HARDY FLOWERS. 



winter is once come, almost every gardener, although animated with 

 the best intentions, simply prepares to make war upon the roots of 

 everything in his shrubbery border. The generally accepted practice 

 is to trim, and often to mutilate, the shrubs, and to dig all over the 

 surface that must be full of feeding roots. Delicate half-rooted 

 shrubs are often disturbed ; herbaceous plants, if at all delicate and 

 not easily recognised, are destroyed ; bulbs are often displaced and 

 injured ; and a sparse depopulated aspect is given to the margins, 

 while the only " improvement" that is effected by the process is the 

 annual darkening of the surface by the upturned earth. Walk 

 through gardens in winter and spring, and observe the borders 

 round masses of shrubs, choice and otherwise. Instead of finding 

 the earth covered, or nearly covered, with vegetation close to the 

 margin, and each individual developed into something like a respec- 

 table specimen of its kind, we find a spread of recently- dug ground, 

 and the plants upon it with an air of having recently suffered from 

 a whirlwind, or something or other that necessitated the removal of 

 mutilated branches. Rough-pruners precede the diggers, and 

 bravely trim in the shrubs for them, so that nothing may be in the 

 way ; and then come the delvers, who sweep along from margin to 

 margin, plunging deeply round and about plants, shrubs, or trees. 

 The first shower that occurs after this digging exposes a whole net- 

 work of torn-up roots. There is no relief to the spectacle ; the same 

 thing occurs everywhere in a London botanic garden as well as 

 in our large Westrend parks ; and year after year the process is 

 repeated. While such is the case, it will be impossible to have an 

 agreeable or interesting margin to a shrubbery j albeit the impor- 

 tance of the edge, as compared to the hidden parts, is pretty much 

 as that of the face to the back of a mirror. Of course all the labour 

 required to produce this unhappy result is worse than thrown 

 away, as the shrubberies would do better if left alone, and merely 

 surface-cleaned now and then. By utilizing the power thus wasted, 

 we might highly beautify the positions now so very objectionable. 



If we resolve that no annual manuring or digging is to be per- 

 mitted, nobody will grudge a thorough preparation at first. The 

 planting should be so arranged as to defeat the digger. To graduate 

 the vegetation from the taller subjects behind to the very margin of 

 the grass is of much importance, and this can only be done 

 thoroughly by the greater use of permanent evergreen and very 

 dwarf subjects. Happily, there are quite enough of these to be 



