CHOOSING YOUR OWN WEEDS 18S 



Gentle Reader notice that nice word — "natural- 

 ize?" It means making a favorite plant a "weed," 

 but it sounds much more elegant!) And I have 

 mentioned in other chapters the sweet tobacco and 

 the cosmos as controllable, chosen, "naturahzed" 

 weeds, quite able to hold their own, and some more. 

 Either makes a superb ground cover, and neither 

 is deterred by poor ground. 



It is almost sacrilege, I fear, to speak of using 

 climbing roses as weeds. But I have done it; and 

 thusly. The south border or hedge-line of Breeze 

 Hill garden is a curve of nearly six hundred feet in 

 length. It is marked by a common barberry hedge, 

 and outside down to the sidewalk space, and from 

 that to the lower street, honeysuckle has been first 

 a ground cover, and then a dominating weed. On 

 the street side it is very fine and beautiful, but on 

 the hedge side it had begun to climb and to choke 

 even the lusty barberries. I had it rooted out com- 

 pletely on this side, and in its place, about ten 

 feet apart, I have set home-raised plants of Lady 

 Gay, Alberic Barbier, W. C. Egan, Wichuraiana 

 and CUmbing American Beauty roses. They were 

 strung along the slope, and a little attention paid 

 to pegging down the long branches. In one season 

 the slope was fairly well covered, and the bloom 

 show was something to see! When the mat of 



