NATURALISING BULBOUS PLANTS 



NATUEALISING BULBOUS PLANTS IN GRASS- 

 LAND AND SHRUBBERIES 



Perhaps there is no better or more artistic way of improving the 

 appearance of the landscape, especially during the early months of 

 the year, than by the judicious planting of certain kinds of bulbs in 

 the lawn or on grassland generally. Many kinds are admirably 

 adapted for this purpose, inasmuch as they produce their blossoms 

 from early January till the end of March, just the season when there 

 is little growth of the herbage, and when it will not be necessary to 

 use the lawn-mower. To secure an effect, it is necessary to plant 

 hundreds and thousands according to the area of the lawn or grass- 

 land, and in most cases the work of planting should be done in 

 autumn. By copying nature as closely as possible, far finer and more 

 picturesque effects will be secured. Anything in the way of planting 

 in straight lines or rows, or keeping one kind of bulbs away from 

 another, should be avoided. 



Perhaps one of the best methods of securing a natural appear- 

 ance would be to mix the bulbs that are to be planted and then strew 

 them over the ground. Some will be naturally closer together than 

 others, but it is this very irregularity of distance that will produce 

 the ultimate charm when the bulbs are in blossom. There will be 

 masses of flowers in certain spots, while here and there between them 

 will be stray blooms or smaller clusters. The bulbs having been 

 strewn over the ground in the way indicated, they may be planted in 

 holes made with a dibber. This will take some little time according 

 to the number of bulbs used, but once the work is finished it will not 

 require doing again perhaps for many a year. The holes made by 

 the dibber can be filled in by brushing some fine soil over the grassy 

 surface or by dropping a handful in where necessary. 



Where new lawns are being made in the autumn, or when it is 

 advisable to lift the turf to drain the soil beneath by deep digging or 

 trenching, advantage may be taken of such operations to spread the 

 bulbs over the ground before replacing the turf on top of it. In this 

 way time and labour will be saved, and the soil beneath the turf will 

 be all the better for the turning over it has received. 



When it is intended to plant bulbous plants amongst trees in 

 shrubberies, it will be well to remember that some trees and shrubs 

 are evergreen whilst others are deciduous. Amongst such evergreen 

 plants as Ehododendrons, Kalmias, Ericas, Pernettyas, Cherry 



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