8 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



needs an r.rtist of no mean capacity. And his difficulties arc not slight ones, for his living picture must he right 

 from all points and lights. No doubt the planting of a large place, with a limited number of kinds of trees, 

 cannot be trusted to all hands, for in those of a peison without taste or the more finely-trained perceptions, 

 the result would be very likely dull, or even absurd. It is not the painl that makes the picture, but the brain 

 and heart and hand ol the man who uses it.'" 1 



This extract should be a warning to those who think that clearing, in the gardener's sense, 

 is a necessary part of making a garden. 



We hear much, in these days, of herbaceous borders, often described in poetical 

 language, and which are supposed to grow all the flowers of the year in the utmost 

 perfection, mentioning in a light and airy way that the Christinas Rose may be picked 

 in the depth of winter, and the Violet may flourish from November till April. All this is 

 really book- gardening or newspaper gardening. There is nothing so difficult as keeping 

 tlie same borders in perfection during eight or nine months in the year. To obtain that 

 result, the herbaceous border can only be the enlargement of the English cottage garden, 

 which needs nothing but loving care — filling tip bare places as they occur by the constant 

 introduction of fresh plants, whether perennial, annual, or half-hardy; watering plants as 

 they come into bud, thinning out vigorously when necessary, mulching during the hot 

 summer days, and covering with manure the bare earth in winter. But there is no 

 gardening so difficult as borders in which things tire to grow and look' well — that is to say, 

 have some distinct and marked feature — nearlv the whole year round/' Some of the best 

 gardeners 1 know are very much disposed to say, in these understanding days of gardening, 

 that the herbaceous border in the old cottage sense is impossible, and even not desirable, 

 for a mere mixture in tull .sun of a mass of everv kind of flower is not beautiful ; there 

 is no repose, no form, no drawing, no colour even, as one plant is apt to kill another in 

 more senses than one. 1 think' a feeling is growing among the best gardeners that even 

 in moderate-sized gardens certain portions must be more or less devoted to the growths of 

 different plants flowering at different seasons, spring-flowering things doing best if they 

 face east or south-east, autumn-flowering plants doing well facing north or north-west, some 

 plants at all seasons doing best in tull sun, and others in shade or half-shade. 



Mystery being one of the great beatifies of a fair-sized garden, there is no reason 

 win special spaces should not be concealed in such a way that their period of rest should 

 not offend the eye. Miss Jekyll's description of her herbaceous border is most interesting, 

 as it is planted with the idea of good effects both of form and colour ; but this is only 

 for a comparatively limited time in the vear, her spring flowers and many of her autumn 

 ones being kept entirely apart and grown in appropriate places. A very perfect herbaceous 

 border may be had in the spring, when most things are more or less low-growing, the 

 beautiful Crown Imperials being the great exception ; but to my mind the spring garden, 

 w ith its numerous interesting bulbs, should more or less be a garden of its own, fading 

 off into a wood. Pasonies, Roses, Carnations, and many annuals are better grown in 

 beds apart. Therefore the real herbaceous border, with its formless mass of colour and 

 its endless picking capabilities, is, I am sure, more in place in the kitchen garden, where 

 the object could be to grow as many plants as possible in a healthy state. In that case 

 the beauty of occasional effects must come greatly by accident, although one year always 

 stiggests some beautiful combinations to be carried out with more or less success the following 

 year ; and in the same way the glaring defects may be avoided. The great secret is to 

 know the plants which must be either thinned or divided every vear, or in some soils every 

 other year — for instance, the various single Dianthuses and old-fashioned Pink's, Pyrethrum 

 uliginosum, the various perennial Sunflowers, etc. — and those — such as Delphiniums, Spiraea 

 Aruncus, Bocconia cordata, and manv others — w hich never reach their full size and perfection 

 without being left many vears undisturbed. If such plants grow too large, they can be 

 thinned in spring, or have a piece cut out of them in the autumn and the hole filled in with 

 manure well pressed down. 



