THE HEATH GARDEN 111 



ground, light -loam or sandy ground will be found 

 the best rooting medium, and this will be greatly 

 improved if it is trenched one and a half feet in 

 depth, and a few inches of peat and decayed leaves 

 forked into the upper layer. It is not advisable 

 to dig out beds to a depth of one and a half or 

 two feet and fill them with peat, as better results 

 are obtained if a few inches of peat are forked into 

 the surface soil of the natural ground. Even 

 when lime is prevalent, and this has to be removed, 

 it is better to partly fill the bed with sandy soil 

 free from lime than with peat." 



Many are perplexed as to the correct time to 

 plant heaths, but as this authority says, "This is 

 not of great moment, any time between August 

 and March being suitable providing the weather is 

 not very dry or frosty. The plants should be trod 

 firmly into the ground, and as soon as they are 

 planted given a good watering, followed by a top 

 dressing of decayed leaves. One point in their 

 cultivation which is not always heeded is the cut- 

 ting back of the shoots after flowering is over. 

 This cutting back removes the seeds and the plants 

 are not impoverished, as would be the case if the 

 seeds were allowed to mature. It has the ad- 

 vantage of keeping the growth compact. Heaths 



