264 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 22, 1900. 
Iints for Amateurs. 
Trees and Shrubs. — Though a good many handsome 
shrubs have been included in the lists furnished 
under “ Hints " during the past month, yet those 
who know the enormous selection of ornamental 
hardy subjects that might be chosen, will agree that 
I have merely dipped promiscuously, and have at 
the best Out chosen the popular genera and their 
species. I do hope that these notes may have led to 
some further planting. There is not much trouble 
in planting, and where some portion of the garden 
expenditure can be set aside for any extras make the 
" extras ”—shrubs. 
To have beautiful and ever-pleasant gardens plant 
shrubs and Roses. Hardy perennials and alpine 
plants ought not to be neglected, but with a fair 
proportion of them there will still be space for 
specimen shrubs, or beds or belts. 
Abelia floribunda. — If this charming member 
could be guaranteed to do well in the average garden 
there is no doubt but that it would be extensively 
planted. It is more adapted for a wall, except, 
perhaps, down in Devon and Cornwall where, I 
believe, it succeeds admirably. But the pretty 
tubular flowers hanging in bunches are so delightful 
that even space on the best situated south wall may 
well be accorded to it. A rich sandy loam will, in 
most cases, be found most acceptable. Abelia flori¬ 
bunda is evergreen, and seldom grows higher than 
from 4 it. to 6 ft. It flowers in March if the season 
is open, and sometimes continues for a good part of 
the summer. A. rupestris is much dwarfer and 
hardier, furnishing a suitable subject for a cosy part 
of the rock garden. 
The Cherry Tribe.—Our gardens, especially the 
smaller villa gardens, would miss the larger share of 
their attractiveness and splendour in the early 
months of springtime were the Gean tree-, fhe Bird 
Cherries, the Mahaleb, Waterer’s double Cherry, 
and the other species of the Cherry tree order, 
absent The neighbour genus, that of the Prunus, 
to which belongs the Almond, Prunus triloba, and 
P. spinosa or Sloe, are also worth consideration. 
The values of these trees and shrubs are so well 
known that to recall their names seems sufficient. 
They agree in liking a sunny situation, and as most 
of them are amongst the hardiest of flowering trees 
and shrubs, they can be recommended the more 
readily. The Almond and Prunus triloba do not 
make such brave shows in northern gardens as they 
do in the south, yet by placing them in the best 
places they may be expected to do equally well with 
many other shrubs. A moderately heavy soil is very 
suitable. 
Amongst the Pyrus are the Mountain Ash, the 
True Service tree (P. Sorbus), P. Aria or White 
Beam tree, and some distinct varieties of these that 
are more or less known. For the sake of their associa¬ 
tions and their own real merit (though this lies more 
especially in their bright fruits) we should not like to 
see them displaced by newer introductions. After 
these in this section we would choose the Siberian 
Crab, the Dartmouth Crab (P. Malus var ), and some 
of its varieties. P. Michauxii, P. spectabilis, P. 
sinensis, and P. japonica, otherwise named Cydonia 
japonica. The latter furnishes a rich flowering wall 
shrub. 
With the foregoing lists of shrubs the smaller 
gardens might be said to have a pretty fair amount 
to select from, especially when some foliage subjects 
will likewise have to be planted. The best of the 
ornamental foliage shrubs would include Cornus 
Mas variegata, C. alba Spathii, C. florida pendula 
and C. f. rubra. The golden and cut-leaved Elders 
are beautiful ; Prunus Pissardi, Corylus Avellana 
purpurea, various varieties of Elms; Euonymus 
latifolius and variegated varieties ; Fagus sylvatica 
asplenifolia or Fern-leaved Beech ; F. s. purpurea, 
F. s. folius-aureis variegatis, &c.; Gleditschias, 
Gymnocladus canadensis, which has light and grace¬ 
ful bipinnate leaves like those of Dimorphanthus. 
