276 GARDEN PLANNING 



at the seedsman's never harmonize with the 

 foliage. 



Labels are often too much in evidence, 

 particularly in the early part of the year. The 

 white-painted variety has the virtue of being 

 legible for a time, but it is gone in a season. 



Labelling is a practice too often carried to 

 extremes. The gardener who knows his flowers 

 will use as few labels as possible, and then 

 only for such plants as bulbs and tubers, the 

 positions of which are apt to be forgotten 

 until their foliage pushes up out of the ground. 

 Much labelling may be saved by jotting 

 down on a rough plan of the garden the posi- 

 tions of any special plants of which it may be 

 desirable to keep a record. 



When the label is indispensable, it should 

 be made of durable material and its appear- 

 ance should be modest. I know nothing 

 better than the label which is cut from sheet 

 lead with scissors, and the name stamped on 

 with a set of steel letter punches. An alter- 

 native plan would be to scratch the name with 

 a steel point, say the tang of a file. 



Labels of this kind, if cut with a tail, may be 

 secured to trees by bending the tail round a 



