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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



October, 19 13 



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Around the Garden 



A MONTHLY KALENDER OF TIMELY GARDEN OPERA- 



TIONS AND USEFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS 



ABOUT THE HOME GARDEN AND 



GROUNDS 



All queries will gladly be answered by the Editor. If a personal 

 reply is desired by subscribers stamps should be enclosed therewith 



OCTOBER IN THE GARDEN 



By GARDNER TEALL 



O the observant eye even the first days of 

 October are attended by many little changes 

 that mark the rapidity with which Autumn 

 has advanced. The face of nature is chang- 

 ing, whichever way we look. We realize 

 how soon our lovely Summer gardens are 



to be taken from us, and for once Winter will seem to be 

 creeping stealthily over the border of Flora's realm like 

 an enemy bringing the warfare that later is to devastate 

 the kingdom of foliage. As we walk along our garden- 

 paths our way shall lead through fallen leaves and just as 

 Spring scenery awakes within us gladsome emotion so will 

 the Autumn landscape find us sorrowing perhaps. But we 

 know in our hearts that our beautiful gardens will not per- 

 ish, that they will be but resting under a season under the 

 kindly mantle of white Winter, to reblossom again when 

 another season shall call them to their awakening. And 

 then as we pause beneath 

 some friendly golden-leaved 

 tree and survey the intimate 

 prospect of the home gar- 

 den before us, we are re- 

 minded that if we would in- 

 crease the delights we have 

 found in it through the 

 months that are past when 

 next its glory is to shine 

 again, we must not lose time 

 now in planning for the de- 

 velopment of its beauties. 

 The pages of American 

 Homes and Gardens this 

 month give much space to 

 the subject of Fall Planting 

 as other October issues in 

 years gone by have done, 

 for this is, indeed, a month 

 of greater gardening activity 

 than September, though 

 many novices there are in 

 the gentle art of the trowel 

 who imagine that planting is 

 merely a Springtime annual 

 duty and not a May and 

 October Perennial pleasure. 



THE lawn will need a 

 careful October over- 

 hauling for here and there 

 bare spots are apt to be dis- 

 covered. A sharp rake will 

 loosen up the soil sufficiently 



Plant Perennials now for next season's garden effects 



for "treating" them. A dressing of pulverized sheep man- 

 ure should precede the seeding. In this connection the 

 amateur lawn-maker should be reminded that it is of great 

 importance that seed of the best quality be obtained from 

 a reliable dealer. When the raked surface of the bare 

 spots is seeded, the seeded places should have earth sprinkled 

 over them and well rolled down to prevent the seed from 

 blowing away. Many lawn makers imagine that grass 

 should be permitted to go uncut and to grow tall during the 

 late Autumn as a protection to the grass roots, but this is a 

 mistake. The lawn should be kept clipped until the grass 

 stops growing for the season. Another fallacy with lawn- 

 makers is the supposition that an unsightly top dressing of 

 stable manure is necessary for application to lawns. Pul- 

 verized sheep manure is of far greater value, a good top- 

 dressing of which will suffice. It is absurd to render the 

 lawn offensively unsightly through the Winter months by 

 the other method, and home garden-makers fortunately are 

 coming to appreciate this point of view. 



UNLESS the Winters in 

 a locality are very 

 severe the early October 

 days lend themselves to the 

 planting of ornamental 

 trees and shrubs, but in 

 one's choice of specimens 

 for planting local climatic 

 conditions should be taken 

 into account. It would be 

 well to consult some local 

 horticulturist of experience 

 or some reliable nurseryman 

 when planning for shrubs for 

 Fall planting. 



ROSES, too, may be set 

 out now before hard 

 frosts, and this will probably 

 insure early Spring bloom if 

 the newly set out Rose 

 bushes are carefully pro- 

 tected by a good mulch be- 

 fore the setting in of any 

 severe weather. Hardy 

 Climbing Roses should also 

 be planted during the 

 Autumn. Among the bush 

 Roses for Autumn planting 

 General Jacqueminot (red), 

 the crimson Prince Camille 

 Rohan, the Paul Neyron, 

 and the White American 

 Beauty should be surely 

 seleoted for Fall planting. 



