168 



GARDEN GUIDE 



that a number of boxes be used if the area to be decorated is longer. 

 The boxes should always be made rather solidly. Often they can be 

 bracketed to the porch; when this is not possible some simple standard 

 can be devised. If legs are placed on the box they should be a trifle 

 wider apart at the floor. Round urns or hanging baskets are prefer- 

 able to most boxes which must stand on the porch. 



Self -Watering Boxes 



Self-watering boxes made of iron are on the market. There is a 

 small reservoir for water at the base; sponges communicate the water 

 to the soil. The boxes need watering only every week or ten days. 

 They cost from $1.50 to $4, according to their size and amount of 

 ornament. Care must be taken that drainage is good and the reservoirs 

 are not filled too fufl of water. 



Porch Boxes or 

 Hanging Baskets 



Porch boxes or 

 hanging baskets are 

 easily made. White 

 pine, red cedar or 

 cypress are the best 

 woods. They are less 

 injured by the con- 

 tinual moisture re- 

 quired in a box of this 

 sort. When finished 

 they may simply be 

 painted to match the 

 house or they may be 

 covered with cedar or 

 other bark. They 

 may be shghtly 

 decorated by using 

 crosspieces of fine 

 twigs. 



Excellent hanging 

 baskets are made 

 from heavy ox muz- 

 zles. Rend the muz- 

 zle so that it is flat- 

 ter and more basket- 

 shaped, attach three 



(ii'tn laUic-ework against a white house, with the 

 Geraiiiuius and Scarlet 8age. This makes all the dif- 

 ference between elegance and bareness 



