32 THE NEW GARDENING 



latter period Chrysanthemums will do good service, while 

 Gladioli, Japanese Anemones, and Pentstemons are very 

 graceful. Late-blooming annuals, such as Godetias, 

 Clarkias, Love-in-a-mist, and China Asters, should be 

 sown here and there in April. 



With a system of planting such as this, I see no reason 

 why a substantial border, well furnished and gay with 

 bloom, should not be had in the second summer. Three 

 years from the planting those who knew the site in its 

 former bareness will exclaim in wonder at the transfor- 

 mation. 



Something will turn, of course, upon the soil and culti- 

 vation, and as I have laid stress on culture I will say what 

 I think are the best methods of getting " short-cut " 

 borders. 



The four principal influences on the growth of a plant 

 (apart from climate, which the gardener cannot regulate) 

 are fertility of soil, adequate moisture, shelter, and 

 stability. Perhaps these are in the order of their import- 

 ance : (i) Before we plant let us break the soil deeply and 

 manure it liberally ; these practices greatly increase its 

 fertility. (2) Let us endeavour to plant the trees and 

 shrubs, if not the flowers, in the fall, so that they get all 

 the autumn and winter rains. Only in low, wet, undrained 

 sites are the roots likely to suffer from excess of moisture. 

 Should a dry hot summer follow we can spread manure on 

 the soil around the trees to conserve the moisture. (3) We 

 cannot very well provide shelter for standard trees, but if 

 there is a belt of timber trees behind them, or a hill, they 

 will get some shelter. Coarse, strong shrubs like Laurels 

 and Aucubas may be planted at the back to shelter 

 choicer shrubs and herbaceous plants, but this should 

 only be done in cold, exposed places, for the vigorous 

 hardy kinds soon begin to encroach if the conditions are 



