xviii How to Make a Flower Garden 



Usually we water our lawns too much, making the grass shallow-rooted 

 and causing it to fail early. Every inducement should be made for the 

 grass roots to go down. 



In very shady nlaces, as under trees and wide eaves, it is very difficult 

 to secure a good sod. In such cases we must rely on other plants for the 

 carpet-cover. Of these other plants, the best for the North is the common 

 running myrtle, or periw^inkle. Sods of this make an immediate and per- 

 sistent cover. Lily-of-the-valley also makes a fairly satisfactory ground- 

 cover in some places. If the soil is damp, the moneywort may be tried, 

 although it sometimes becomes a pest. Take note of the ground-cover in 

 all shady places that you come across. You will get suggestions. 



Put walks where they are needed — this is the universal rule; but be 

 sure they are needed. In the - beginning you will think you need more 

 than you actually do need. How to get the proper curve ? 'Perhaps you do 

 not need a curve. There are tw^o fixed points in every walk — the beginning 

 and the ending. Some walks lack either one or the other of these points, 

 and I have seen some that seemed to lack both. Go from one point to the 

 other in the easiest and simplest way possible. If you can throw in a gentle 

 curve, you may enhance the charm of it; and you may not. Directness 

 and convenience should never be sacrificed for mere looks — for "looks" 

 has no reason for being unless it is related to something. 



For. main walks that are much used, cement and stone flagging are 

 good materials, because they are durable, and they keep down the w^eds. 

 There is no trouble in making a durable cement or "artificial stone" walk 

 in the northern climates if the underdrainage is good and the cement is 

 "rich. " For informal walks, the natural loam may be good ; or sharp gravel 

 that will pack; or cmders; or tan-bark. For very narrow walks or trails 

 in the back yard I like to sink a ten-inch-w4de plank to the level of the 

 sod. It marks the direction, allows you dry passage, the lawn-mower 

 passes over it, and it will last for several years with no care whatever. In 

 flower gardens, a strip of sod may be left as a walk; but the disadvantage 

 of it is that it retains dews and the water of rainfall too long. Some of the 

 most delightful periods for viewing the garden are the early morning and 

 the "cleanng spell" after a shower. 



There should be no fence unless there is a reason for it. Some persons 

 seem to want fences just for the purpose of having them. Of themselves, open 

 fences are rarely ornamental or desirable. They are expensive property. 



