WHY GARDENS GO WRONG 



begonias, many varieties of lilies, petunias, Coreopsis, Cali- 

 fornia poppies. And mignonette has no objection to it. If 

 there are shady places which must be planted, you can always 

 put in ferns or lilies-of-the-valley, Monarda, German iris, 

 pansies, or forget-me-nots. 



Wrong Soil. — ^Any one knows that some flowers grow wild 

 in moist, shady places, others in dry, barren spots; therefore 

 one cannot expect that within a garden all will like the same 

 diet. The wise gardener will do one of two things; either he 

 will plant such things as will like his soil, or else he will fit his 

 soil to the plants he wants in his garden. With a stiff, clayey 

 soil and plenty of manure, one can have roses, dahlias, zinnias, 

 in abundance; with a light, sandy soil one can have poppies, 

 nasturtiums, and tea-roses in luxuriance, but not sweet peas. 

 Therefore, before planting, find out what manner of soil your 

 plants prefer, and whether you can meet their preferences. 



Wrong Watering. — ^All plants like to have their leaves 

 sprinkled, but to sprinkle the soil about them as a means of 

 giving the roots a drink does very little good, and a thorough 

 soaking once a week is infinitely better than a shght daily wet- 

 ting. When flowers or vines are planted near a house they are 

 in especial danger of suffering from lack of water and should 

 have much more than in other situations. Among the plants 

 which are heavy drinkers are dahlias, heliotrope, forget-me- 

 nots, Japanese iris. Nasturtiums and poppies both will starve 

 and go thirsty contentedly, only blooming the better. 



Overcrowding. — ^This is a frequent cause of ill health. Prob- 

 ably more plants fail to realize the gardener's expectations 

 from lack of thinning in early life than from any other one 

 cause. When sweet peas turn yellow and look blighted, over- 

 crowding in infancy is almost always the reason. It requires 

 quite a little heroism on the part of the gardener to properly 



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