CASSELL'8 



Popular Gardening. 



HOUSE, AREA, AND WINDOW 

 GARDENING. 



By William Thomson. 



INTRODUCTION. 



HE subject of 

 House and Win- 

 dow Gardening, 

 under which title 

 it is proposed to 

 treat of plants in 

 windows, balco- 

 nies, verandahs, 

 porches and areas, 

 and upon house- 

 tops, may be re- 

 garded from so 

 many different 

 jjoints of view that 

 it is difficult to say 

 which should have 

 l)viority of consideration. The invalid who is con- 

 lined to the house grows his three or four plants 

 on a shelf or table in the window of his room, 

 and cares nothing for what the pedestrian in the 

 road may think of his pets ; while the man in health, 

 who is able to be much out of doors, thinks as much 

 of the external decorative effect produced by the care- 

 fid arrangement of the plants, as of their culture. 

 15 at wherever they are placed, there is much to be 

 thought of and attended to if good results are wished 

 lor; and though reading about what ought to be 

 done is doubtless of great assistance, there is no 

 teaching so good as practical experience in over- 

 c(;ming difficulties as they arise, and thus learning 

 how to prevent their recurrence. 



It must not be expected that we are preparing a 

 series of papers upon the decoration of houses with 

 plants, or upon the preparation of plants for decora- 

 tive domestic purposes. Our subject is Gardening, 

 49 



not Decorating, which latter subject has been more 

 specially treated of in the preceding volume ; never- 

 theless it will be our desire always to keep the deco- 

 rative effect of plants before our mind's eye, and 

 to be guided by that effect in all our suggestions and 

 recommendations. 



While it would scarcely be correct to sjDcak of 

 House and Window Gardening as a new subject, 

 it may fairly be described as an art in its infancy, so 

 little has yet been done in it compared with what 

 might be done. A few years ago the only illustra- 

 tions of it were to be found inside the windows of 

 cottages, where some of the commonest half-hardy 

 plants were grown, more for their use as a blind or 

 screen than for the sake of the plants themselves, or 

 for the pleasure of watching and attending to their 

 growth. Latterly, however, the horticultural element 

 has received much more attention, mainly resulting 

 from the establishment of societies which offer prizes 

 for the best specimens of plants grown in the windows 

 of cottagers. This movement has for its object not 

 so much the improved appearance of our suburban 

 roads and country villages, as the moral improvement 

 of the inhabitants ; for a love of gardening in-doors 

 is invariably found associated with neatness, cleanli- 

 ness, and good order in the house generally. Occa- 

 sionally instances may have been observed of growing 

 plants for the decoration of windows externally, and 

 for covering some rustic poi-ch in the country ; but 

 these examples are far from being as common as they 

 ought to be. 



It must not be supposed that we are ignorant or 

 unmindful of the wonderful stride that has been made 

 during the last few years in London, in the decoration 

 of the window-sills with plants, arranged in boxes of 

 endless variety. In these, evergreen shrubs in winter, 

 and flowering plants through the summer, have im- 

 proved and beautified our streets to an extent that 

 could scarcely have been imagined. But there is in 

 all this very little "gardening" in the majority of 

 cases ; it is merely furnishing and decorating with 



