USEFUL HINTS 623 



When potting room plants, remember it is most important to restrict the size of the 

 pots as much as possible. Palms are frequently happier with their roots cramped in a pot 

 than when allowed greater freedom, and disturbance at all is seldom necessary. We 

 have Palms that have been in the same pots for years. The soil is top-dressed once a year, 

 and during the growing time a little weak liquid manure is given. With regard to soil the 

 information given in the chapter upon greenhouse plants applies here. 



There is one point often forgotten, and that is of giving during the growing season a 

 little stimulant or "artificial manure," such as Clay's. Use this manure strictly according 

 to directions, not a least bit over, as it is powerful, and, like medicine given in excessive 

 doses, inflicts considerable injury. We have known plants killed by the excessive use of 

 artificial fertilisers. Soot water is excellent, and is easily made by putting soot in a small 

 sack and letting it soak through in a tub of water. Soot is useful to give in the spring, 

 and makes the foliage of deeper colour. 



The majority of insect pests may be removed with a tiny brush or with the hand. 



Planting and Sheltering an Exposed Flower Border. In dealing with a border of 

 this kind, and there are many similar positions in English gardens, we should advise, in 

 the first place, a careful planting of one of the best of our native evergreens, either Yew or 

 Holly. Which of these two it would be wiser to use should be decided by observing 

 which appears to be more vigorous in the neighbourhood. Both are slow of growth at 

 first, but grow fast when well established. In an exposed place no pains should be 

 spared to make this shelter planting effectual. Then you must have shelter shrubs. Pyrus 

 Malus floribunda is very hardy, flowering when quite young. Lilacs are amongst our 

 hardiest shrubs, flourishing even within the Arctic circle. Double Thorns would also do, 

 the double white being far the best. Laburnums also do well. Wistaria is hardy, and 

 is beautiful grown as a Standard, as is also Philadelphus (Mock Orange). It should be 

 remembered that all shrubs that are amenable to the standard form give much more 

 bloom. Brooms are hardy and beautiful, and there are many .kinds to choose from. 

 With these, or even a smaller selection of them as a sheltering background, nearly all the 

 best known border plants would succeed. 



Planting a Steep, Sunny Bank of Poor Soil. Amateur gardeners are often at a loss 

 to know how to deal with such banks as this, and the following hints may prove helpful. 

 In the latitude of London and the large portion of England that is to the south of it, 

 many of the shrubs and plants of the Mediterranean district succeed well on banks in poor, 

 warm soils that are naturally well drained, and receive the full heat of the sun. Con- 

 spicuous amongst these are the hardier of the Cistuses, Rosemary, Lavender, Santolina, 

 and Phlomis, all the Brooms, the sand-loving, bluish grass {Elymus arcnarius}, the Eryn- 

 giums or Sea Hollies, a large range of aromatic herbs such as Thyme, Marjoram, Cat- 

 mint, Furze of kinds, Broom, Lycium (Boxthorn), Brambles, not forg'etting the pretty 

 cut-leaved Rubus laciniatus, the Japanese Wineberry (Rubus phcenicolasius), picturesque 

 in growth and in fruit, and with slight preparation, the Japanese Rose (Rosa rugosa), 

 and the Scotch Briars. The situation is also favourable to the hardy Opuntias of recent 

 introduction. Such a place also shows to great advantage several plants that are com- 

 monly grown as climbers up walls or other supports, and that are quite as beautiful 

 rambling at will over the ground. Amongst these would be Clematis montana, which 

 is of extreme vigour, and bears a wealth of white flowers in spring, C. Flammula, 

 paniculata , graveolens , and the Old Man's Beard or Travellers' Joy (C. Vitalba). Many 

 of these Clematises are as beautiful when in seed as in flower. Every lover of the open 

 knows how charming is the hedgerow in autumn when the Travellers' Joy covers it with 

 its foamy seed tassels. Upon this bank could also be placed Everlasting Peas if the soil 

 is prepared deep enough for their great roots. Othonnopsis and Arnebia echioides 

 (Prophet Flower), the native and other heaths. These plants would give an ample list 

 for a very large space of ground. 



Planting Sloping- Banks in Garden Ground. No feature is more frequent in 

 gardens, whether large or small, than a change of level necessitating a flight of steps. 

 The change of level, if not retained by a wall, usually has for its fate the steep turf bank, 

 unbeautiful, awkward to mow, and in all ways a very " bad second" to the better way of 

 treating it as a slope planted with suitable bushy growths. Cotoneaster microphylla is a 

 most suitable dwarf shrub for this purpose, but only one of many that can be used in 

 like manner. Such a bank planted with Savin (Junipetus Sabina), an evergreen of 

 deep, low-toned colour, that accords with the most dignified of masonry, would always, 

 winter or summer, clothe it well, and be pleasant to see. The late Dutch Honeysuckle, 

 though not evergreen, is also a capital thing, for its masses of growth, interlacing in a 

 kind of orderly tangle, are by no means unsightly in winter. For banks of large size 

 there is Pyrus japonica, the free-growing Roses, or the double Brambles. For hottest 

 exposures there are the Cistinese (Cistus and Helianthemum) ; while some of these 

 and other sun-loving plants, such as Phlomis, Rosemary, and Lavender, can be used 

 in mixtures. A beautiful combination is of the common evergreen Berberis (B. Aqui* 



