Gardening for Amateurs 



That Shady Border of Yours 



THE question of what to plant on is very heavy 4 to 6 inches of drainage, 

 a shady border is a difficult one, consisting of brick rubble and clinkers, must 

 confronting many garden lovers, the be placed in the bottom, of the trench as 

 town and suburban gardener especially. the work proceeds, first throwing out sum- 

 Some, having tried a few unsuitable plants, cient soil to make room for the drainage. 



say that very little can be 

 grown in such a position, 

 consequently the border in 

 the shade is neglected. 

 However, shady borders on 

 which some plants cannot 

 be successfully cultivated 

 are really very few and 

 far between. The worst 

 are those full of tree roots 

 and overhung with branches. 

 The keen lover of flowers 

 can do a great deal to im- 

 prove a border such as this, 

 though it certainly requires 

 more skill and attention 

 than one is accustomed to 

 give to the ordinary flower 

 border in an open, sunny 

 position ; but what of this ? 

 the greater the difficulties 

 the more intense will be 

 the pleasure when they are 

 overcome. 



The first thing to do 

 with a border overhung 

 with branches is to shorten 

 as many of these as pos- 

 sible without making the 

 trees look unsightly. The 

 next business will be to 

 trench the ground 2 feet 

 deep, taking out all tree 

 roots. If the soil is poor, 

 work in some chopped turf 

 and old, decayed manure. 

 The trenching must be 

 repeated every second or 

 third year, as the tree roots will soon 

 spread into the border again, especially 



Flower of the West Wind 

 (Zephyranthes Candida) as an 

 edging to a shady border. 



Burnt soil, wood-ashes, old 

 mortar rubble, and sweep- 

 ings from country roads if 

 mixed with heavy, wet soil 

 will improve it very con- 

 siderably. Another method 

 of improving heavy clay 

 soils is to dig in lime freely 

 during October, and turn 

 over the ground at least 

 three times during the 

 winter, leaving the surface 

 very rough, so that the 

 weather may act on it, 

 and deferring the planting 

 until March. 



THE BEST KINDS TO 

 GROW 



The following hardy 

 perennials can be confi- 

 dently recommended for 

 shady and partially shaded 

 flower borders. 



Aconitum (Monks- 

 hood). The hooded flowers 

 are in handsome spikes, and 

 appear during July and 

 August. A. Napellus, blue, 

 and its varieties, alba, white, 

 and bicolor, blue and white, 

 are the best ; they grow 

 3 or 4 feet high. 



Anemone. The Japan- 

 ese Windflower (A. japonica) 

 is one of our showiest and 

 bet autumn-flowering 

 perennials. The plants grow 

 2J to 3 feet high, occasionally more. There 

 are numerous named varieties ; the prevailing 



when the soil is improved. Another type shades of colour are rose, pink and white, 



of border is one facing north, in which The Panque Flower (A. Pulsatilla), 9 inches 



the soil is heavy and wet. Trenching again high, with purple blooms in early summer, 



is the secret of success, and if the soil and its white variety, alba, may be tried. 



