THE NEW BORDERS 33 



favourable to growth, and exact a heavy toll for their 

 services. (4) The staking already prescribed will secure 

 stability for the trees. Firm but not deep planting should 

 be practised. Long, straggling branches may be pruned 

 back half-way. The taller herbaceous plants may need 

 staking when they approach the flowering period. I 

 advise the use of strong six feet stakes painted green, as 

 they are not conspicuous. One will suffice in some cases, 

 but two and even three may be required for bushy plants. 

 One band a foot from the ground, and a second a foot 

 higher, are better than a single ligature. 



The majority of the shrubs are renewed in part every 

 year by cutting out flowered wood after the bloom has 

 faded, and leaving the new shoots to take its place ; this 

 conduces actively to health and flowering. But not less 

 important is the cutting up of herbaceous clumps and 

 working in manure every other year. Hundreds of people 

 think that if a flowering plant is a perennial it can be left 

 to look after itself. There is important work to do every 

 year in a border, and the more that is done the greater 

 the interest and pleasure in the garden. 



