120 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



loam and leaf -mould once a year. With them this 

 is a natural treatment, for in their native homes they 

 get a covering of fallen leaves every autumn, which 

 no doubt, is the reason why their roots come above 

 ground. Gardeners are too apt to think that plants 

 which do not like manure do not need to be fed in 

 any way; and shrubs like Rhododendrons and Aza- 

 leas often fail to do well in gardens because their soil 

 is never enriched. In their native homes they too 

 get an autumn mulch of fallen leaves, and they should 

 have it in captivity. A good dressing of leaf-mould 

 once a year will feed them and protect them from 

 drought. Gardeners, for the sake of neatness, will 

 often sweep all shrubberies clear of leaves and never 

 remember that they are thereby robbing them of 

 their natural nourishment. If the fallen leaves are 

 removed they should always be replaced in the form 

 of leaf-mould later on. 



This is but common sense in gardening; and the 

 whole business of feeding plants should be governed 

 by common sense, that is to say, by an understanding 

 of every plant's requirements. One of the first things 

 that a good gardener seeks to know about a new plant 

 is the nature of its roots, and when he knows^ this he 

 can at least conjecture something about its treat- 

 ment. He knows, for instance, that a surface-root- 

 ing plant is more likely to suffer from drought than 

 one that roots deeply. He knows that a plant with a 

 single crown and a thick fleshy root is more difficult 

 to divide than one with a number of crowns and a 



