free growth. By August the greater part of the staking is hidden, but 
if any is still visible, it is cut out with the Secateur. Also about the 
end of June or a week or two into July, we look at the whole Aster 
border to see if the form of the front cannot be improved by lowering 
some of the growth nearest the path, either by bending them down 
and readjusting the supports by putting them behind instead of in 
front, or by boldly cutting the stems back about a third of their height. 
Doing this does not retard flowering, but encourages the number of 
short blooming tips to each cut stem, and so gives the plant a slightly 
altered character. 
A number of our hardy border plants have a certain sappy tender- 
ness of growth in their earlier stages, though the stems stiffen as they 
become mature. This is why the early support is so important. Such 
a plant as Alstrcemeria chilensis has luscious young growth that is 
easily laid flat by heavy rain and should be staked early; and others 
such as Gypsophila paniculata and the herbaceous Clematis recta must 
be kept in proper shape by a timely staking with stiff, branching spray. 
Cutting back, or what gardeners commonly call '"stopping," 
comes in usefully on many occasions. The handsome, tall Campanula 
lactiflora sometimes sows itself in places where its normal height of 
five feet would be quite unsuitable, but by cutting it back when it is 
about half grown, or even earlier, it can be made to flower at a foot 
from the ground, or at any intermediate height that may be desired. 
One of the best grey plants for use when grey is the underplanting of 
our special borders for pink and purple coloring is the tall Artemisia 
ludoviciana; near the back of the border but just in front of pink 
Holly-hocks, Globe Thistle (Echinops) and purple Clematis Jackmanii. 
We let it grow to its full height of about four feet six inches, and to 
develop its pointed spikes of bloom in the natural way, for the flower 
itself is greyish in color, though not so silvery as the leaves. But in 
other parts of the borders, where it accompanies Snapdragons and 
China Asters, it is cut down to just the height that best suits its flower- 
ing companions, and, at the front edge, right against the path, its 
height is reduced to two or three inches. A good many annuals can 
be treated In the same way and it is a useful corrective to the rather 
thin and leggy habit of such plants as Cosmos. The handsome 
striped Japanese Maize (Tea), if the main stem is cut when it is half 
grown, branches out from the ground and forms a bushy mass about 
two feet high that is very useful in connection with a group of the 
same plant full grown further back. In the grey, purple and pink 
borders one of the plants we rely on for a fine violet-purple colour is a 
good form of the annual Delphinium consolida. It comes up freely 
self-sown and would naturally bloom in June, but we do not want it 
until August, and therefore cut it back two or even three times, when 
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