April, 1914 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



97 



It 



down. Should the soil be heavy, or the 

 situation damp, it is necessary to put in 

 a two or three inch drain pipe along the 

 lx>ttom of the trench. The joints of the 

 pipes must be covered with a turf, grass 

 side downward, then cover with the 

 rubble, coarse and fine gravel as before. 

 A foot is about deep enough to dig 

 the trench. These directions serve for 

 all ordinary purposes, remembering, of 

 course, wherever a drain-pipe is put in. 



that it must have a slight slope in the 

 direction of the outlet. Paths may be 

 surfaced with gravel, ashes, flagstones, 

 concrete or cement. Where gravel or 

 ashes are employed, the middle of the 

 path must be slightly higher than the 

 sides, and it is most important where 

 these are used, that the rubble and coarse 

 gravel is well pounded before the fine 

 gravel is put on. The gravel should be 

 about three inches deep. 



Plans for This Year's Garden 



J. McPherson Ross, Toronto, Ont. 



WHEN planning the improvement 

 of your home surroundings, have 

 in mind some special feature of 

 ornamentation, either by trees, shrubs, or 

 flowers, different from your neighbors 

 within the bounds of good taste. See in 

 your mind's eye your house as a picture 

 and your grounds surrounding as the 

 frame to set it off. 



When an artist paints a picture he has 

 first the story to tell. Then with the aid 

 of his canvas, paints and brushes and 

 technical skill he tells the story as best 

 he can. 



The gardener gives us the real pic- 

 ture. True he has the real sky above him 

 and real nature and things to work with. 

 Then on the canvass of his ground he 

 spreads the green grass, either by sod- 

 ding or seeding it. With real plants he 

 produces real flowers. Real trees grace 

 his lawn, and real roses climb up his 

 cottage window. 



To have a nice front lawn it should be 

 pro[>erly laid out, and to do this let me 

 point a few rules to observe : Never 

 plant anything in front that will obstruct 

 the view from the window to the street, 

 or obstruct the view from the street to 

 the house. In other words, plant your 

 garden so that it will look nice from the 

 house or the street. 



Have as much grass as you can. Noth- 

 ing looks better than a nice, green, neat- 

 ly-kept lawn. Place your walk as much 

 to the side of your lot as possible and on 

 that side which you use when you leave 

 your house going or returning from busi- 

 ness. Leave enough room on the nar- 

 rowest side to allow a shrub or group of 

 three to grow in. This enables you to 

 have a larger lawn in front of the house 

 curving your walk gracefully to the 

 steps, and to branch the walk to a side 

 path to suit children and the butcher and 

 baker for kitchen demands. 



If your ground is low raise it up so 

 as not to have water standing on it after 

 the spring thaws or heavy rains. Noth- 

 ing is more disagreeable than to have to 

 wade through water on the paths. 



if your plot is large enough to have a 

 border let it commence ten or fifteen feet 

 back from the front fence, running back 



with dividing fence as far as you wish 

 and desire to plant. If your neighbor 

 and you are good friends, get him to 

 start his border opposite yours having 

 both front outlines run back irregularly, 

 that is never a straight line but vary it 

 as nature does planting your tallest 

 shrubs at the back, the tallest perennials 

 also, tapering down to the front, finishing 

 with some plant that serves as an edg- 

 ing, such as sweet alyssum or sea thrift, 

 pinks. 



Start your border on the other side on 

 the large side of the lawn in front of your 

 house by the steps, and carry it around 

 to the fence and down towards the 

 street. Never put a bed in the centre of 

 your lot or lawn as it spoils the effect, 

 and breaks it up. A bed of geraniums in 

 the centre of your lawn looks like a scar- 

 let patch on a green coat. 



Aim to make your lawn or grounds 

 look as large as possible and also at sim- 

 plicity of design, so as to have a grander 

 effect of masses of growth in flowers and 

 shrubs. This is done by having one or 



two borders full of plants, not breaking 

 it up by numerous meaningless small 

 beds. 



Another important feature of your 

 home improvement is to make your place 

 attractive in winter. This can be done 

 by having a few evergreens grouped in 

 threes or singly. The contrasting effect 

 of evergreens with the winter snow is 

 fine. Evergreens give an air of com- 

 fort to the place by their appearance. If 

 you have a steep terrace or bold bank 

 its stiffness and barrenness is removed 

 by planting a few dwarf evergreens start- 

 ing near the bottom and gradually work- 

 ing your way diagonally across till you 

 come to the top, dotting an evergreen 

 here and there, just as you may notice 

 them growing up some farm hillside. For 

 this purpose the junipers are just the 

 thing or a few shrubs may be sparingly 

 planted for the same purpose. 



In the way of manuring, dividing and 

 keeping the weeds down you may have 

 by a judicious selection, plenty of flow- 

 ers and foliage the season through. 



The earliest flowering plants should al- 

 ways be planted in the most conspicuous 

 place. Such plants as the Bleeding 

 Heart follow any bed you may have of 

 tulips or hyacinths. On the edge of the 

 border or bed in front have a mass of 

 pansies and forget-me-not, or a clump of 

 daisies are pleasant to see. In the shady 

 place caused by a fence or the side of 

 the house, close to a walk, have a clump 

 of lily-of-the-valley and some ferns. Two 

 or more paeonies in variety are indis- 

 pensable. Their bold character of foliage 

 and flower make them fine lawn plants, 

 either singly or in a group. 



The Firat Prize Lawn of Ex-Mayor Guait, St. Thoma*, Ont. 



