172 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1909 





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£s not this post better than the usual insufficiently 

 set, wooden post that disfigures so many gardens? 



The method employed in building landing 

 blocks, flower boxes, and such rectangular 

 forms is practically the same, except that 

 the landing block should be built heavier 

 in proportion. 



For the moulds, all that is required is 

 a pair of boxes one to fit within the other, 

 leaving the desired thickness of the finished 

 object between. The larger should have 

 two wires around it to prevent spreading 

 of its sides. 



For a stepping stone three inches in 

 thickness should be allowed, while for 

 small flower boxes and window boxes 

 one inch and a half thickness will be found 

 strong enough. 



The boxes should be placed, one within 

 the other, the inner one inverted. After 

 a half-inch or so of concrete has been poured 

 into the sides, a strip of fabric should be 

 stretched around vertically and allowed to 

 lap a few inches, and the sides filled with 

 concrete. Another piece of fabric should 

 be laid over the bottom of the inner box 

 and project into the sides. The mould can 

 then be filled. 



In the case of flower boxes slits for drainage 

 should be allowed for. This may be done 

 by tacking thin strips of wood, wrapped 

 with paper, to the bottom of the inner box 

 where desired. They should, of course, be 

 as high as the thickness of the concrete box. 

 The paper wrapping will allow the strips to 

 be knocked out, without chipping the con- 

 crete. If a porch flower box is desired, it 

 is an easy matter to insert castors into the 

 corners of the box while the concrete is 

 still soft. 



IN THE GREENHOUSE 



The building of a concrete greenhouse 

 is perhaps more of an undertaking than 

 most amateurs would care to consider, but 

 with sufficient time and some assistance 

 it is by no means an impossible task. It 

 is, of course, impossible to give in this article 

 a complete plan and directions for the 

 construction of a greenhouse, nor is it 

 probable that such plans would meet with 

 the exact requirements of the prospective 

 builder. Certain suggestions, however, can 

 be given which will be found of use. 



Having chosen the situation, exposure and 

 general design of the house, it is necessary 

 to have a carefully drawn and accurately 

 figured plan prepared. 



Build the walls first of all. They should 

 be at least ten inches thick and should rest 

 upon a solid foundation. Before the con- 

 crete in the walls has set, the moulds for 

 the cross bars of the roof should be put 

 into place and reinforcing placed in the 

 wet concrete of the walls to hold the ends 

 of the cross pieces. These cross pieces 

 should be built on the same principle as 

 the clothes posts, with at least four J-inch 

 steel rods running through the entire length 

 of each. They can be moulded on a sand 

 bed and put into place afterward, but build- 

 ing them in place produces a stronger result. 

 Care must be taken to keep the mould 

 boxes from bulging. 



After the walls and cross bars have set — 

 and it is well to allow plenty of time — the 

 supporting frames can be removed and 

 moulds for the frames of the benches erected. 

 An examination of the accompanying photo- 

 graph, taken in a home-made greenhouse of 



A water barrel that once properly made is not likely 

 to spring a leak 



the lean-to type, will give a fair idea of the 

 general construction of these benches. 



After the concrete has been poured into 

 these moulds and while it is setting, the 

 flat slabs for the bottom can be made. 

 These are best made upon a sand bed and 

 should be about 16 inches wide, as long 

 as needed, and about 2 inches thick. Having 

 a smooth sand bed to work upon it is an 

 easy matter to lay out two-inch joists and 

 strips to form the moulds. Strong wire 

 fabric should be used in these slabs and it 

 should be within a half-inch of the bottom 

 if possible, as the strain will be greater 

 there. 



When the concrete in the moulds of the 

 bench frames has set the moulds should be 

 removed and the slabs put in place. They 

 should be laid so that there is a small space 

 between them to allow for drainage. The 

 next and final step in the concrete work is 

 to lay the floor. At any time after the 

 cross pieces of the roof have set, the glass 

 may be laid and cemented into place. 



There are, of course, a hundred little 

 things to be thought of that can only be 

 applied to each particular case. The prin- 

 cipal thing is to have the work so carefully 



planned that when it is once started there 

 will be no delay as each piece is formed. 

 Of course such a piece of work should not 

 be commenced so late in the season that 

 frost is liable to interfere before it is com- 

 pleted. When the construction of a garden 

 bench or other object, in which the outlines 

 are irregular, is contemplated it is best, 

 unless one is particularly clever with tools, 

 to let a carpenter build the moulds. 



AN UNROTTING SEAT 



The seat shown in the photograph was 

 made in a mould of two parts. The legs 

 and seat were all inclosed in a rectangular 

 box, within which was built a framework 

 to separate the legs and end panels from 

 the rest of the box and be a support for the 

 seat. Upon this seat support was nailed a 

 series of narrow strips wrapped .in paper to 

 form the openings. The legs were built in 

 the same manner as the clothes posts, with 

 a j-inch rod near each corner. The rods 

 in the back legs should extend clear up 

 through the end of the back, and those of 

 the front legs should be long enough to 

 follow the contour of the arms and tie 

 into the back with the other. 



After the concrete has been poured into 

 the legs a thin layer should be spread along 

 the front and back of the seat and upon 

 this J-inch rods laid, at least two on either 

 side. The seat can then be filled to a 

 thickness of about 2J inches. 



The frame for the arms and back should 

 then be put into place immediately and 

 filled with concrete before that in the lower 

 part has started to set. The frames for 

 the arms should follow their contour exactly, 

 and as the concrete is poured in short strips 

 of wood can be nailed over it to keep it in 

 form. The back should be filled from the 

 top and reinforced in the same way as 

 the seat. 



A POINT TO REMEMBER 



And, as a final word of warning to all who 

 are amateurs in this interesting branch of 

 garden work, do not be in any haste to re- 

 move the moulds. As stated, fifteen to 

 twenty-eight days is not any too long a time 

 in which to allow the concrete to become thor- 

 oughly dried out, although of course the num- 

 ber of days depends entirely on the weather. 



Garden seats and other kinds of furniture in con- 

 crete will afford occupation for ingenious minds 



