THE GARDENING WORLD . June 6, 1908. 
WINDOW BOXES. 
2908. Tin Cans for Drainage. 
A neighbour of mine has some window 
boxes in which he grows Marguerites, Gera¬ 
niums. and Calceolarias. He uses old tin 
cans as drainage, putting a layer of them 
all over the bottom of the boxes. Do these 
tin cans serve any useful purpose, as I 
intend to have some boxes ? The windows 
only get sunshine during the first half of 
the day. What would grow in them ? 
(S. C. K., Middlesex.) 
Tin cans may act as drainage, but they 
are really a great waste of space, especially 
for the class of plants you mention. A layer 
of crocks, that is,, broken pots, would answer 
the purpose admirably and in the absence of 
these some pieces of soft bricks broken up 
into small pieces would answer as well as 
anything. Where you get sunshine only 
during the first half of the day you should 
grow plants which succeed under partial 
shade. Plants that would grow there under 
proper treatment would be Calceolarias, 
Fuchsias, single Petunias, with flowers of 
moderate size, Hydrangeas, while they are 
in bloom, and Creeping Jenny. The latter 
would serve to drape the boxes and is ad¬ 
mirable for that purpose in shady situa¬ 
tions. In spring Myosotiis sylvatica with its 
varieties and M. alpestris Victoria would 
succeed splendidly under the conditions you 
name. These Forget-me-Nots should, of 
course ; be planted in the autumn. You 
could take that opportunity for planting 
such hardy bulbs as Tulips, Hyacinths and 
Daffodils or Wallflowers. 
2909. Tarring Window Boxes. 
I have heard it said that the inside of 
window boxes should not be tarred on ac¬ 
count of the roots of plants. As I want to - 
make the wood last as long as possible I 
want to paint them with something, so as 
to preserve the wood. I should be glad if 
you would let me know if the ta'r will 
injure the plants before commencing the 
work. What would be the best method of 
hiding the tar. on the outside? (C. Sim¬ 
mons, Lancs.) 
We think it largely depends upon the con¬ 
dition or possibly the amount of tar that 
may be put on as to whether it would injure 
the plants or not. If it was a case of hot 
water pipes, tar would be highly injurious 
on account of the fumes given off, but in 
the case of window .boxes this would not 
occur, and even the inside of the boxes are 
completely hidden from the sun. Under 
those conditions, if you get good Stockholm 
tar and do not put it on too thickly or in 
lumps, no danger will arise from its use. 
Even on the outside of the boxes you must 
not put it in lumps that will be affected by 
the beat of the sun, causing it to bubble up 
or blister. Possibly any ordinary powder 
mixed with the tar would help to tone down 
its dark colour, but a better plan than that 
would be to nail on some flattened pieces of 
cork on the outside of the boxes where they 
are exposed to the eye. Even that, again, 
can be more or less hidden by trailing plants 
if you use such in the boxes. 
FLOWER GARDEN . 
2910. Cutting off the Leaves of Daffo¬ 
dils. 
I had a fine lot of Daffodils this year, 
hut would like to plant something else in 
the border. Can I cut off the leaves which 
are very untidy and in the way? (K. R. W., 
Kent.) 
We are not in favour of cutting off leaves 
of Daffodils or any other bulbs while they 
are still green and capable of supplying 
the bulbs with nourishment. Your only 
plan under the conditions is to get a fork 
and lift the bulbs carefully with their roots 
as intact as possible. Open a trench in 
some other part of the garden even if partly 
shaded. Lay in the bulbs rather thickly 
with the leaves on one side, cover them with 
soil and tread it firmly. Here the bulbs may 
ibe allowed to ripen of! gradually, after 
whidh they can be taken up, cleaned and 
put away in a dry, coal place until planting 
time in autumn. 
2911. Herbaceous Plants and Roses. 
I ,should! be extremely Obliged if you 
would give m© your advice about a small 
piece of ground I want to lay out, of which 
1 enclose a plan. The soil ts a heavy clay 
and the surface flat. What would be the 
best and quickest-growing hedge to pliant 
along the iron palling to shelter from the 
east winds? 1 would prefer Roses and a 
herbaceous border. I would be extremely 
obliged if you could give me a pretty idea 
for laying it all out. (J. E. C. George 
Johnstone, Gloucestershire.) 
The quickest-growing hedge to plant by 
the palings on the east side would : be the oval - 
leaved Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium), but 
we, ourselves,- would prefer the Golden 
Privet (L. ovai'ifdbium foliiis-aureis), which 
grows rather more slowly, but makes a much 
prettier hedge and is highly effective 
throughout the year. We should first peg 
off the walks lor that piece of ground ; for 
instance, a walk might be put right round 
the outside, leaving only a border of suit¬ 
able width for flowers. You might have a 
Wide border next to the Apple trees fox 
herbaceous plants. Bulbs would succeed 
well between the trees flowering from March 
to-the end of May. This might be made a 
formal border in lines. Judging from the 
size of the piece of ground it would be bet¬ 
ter to have two cross walks for convenience 
of getting to the Rose beds. These walks 
should go, of course, from north to south 
and from east to west right through the 
middle of the garden. The various borders 
should .then ' be trenched and manured. 
