GARDENING 



81 





Indian U. r///.-/.// uinl /""'""./'''" yield a yellow 

 te-iii. The name was given liy Linmrus in honour 

 <ii hi Uexander Garden, born in Scotland in in.so, 

 who prarti-ed medicine in South Ciirolina, became 



<>!ilillfl>! a- a liotallist, .Mhl died in London ill 1791. 



(.anlriiinu. or HoKTicu/rritK, tin; ordering 

 ami management of a garden, differs from agricul- 

 ture rhielly a- Keing conducted on a sinuller scale 

 ami with more minuteness, while concerned with a 

 Beater variety of subjects. As in a house, HO in a 

 garden (though the line is seldom quite distinct ), 

 part is devoted toeomfort and enjoyment, and the 

 other part to provision for them; the former part 

 forms the pleasure-ground, and tlie latter the 

 kitehen garden. Leaving vinery, pinery, hothouse, 

 greenhouse, \-c., as special mat tern, we glance 

 brieily at our subject in this distribution. 



The pleasure-grounds comprise the lawns, the 

 walks or drives, the flower-beds, ornamental trees 

 and shrublxery, and, in large places, terraces, lakes 

 and fountain-, statues, rockwork, fernery, and the 

 like. 



The kitchen-garden, being designed for the 

 supply of fruit and vegetables, contains the trees, 

 plants, and bushes needful for that purpose, with 

 proper walks for access to them, and appliances, such 

 as hotbeds, pots, and frames, &c., for advancing or 

 improving them ; and is of ten enclosed either partly 

 or wholly by a wall, which shelters and promotes 

 the growth. 



( 1 ) The pleasure-ground ( or flower-garden), how- 

 ever small, has almost always one grass-plot, which 

 is called a lawn, though it may be out a little one. 

 Whether space be scant or ample, the lawn is the 

 leading feature and the most pleasant part of the 

 pleasure-ground, and it should be well kept first of 

 all. This can be done at small expense by frequent 

 use of the 'lawn-mower,' which has quite super- 

 seded the scythe wherever the slope of the ground 

 permits it. It is, however, of prime importance 

 that the grass should be of the proper kind, and 

 not of rank or wiry growth. Hence the most perfect 

 lawns are made by the sowing of carefully selected 

 seed rather than by laying turf, though the latter 

 is the quicker process. In any case, the use of the 

 roller must not be neglected, and during the time 

 of rapid growth the lawn-mower, set for cutting 

 clo-e, should be employed at least twice a week. 

 But it is a mistake to mow very closely during 

 periods of drought. All weeds should be extirpated 

 as soon as they appear, and moss ( which is in damp 

 situations the worst of all foes) must l>e checked 

 at once, or it will soon destroy the herbage. 



The ivalks are even more important in many 

 cases than the lawn or lawns, and unless they have 

 been made with skill and care they will always be 

 troublesome. A dry, compact, and even surface, 

 without which no good walk can be, is not secured 

 without depth of substance, proper form, and good 

 drainage. The depth should be at least 12 inches, 

 to secure freedom from weeds and worm-casts, as 

 well as a firm, dry surface. Nine inches of brick- 

 rubbish, clinkers, chalk, burnt earth, or other open 

 and absorbent matter should underlie 3 inches of 

 good binding gravel, and the middle should lie 

 rounded well to carry off' the rainfall, for which 

 purpose also there must l>e drain-traps on either 

 side conducting into cesspools, or other receptacles 

 of ample capacity. The position and frequency of 

 these drain-traps must depend upon the slope of 

 the ground, the average rainfall of the place, &c. 

 It is false economy to stint the width of walk, 

 even when carriages are not required. No walk 

 should be less than 5 feet in width, unless there is 

 some special reason, and 6 or 7 feet should l>e afforded 

 even to a side- walk of any importance. It is a 

 common practice to scatter salt or other poisonous 

 matter on walks to destroy the weeds or worms, 

 214 



but tin- remedy i- generally worne than the 



With piopi-i care a walk can I"- kept clean, and 



looks more cheerful without thene applications. 



As to the flower-beds, their arrangement and 

 run i po- it ion should depend upon the t.i-te of the 

 owner, which is too often .set. a-ide in favour of the 

 passing fashion. A common mistake in -mall 

 gardens is to cut up the grass into intricate pat- 

 terns with a number of fantastic flower-ledH, and 

 to lay them out in colours, like a window of stained 

 glass. Or even the same bed is planted with stripe* 

 and sweeps of eveiy tint produced by bloom and 

 foliage, and the still' artificial effect is called a 

 triumph of carpet- bedding. Happily tin- taste in 

 growing obsolete, and a more natural style in in 

 vogue again. But the opposite extreme must be 

 avoided, that of having flower-beds without flowers. 

 The borders should have at least two bright periods, 

 that of spring-blooming bulbs and tubers, from 

 March to the middle or end of May, and again that 

 of bedding plants, from the latter part of June till 

 the frost of autumn nips them. In the larger 

 flower-beds there are also some perennial plants 

 or shrubs of dwarf habit, such as roses, azaleas, 

 rhododendrons, and the like, which form the back 

 or centre, according to the slope. Whatever the 

 shape may l>e, every rlower-bea should have sutti- 

 cient slope of soil and definite edging, whether of 

 turf, or tiles, or box, or other dwarf-growing and 

 tidy plants ; and the surface should be dressed at 

 least once a year, if the soil cannot otherwise be 

 renewed, with rich material of neat appearance, 

 such as thoroughly rotten manure, decomposed 

 vegetable substance, &c., the darker in colour the 

 better, but light in substance, and not apt to bind. 

 The plants employed for summer bedding (which 

 should be done towards the end of May) have 

 generally been raised under glass in small pots, 

 and their variety is almost endless, new ones Iteing 

 introduced continually. As a general rule those of 

 prostrate or very low habit should be in front, with 

 taller growth towards the centre or back, and a 

 pleasing contrast or change of colour. Most of 

 them will flower for weeks in succession, if well 

 watered and not allowed to seed for the formation 

 of seed checks the growth at once. 



In large pleasure-grounds ornamental trees add 

 much to the beauty of the scene, by graceful form 

 or tint of foliage, and sometimes uy brilliance of 

 bloom or berry. As a general rule these should 

 stand far apart, unless there is something unsightly 

 to conceal, and should not be very near the 

 dwelling-house, except where shelter is needful. 

 The choice and arrangement belong rather to the 

 department of landscape-gardening, but. none 

 should be planted which have not been prrr^ed 

 capable of enduring the coldest winter or the 

 roughest weather they are likely to confront. This 

 caution applies especially to all the race of imported 

 conifers, few of which can withstand a winter of 

 exceptional rigour. Thus in the second half of the 

 19th century, in 1860, 1867, and 1881, that general 

 favourite the Abies, or Cedrus Deodara, has been 



freatly injured by frost, even in the south of 

 ngland. 



The shrubbery also is a pleasant adjunct wher- 

 ever space is plentiful, affording the coolest walk 

 in summer, and in winter the most sheltered. The 

 shrulis should be mainly evergreen, though a few 

 deciduous may be admitted for the sake of the bloom 

 or variety of colour. But forest-trees must not be 

 allowed to overhang and starve the dwarfer growth. 



Other features, such as terraces, lakes and foun- 

 tains, &c., pertain to the domains of the wealthy. 

 See works on landscape-gardening by Blom- 

 field and Thomas, Robinson, Downing, Elliott, 

 or Parsons. But a place without any great pre- 

 tensions may have its rockwork and fernery, 



