FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FLOWER GARDENS. 
1 
parts which are to form the pathways between 
the beds, are then to be covered with turf. 
This is done in the following manner ; — First, 
have the surface well worked over with the 
spade, and all the lumpy parts of the soil 
chopped to pieces and broken quite fine, and 
the whole made even in accordance with the 
natural level or inclination of the ground. If 
the soil is very dry, it should be well watered 
as the turves are laid down. They are to be 
laid down close together, and quite even, and 
two or three inches on each side wider than 
ultimately required. They are next to be 
beaten down firmly with what is called a turf- 
beater ; this is a heavy slab of wood with one 
smooth face, about a foot broad and two feet 
long, with a handle long enough to be used 
by a man standing upright, set diagonally into 
it at a proper angle, to fall perfectly level and 
flat upon the surface of the turf at each stroke ; 
with this, the turf is to be beaten down firmly 
and evenly. The soil in the beds is to be 
trenched up, and got into order ; and as a last 
operation, the edges of the turf are to be cut 
evenly to the line indicated by the pegs, and 
the soil then finally adjusted for the reception 
of the plants. 
When the flower garden is to consist en- 
tirely of beds and gravel walks, a somewhat 
different course is necessary. In this case, 
however, the preliminary operations are the 
same, an even surface being necessary to faci- 
litate the work, and the design or plan requir- 
ing to be marked out on the ground by the same 
process as in the other instances. But in this 
case, preparation must be made for planting 
round the beds, or to indicate the division 
between the walks by some distinct and per- 
manent edging, of which the most universal, 
the neatest, and the best of live edgings, is 
the dwarf variety of the box tree, known as 
Dutch box by gardeners, ( Buxus semper- 
virens suffruticosa, or nana.) The bos edg- 
ing is planted by making the soil firm, and 
quite even, and then cutting down a sloping 
bank, the top of which is to occupy the exact 
marginal line of the bed, and the bottom is to 
slope a little outward ; this may be six or 
eight inches deep, according to the length of 
the box to be planted against it ; the box is 
then set against this, a few inches at a time, 
thinly, and very evenly, both as regards thick- 
ness and placing the tops level, and is thus 
held by the back of the left hand, while, with 
the other, a sufficient portion of earth is drawn 
up to fix it firmly in this position : more earth 
is then added evenly with the spade, the whole 
is gently trodden up, and the walk formed by 
the addition, first of coarse stones or brick- 
bats, and then of coarse gravel with a layer 
of fine gravel on the surface, which is made 
nearly level with the box at the edges, and 
slightly rounded in the centre. The edgings 
are sometimes formed of dressed stone, of 
slate, or might now be made of glass ; but in 
either case they should be light, and about 
two or three inches high, and placed down, so 
as to indicate accurately the figures of the 
several beds 
This work of laying out, or disposing of the 
ground, may be done during any interval of 
fine weather in autumn, winter, or spring. 
Such work cannot be well done when the soil 
is at all adhesive from moisture, nor when the 
soil is frozen. In any open weather, during 
the period referred to, when the soil is com- 
paratively dry, it may be carried on. As the 
spring season is, however, very much occupied 
by operations of culture, it is usually most con- 
venient to get work of this kind forward dur- 
ing the autumn, or the early part of winter. 
Soil. — For the cultivation of flowers, the 
renewal of the soil to a certain extent annually 
is preferable to the use of manure. There 
are places where this can be done ; and, in 
such cases, the benefit will be apparent. It 
is done thus : — About a third of the bulk of 
soil provided for the plants, or say a depth of 
eight inches is removed entirely ; the same 
quantity of fresh loamy soil, of the same light 
texture as that at first employed, and procured 
from a common waste or pasture, is then re- 
turned in its stead ; this, and the remainder 
of the soil in the bed, is then well stirred and 
mixed together until it is thoroughly incor- 
porated, when it will be ready to receive the 
plants at the planting season. In gardens 
where this cannot be done, a portion of tho- 
roughly decomposed manure, (that of cows, if 
possible,) should be added annually, and 
mixed up with the soil in the same way, 
which, in either case, is to be laid up roughly 
in ridges to the action of frost during the 
winter. 
Of course, this system of managing the 
soil, can only be practised where the modern 
plan of filling the beds with half-hardy plants 
during summer is followed. Wherever the 
beds or borders are filled with permanent her- 
baceous plants, mixed with roses and similar 
shrubs, it will only be practicable to dig up 
the surface roughly between the plants, and 
let it lie in this state during winter. Some- 
times, even in the former case, the beds are 
filled up for the winter with dwarf evergreen 
shrubs in pots ; and for spring flowers, with 
various bulbs and other early blooming 
plants planted between them : when this is 
the case, there is little opportunity of expos- 
ing the soil to the action of the weather, with 
a view to its becoming sweetened and pulver- 
ized, and hence arises the necessity of substi- 
tuting fresh soil, which, in this case, should 
be done in autumn, before the spring bulbs 
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