March, 1913 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



101 



Conducted by Ellen Eddy Shaw 



Beautifying the School Grounds 



THE school grounds and the home grounds, 

 too, must be beautiful in mind long before the 

 time comes for actual work. It often looks like 

 a hopeless task, especially when it is a school 

 question. The space is limited; it is all used for 

 playgrounds; the yard is flagged; the grounds are 

 too large, too great a task to attempt. These 

 conditions all exist somewhere. All may be met. 



Often it is wise to take only a small area to begin 

 with, even though the available space is unlimited. 

 Border planting is effective; a strip along the sides 

 and back of the school yard would use up little 

 space and would make a pleasing frame for the 

 school or playgrounds. Such a border may be used 

 for bulb planting in the fall. After the bulbs have 

 finished blooming in the spring the border may 

 be planted to annuals. It is wise to tuck in a 

 few perennials here and there to act as starters, 

 and to add an air of permanency to the garden. 

 Japanese iris, old-fashioned bleeding-heart, golden 

 glow, peonies and hollyhocks are all good for 

 this purpose. If the border garden is backed by a 

 fence or old wall, plant vines here and there, thus 

 forming a background for the planting and relieving 

 the dull monotony of a stretch of enclosing fence 

 or wall. 



One of the New York City "schools rung a little 

 change in this border planting which may be sug- 

 gestive for other schools. This school had an 

 enclosed yard for play walled in on three sides, 

 the school building itself forming the fourth side. 

 It seemed a hopeless place for gar- 

 den work. This was done: A strip 

 was measured off two feet from the 

 wall all along the three sides. It 

 was boxed in, and filled with soil, 

 the depth of the boxed space being 

 almost three feet. So a border gar- 

 den was made. Each grade had a 

 section of the garden for its own. 

 Vines were planted here and there 

 along the wall. Little space was 

 taken from the playground, and yet 

 much was added in beauty and in 

 gardening opportunity to the chil- 

 dren. 



Last month a number of vines 

 were suggested as good for use on 

 school grounds. The scarlet runner 

 bean is most satisfactory, for it is 

 ornamental and decorative as well 

 as useful. The hop vine is splendid 

 to use for a cover and for permanent 

 effect. 



If nothing more can be done this 

 year than to make an attractive en- 

 trance to the school, do that. Most 

 school doorways are either of for- 

 bidding brick or stone or else of bat- 



tered wood. A quick growing vine trained up over 

 the entrance radically changes the aspect. A school 

 entrance should be inviting. Even schools placed 

 almost upon the city sidewalk may have a root of 

 English ivy or ampelopsis planted by the doorway. 

 The country or town schools are not so restricted. 

 The woods offer other vines. A trumpet vine is 

 charming for a country doorway; wistaria, clematis, 

 rambler roses and cucumber vine are all pleasing. 



So many school gardens and community gardens 

 have ugly gateways and fences of barbed wire. 

 The simple entrance to the Rosedale Garden in 

 Cleveland, O., adds an air of charm and distinc- 

 tion to it. The idea is a pretty one and comes from 

 the old Japanese Tori. The Tori were put up 

 as entrances to cities and harbors to keep the evil 

 spirits away. Cedar uprights with cross pieces 

 of the same wood give a rustic and natural appear- 

 ance to the entrance way for the children's own 

 gardens and form a sort of Tori. 



Some schools having no ground space may not 

 be able to have any gardens at all. Why not make 

 a garden in outdoor window boxes? It is not 

 necessary to buy plants for these; start with seed. 

 Petunias, sweet alyssum, morning-glory, climbing 

 nasturtium, Phlox Drummondi, ageratum, wild 

 cucumber and gourds will flourish. If gourds are 

 used order the rather ornamental varieties. 



It is well to keep in mind the fact that nasturtiums 

 need a great deal of root space and morning-glories 

 do not. So in making the necessary calculations 

 for the outdoor window box plan to have very 

 few, say not more than four, nasturtiums in a 

 window box. For this reason they are not quite 

 so good to use as the morning-glory for vine effect, 

 because morning-glories require far less root space. 



If the school is set well back on a good piece of 

 land with a lawn in front, do not cut up this fine, 

 free space by planting here and there round beds 

 of flowers. Border the front walk with flowers, if 

 you like, but do not chop up the lawn. Gardens 

 should be confined to side and back yards even in 

 school planting. 



Shrubbery may be massed into nooks and corners. 

 In choosing shrubbery and trees for the school 

 ground make your choice educational. That is, 

 choose different varieties in order that the children 

 may become acquainted with a number of different 

 kinds of shrubs, different methods of treatment, 

 and different ways and seasons of fruiting. 



Whenever it is necessary to use barbed wire as 

 a fencing material, if rough posts of cedar are used 

 for props these posts may also be used as supports 

 for vines. Have the posts fairly near together and 

 plant rambler rose or vines of clematis, moonflower, 

 gourds or whatever you like at each post. Thus 

 the barbed wire fence is broken up into centres of 

 interest as well as beauty. 



Long, stupid, main paths in gardens may lose 

 their hot monotony by having vine-covered posts 

 and cross bars down their length, or by having 

 a long pergola covered with vines. This make as 



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A Washington. D. C school garden where border planting is used to advantage. 

 Bulbs form the early spring garden; seeds are planted in the same spaces later 



This vine-covered school doorway really invites 

 entrance 



path of shade through the garden, it is decidedly de- 

 corative and with seats here and there offers places 

 in which to rest, to study and to enjoy thegarden. 



The Work of the Month 



APART of this month's work may be done on 

 paper in view of the outdoor season soon to 

 be here. Some things to do are the following: 



(i) If it is not possible to try a chemical tonic 

 on house plants which look badly try liquid manure. 

 Dissolve barn yard dressing in water. Reduce with 

 water until it is the color of weak tea. Water the 

 plants with this once a week. Do not water the 

 begonias with it. They do not respond to the 

 treatment. 



(2) After a begonia has finished blooming 

 cut it back. That is cut off the plant until there 

 is only one third of it left. New growth will almost 

 immediately spring up. Nip off new shoots when 

 they are about three inches long, stick them in a 

 moist sand bed and within two weeks they will 

 have rooted ready to pot. In the potting of 

 little seedlings use very sandy soil. Have it at 

 least one third, if not one half, sand. Keep trans- 

 planting the little plants until the third time they 

 are able to stand ordinary soil. 



(3) Work out plants best suited to the light and 

 soil condition of your garden. For the garden with 



a sunny exposure almost any plant 

 will do. But where the garden has 

 a northern light and thus much 

 shade it is a problem. Try here 

 vinca, fuschia, ivy, geraniums, phlox, 

 begonias, asparagus, and Boston 

 ferns, myrtle and feverfew. In gar- 

 dens of east exposure plant begonias, 

 petunias, wild cucumber vines, nas- 

 turtiums and heliotropes. 



(4) In sandy soils try godetia, por- 

 tulaca, zinnia, nasturtium and sun- 

 flowers. In the rocky spaces sow 

 seeds of running nasturtium, por- 

 tulaca, columbine, candytuft and 

 baby's breath. If the soil in a part 

 of the garden seems impossible plant 

 that portion to clover. 



(5) Why not teach the children 

 their lessons in drill making and 

 seed sowing in boxes of soil or on the 

 sand table? Radish, lettuce, beet, 

 beans, corn, and all the other grains 

 do well for some time thus planted. 

 A child learns thus to know seedlings 

 and incidentally a great deal of arith- 

 metic and language work may be 

 done with this miniature planting. 



