THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS 223 



to run together, thereby giving one continuous effect. Most 

 shrubs should be set 3 feet apart. Things as large as lilacs may 

 go 4 feet and sometimes even more. Common herbaceous 

 perennials, as bleeding heart, delphiniums, hollyhocks, and the 

 like, should go from 12 to 18 inches. On the front edge of the 

 border is a very excellent place for annual and tender flowering 

 plants. Here, for example, one may make a fringe of asters, 

 geraniums, coleus, or anything else he may choose. (Chap. II.) 



Into the heavy borders about the boundaries of the place the 

 autumn leaves will drift and afford an excellent mulch. If 

 these borders are planted with shrubs, the leaves may be left 

 there to decay, and not be raked off in the spring. 



The general outline of the border facing the lawn should be 

 more or less wavy or irregular, particularly if it is on the 

 boundary of the place. Alongside a walk or drive the margins 

 may follow the general directions of the walk or drive. 



In making borders of perennial flowers the most satisfactory 

 results are secured if a large clump of each kind or variety is 

 grown. The herbaceous border is one of the most flexible parts 

 of grounds, since it has no regular or formal design. Allow 

 ample space for each perennial root, — often as much as three 

 or four square feet, — and then if the space is not filled the 

 first year or two, scatter over the area seeds of poppies, sweet 

 peas, asters, gihas, alyssum, or other annuals. Figures 237-239, 

 from Long ('^Popular Gardening," i., 17, 18), suggest methods 

 of making such borders. They are on a scale of ten feet to the 

 inch. The entire surface is tilled, and the irregular diagrams 

 designate the sizes of the clumps. The diagrams containing 

 no names are to be filled with bulbs, annuals, and tender plants, 

 if desired. 



It must not be supposed, however, that one cannot have a 

 border unless he has wide marginal spaces about his grounds. 

 It is surprising how many things one can grow in an old fence. 

 Perennials that grow in fence-rows in fields ought also to grow 



