THE JOYOUS ART OF GARDENING 



Overcrowding. — It is customary to plant shrubs and young 

 trees closely for immediate effect, with the praiseworthy in- 

 tention of t hinni ng out later, but the thinning is rarely done, 

 and there is no way for the shrubs to secure the space they 

 need but the jungle method of killing one another until only 

 the strongest survive. If, therefore, the plants are too close 

 for comfort, dig them up in the early spring, while still dor- 

 mant, and set them at a peaceable distance from one another. 



If Your Flowers Don't Grow 



They May Be Too Near Trees. — Gardeners have a quite un- 

 necessary panic if the bole of a tree is not hidden by shrub- 

 bery, and if nothing whatever is planted beneath, and yet 

 half of a tree's beauty is in the outline of stem and branches 

 balanced by the quiet stretch of greensward beneath. If 

 grass will not grow, the trees when left to themselves will 

 usually provide a very charming carpet of brown dead leaves 

 and little hardy ferns; but to attempt flower-beds underneath 

 them is a mistake — ^both trees and plants will be unhappy, 

 and the trees will do their best to prevent you. Elms will 

 eat up everything within reach and send their roots fifty feet 

 if necessary, and to plant such "heavy feeders" as roses or 

 dahUas near them is but to plant disappointment for oneself. 

 But you can plant Hlies-of -the- valley, and tuck into the ground 

 any quantity of early flowering bulbs which will come up 

 year after year in the grass. This is more satisfactory to all 

 concerned. 



Plants in the Wrong Place. — Be sure to find out the situa- 

 tion a plant likes before sowing the seed or setting out the 

 root. It is useless to expect sun-loving plants to bloom in 

 the shade; they won't do it; but there are many plants that 

 not only Hke but require partial shade, such as tuberous 



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