34 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



The old-fashioned garden. 



Speaking of the old-fashioned garden recalls one of William 

 Falconer's excellent paragraphs (''Gardening," November 15, 

 1897, p. 75) : '' We tried it in Schenley Park this year. We needed 

 a handy dumping ground, and hit on the head of a deep ravine 

 between two woods; into it we dumped hundreds upon hun- 

 dreds of wagon loads of rock and clay, filhng it near to the top, 

 then surfaced it with good soil. Here we planted some shrubs, 

 and broadcast among them set out scarlet poppies, eschscholzias, 

 dwarf nasturtiums, snapdragons, pansies, marigolds, and all 

 manner of hardy herbaceous plants, having enough of each sort 

 to make a mass of its kind and color, and the effect was fine. 

 In the middle was a plantation of hundreds of clumps of Japan 

 and German irises interplanted, thence succeeded by thousands 

 of gladioli, and banded with montbretias, from which we had 

 flowers till frost. The steep face of this hill was graded a lit- 

 tle and a series of winding stone steps set into it, making the 

 descent into the hollow quite eas}^; the stones were the rough 

 uneven slabs secured in blasting the rocks when grading in other 

 parts of the park, and both along outer edges of the steps 

 and the sides of the upper walk a wide belt of moss pink was 

 planted; and the banks all about were planted with shrubs, 

 vines, wild roses, columbines, and other plants. More cameras 

 and kodaks were leveled by visitors at this piece of gardening 

 than at any other spot in the park, and still we had acres of 

 painted summer beds." 



Contents of the flower-borders. 



There is no prescribed rule as to what one should put into these 

 informal flower-borders. Put in them the plants 3^ou like. 

 Perhaps the greater part of them should be perennials that come 

 up of themselves every spring, and that are hardy and reliable. 

 Wild flowers are particularly effective. Every one knows that 



