BARR & SONS, II, 12 & 13 King^ Street, Covent Garden, London 
3 
Naturalising Bulbs and Plants in Grass, Woodlands, etc. 
BULBS NATURALISED IN GRASS IN A LONDON PARK. 
This fascinating phase of gardening deserves more attention than lias hitherto lieen bestowed upon it. 
No sight is more delightful than the fresh brightness of spring (lowers growing freely in gt.iss land or 
lending colour to woodland walks, hedgerows, and ditches, here and there nestling at the foot of trees, 
or establishing themselves on sloping banks. 
For naturalising in grass spring (lowers are especially suitable, as they bloom and are over before the 
grass grows tall enough to hide their be.auty. Amongst our siiring-Howering bulbs there are many gems 
which refuse to grow in cultivated borders, but when planted in grass, where they enjoy a cooler and 
more even temperature, they soon become established, and multiply freely until a regular colony is 
formed which greatly adds to the charm of the landscape. 
All formality of arrangement should be avoiiled, the bulbs being seattered freely from the hand and 
planted where they fall. Large irregular breaks of one kind of bulb should be m.ade in order to obtain the 
finest effect. In planting under trees, select spots where the soil is deepest and where the drip is least. 
Those whose gardens are of limited size might make them very beautiful in spring, by utilising the 
fringes of their lawns and any grassy mounds or shady shrubbery walks for such spring favourites as 
Daffodils, Anemones, Scillas, Crocuses, Chionodoxas, etc., reserving the borders for Tulips and Lilies, etc., 
also summer- and autumn-flowering herbaceous plants. In large gardens and parks ample opportunities 
are afforded for naturalising spring-flowering bulbs, and very beautiful results may be attained in this way. 
In planting bulbs in )^rass, Barr’s Bulb Planter [see page 32) should alw.ays be used. It cuts out 
a clean piece of turf, leaving a hole to receive the bulb, and on making the second cutting clears itself 
of the first piece of turf, which lies ready at hand for covering the bulb. This handy implement saves an 
immense amount of time, and does not, as with an ordinary dibber, leave a hard resting-place for the bulb, 
while by its use the grass is not in the least disturbed. Planting should not take place while the ground is 
hard, but after the first autumn rains. If the ground is poor, a compost of fresh soil with an abundance of 
Crushed Bones (7 lbs. to a bushel) or Phytobroma (3 lbs. to bushel) should be made and a little of the 
compost dropped into each hole before placing in the bulb, a little more should be given as a covering, 
and then the sod of turf be replaced and pressed down. The bulbs will then be given a fair start in their 
new cjuarters. It is advisable to cut the grass as'late in Autumn as possible, so as to ensure it being short 
at the time the bulbs flower. In meadowland Spring-flowering bulbs in no way affect the hay crop, which 
may be cut at the usual season. 
Among the many gems which lend themselves to wild gardening and naturalising, we would specially 
mention the following Alliuma, Anemones, Anthericums, Chionodoxas, Crocuses, Cyclamen, 
Daffodils, Dog’s Tooth Violets (Erythronium dens-canis), Fritillaries, Funkias, Helleborus, 
Hemerocallis, Irises (Tall and Dwarf Flag), Muscari, Ornithogalums, Scillas (early-flowering), 
May-flowering Cottage Tulips, and Wood Hyacinths (Late-flowering Scillas). 
