HARDY BORDERS AND ROSE GARDENS 197 



CHAPTER IX 



HARDY BORDERS AND ROSE GARDENS 



PERENNIAL BORDERS 



Of the many ways in which the cultivation of flowers is under- 

 taken none is so popular as the " mixed " or " hardy " border (Fig. 

 155). Such borders are seen on nearly every property and occupy 

 different and varied positions. They may be planted in front of 

 shrubbery belts (Fig. 156), in the kitchen garden (Fig. 159), along 

 sides of walks (Fig. 165), and against walls and buildings (Fig. 157). 



LOCATION OP HARDY BORDERS 



It is to be regretted that hardy borders are usually placed to 

 the rear of the house. Although some perennials do have a short 

 season of bloom, and others are not provided with pleasing foliage, 

 even with these deficiencies, if the selection of plants be carefully 

 made, borders may be so planted that they will be attractive all 

 through the season. On small places particularly, the flowers should 

 be in the front, much as they are in the cottage gardens of England, 

 where borders along walks and fences are so attractively treated. 

 In these plantings it is obvious that the floral arrangement is given 

 preference to the outline of the beds and this is as it should be. 

 Irregular beds of meaningless outline should be avoided and the 

 simplest forms adopted. 



AVOID BORDERS NEXT TO A HEDGE 



Perennial borders should never be planted against a hedge; it 

 is preferable to leave about two or three feet between the hedge 

 and the bed. Many plantings are ruined after the first year or two 

 by the roots of hedge plants which grow apace in the enriched soil 

 of the flower borders. 



TURE EDGE FOR BEDS 



When borders are placed along walks it is advisable to leave 

 at least eighteen inches of turf (Fig. 166) between the bed and the 

 walk. It is difficult to mow and trim a narrower strip. 



