298 AROUND THE YEAR IN THE GARDEN 



and holding them in position by shoveling some soil onto 

 the tips : this must be removed as soon as possible in spring. 



Get together now all the material you will need for winter 

 mulching during the next few weeks. For the hardy bor- 

 ders, bulb beds, box-wood edgings, rose beds, less hardy 

 shrubs and vines, etc., well-rotted, dry, strawey manure is 

 one of the best things to use. Gather up fallen leaves and 

 keep them in a dry place, as they will be useful for many 

 purposes, and any surplus will be valuable for composting 

 with manure for hot-bed material, and supplying humus for 

 garden, frames, or potting soil. For the rose garden, where 

 the bushes have to be protected above ground, dry leaves are 

 excellent. Procure a generous supply of evergreen boughs; 

 they are useful for many purposes in putting the garden to 

 sleep for the winter. For strawberry beds, covering for 

 frames, etc., bog-meadow or salt marsh hay is the most de- 

 sirable material it is free from weed-seeds, inconspicuous, 

 and stays put. If that cannot be procured, get rye or oat 

 straw. Get as much as you are likely to need of all these 

 things in advance, and have them where they will be ready 

 to use, under cover and dry, when things freeze up for 

 keeps: remember that the purpose of mulching is to keep 

 things frozen, not to protect from frost. 



Roots for Forcing 



Before the ground freezes hard, take up a supply of 

 rhubarb, asparagus and sea-kale roots for forcing under the 

 greenhouse benches or in a hot-bed, during the early winter 

 and spring months. Use a sharp spade or cut down about 

 them before lifting with the lawn edger or a hay-knife 

 and remove them with a generous lump of soil, kept as 

 intact as possible. The safest way is merely to cut about 

 and under them, making sure that they are loose, and then 

 leave them where they are until they freeze solid, after 

 which they may be moved to some cold shed where they 

 will remain frozen, but be get-at-able when wanted. 



