266 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



an untidy appearance to the whole. That this 

 objection, to a certain extent, is justified will 

 be admitted, and for this reason their presence 

 in the immediate vicinity of the principal 

 flower-garden, where everything visible should 

 possess the appearance of freshness and vigour, 

 is thought by many good gardeners undesirable. 

 In spite of the reasonableness of this objection, 

 there are now numerous gardens all over the 

 country where herbaceous plants are largely 

 used in the formally laid-out parterres with 

 good effect, in combination with tender plants, 

 annuals, tuberous-rooted Begonias, Cannas, Gla- 

 diolus, &c. Such arrangements, whilst not ad- 

 mitting of the vivid effects of massed colours, 

 are exceedingly gay all through the summer 

 and autumn, and are very satisfying by reason 

 of the greater variety of plants employed, as 

 compared with the usual style of planting; and 

 they are maintained at a much less cost. There 

 are, after all, but few establishments where a 

 suitable situation cannot be found for an her- 

 baceous border — not in an out-of-the-way cor- 

 ner, as if the intention had been to hide it ; nor 

 in the front of shrubs, often under the dis- 

 advantage of being impoverished by the roots 

 and shaded by the overhanging branches of the 

 latter; nor, which is still worse, in the vicinity 

 of deciduous trees, whose branches shade and 

 whose wide-ranging roots permeate every inch 

 of the soil, causing the lingering but certain 

 death of the flowering plants. 



The generality of herbacc is plants are light- 

 loving subjects, which, to have a fair chance of 

 succeeding, should never be placed where they 

 will not enjoy a circulation of air, and full ex- 

 posure to the sun. They enjoy a moderate 

 amount of shelter, i.e. sufficient to break the 

 force of the easterly, northerly, and north-west- 

 erly winds; and either trees at a distance, a 

 bank planted with shrubs, or a wall that may 

 happen to exist, will afford them the necessary 

 protection without causing attenuated growth. 

 By far the greater number enjoy a rich deep 

 soil, and if possible annual or biennial trans- 

 planting, when the ground should be trenched 

 and well manured. It must be borne in mind 

 that these plants come from widely separated 

 parts of the w r orld, where the climatic and 

 other conditions under which they exist are 

 extremely various, and where some of them 

 may be subject to a considerable amount of 

 frost; and amongst them are many species 

 which will stand our severest winters if they 

 are kept comparatively dry about the crown. 

 To still further assist such as these, a little 



hillock of dry ashes or exhausted tanner's bark 

 placed round them is of great use. 



With a view also to the well-being of many 

 herbaceous perennial plants during the winter 

 season, the decayed tops, their natural protec- 

 tion, should not in the autumn, for mere ap- 

 pearance' sake, be cut too closely off, especially 

 in the case of such as have continuous hollow 

 stems, for in these the portion left serves as a 

 receptacle for water, which does serious injury 

 to the buds at the base, destined for the future 

 season's growth. In digging amongst these 

 plants the fork is a much more suitable imple- 

 ment than the spade, being less calculated than 

 the latter to injure the surface roots and the 

 labels put down to indicate where the plants 

 are situated. In the herbaceous garden such 

 labels are indispensable, and should be made of 

 good oak-wood or of metal. 



The Bock-garden. 1 — There is a wide difference 

 of opinion with regard to the formation of rock- 

 work in flower-gardens and pleasure-grounds. 

 Some would aim at a representation of mountain 

 scenery, but such should never be attempted 

 unless it can be worked out on a grand scale, 

 as at Chats worth. It is not necessary to see 

 rocks piled on rocks, as they may be seen in 

 nature, unless it be to show how vain and in- 

 significant are the efforts of man to imitate 

 nature; but from the natural aggregation of 

 rocky materials on a comparatively small scale, 

 useful hints may be derived, particularly from 

 those which are associated with vegetation. 



The primary object of a rock-garden should be 

 to afford facilities for the cultivation of a beau- 

 tiful and interesting class of plants — the alpines 

 — which either would not thrive at all, or could 

 not be seen to the greatest advantage, when 

 planted on level ground. It is also formed so 

 as to hide objects not desirable to be seen from 

 the pleasure-grounds or other points. 



Whilst some alpine or rock-loving plants re- 

 quire stations raised above the immediately 

 surrounding parts, others cannot endure much 

 sun, others again succeeding only in the shade. 



In the construction of a Rock-garden it is 

 not requisite that the interior portion should 

 consist of good soil, but the whole of the 

 surface, not less than a foot in depth, should 

 be of good quality, and if more, so much the 

 better. If in the locality stone can be had 

 at little cost, a partial admixture of it all 

 through the soil will be productive of good; 

 but where stone is costly, the mound may be 

 constructed up to a certain point of any access- 



i See also under Hardy Perennial and Alpine Plants. 



