PREFACE 
The constantly recurring “ I 55 in writing 
about gardening is most difficult to escape. 
Egotism seems almost unavoidable, as one’s 
garden is the expression, outwardly, of one’s 
own sense of colour and proportion. 
I would commence by saying that many of 
the suggestions in this book are prompted by 
experiments and experiences gained in an old 
garden, worn-out and neglected when taken 
over, twelve years ago ; on a gravel soil — 
with the gravel very near the surface — which 
bakes hard in a dry summer, and is often very 
wet in winter. In spite of all this, it is 
now filled with flowers and plants growing so 
healthily and luxuriantly that visitors gener- 
ally end up their little quota of appreciation 
with the trite remark, “ But then, of course, 
your soil is so good.” 
And in addition to this garden, which is 
large, and worked by four men, I have dur- 
ing these twelve years planned the gardens of 
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