712 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 6, 1895. 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
Carpet Bedding. 
It is a good old axiom, and one that has been 
illustrated times without number that “ mankind 
was not made to agree." No matter what profession 
we take or what walk or grade of life we consider the 
opinions of various individuals vary considerably 
with regard to the best method of dealing with any 
given subject, in fact, in exact proportion to the 
differences in the temperaments of the individuals 
themselves. In no one profession, however, is there 
a greater diversity of opinion shown than in that of 
gardening, and in no one branch of the profession 
has the discussion of what to do or what not to do 
been more animated than with regard to the question 
of carpet bedding, many ot those who are not lovers 
of the system stigmatising it as an unnatural method 
of growing plants, and one that tio true lover of 
nature would attempt to practice. Then again, say 
they, see how stiff and formal it is ; it always looks 
the same, and, although it may be bright still its 
unchanging appearance renders it monotonous. 
Now, although most of these accusations are 
strictly true yet there are, if we may venture to call 
them so, extenuating circumstances, and while 
there is much to be said against carpet bedding 
there is also something to be said for it. 
Certain it is that those who would totally erase it 
from our gardens are going a step too far ; for it 
marks a phase in gardening—a period during which 
we laid our flower beds out according to elabor¬ 
ately conceived geometrical designs, and when we 
clipped our yews and hollies into all manner of 
shapes, fantastical and mythological. Then carpet 
bedding was the rage, and gorgeous scrolls of deli¬ 
cately manipulated plants the fashion which garden¬ 
ers made haste to follow, and upon the execution 
of which they lavished endless skill and care and 
pains. Times have changed now, however, and 
whilst formerly no garden was complete without a 
piece of fancy work of some kind or other, now we 
seldom see it. 
But the question is, in how far is the carpet bed a 
desirable feature of the small flower garden of the 
amateur gardener ? and to this we will turn our 
attention and leave for a while the consideration of 
the vanished glories of carpet bedding as practiced 
in large establishments. It often happens that in the 
small front garden of the villa there are one or two 
beds immediately in front of the windows which 
from their position it is not desired to fill with tall 
growing plants. Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, White 
Marguerites and the commonalty of beddiog stuff 
have perhaps been pretty lavishly utilised in beds 
and borders elsewhere, and the owner of the garden 
wants a little change from this. Naturally enough 
he wishes to employ subjects that shall give as 
bright a show for as long as possible, independent of 
whether it rains or shines, or it be wet or dry. 
Flowering plants are notoriously bad rainy weather 
subjects, so what is to be done ? It is in situations 
of this kind that a pretty design in carpet beddiDg 
has something to recommend it. Rainy weather 
affects it not and it will come up smiling even after 
the heaviest storm. 
In preparing the bed for planting the surface soil 
should be broken up finely, the surface made smooth, 
and if a circular ted rather higher in the middle 
that at the sides. By means of some silver sand the 
design which it is intended to adopt may be traced 
out, after which planting may proceed in the ordinary 
way. The leading lines must of course be seen to 
first, the panels being filled in afterwards. A fairly 
extensive list of plants suitable for the carpet bed 
might be made, but the following will be found to be 
a good selection of some of the best and from the 
judicious arrangement of these some very pretty 
effects may be obtained. Herniaria glabra and 
Veronica repens are two splendid dwarf green plants 
which are all the more valuable on account of their 
complete hardiness. Sedum glaucum, Antennaria 
tomentosa, and the golden-leaved Pryrethrum are 
likewise very useful. The last named plant, however, 
needs to be kept continually pinched to keep it 
within its proper limits. Alternantheras are 
a host in themselves and are really indispensable. 
Some of the best are A. versicolor, A. paronchioides 
magnifica, A. p. major ard A. p. aurea. Mesem- 
bryanthemum cordifolia variegata is a little gem, 
although like the Alternantheras it is very tender in 
constitution and should not be put out before the 
season is well advanced. Echeveria secunda glauca 
is a well known and much used plant, being decidedly 
ornamental whether in or out of flower. Somewhat 
taller plants are Coleus Verschaffeltii and Iresines 
Herbstii and Lindenii. The appearance of the beds 
may be greatly improved by the presence of two or 
three dot plants although care must be taken not to 
overdo this. Still a plant or two of Grevillea 
robusta, or if flowering plants are desired a small 
Fuchsia or tuberous Begonia, look exceedingly well 
when treated thus. 
