240 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



soil to dry for several hours By midday the ground will be ready 

 for planting. It will be found to be in a nice, workable condition 

 instead of being wet and sticky, as might otherwise have been the 

 case if this simple operation had been neglected. 



During the leisured weeks of the dying summer the methodical 

 gardener will also have laid his plans with some amount of 

 precision. He will have decided upon the design of his bulb 

 beds, will have classified his colours, and will so have chosen his 

 varieties that in the case of a proposed mixed bed he will be 

 able to ensure simultaneous blooming. These are points that 

 may be left to individual taste, but important as they are for 

 the owners of large gardens and the possessors of deep pockets, 

 my immediate purpose is to give a few practical hints to the 

 amateur who possesses only a small plot of ground and who 

 desires to grow bulbs in such a manner as to produce a pleasing 

 effect. 



He may possibly have at his disposal a spare circular bed which 

 he wishes to devote entirely either to hyacinths, tulips or daffodils. 

 How should he prepare it and how plant it ? Diagram 32 will 

 be found useful in solving these problems. The first principle to 

 keep in mind is that the bed must be raised at the centre. Figure 

 2 depicts a simple device for obtaining an almost perfect circle. 

 It is that of an improvised compass, consisting of two pieces of 

 stick and a length of cord or twine After the bed has been thor- 

 oughly dug over it may be left to settle down for a week or ten 

 days. In order to produce a perfectly symmetrical effect the 

 bulbs before planting should be placed in position on the surface 

 of the soil, as indicated in Figure 3, and to ensure uniformity of 

 planting a dibbler, with a nail to mark the desired depth, as shown 

 in Figure 4, should be used 



Next the question arises : What shall be planted ? The 

 choice is infinitely various. If a formal bed be desired, nothing 

 can exceed in beauty a fine array of hyacinths or tulips. The 

 colour scheme should be well thought out. It may be decided 

 to grow only one variety, and in that case the thing is simple. 

 But it is possible to grow several varieties, so that the colours will 



