4' 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



As showing how beautiful even a small suburban — practically a town garden- 

 can be made by a combination of judgment, taste, and good management, the photo- 

 graphic illustraticn (Fig. 20) affords ample testimony. It will be perceived that gravel 

 forms the base, and when this is kept smooth, clean, and neatly edged, the appearance 

 is better than that presented by a faulty lawn. This photograph was taken in the 

 suburbs of London, and quite near to large gasworks, and such a garden, under 

 such conditions, is a notable achievement. , . 



Teees, Shrubs a>:d Flow^ers for Town Gardens. 



Screen Trees. — Few trees are, as a rule, needed in small gardens in or near towns, 

 and these chiefly as from the "windows opposite." The quickest " walls of 



green" in summer are formed by planting Lombardy poplars (Populus fastigiata) 

 o to 4 feet apart, and trees 1 feet high or more can be had for a shilling each. They 

 occupy the least space of all trees and answer the purpose in question admirably. 

 Winter screens are much less needed, if at all, as gardens are little used during the 

 dull period of the year, when light is the great essential. 



J ust as the poplar named is the best of trees for the purpose indicated for gardens 

 in the rear of town and suburban residences, so for small forecourts or frontages, the 

 mop-headed acacia (Robinia inermis) bears the palm. Trees with clear stems and 

 round, compact heads are the least obstructive of all, and the leafage is decidedly 

 elegant. 



Other Ornamental Town Trees. — Where there is room for other moderate - 

 sized trees, the following usually succeed in and near towns and are particularly 

 beautiful in the spring: — Double and single scarlet and white thorns, almonds (in the 

 south), laburnums, double-blossomed cherries (Pyrus malus floribunda), rose acacia 

 (Robinia hispida rosea), the snowdroi) tree (Ilalesia tetraptera), sea buckthorn (Hip- 

 pophae ]-hamnoides), weeping willow (Salix babylonica), maiden-hair tree (Salisburia 

 adiantifolia), mountain ash (Pyrus aucuparia), the purple-leaved plum (Prunus 

 Pissardi), with compact growing A-arieties of apples, pears, plums, quinces, and 

 medlars, the blossoms of which are so cheering in April and May, apart from their 

 fruits in the autumn. It may be added also that the mistletoe grows and fruits well as 

 established on an apple-tree in a London garden, the tree having been obtained from 

 Messrs. Smith & Co., Worcester. 



Shrubs for Town Gardens. — Among appropriate deciduous flowering shrubs are 



