HARDY FLOWER BORDERS 21 



permanent things, and imagine that it will remain a 

 flower garden for more than a couple of seasons, is 

 a fallacy. As a house which is to stand must have a 

 substantial foundation, so must a flower border which 

 shall not speedily degenerate into a litter of straggling, 

 sickly plants. Having marked out the sites for borders 

 — and these should be in open positions, as far removed 

 as possible from overhanging trees and shrubs — the earth 

 should be removed to a depth of at least two and a half 

 feet. This may seem a considerable undertaking, but 

 nothing less will do. Fill the bottom of the trench with 

 a 6-inch layer of broken bricks, tiles, stone, or other 

 rough material, for ensuring the freest possible drainage. 

 Above this spread a few inches of coarse ashes to prevent 

 the soil from filling the interstices between the bricks. 

 The bedding compost, with which the remaining 2- 

 feet depth of trench is filled, must be carefully prepared 

 with a mixture of good, loamy soil, manure, sand, and 

 decayed vegetable matter. It is not sufficient that the 

 original earth be returned ; in all probability it is poor, 

 sour stufl", from which all plant nourishment has long 

 been abstracted. For border making nothing exceeds 

 in value top-spit loam from an old pasture field ; this is 

 not easily obtained, though occasionally it may be pro- 

 cured for the mere cost of carting. In any case, the soil 

 used should be such that its fertility has not been im- 

 paired by years of hard cropping. Equal parts of loam, 

 sand, and vegetable fibre make an ideal combination, 

 and, manure being given from time to time in the form 

 of top dressing, will sustain the border plants in health 

 and vigour for a number of years. The earth must be 

 allowed to settle before planting, and any sinking below 

 the proper level be made good by the addition of more 

 compost. 



A border made thus will prove a revelation as to what 

 may be done with hardy perennial plants. Every square 



