September, 1915. 



t.. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



213 



The Month's Work in the Garden 



HANGING baskets, window boxes, 

 tubs, and other devices used 

 for decorative purposes, are 

 now so full of roots that the soil is 

 almost exhausted of all plant food. 

 To keep up a display of bloom and 

 maintain a bright appearance for the 

 few remaining weeks of summer, fre- 

 quent applications of liquid manure 

 are indispensable, and if chemical man- 

 ure is available it may be applied 

 ever}' second week. 



Flower beds and borders are at 

 their best, and every effort should be 

 made to maintain a neat, tidy appear- 

 ance. Decaying leaves, weeds, and 

 other litter should be picked up once 

 a week. Grass edges should be clipped 

 and the lawn mowed as occasion re- 

 quires. Strong winds are more or less 

 prevalent, and it is important that all 

 tall plants should be securely staked 

 and tied. 



Not infrequently an early frost kills 

 many of the more tender occupants of 

 the bed and borders, leaving the gar- 

 den in a chaotic condition during the 

 ensuing months of fine weather, when 

 probably there will be no signs of an- 

 other freeze. How many times at this 

 season of the year have you awakened 

 in the morning to find your window 

 boxes and hanging baskets, in addition 

 to the beds of tender annuals, a frozen 

 mass, which had to be thrown out with 

 many weeks of fine growing wenthor 



By Henry Gibson 



still to come. The disastrous effects of 

 these early frosts can be overcome to 

 a great extent by moving the hanging 

 baskets and tubs on to the porch over- 

 night. The window boxes can be 

 brought through quite a cold spell by 

 throwing an awning over them or cov- 

 ering with fine boughs or bracken 

 ferns. 



Flower beds may be protected by 

 driving in stakes at each end and run- 

 ning a stout piece of string from one 

 end to the other, and throwing over 

 these lines cheesecloth, burlap, or simi- 

 lar material. This may seem lots of 

 trouble, but the wealth of pleasure you 

 get from an extended flowering season 

 amply repays you for any trouble and 

 expense incurred. 



Propagating Bedding Plants. 



Cuttings of pansies, violas, pentste- 

 mons, pinks, geraniums, coleus, agera- 

 tum, salvias and other bedding plants 

 should be made as early as possible 

 during the month. The three last- 

 named should be attended to first, as 

 thev are more tender than the others, 

 and the first cold night is liable to kill 

 them. 



If you have a small greenhouse, such 

 as was described in the August issue 

 of the Canadian Horticulturist, all you 

 need to do is place some clean sand 

 about three inches deep in one end of 

 the bench and use it for propagating 

 purposes. Flats such as are used bv 



the florist are very useful and conven- 

 ient for rooting cuttings in. Haddock 

 boxes, purchased from the grocer, 

 make ideal flats. In the bottom place 

 about an inch of some coarse material, 

 as spaghum moss, coarse pieces of 

 turf, or other material, to provide 

 drainage, and prevent the soil running 

 through the cracks. The boxes should 

 then be filled to the top with a mix- 

 ture of old potting soil and fresh loam, 

 two parts each and one part each of 

 leaf mold and sand. This compost 

 should be passed through an half-inch 

 sieve. Press the soil firmly into the 

 boxes and level off. 



Cuttings should be taken from 

 shoots that are fairly firm and short 

 jointed. Trim off the lower leaves and 

 cut across immediately below a joint, 

 leaving the cutting about three inches 

 long. Dibble them in the bench or 

 boxes, two inches apart each way. 

 Firm the soil well about the base of 

 each cutting, and give a thorough 

 watering. Set the boxes in a cold 

 frame or cool greenhouse and shade 

 from bright sun. Cuttings of peren- 

 nial plants that winter kill in any lo- 

 cality mav be rooted in this manner. 

 The Hardy Garden. 



Now is the time to overhaul the 

 hardy garden or establish a new one. 

 Perennials raised from seeds sown 

 early and transplanted to nursery beds 

 are now large enough to plant into per- 



The Hardy Perennial Border In the Garden of Mr. R. B. Angus, Ste. Annes, Que. 



