BORDER 43 



top-dressing each fall of well rotted manure. If the ground 

 is not very rich, a sprinkling of ashes or some commercial 

 fertilizer may be given from time to time. The border 

 should be planted so thick as to allow the plants to run 

 together, thereby giving one continuous effect. Most 

 shrubs should be set 3 feet apart. Things as large as 

 lilacs may go 4 feet and sometimes even more. Common 

 herbaceous perennials, like bleeding heart, delphiniums, 

 hollyhocks, and the like, should go from 12 to 18 inches. 

 On the front edge of the border is a very excellent 

 place for annual and tender flowering plants. Here, 

 for example, one may make a fringe of asters, gera- 

 niums, coleus, or anything else which he may choose (see 

 Flower Beds). 



The border is an excellent place in which to colonize 

 native or other interesting plants. A person comes across 

 an attractive plant on his tramp and wishes it were in his 

 garden. Whatever the time of year, he may break off the 

 top close to the ground, take up the roots and plant them 

 in the border. If a little attention is given to the plant for 

 the first two or three weeks, as watering or mulching or 

 shading, it should become established and give satisfac- 

 tory bloom the following year. Two-thirds of the herbs 

 which one would take up in this way, even in midsummer, 

 should grow. Into the heavy borders about the boundaries 

 of the place the autumn leaves will drift and afford an ex- 

 cellent mulch. If these borders are planted with shrubs, 

 the leaves may be left there to decay, and not be raked off in 

 the spring. The general outline of the border facing the 

 lawn should be more or less wavy or irregular, particularly 

 if it is on the boundary of the place. Alongside a walk or 

 drive, the margins may follow the general directions of the 

 walk or drive. 



There are three rules for the choosing of plants for a 

 hardy border. Choose (1) those which you like best, (2) 

 those which are adapted to the climate and soil, (3) those 



