Pruning On fair early days when the gardening spirit must be 
exercised one can always prune, cutting out the dead wood of 
the shrubs and trimming back the climbing Roses to near and 
promising canes. The Buddlieas in my garden are not cut back 
to the root as some people advise. A harsh winter has sometimes 
achieved that for me, but ordinarily I trim back to the main big 
stems. I do the same with the Blue Spirea, making it conform 
as nearly as possible to its natural, trim globular shape. The 
pruning of vines depends on the taste of the owner. Some 
people prune Clematis Paniculata back to the ground every 
year, thus getting a low bloom. Otherwise, it is apt to bloom 
only at the top. 
Summer Some nice rainy day investigate your stores of tubers and 
Bulbs summer bulbs. Pick over, open and air the Gladiolus bulbs, 
and Tubers discard those that are dried up and send early for any ones 
you may want, as the supply is not unlimited now. Gladioli 
are wonderful things to cheer up a garden, and as they are 
shallow rooted, can be planted between the clumps of Iris or in 
between the perpetual Roses. For cutting they are invaluable 
at a time of the year when there is little bloom, and the colors 
and size of the new varieties are amazing. For succession of 
bloom, start to plant in April, and, choosing later varieties, plant 
until June 25th. Your Ismene Lilies (Peruvian Daffodils) 
Cannas, Hyacinthus candicans, Tuberoses and Tritomas need a 
friendly eye, and the Dahlia roots should be inspected. The 
cuttings need to be started fairly early but the tubers can go 
out in late May or June. Last year after my Dahlias were 18 
inches high in the border, we tore the garden apart and they 
were all moved to the vegetable garden. They never flinched 
imder this treatment and later had more bloom than their 
undisturbed brothers in the cutting borders. Set the stakes for 
the Dahlias when you plant the tubers so that you will avoid 
cutting the roots later. Never allow more than two stalks to 
one tuber. 
Lawns Perhaps nothing acids so much to the general well-kept 
appearance of a place as the lawns and well-trimmed, smooth 
grass paths of the garden. If there is no snow on the ground in 
February, a top dressing of manure is the first step, and as soon 
as possible the ground should be rolled, reseecling done where 
there are bare spots, and bone meal applied. Nitrate of soda is 
an excellent stimulant for grass. Mushroom soil may also be 
scattered as fertilizer. 
Good Soil No one must expect success in gardening without the 
fundamental requisite of good soil. Nor does feeding end with 
a well-made bed. Every plant likes a particular kind of food — 
a tonic now and then, both in the spring and fall. Lime is not 
given to annuals as often as it should be. Elizabeth Leighton 
Lee says: "If seed packets of annual Scabiosa, annual and 
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