that the 

 7aore water you gi\<' ferns the better, a'ld that 

 'hey specially enjoy ijeitig syringed. This is not 

 so. They undouljtedly like an unfailing su])]»l> 

 of moisture, but not too n-uch of it. and thougli 

 plenty of rain has no ill effect, but rather the 

 reverse, in their wild habitat, that is because the 

 water is being constMiitly changed, and as soon 

 as the rain ceases the breeze shakes suiierfluous 

 moisture off them and evaporation in the fipen 

 air soon completely diies them. L'nder glass 

 these conditions do not obtain. Yom- syringe 

 leaves a superfluity of water in the fronds, for 

 tliere is no breeze to shake it off, so it soaks into 

 the leaflets and stagnates. The close atmosphere 

 of the glass-house is .saturated with moisture, so 



there is little ol iio evr.iiora.tioii, the consequence 

 is that rotting or damping occvu's, not perhajis in 

 the most prominent or vigorous fronds, but in 

 those of weaker growth, low and deep in the plant, 

 crowded and shaded by stiOnger fronds or by 

 those of adjoining plants, and once ii. starts in. 

 the weaker it may soon spread to the stronger : 

 or a mouldy leaflet comes in contact with a fi-esh 

 .strong young fi'ond just starting up. soft and full 

 of sa]). it at once becomes infected, the mould 

 penetrates through it, and it falls over destroyed. 

 This is not the only ill-result of over-head watei- 

 ing, for many ferns, though tliey will not easily 

 " damp," become greatly discoloured, getting 

 black or brown if wat(M' lies on theni for even a 

 very short time. Tl is is mcst trtte of those \\hose 

 foliage has a rougli or dull stu'face. Those with 

 a shiny surface stand water best as a rule. 



Tlie water then must be given to the individual 

 plants, rot poured or sprayed proniiscuously over 

 the whole lot. It should be given through the 

 pipe of the watering pot without any " rose " on 

 it, and given carefully so ."-.s not to wash the .soil 

 away from the plant. The best way is to water, 

 not the plants, but the rocks— -the force of the 

 flow is thus bi'oken, the soil is not disturbed, and 

 tl e plants are watered just as well as if it was 

 poured direct into the " pocket." This saves 

 time too, for the same care is not required — the 

 water flows all over the stone and waters all the 

 ])ockets that survottnd it. 



Again, when watering do it li berally, give a good 

 saturating, and tlien leave it alone for a few days. 

 In very hot midsummer weather it will be all the 

 better to water every evening, but if for any 

 reason it is in(;on\enient or impossible to do so. 

 no harm will result, they will go for three or fotu- 

 days even, at that time, witliout suffering. In 

 s|)ring, when growth is commencing, a good 

 watering once or twice a week is enough. In 

 autumn once a week cr ten days is plenty, unless 

 there is some very hot dry AAeather, when they 

 should be watered about tliT'ee times a fortnight. 



It will be seen f.lierefore that the laljotn- of 

 watering is not very deadly. 



In one corner of the house a dipping tub sliould 

 be provided, not only for the conAenience of 

 dipping the can to fill it, but in order that, being 

 kei)i, ftdl, yoti have a. supply of water near tlie 

 temperattu-e of tlie house, so that t.he plants are 

 not chilled by the cold water fresh from the 

 supply pipe. Jf the supply laid on to the liouse 

 is " soft " like the ^ artry water supplied to 

 Dublin, it may be freely used for all purposes : 

 btit if it is " hard "—that is, contains a quantity 

 of dissolved lime, it shoidd not be used. It will 

 be necessary then to make provision for catching 

 the rain-water from the roof, eitliei in a series of 

 tubs or in a lai-ge cistern, made by sinking a. hole 

 in the floor and lining it with cement. This is 

 a laborious and costly job. and keeps the water 

 really coolei' than we wcndd like it. A cou])le of 

 paraffin barrels cut in half will make four service- 

 able tubs, which will give a suilicient snpi)ly. 

 These may be all connected together, either near 

 the bottom, by a siiort straiidit piece of lead pipe, 

 or, better, near the overflow Ica el at to]) by a 

 bent lead pipe which reaches from the l.'ottorn 

 C)f one t,o the Ijottom of the other. This acts as ai 

 syjthon and keejis the water level the same in 

 all four tubs. It is better t han the former method, 

 as there it is very diflicult to prevent a leak, which 

 will drain the tubs ; wlu-re the connection is 