There are also Hollies, Golden Laburnums, Lirioden- 
dron tulipifera or Tulip tree, Lonicera japonica 
reticulata aurea, Negunda aceroides albo variegata, 
and N. a. aureo variegata, many of the Maples, the 
Lombardy Poplar, Ptelea trifolia or Shrubby Tre¬ 
foil, Rhus Cotinus, R. C. purpureus, R. Toxicoden¬ 
dron (Poison Oak), and the large-flowered Sumach, R. 
typhina. 
The Roses, the Brambles, the Robinias (Acacias), 
Vitex Agnus-castus and some of the species of 
Willows are amongst the first of those that come to 
mind in suggesting ornamental or tinted-leaved 
shrubs and trees. 
Work of the Present.—Most of the garden work 
is at the present period being pushed on out of doors. 
Walks are being made or repaired ; edges have often 
to be relaid, especially the edges of lawns, and 
besides pruning, planting and general clearing up, 
there are very many other jobs waiting to be per¬ 
formed. 
The levelling of lawn edges is an easy enough 
matter. Care is required to get a level by means of 
sighting rods held upon stout pins which are driven 
into the ground to guide the worker in obtaining a 
true level. Live edgings, other than turf, can still 
be relaid, though the work, of course, would have 
to be given up should frost visit us. Then again in 
making paths and walks, be sure to lay a good 
foundation. A depth of 2 ft. is amply sufficient, 
but the bottom layers of stones should be hand-laid 
and gradually graded up to the surface level. Some 
clay should be scattered over and rolled-in with the 
top-layers of gravel composing the walk to make it 
bind. The centre of all walks should be 
raised; i in. to 2 in. for a 6 ft. walk being the ratio. 
Trees on walls should be cleaned, pruned and 
readjusted. At this season fruit walls should be 
pointed over, for crumbling and tumbling walls are 
a source of all round trouble and nuisance. After 
pruning the Currants and Gooseberries the soil may 
be surface manured, using short and well rotted 
material that can be forked in afterwards. 
In the plant houses, or more definitely the stove, 
many of the occupants may be sought out directly 
after the turn of the year for repotting. Generally 
the stove plants do best when merely topdressed or 
are given but a very small shift. If it is thought the 
plants can succeed for another season merely by 
renewing the surface soil, place such of them apart 
from the others and with a pointed stick loosen 
about i in. of the soil. Then make up with the 
prepared compost, firming this surface addition 
evenly but, of course, allow space for sufficient 
water. Watering should be done with a rosed-can 
until the surface soil has become united and settled. 
When repotting plants entirely, make sure that the 
soil gets well shaken down or slightly rammed as the 
case may be. Leave no vacuums or air-spaces 
along the sides of the pots ; and be careful to crock 
thoroughly upon which so much depends in the 
culture of specimen plants. 
Allamandas and the climbing Clerodendrons 
which nearly every gardener tries to grow, are not 
always quite easy to succeed with. Sometimes 
they do well when given abundance of pot room, 
but more generally they are successful when their 
roots are confined and nourished by means of plenty 
of water with frequent additions of weak manure. 
All weakly growths should he pruned away leaving 
only the best ripened wood. When the buds break, 
train up the shoots so as to allow them all the light 
possible. At the present time a number of stove 
plants may be propagated so as to come into use by 
the end of March ; I refer to the edging plants, 
Farns, and softer class of stove decorative plants. 
Dracaenas that may have become leggy can be cut 
down and put up into eyes, these being placed in 
pans. The thick fleshy roots of Dracaenas are 
generally made use of in this way. They should be 
cut into sizes half the length of one’s finger and 
may be plunged either at once in sandy soil, or in 
damp cocoanut fibre till they root, after which pot them 
individually into small 2-in. or 3-in. pots. When 
Dracaenas are confined to small pots they are apt to 
run to flower. The flowers are attractive enough 
(and perhaps some day we may have them as flower 
and foliage plants combined by selection and im¬ 
provement) but if a grower cares to allow his plants 
to flower why not try to cross-fertilise the best 
varieties and raise seedlings ? A valuable seedling 
might originate although the process covers a 
number of years. 
