390 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



two years' time this garden has become as full of interest and 

 beauty as it was desolate and barren before, and a wonder to 

 those whose knowledge was not equal to their love." 



Much that is written in this work applies with equal force 

 to the town garden as well as the garden in the country, 

 especially with regard to the greenhouse and its management, 

 window-boxes, and plants in rooms. 



Absence of Light and Tree Planting. One of the great draw- 

 backs to town gardening is the absence of light. Suburban 

 and town streets are frequently over-planted with trees, which 

 cast their shadows over road and pavement, create damp path- 

 ways, and shut all sun and air from the dwelling itself pre- 

 cious life-giving agents, without which no home is wholesome. 

 Never shut out the sunshine by erecting a large greenhouse or 

 by planting trees in such a way as to throw shadows into the 

 living rooms. Frequently Horse Chestnuts, Limes, Planes, 

 and, in truth, forest trees are planted close to a small house. 

 The garden, perhaps, is lined with Poplars, or things as vigor- 

 ous and tall in growth, with the result that the soil of the 

 garden is full of hungry roots, plants refuse to behave respect- 

 ably, and the house itself is dark and unhealthy. Nothing of 

 tall growth should be planted near the suburban house, and 

 there is no reason why things fit only for the forest should 

 enter the forecourt of a suburban residence, and we have in 

 mind now small houses and gardens, not even those in which 

 space is provided for a tennis court or spacious lawn. Under 

 these conditions Quinces, masses of Lavender and Rosemary, 

 Siberian Crabs, Medlars, Thorns, and any of the beautiful 

 deciduous flowering things of comparatively moderate stature 

 recorded in our chapter upon Trees and Shrubs, the Almond, 

 Rose Acacia, Catalpa (even this is too large as a rule), the 

 Silver Birch, where it will succeed, Paulownia imperialis, 

 Guelder Rose, Laburnum, Fig, A ilantu s glandulosa, Flowering 

 Currants, Ribes sanguinea and its varieties, especially atro- 

 sanguinea, the flowers of which are deep crimson ; the Pyruses, 

 not forgetting the delightful dwarf growing Pyrus Mains flori- 

 bunda, one of the most charming dwarf shrubs in existence ; 

 Daphne Mezereum or the Mezereon, and the varieties of 

 Weigela (Diervilla), one of the best of which is Eva Rathke. 



The Weigelas are amongst the best of town shrubs. The 

 writer has seen the crimson-flowered variety Eva Rathke quite 

 happy even in a Chelsea garden, where against a southern 

 fence the shrub blossoms with great freedom until the late 

 autumn. Euonymus japonicus and its varieties, all evergreen, 

 are useful, and also of note are the Aucuba, Lilacs, the Sumach 

 (Rhus), Arbutus Unedo(i\\Q Strawberry Tree), unless the garden 



