Laying Out a Garden. 13 



For spring bedding, many of the dwarf kinds of 

 Roses, Pansies, Verbenas, Phlox, Carnations, Lilies, 

 Freesias, Amaryllis, Arums, Mignonette, and many of 

 the annuals can be tastefully arranged ; while summer 

 beds could be rilled with Chrysanthemums, Petunias. 

 Coleus, Iresine, Heliotrope, and many of the Zonal 

 Pelargoniums make a good show. The lovely pink 

 flowering Geranium (Souvenir de Chas. Turner), with 

 a border of silvery-leaved Centaurea candidissima, has 

 also a good effect. For late autumn, carpet-bedding, 

 with the different varities of Alternanthera, Gazania 

 rigens, Variegated Succulents, &c., would look pretty. 



HEDGES. 



Well kept hedges cannot fail to give a neat ap- 

 pearance to a garden, while badly kept ones always 

 look neglected and untidy. This is, however, seldom 

 the fault of the plants or the soil, but often depends 

 in a great measure on the way in which the plants 

 are cut or clipped. In the majority of cases, hedges 

 are allowed to become overgrown at the top, and are 

 invariably cut flat like a table. This prevents the sun 

 and air from reaching the bottom, and thus the plants 

 become ragged and full of gaps. 



Hedges should always be cut so as to bring their 

 tops up to a point ; for example, a hedge 4ft. high 

 should have 2ft. of its sides brought up straight 

 like a wall, and the other 2ft. should be cut in a 

 slanting direction on each side so as to form a 

 pointed ridge. Hedges of this kind require to be cut 

 as soon as they begin to grow out of shape, and, 

 with attention, will always remain . compact and tidy. 

 The following are a few plants suitable for this 

 purpose : 



Pittosporum undulatum. This is one of the best 

 plants for hedges or screens for a windy position. 

 It has dark green leaves and clusters of sweet- 

 scented white flowers in spring. For a further 

 description see page 44. 