Keep Lobelia and all soft bedding plants or 
cuttings on the dry side for some weeks, and look 
them over frequently to remove any damping or 
decajed shoots. — Beacon. 
Vines occupy 350,000 acres of the available area 
of Greece ; one-fifth of it is occupied with Currant 
Grapes. 
Correspondence. 
Questions ashed by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
Anyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
"Amateurs' Page " on the toft of their letters. 
Oestrum (Habrothamnus) elegans .—Isaac Gray 
If you cut the flower shoots some of the shoots at 
the base of the flower stalks may push up and flower, 
but there are many chances to the contrary. If you 
can keep the plant free from aphis and treat it 
reasonably, and do not subject it to a temperature 
higher than 6o Q , your plants will flower for a month 
or two. When the flowers begin to fade, the shoots 
that bear them should be cut hard back,' and before 
starting the plant again give it a rest. Then repot it ; 
but as this plant enjoys both head, and root room it 
is advisable to plant it in a border. 
Dividing Tuberous Begonias.— L. R. K.: Tuber¬ 
ous Begonias can be divided just as successfully as 
Potatos or Gladioli. If you possess tubers of any 
exceptionally fine or distinct variety, we advise you 
to save them until the tubers are large and fit for 
division. If you care to divide them at their present 
size, do so after the eyes have started. You will 
then see how many parts you can make of each, and 
being in growth, if you pot them carefully into small 
pots and use light soil, they ought to establish more 
speedily than cuttings. It is necessary to use light 
soil to pot them into, and even silver sand should be 
sprinkled beneath and around them. Cuttings of 
the side shoots make better plants as a rule. 
Pruning Plumbago capensis.— L. M.: The only 
pruning needed is to radically thin out the weakest 
shoots — cut them hard back in fact. The stronger 
and firmer ones may be shortened back, and this is 
necessary for the sake of cleanliness and tidy 
appearance by keeping the plant within bounds. 
Specimen plants in pots should not be hard pruned, 
but merely regulated and thinned. Those on rafters 
and pillars in conservatories have to be restricted. 
Top-dress the borders or pots about the beginning of 
March. 
Violets.— K. Hamilton : If the runners are strong 
you might lightly peg them down upon the soil. 
This will induce them to root from the joints. 
Rooted plants from such runners are not generally 
severed and removed from the frames until about 
the beginning of April. At that time they are 
placed into made-up beds to grow throughout the 
summer and supply winter plants. 
Heliotropes as Specimen Plants.— R. F.: Plants 
lifted from the beds about October, and potted then, 
are sure to lose their former sprightliness. Even 
with careful potting and after treatment we did not 
give you hopes of having them in flower after Christ¬ 
mas. They may now be rested by a gradual lessen¬ 
ing of the water supply, and should be placed on the 
shelves of a dry, cool greenhouse. By allowing 
them a little heat (6o°) in March they will break 
away and form bushy plants. The tall specimens 
that were lifted and potted should not in any way be 
encouraged to grow for the next couple of months, 
though there is no gain in nipping off the flower 
trusses. These larger and ripened plants generally 
keep on blooming all winter. The plants to furnish 
your conservatory early in the year should be 
treated in the same manner as the Schizanthus, only 
that some pinching will be needed by the Helio¬ 
tropes, and not by the latter. A temperature of 6o° 
and a well lighted position should be given. Try to 
maintain firm wood. 
Making a Seakale Bed,— A. Carter: It is not 
advisable to run a bed so long as you have done 
yours; eight or nine 3ears is long enough. By 
forcing the crowns now you would have this year's 
crop cut and the ground prepared for the new 
crowns at the proper planting season in March. It 
would be wise to buy in a fresh stock altogether, 
and you will find such stock will grow vigorously. 
New Zealand Flax.— J. L. : New Zealand Flax 
(Phormium tenax) is quite hardy in Scotland, and 
you would do well to include a bed of both it and 
the variegated variety along with the other plants by 
the margin of the water. They like a rich loamy 
soil. You could divide the old plants you speak of 
in April and plant then. 
