242 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
June, 1909 
Wall Gardens 
By S. Leonard Bastin 
{I IS in the halcyon days of early summer 
that the wall garden is to be seen at its best. 
The shallow rooting places of the plants 
are yet moist with the rains of the spring- 
time, and the wallflowers can easily hold 
their own even with the plants in the bor- 
der. The scorching month of July, how- 
ever, is hardly at an end ere the glories of the wall garden 
are things of the past. With the coming of the warm 
showers of early fall the flagging plants are, in a measure, 
revived, but they are scarcely able to make a fresh start 
before the advent of the chilly winds and sunless days of 
winter. 
For the ideal wall garden an old wall is by far the best, 
one on which the passage of many years has softened the 
building material. The upper surface in its crumbling has 
provided a foothold for those pioneers of the garden—the 
mosses. Nature never delays long in scattering these lowly 
forms of vegetable life wherever their existence is possible, 
and long before larger plants could obtain a footing the mor- 
tar of the wall will be outlined in green velvet. So, as the 
years go on, generations of these mosses live and die, and 
each in dying will leave behind something which will add to 
the ever-increasing deposits of mold. 
As soon as the amount of mold is sufficient to sustain 
any higher state of vegetable life, the plants will come. 
How or whence it is not always easy to say. Sometimes, 
but not so often as one would expect, flying seeds alight on 
the wall and develop into mature plants. But in the ma- 
jority of instances we must look for some distributing agent, 
and we need not seek very far. Millions of all kinds of 
seeds are carried about on the feet of birds, and this is espe- 
cially so in damp weather when everything is moist and 
sticky. 
But it is one only among many who is fortunate enough 
to be the possessor of one of these fine old walls on which 
Nature has established the beginnings of a wall garden. 
Most of us must 
needs rely on our 
own skill to con- 
struct a_ situation 
for this most fasci- 
nating form of hor- 
ticulture. This is 
not so difficult as it 
might appear to be 
at first sight. Some 
of the finest of wall 
gardens have only 
been in existence for 
three or four years, 
and so_ skilfully 
have they been built 
and tended that 
they might well 
have half a _ cen- 
tury’s growth be- 
hind them judging 
by appearances. Of 
course, in such cases 
it is necessary to 
erect a special wall, 
The beginning of a wall garden 
and this business must be set about with great care. The 
best plan is to make a double wall of somewhat rough 
stones. ‘The use of mortar is not essential, although a little 
here and there will make a more satisfactory job. In any 
case, it will do no harm if the stones do not fit very well 
together, as in a general way the more crevices and holes 
there are the better. ‘The actual height of the wall is a 
matter which must be settled by the taste of the individual, 
although it may be suggested that about breast high is a 
very suitable measurement. 
When it is completed the wall should be gone over and 
the cracks and holes slightly enlarged in order to make 
decent-sized receptacles for the mold which should be pre- 
pared without delay. The nature of the composition is 
rather an important point, and a mixture which may be well 
recommended is that formed of leaf mold, well-matured 
loam, with the addition of some gritty material to prevent 
clogging. ‘This worked up into an even moist condition may 
be packed into the holes, not too loosely. It is not at all 
a bad thing to leave the wall just as it is for some months 
to allow everything to settle down well, and to this end it 
may be recommended that the best time of all to undertake 
the construction of a wall is perhaps in the fall of the year 
when there is plenty of moisture. 
It must be admitted that in a general sense it is not a 
very satisfactory way of establishing a wall garden to plant 
the specimens. As a matter of fact it seems especially diffi- 
cult to induce plants to get a hold in the rather curious 
situations which will have to be accorded to them. In most 
cases one can not do better than seed sowing when the plants 
from their babyhood seem to get some idea of the condi- 
tions under which they will have to exist. The most suitable 
species for wall culture are those which can stand a good 
deal of drought, but, although one must be rather particular 
in making the selection, there are a great many plants which 
are available for the purpose. A few which the writer 
knows to be good may be mentioned, though the list is by 
no means exhausted 
with these. Many 
varieties of pinks 
(Dianthus) seem to 
be per f ee tiliy aan 
home, and the same 
may be said for the 
smaller campanu- 
las, | antirrhinums, 
arabises and  au- 
bretias. Among the 
larger growing vari- 
eties might be men- 
tioned the stocks 
(Mathiola), the 
true wallflowers 
.(Cheitanthus) and 
the pretty evening 
blooming oeno- 
theras. It is a sim- 
ple business to 
scatter a few seeds 
of any of the above- 
named plants in the 
mold-filled crevices 