Summer Treatment. 
This is of the simplest. In fact the most difficult 
part of the work is the planting, and once this is 
completed three parts of the battle are over. In 
dry summers watering will of course need constant 
and careful attention. As the plants increase in 
growth, moreover, pinching and stopping must be 
resorted to. Where the finger and thumb can be 
employed in performing this well and good; if 
necessary, a sharp knife may be used but on no 
account must the clipping be done with the shears 
as we have more than once seen. If the bed 
is cut out in the grass the edges must likewise be 
clipped occasionally to keep things neat and tidy. 
If these little necessary attentions are looked to the 
carpet bed will be a blaze of colour throughout the 
summer and early autumn until frost makes its 
appearance and puts a stop to further growth, among 
the more lender subjects at all events.— Rex. 
- . > . 
A WALK IN THE COUNTRY. 
Round Slapton Lea. 
Slapton in Devonshire lies some three miles to the 
north of the Start Point with its Lighthouse, well 
known as being the last point of land seen by 
voyagers going down Channel on their way to 
the Bay of Biscay. Slapton Lea is about half a 
mile from the village which lies inland, and is a very 
peculiar piece of fresh water, a mile and a half in 
length and nearly, at its widest part, a quarter of a 
mile across, running parallel with the sea from which 
it is divided by a ridge of pebbles long ago thrown 
up by the waves, and along the top of the ridge a 
highroad has been made. The fresh and salt waters 
are in such close proximity that a stone can be 
thrown from the road, on the one side into the sea, 
and on the other into the Lea, There is an hotel at 
each end of the Lea, which visitors can get to by 
means of a coach from Kingsbridge to Dartmouth, 
from both of which places the Lea is distant about 
seven miles, and beyond an occasional pleasure 
steamer, driving is the only mode of access. 
I stayed at the Royal Sands Hotel, a most com¬ 
fortable hostelry situated on the high road, where 
from the proprietor downwards, one met with 
the greatest kindness and civility, and I have 
specially to thank the young lady in charge for 
kindly lending me her own dainty basket for carry¬ 
ing the specimens which I gathered. The proprietor 
is fond of his garden and told me with pride that he 
had been daily digging New Potatos since the second 
week in May, and out of three not very large beds 
had cut over three thousand heads of Asparagus. 
I am not a poet or much of a riddler, but give the 
following for your readers to solve. It is many 
hundred years old. 
My first is a little bird as hops, 
My second comes with May pops; 
And my whole you eat with mutton chops. 
And thcugh we think it vulgar to pronounce 
the name in that way now, at one time it was its only 
name, and as such is spelt in the writings of the 
historian, Camden. 
On the margin of the sea-shore the yellow Poppy 
was very conspicuous with its long horns pretty 
well a foot in length, intermingled with the Musk 
Thistle so sweetly scented, pink Thrift and Sea 
Spurge. Opposite the hotel I found the Henbane 
much scorched, which gave it a more weird look than 
ever , the Marsh Plume Thistle, the prickliest of 
all, I think; and the Wormwood, from which the 
favouiite French drink, absinthe, is prepared. On 
the old bridge crossing the stream—for the Lea is fed 
by two larger streams and one or two small brooks— 
the Hart's Tongue Fern was growing with the 
Pennywort in full bloom, and the Pellitory of the 
wall. This plant contains much nitre, and in pre¬ 
paring a mass of it for extracting its juice—for it is 
still much used as a country medicine—great care 
has to be taken lest it should catch fire. The 
flowers, or rather the filaments, are extremely 
irritable, and if touched with a needle fly open with 
sufficient force to scatter the pollen. Close by the 
dark Mullein was growing, and Alexanders, much used 
in ancient times for “ sallets," as salads were called 
then, but the reason for the name Alexanders I am 
not able to give. The Sheep’s Scabious and the 
greater Knapweed were in full bloom, and Fennel 
growing in quantity, just ready to be gathered in 
time for the mackerel, which are now appearing in 
the bay. 
