624 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



folium}, and Forsythia suspensa, the yellow bloom of the free-arching Forsythia coming 

 while the Berberis is showing its own yellow bloom, and still holds its leaves of winter red- 

 bronze colouring. Ivy and St. John's Wort are obvious plants for such use, but their 

 monotony makes them less desirable than the more interesting treatment of shrubs with 

 low or spreading growth. Scotch Briars are also excellent for this kind of planting, while 

 if the bank occurs in a shady spot, or has a cool exposure, it will be a good place for 

 hardy ferns. 



Pots and Potting. Flower pots or pans used for growing plants of any description 

 in should always be cleaned before being employed. If they are new, and have not been 

 exposed to the weather, dip them in water twenty hours before 

 they are used, as quite new pots, not so treated, often absorb 

 much moisture from the soil. All that have been used should 

 be thoroughly washed , and, if green, scrubbed clean in strong 

 hot soda water and well dried before they are again used. What 

 are called crocks or drainage usually consists of such split or 

 broken pots as are invariably found where flower-pots are used. 

 If there are, however, few of these, some soft red bricks broken 

 up, not too finely, make good drainage. One rather flat piece 

 of crock or potsherd should always be placed over the pot hole, 

 , -p . and on that from half to one inch of broken rubble, large or 



PI g small according to the size of the pot. Still it should not be 



a .riant. overdone. In filling with soil put on to the crocks a few of the 



coarser pieces of the soil first, as the finer soil is then prevented 



from washing into and choking the rubble. Always use a proportion of one part in ten 

 or so of sharp white sand with potting soil. 



Repotting means the changing of a plant from a small pot into a larger one. The 

 larger pot should not, as a rule, for all ordinary pot plants, exceed the smaller sizes by 

 more than one size or two at the most, that is to say, if the smaller pot be a 48 that is, 

 selling at 48 to the cast it will be 5 inches across the top inside measurement. A good 

 shift is into a 6-inch pot or 32, or it may be needful to transfer the plant to an 8-inch pot 

 or 24 size. The plant is easily removed from the small pot by turning it upside down, 

 resting on the left hand, and with the right hand taking hold of the inverted pot. Give 

 the edge a sharp tap on a table or potting bench. The plant then slips out from the pot 

 at once. In refilling, first remove from the ball of roots all drainage, as the new pot should 

 be provided with fresh drainage before the plant is put into it. In the case of a very hard 

 ball, some of the soil may be removed with a pointed stick first. Then repot, not deep, 

 but firmly. 



Rabbit Proof Plants. It is not easy to compile a list of plants that rabbits refuse to 

 touch, for these pests to the gardener will consume almost anything. Plants, too, that 

 rabbits refuse to touch in one neighbourhood, because doubtless of an abundance of more 

 appetising food, are devoured wholesale elsewhere ; and whether the winter be mild or 

 severe is another point, in truth during a very hard winter everything practically is 

 consumed. The following plants, however, are not favourite food for the rabbit: 

 Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Spurge Laurel, the Sabine or Juniper, Furze, the Forsythias, 

 Jasminum nudiflorum t Tree Pseonies, the Snowberry (Symphoricarpus), Butcher's Brooms 

 (Ruscus aculeatus and R, racemosus}, Boxthorn (Lycium barbarum), Spindle Tree 

 \Euonymus europaus), Privet, Yuccas, Hydrangea Hortensia, Wig or Smoke tree (Rhus 

 Cotinus), Box, and the Hibiscus (H. syriacus) ; hardy herbaceous plants, Flame-flowers 

 (Kniphofias, better known as Tritomas), Irises, Winter Aconite, Daffodils, Solomon's 

 Seal, Lily of the Valley, Periwinkle, Aquilegias (in variety), Dog-tooth violets (Erythro- 

 niums), Scillas, Delphiniums (Perennial Larkspurs), Primroses, Anemones, Aubrietias, 

 Violets, Canterbury Bells, Foxgloves, Poppies, Cineraria maritima, Stachys lanata 

 Muscari (Grape Hyacinth), and Arabis. 



Seed Sowing. How few persons, even those who have long been gardening, seem to 

 understand the proper way to sow seeds. Almost every one, and amateurs especially, 

 sow seeds far too thickly, with the result that they commit a double fault, for not only are 

 seeds wasted, but much extra labour is created in thinning the seedlings. Such seeds as 

 vegetables and annual flowers are generally sown fully three times too thick, as the great 

 thinning needful shows. Plants in their seedling stage are so crowded that they are 

 often strangled in their birth as it were. Seeds sown in pots, pans, or boxes under glass 

 need the same care in not sowing too densely. It is much better when plants have to be 

 transplanted to give them the chance of becoming strong before the change is made. 

 Heavy seed sowing benefits the seedsman at the expense of the gardener. 



Seeds, Ordering. All seedsmen issue lists of their seeds, and one of these lists can 

 always be had on application to the trader. It is good policy to obtain two or three lists, 

 one especially being from some first-class firm, because new things are more likely to be 

 found in such a catalogue. Of these novelties purchase a few yearly to try them. Some 

 will give great pleasure, some will be disappointing. Always look carefully over the lists, 



