224 



Gardening for Amateurs 



and wood ashes, as these substances are 

 retentive of moisture. It is important that 

 manure should be well mixed with the soil 

 and not placed in layers. 



With regard to drainage, sandy soils, very 

 light soils, and soils on gravel will need none. 



Standard of Rose Grace Molyneux (Hybrid Tea), cream and 

 apricot shades. 



The drainage for heavy soils can be attended 

 to whilst the trenching, already dealt with, 

 is being done. The drains should be laid 

 about 3 feet below the surface, and should 

 have an outlet into a deeper ditch or pond 

 if possible. They can be made with the 

 ordinary brick pipes, or with stones and rubble 

 (see page 109). 



When the space allocated to the Rose 

 garden has thus been drained (if necessary), 



trenched, and more or less manured, the 

 beds can be laid out.- These may be made 

 in any shape or form to suit the owner, 

 but it is generally admitted that for bedding 

 Roses it is best to have somewhat narrow, 

 rectangular beds, 4 to 4J feet wide, so that 

 all the plants can be at- 

 tended to easily without 

 the necessity of treading 

 on the soil. In beds of 

 moderate size it is easier 

 to mass Roses of a sort 

 together, and yet have a 

 fair number of varieties. 

 Before proceeding to plant 

 the Roses the soil that has 

 been trenched should be 

 allowed to settle. This 

 will take from three to six 

 weeks, and if a longer time 

 can be given so much the 

 better. 



The Best Time for 

 Planting Roses is un- 

 doubtedly from the third 

 week in October until the 

 end of November the 

 earlier the better if the 

 season be a normal one, 

 and if the soil be in a 

 proper condition for the 

 work. The soil should 

 be so dry that it does not 

 adhere much to the tools 

 used, yet it should not be 

 really dry, but in a nice 

 friable condition, easy to 

 work, and, though damp 

 to handle, not sticky. 

 Anybody who has to deal 

 with a wet, sticky clay 

 should keep some good 

 loamy soil in a shed, or 

 covered from the wet somehow, so as to 

 have it at hand for covering the roots of 

 the Roses when planting. It is import- 

 ant that the plants be put in firmly, and 

 the soil well trodden, and this would be 

 difficult, if not impossible, when dealing with 

 wet clay ground. 



Having arranged our beds, if, say, a dozen 

 Roses are to go in a bed, dig twelve good- 

 sized holes from 1 to 2 feet across, and in 