The Butcher's Broom grows here, but has been 
much cut by the frost of last winter, though not 
nearly as much as the Furze, which throughout this 
county as well as in Cornwall, so far as I have seen, 
has suffered more than any native bush. The 
meadows round the Lea were bright with the 
Marsh Ragwort, and the Wood Groundsel much like 
the weed of our gardens though much taller, was 
growing in the hedges, where I also found the Sea 
Radish with its cutiously shaped seed pods. The 
Sea Campion, Red Campion, and Bladder Campion 
are all to be met with, and the Ragged Robin was 
flowering gaily amidst the yellow flowers of the 
common Iris. Turning to the water, the white 
Ranunculus was fringing the margin, bearing very 
large flowers, and the species of Persicaria, which 
lives on land or water, was conspicuous with its 
pink bloom, an excellent flower for table decoration 
and lasting well. The white Water Lilies were 
growing in large patches, and the sound of the rust¬ 
ling of the reeds and the leaves of the Red Mace, 
when shaken by the wind, was particularly sooth¬ 
ing, added to w'hich the air was redolent with the 
smell of the Water Mint. The Water Dock was 
growing everywhere with its large and beautifully 
proportioned leaves, as well as the Curled Pond- 
weed, Vernal Starwort, and Marsh Pennywort. On 
my way round I passed many buildings which were 
thatched with the reeds, which here grow to a 
length of ten feet, and most durable the covering 
seemed to be : on my return to the road I found 
growing on either bank the Sea Convolvulus, a very 
handsome flower; the Sea Holly ; the Viper's Bug- 
loss ; the Hound’s Tongue, with its curious seeds that 
stick to one’s clothes more firmly than the burs; the 
Rest-Harrow, but so far as I could discover without 
spines; Samphire; and English Stonecrop, which 
was springing up between the pebbles wherever a 
little soil could be found for it to root in. I am 
sorry to say I did not discover the Strapwort, which 
I understand grows here, its only other habitat being 
at the Lizard, but perhaps a little later on I may be 
more lucky. 
To the majority of persons Slapton Lea is chiefly 
interesting on account of the excellence of the fish¬ 
ing, for very large quantities of pike, perch, roach, 
and eels are caught in it. A late record when I was 
there, was of sixty-five perch weighing about three to 
the pound being caught in sixty minutes, and some 
perch have been caught there weighing as much as 
2J pounds. The record pike I was told weighed 
29J pounds, and eighteen fish have been caught by a 
single fisherman in the space of four hours of the 
average weight of 5 pounds. The shooting record is 
quite as extraordinary for the Lea abounds in coots 
and moorhens, and in winter time is the resort of 
]arge numbers of ducks and other wild fowl. Once 
a year there is a big shoot which takes place about 
the end of the month of January. The shores of the 
Lea are lined by everyone in the neighbourhood who 
has a gun. The owner and his friends shoot from 
boats and the coots and wild fowl are driven out from 
the reeds by beaters with the result that a bag of 
1,800 head is made in a single day.— J. C. Stogdon, 
Slapton, Devon, June 20th. 
-•+■- 
ALPINES AT THE YORK NURSERIES. 
The fame of the Alpine garden at the nurseries 
of Messrs. J. Backhouse & Son, York, has long been 
known to most gardeners in the country even if they 
have not had the opportunity of personally inspect¬ 
ing the same. The interesting samples of rockw’ork 
conveyed in sections from the York Nurseties, and 
set up by the firm at the Temple Show in London, 
have been examined and admired by interested 
crowds of gardeners, amateur and professional. 
How much more interesting %vould it be if a visit 
were paid to the nurseries themselves where the 
Alpine garden, with its bold and prominent masses of 
