154 VILLA GARDENING PART ii 



before the present temperate house of Kew was built, it could have 

 been demonstrated how well adapted many of them were for form- 

 ing permanent features under glass, and how simple and easy their 

 management was. A well-drained border, 2 feet or so deep, formed 

 of healthy soil — a little pruning after flowering is over, just to 

 keep the outline right and maintain symmetry — a good supjDly 

 of water and an occasional wash with the syringe or engine in 

 summer — are all that is needed. The time will come when this 

 class of plants will be more sought after, to the great advantage of 

 both plant-growers and proprietors of gardens ; but to revert again 

 to their culture in pots, which will always be the most popular 

 system, as the two or three months they pass iu the open air ripens 

 the wood and induces a free-flowering habit, I shall just say a few 

 words about 



Training, etc. — All plants are improved liy more or less pinch- 

 ing and pruning, which is usually done in the case of flowering 

 specimens immediately after the blossoms fade. The plants are 

 then pruned back as much as is necessaiy to put them into shape 

 and maintain the proper balance of strength. Without a little 

 trimming many plants will become loose and straggling in habit, 

 and wear out at the base. Young plants should receive attention 

 from the first by having the points of the strong shoots nipped, to 

 induce a bushy habit. Of course the work needs discrimination, 

 as most of the plants under consideration flower on the young wood, 

 and, except in the case of young jDlants in the com'se of formation, 

 the pinching should not be continued lar into the growing season. 

 As regards training with stakes and ties, any plant capable of sup- 

 porting itself in an erect position does not require staking. If it 

 has a loose rambling habit, the finger and thumb applied when 

 the shoots are young will correct it, strengthen the base, and often 

 give an unlikely-looking subject a gracefid flowing outline. To 

 stake a plant and make it look well with the least possible number 

 of supports, and these not too conspicuously placed, is like making 

 a bouquet — it requires a trained eye and skilful fingers. Some 

 l^eople are born with that faculty, whilst others never seem to 

 acquire it; hence the reason why so many ungainly looking specimens 

 are met with. The addition of a few slender stakes, if rightly 

 jjlaced, will often improve a plant considerably. Passing a collec- 

 tion of plants through the hands of a good plantsman is like putting 

 a batch of raw recruits through the hands of a smart drill-sergeant 

 — it sets them up and pulls them together, so to speak. Of course 

 I do not say that for home use both the plants and the men might 

 not be as well without so much setting up, but they would not 

 pass muster in public. And whoever aspires to take a leading 



