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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 19 14 



I. A prim, old-fashioned garden with informal plantings 



season 



foot junipers, fine arborvitae, Japanese yew, 

 $2.50. For the benefit of those who would 

 like to have an idea of the cost of the gar- 

 dens here suggested, rough estimates of 

 the initial expenditure for plants and of the 

 amount of labor required to start and to 

 maintain the various designs have been 

 made. To some these amounts may seem 

 very high, but it must be remembered that 

 there is no necessity to finish the garden at 

 once; in fact, it is better to let it grow 

 slowly, adding a little each year. But 

 to assure unity of effect, it is advisable to 

 have in mind a general plan though it be 

 modified from time to time. 



The choice of plants is partly determined 

 by the plan, partly by the personal pre- 

 ference of the gardener, and partly by 

 conditions. That is to say, no matter 



of herbaceous, perennials in beds. Essentially a summer 

 garden 



how well a given shrub or plant fits into 

 the design, no matter how much the gar- 

 dener may like it, if it will not stand the 

 heat or the cold of his particular plot, it will 

 not serve his purpose. Likewise, he must 

 beware of rampant growers and root- 

 spreaders, of coarse foliage and bulky 

 bushes. The best known shrubs — lilac, 

 syringa, snowball, viburnum, flowering 

 currants, spice bush — are entirely too 

 bulky; many of the perennial sunflowers, 

 sumach, zinnias, annual hop, Virginia 

 creeper are too coarse. Before selecting 

 plants it is advisable not only to read up 

 but also to visit nurseries and the botanic 

 gardens. Especially is this necessary in 

 the case of shrubs for many of those best 

 suited for city planting are little known. 

 Plan I. is, I am inclined to think, the best 



II. A distinctly formal treatment of the prim, old-fashioned garden with annuals and bulbs 



in itself because it has a marked centre of 

 interest to which all the paths lead, and 

 about which the planting is naturally 

 grouped. For a prim, old-fashioned gar- 

 den it is particularly well adapted. Two 

 distinct schemes for its planting suggest 

 themselves, according to either of which 

 it will be lovely from May to October, but 

 during the winter the view from the win- 

 dows will be bare and uninteresting. Laid 

 out with grass paths and box-edged rose 

 beds, with a small sun-dial in the centre 

 and a wooden seat built against the north- 

 ern fence along which hollyhocks had been 

 planted, it would be charming. On the side 

 fences the various clematises could be 

 trained and the laundry-yard could be 

 partially screened by climbing roses, planted 

 every three feet and trained on arches or 

 on poles connected by chains. For this 

 the ramblers are too rampant in their 

 growth; the pillar roses like Reine Marie 

 Henriette or the less robust climbers such 

 as Mosella are much prettier. If standard 

 roses be planted along the main path a 

 very old-world effect is produced. If the 

 little polyantha roses be used instead, 

 the pathway effect is retained and a con- 

 stant bloom assured. 



An equally pretty garden may be se- 

 cured by a totally different planting. The 

 boundaries may be hidden by the same 

 vines or by such others as honeysuckle and 

 the trumpet creeper, the box-edging and 

 the pathway roses retained, but the beds 

 could be filled by old-fashioned plants — 

 sweet William, spice pink, larkspur, mig- 

 nonette, stocks, sweet sultan, ragged sailor 

 foxgloves, canterbury bells, scarlet lychnis, 

 ladies' slipper, hardy chrysanthemum, col- 

 umbines, poppies. These can be arranged 

 carelessly as in old gardens, or those of a 

 color may be grouped together, and of 

 course many other plants will at once come 

 to mind. No plants over 12 inches should 

 go in the front beds and even in the back 

 beds, 2 feet or at most 2% feet should 

 be the limit. Stiff plants like sweet 

 William look better than loose growing 

 ones but careful, inconspicuous staking will 

 accomplish wonders. Instead of box the 

 border may be of brick which looks quaint 

 or of stones which are less formal. The 

 bricks may be edged with the white clove 

 pink. Along and between the stones may 

 be planted low things — candytuft, moss 

 pink, Alyssum saxatile, arabis, forget-me- 

 not, lobelia, sweet alyssum. By planting 

 clumps of tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils 

 in the beds, scillas and snowdrops in the 

 edging, and crocuses through the grass, 

 flowers may be had from March to Novem- 

 ber for the crocuses push through the snow 

 and the chrysanthemums can often be 

 picked on Thanksgiving Day. 



The cost of a garden laid out according 

 to the first suggestion will approximate 

 $50,00. It would take a man three days 

 to dig it up, lay the sod, and prepare 

 the rose beds and probably another day 

 to do the planting. The box-edging, 

 which comes at about $5.00 a hundred 

 would amount to $12.00; the hollyhocks 





