October, 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



233 



Plan Now for Next Year s Perennial Border 



THE man of moderate means who 

 desires to see his small garden 

 plot a mass of bloom during the 

 summer months, and indeed well on in- 

 to the fall, is often at a loss to know how 

 best to achieve his purpose, and at the 

 same time keep his expenditure with- 

 in reasonable bounds. His quest for 

 information leads him from time to 

 time to the classic treatises on garden- 

 ing, and he is told to raise this in heat, 

 to prick that off and harden in a cold 

 frame, to pot on the other, and to 

 pinch out a fourth species of plant, 

 until he recoils in despair from the ef- 

 fort to master the technicalities of the 

 science of horticulture, and either calls 

 in the jobbing gardener to "clean up" 

 the borders or abandons the attempt 

 to achieve order out of chaos. 



He is not, perhaps, the owner of a 

 greenhouse and a frame, and even if he 

 were he has not the leisure to devote 

 the many hours that are necessary to 

 the successful raising of seedlings or 

 the propagation of cuttings. All these 

 operations are fascinating in the ex- 

 treme to the amateur who boasts 

 proudly, and not without reason, to 

 his neighbors of his batch of plants 

 from seed, or that bed of plants from 

 cuttings. It is the aim of most 

 amateurs to be able to say, "T did 

 that. It is my own work from begin- 

 ning to end." 



This is all very good; but as I have 

 said, it is not everybody who has the 

 means, the time, or the inclination to 

 attempt such horticultural flights. 

 What, then, is the alternative? It 

 lies in the cultivation of that clnss of 

 plants known as hardy perennial? No 

 finer sight can be imagined than a 

 well-stocked herbaceous border when 

 the flowers are at their best in July, 

 Augusit and September.' The formal 

 beds of scarlet geraniums and blue 

 lobelia, beloved of the jobbiTig garden- 

 er, pale into significance beside the 

 stately grandeur of well-grown peren- 

 nials. The initial cost of such plants 

 hardly exceeds that of more formal 

 bedding subjects, and once overcome 

 the owner of a group of hardy peren- 

 nials has the satisfaction of knowing 

 that his purchases possess the merit 

 of permanence. 



The great attraction which tho 

 perennial border has for the averag" 

 amateur gardener is that when once il 

 has been well and trulv planted — that 

 is to say, when a suitable soil medium 

 has been provided, and due attention 

 has been paid to the requirements of 

 the plants in regard to disposition and 

 situation — it demands comparatively 

 little attention, save for an occasional 



John Gall, Inglewood, Ont. 



loosening of the surface soil with hoe 

 or fork, and an annual top-dressing of 

 manure. The plants take care of them- 

 selves. They put forth their fresh 

 green spikes through the soil with the 

 advent of sunny days in April, they at- 

 tain the zenith of their splendor in 

 summer and early fall, and then die 

 down to be stirred into activity again 

 and again as season follows season. 

 Preparing the Bed. 



First of all, in planting a pereiniial 

 border — and, indeed, in every other 

 branch of gardening — comes the pre- 

 paration of the soil. In the well-order- 

 ed garden this will be done in late 

 •summer or early fall. The chief point 

 to remember in preparing the soil for 

 perennials is that the border is to be 

 the home of your plants for a number 

 of years. The less you disturb them 

 the better they will grow. Therefore 

 dig deep and dig thoroughly. If you 

 find that the good soil is two feet deep 

 you may rest assured that you have it 

 at sufficient depth. 



It is possible, however, that you will 

 have to contend with heavy claj^ or a 

 light sandy soil, and that the drainage 

 of the subsoil may be imperfect. The 

 great object to be aimed at is to give 

 your perennial plants a sufficiently 

 deep root run. Where the top layers 

 of soil are defective they should be 

 treated so tliat, if they are too light, 

 moisture-retaining substances are in- 

 corporated, and if too heavy, the 

 lighter qualities of sand and road grit 

 may be introduced, so as to bring about 

 a better condition of porosity. 



The building up of a border with 



entirely new material will be found to 

 be a somewhat expensive undertaking, 

 but where it is possible the results will 

 be nothing but satisfactory if the fol- 

 lowing method be adopted: The old 

 soil should be taken out to a depth of 

 two or three feet, the subsoil loosened 

 for purposes of drainage, and the 

 vacant space filled in with layers of 

 well-rotted manure towards the bot- 

 tom, old pieces of turf, road grit, and 

 loamy soil. The surface should be 

 raised and rounded to allow for the 

 inevitable shrinkage which will follow 

 as the soil settles down. 



And here let me emphasize the de- 

 sirability of generosity in regard to the 

 width of the border. If the plants are 

 not to be cramped for room ; if they are 

 to be allowed to flourish, and to attain 

 the breadth and height that are natural 

 to them, then be assured that they will 

 only reach the standard of perfection 

 of which they are capable if they be 

 accorded spacious treatment. By this 

 I mean a border not less than four feet 

 wide, and if possible six. Its length 

 will, of course, depend upon the 

 dimensions of the garden — the larger 

 it is the better chance will it give of 

 effective grouping and the adoption of 

 suitable color schemes. 



What to Plant. 



It is an education in gardening to 

 .'study the catalogues of some of the 

 leading growei-s of perennials, such as 

 advertised in The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist, and who furnish them free on 

 application. The classes are all care- 

 fully tabulated, and contain notes of 

 the utmost value to the amateur. 



Beekeepins und the Krowinjf of fruit and flowers make a .splendid combination. Tliis Illus- 

 tration shows ithe combined apiary, orchard and garden of Wra. GHbhs, Appin, Ont. 



