January, 1914 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



345 



compost, rcnderitip it altogether 

 unsuitable for the plants. 



The pottinp compost we use for 

 the whole of the class ' of plants 

 consists of about equal portions of 

 good hbrous peat, chopped sphag- 

 num moss and oak or beech leaves 

 (dried and rubbed through a hall- 

 inch sieve), with sullicient Imely 

 broken crocks and coarse sand to 

 render the whole porous. The pots 

 used should be clean, and just suf- 

 licientlv largo to contain the plants 

 comfortably. Nothing looks more 

 unsig~htly or is so deterimental to' 

 the w^ell being of the plants as 

 o\trpotting. One larg^ erock should 

 be placed over the hole at the bot- 

 tom of the pot, and it may then 

 be filled to one-half its depth with 

 chopped bracken fern roots. See 

 that the roots have been thorough- 

 ly dried, and are free from all 

 sappy matter, or there is a possi- 

 bility of fungus growth, which may, 

 spread and affect the remaining 

 compost contained in the pots. The 

 plant from which all the old com- 

 post and decaying matter has been 

 removed may now be placed in po- 

 sition, and when the potting is 

 completed it should have it lead- 

 ing growth on a level with the rijtn 

 of the pot and slig"htly above the 

 surface of the compost. The com- 

 post should be made moderately 

 firm about the base of the plant. 

 Finish with a layer of living 

 chopped sphagnum moss. 



♦ 



Roof Gardening. 



Our Australian climate and con- 

 ditions generally do not give much 

 opportunity for indulging in many 

 of the forms of gardening that are 

 practised in other lands, such as 

 roof, wall, rock, window and water 

 gardening. The following article 

 from " The Garden," is, however, 

 interesting, describing as it does a 

 type of gardening practically un- 

 known with us. 



Upon more than one oqcasion I 

 have been asked to give lists of 

 plants suitable for roof gardening 

 and treatment. In each of these 

 instances the roof in question has 

 been somewhat of an eyesore, and 

 being within view of some oi the 

 windows of the dwelling, it was 

 desired, by means of vegetable life, 

 to shut it out from view. Curious- 

 ly •enoug'h, too, a near neighbour of 

 mine, having an ugly sheet-iron 

 roof in his garden and much ex- 

 posed to view, enquired a year or 

 more ago as to the possibility ot 



growing a few plants in boxes 

 thereon to hide the bad eflect of 

 the roof, and the plants 1 then sug- 

 gested he obtained and duly i)lant- 

 cd. In a large degree this attempt 

 has been successful, and it might 

 have been whoUv so had a diller- 

 eiit method been adopted in the 

 llrst instance. The original idea 

 was that of planting in boxes, and 

 these were not only too shallow in 

 themselves, but raised on l^^dges or 

 bearers so that they were subject- 

 ed to continuous currents of air 

 beneath, which, drying and parch- 

 ing the soil beyond exjiectations, 

 modified what might otherwise 

 have proved to be a complete suc- 

 cess. Moreover, the boxes warped 

 considerably under the inlluence of 

 strong sun-baat, so much so that 

 after a year's experience the ori- 

 ginal method has been consider- 

 ably modified, and great success 

 is now expected. 



In the above instance I was only 

 responsible for naming the most 

 suitable plants, and my sugges- 

 tions for covering the roof with 

 soil could not be carried out in 

 their entirety because the S'trength 

 of the roof was a matter of doubt. 

 The experience gained, however, 

 was sufficient to prove unmistak- 

 ably that quite a variety of plants 

 could be grown in the way sug- 

 gested ; and in certain instances, 

 and where the roof of an outhouse 

 is open to view from a higher level, 

 it is not merely a good but an in- 

 teresting way of dealing with a dii- 

 ficult problem. 



Just what plants may be intro- 

 duced and be grown with success 

 will depend upon a variety of cir- 

 cumstances, such as sun, shade, or 

 partial shade, and not a little, of 

 course, on the character and 

 strength of the roof. ■ Strength of 

 rafter is naturally an important 

 matter, and with this ensured, the 

 best class of roof is that composed 

 of the ordinary red guttered tiles 

 seen in many country places or 

 those ever-enduring stone^iled 

 roofs so frequent on farmhouse, 

 church or other buildings in Mid- 

 land and other districts. This 

 same style of roof often enough 

 affords a good object-lesson for 

 those interested in roof gardening, 

 and the accumulation of moss and 

 other vegetation on the northeru 

 side, and the usual absence of such 

 things on the southern side, indi- 

 cate where the work of establish- 

 ing such plants could be most 

 easily carried out. The sharply 

 angled stone-tiled roofs over a 

 lych-gate are often suggestive 



enough to the planter, and more 

 than once when looking at the 

 inos.s-coverc'd roofs have 1 longed 

 lor a handful of Wallllower, Pop- 

 py, or Snajwlragon seeds to start 

 a colony of these things in such 

 l)ositions, and later, possibly, also 

 to create wonder or gi\c rise to 

 speculation as to how such things 

 came there. Indeed, 1 am not 

 going to deny having done such 

 things, and 1 look with interest on 

 the now colonised subjects which, 

 if dwarfer than usual, are certain- 

 ly not without attraction. Where 

 a roof is being constructed with 

 some idea of subsequent planting 

 it can be made of a sullicient 

 strength ; but where it is of long 

 standing its strength must be first 

 ascertained. If a choice can be 

 made, the nearly flat roof would 

 receive the greatest numljer of 

 votes for many reasons which will 

 be clear to all. Next in import- 

 ance is the provision of a body 

 of suitable soil, which may vary 

 from 2> inches to 4 inches in thick- 

 ness, and if composed of rather 

 clayey loam w th finely pulverised 

 old mortar freely interspersed, the 

 mixture will be found to suit many 

 plants. With such an assured 

 depth of soil resting on a cool 

 tiled bottom, many plants will be 

 quite at home, and nothing more 

 will be required. 



♦ 



Violas and Pansies. 



In the modern races of Violas 

 there is little or no difierence be- 

 tween a Viola and a Pansy. At one 

 time the Violas had oblong flow- 

 ers — that is, blooms that were 

 longer than wide. Thev also had a 

 very long spur at the back of the 

 lower petal. New varieties have 



WHAT TEA C\ 



are mW 



YOU J 



Drinking. 

 For Quality YOU can't Beat 



AMLUCKIE TEA. 



H. H. MANSFIELD, 



Unley Boad & Culvert St., Unl«y City 