While it is empty, it is an easy matter to 
give the necessary trenching, and this will 
greatly improve the heavy soil. Keep the 
best material on the top, but loosen up the 
bottom to a good depth. Next to the hedge 
and fence you could have a fairly wide 
Iborder planted irregularly, that is, you 
could have a good-sized clump of each kind 
occupying pieces of ground of various sizes, 
so that when the plants are in full growth 
they will completely cover the ground. This 
is what is termed the irregular border. Next 
the wcoden paling you could have a border 
not necessarily a wide one, but where you 
can grow such things as Stocks, Asters, 
Indian Pinks, Japanese Pinks or any other 
of the choice annuals. In order to get away 
from any formality the clumps of annuals 
might be of irregular or informal shape. 
Against that path leading to the field you 
could also have a border for choice dwarf 
annuals or such things as Primroses, Poly¬ 
anthuses and Auriculas. On the other band, 
all the four borders may be employed for 
herbaceous plants according to your de¬ 
sire. The four squares in the centre formed 
by. the cross walks could be used as Rose 
beds or plantations. Even these may have 
narrow borders round them for choice 
flowers of any sort you may fancy, such as 
Carnations, Pinks and Auriculas. In the 
centre of the garden., Where the two paths 
cross, you could have an arbor or archway 
covered with Rambler Roses. The pillars 
and cross pieces might be of wood or iron 
or the crosspieces could consist of ohains. 
Another plan would be to .merely plant these 
Ramblers in the corners of the square Rose 
beds and train them in the form of pillars. 
In any Rose garden these tall-growing 
Roses should be used in some such way as 
to produce - an effect from the distance. The 
areas or squares in which the Roses are 
planted could have lines of Ramblers 
climbing Polyanthas or any other tab 
types which you may iancy. These, ol 
course, could be grown on pillars and the} 
might even be linked up by chains if yoi 
fancied that style of gardening. Anothei 
suggestion we should make is that the 
longest walk through the centre of the gar 
den might be developed in the form of ar 
Italian garden by having a row of pillar; 
on either side connected by chains, wit! 
chains likewise joining the pillars acros. 
the walks. These Rambler Roses could thei 
be trained on such chains for what is knowr 
as an Italian Rose garefen. 
ROSES. 
2912. Rose Buds Decaying- in a Green 
house. 
I have a Rose tree in my greenhouse, . 
John Hopper, which had a dozen buds on it. 
but they all go like the enclosed. This i 
the second year it has gone the same. Coul< 
you tell me the cause? (T. Lampare 
Hants.) 
We suspect i.t is largely a question o 
light and air. Roses delight in sunshine 
and also in a free play of air around then 
For these reasons many varieties of Rose 
are not well suited for cultivation unde 
glass, and we suspect that John Hoppe 
would be regarded as a bad deer i 
this respect. It is a Hybrid Pei 
petual, and being chiefly grown fc 
garden decoration it is best when lightl 
pruned. If you understand Roses iairl 
well and find the variety behave in this \va 
year after year, you should discard it fc 
indoor culture. Varieties that are much be 
ter adapted for cultivation in a greenhous 
are Captain Hayward, with crimson flowers 
Mrs. John Laing (pink); and Frau Kai 
Drusohki (white). We may also remind yo 
that several Roses do not succeed ever 
season even in the open air. There is gre; 
variety in this respect, and those that do be 
one year may do badly in the following yet 
if the climatic conditions are different, 
would be advisable, therefore, to make 
fresh selection for your purposes. 
2913. Treatment of Wichuraian 
Roses. 
Should Wichuraiana Roses be laid on tl 
ground to get the best results, as I have sec 
some of them treated in that way ? Mine a: 
only young plants, but the stems are on. 
3ft. long, and do not seem to have been grow 
in that way before I got them. Advice c 
this would be appreciated. (G. E. Kenned 
Bucks.) 
Judging from the habit of this plant ar 
its relations the natural plan is to lay c 
the ground, but you can grow them in 
variety of ways, tying them to support 
For instance, they may be grown in the for 
of pillars, standards, weeping Roses, 
trained against pergolas. We do not thi: 
they would succeed well trained against 
wall, but this requires some experiment, 
it is the common single one, and you wi 
to grow it on the ground, little or no trar 
ing is practically necessary. The you; 
stems rise above .and grow over the top of 1 .■■ 
old ones until they form quite a cushi- 
or bank covered with small, shining gre. 
leaves, amongst which the white flowers, a- 
pear. You can, therefore, be guided by yo 
own taste as to the form in which you wou. 
like them to grow. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
2914. Pruniing Forsythias. 
I have two large plants of Forsythia, t 
they are getting too bulky, and would sal 
to require pruning. What is the best wa} 1 
do this? (G. E. Kennedy, Bucks.) 
If your Forsythias are grown in the to? 
of bushes you can shorten back the stni 
