i Gardening World, December 19, 1908. 
An Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs. 
VIOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
‘ jthing is quite beautiful alone; nothing 
; beautiful in the whole.” — Emerson. 
CONTENTS . 
i;;urs Letter to Amateurs . 775 
bes, The Early Destruction of 777 
p Trees. Planting (illus.) . 777 
r:tions at Westminster . 788 
r tions: Work for December ... 780 
ranthemums at the Crystal 
’ace . 77 8 
ulendron Fallax from Cuttings 777 
nutition Awards . 77 ^ 
gjig- and Trenching . 778 
qre Within .. 784 
wr Garden, The (illus.) . 782 
iiGarden, The (illus.) . 782 
ee louse, The Amateur’s . 783 
c)n Garden, The (illus.) . 783 
th of Thousands (illus.) . 781 
:b, The Bull Dog (illus.) . 779 
:h s for Amateurs . 783 
tas, Scab in ■. 776 
cky, Shrubs for the . 779 
se Planting . 776 
eePeas, Best Pink . 787 
ri (illus.) . 787 
irlif the Week . 782 
laat-’VCmk. 
firl of frivolous leaves, 
Golden spray, 
:e e foam of a wave that heaves 
S abeams out of its way; 
I rting out of the dingle, 
i: idding over the lane, 
3 chestnut and beech leaves mingle 
dnut and plane. 
Eil of desolate leaves, 
Ankle deep, 
e weed that an ebb tide weaves 
3 a towsled heap; 
tk and limp in the highway, 
tsam beyond the wave, 
ring your way, galloping my way, 
) the grave. 
A. W. 
lemouth. 
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CLXXIV. 
Monotony in the Carden. 
Now is the time of the year to ask and 
answer to the best of our abilities vari¬ 
ous leading questions as to the beauty, 
or the lack of it, of our gardens:—“Is 
the garden too much alike in all its 
parts so that we cannot get away from a 
feeling of rponotonv?” Where we are 
obliged to reply “Yes it is,” this state of 
things may arise from too great a uni¬ 
formity in the ground plan, and this 
may be accentuated by having the same 
varieties of plants too generally dis¬ 
tributed. Thus, a border filled with 
Campanulas, Delphiniums, Phloxes, and 
other well known perennial plants should 
not have its counterpart elsewhere, but 
distinct and different varieties of plants 
should occupy the second border, and, 
of course, this appeals more especially 
to small gardens. Perhaps the ground 
plan caii be bettered, and a little 
artistic skill and knowledge brought to 
bear, and how sadly often this could be 
done, but it is not. However, the present 
is the time to take any such alterations 
in hand. And I want to say here, as I 
am sure I have said before, do not let 
us overlook the extreme decorativeness 
of at least one raised border in the gar¬ 
den. Let us think of it—in no way does 
it take from the sense of breadth; it 
affords a splendidly drained site for 
plants that cannot stand a water-logged 
soil during the winter, and thirdly we 
have the facing of this raised border to 
utilise, and utilise beautifully, even if it 
be but of a foot’s depth for masses of 
rock-loving plants that cover the stone 
or clinker facing, and give us a line of 
vivid and brilliant colour if well planted. 
Breaking: the Line of Sight. 
It may be that a dividing screen, such 
as a line of Rambler Roses along the 
side or end of a lawn, or other position, 
will prevent the garden being covered by 
the eye at a glance. It is a matter of 
importance to see that this is not pos¬ 
sible, and in a small garden, a line of 
Roses may accomplish this end and be 
in itself a beautiful feature. I would 
suggest in a really small garden using 
but one variety of Rose, or at least one 
colour, pink or white or crimson, so as to 
secure a grand colour effect; any of the 
favourite Rambler section would be suit¬ 
able, I.adv Gay and Dorothy Perkins, 
Turner’s Crimson Rambler and Phila¬ 
delphia. Or, again, if preferred, the 
Clematises could be used in this same 
manner, and if, say, even half a dozen 
made a line at the far end of a little 
lawn what a gorgeous feature in the little 
garden would be secured, and the colour 
scheme could be further enriched by tubs 
of Hydrangeas standing between or at 
the bases either of the Roses or the 
Clematises. 
The Sense of Breadth. 
I am treating the small garden more 
especially to-day, and I should like to 
emphasise the fact that even here we 
must try to secure a sense of breadth; 
and by this I mean we must make the 
little garden appear as large, as ample, 
as restful as possible. That is another 
question we may seek to answer at this 
season. Do our gardens answer to these 
conditions ? If not, it may be because 
they are too intricate and we can give 
them these eminently desirable qualities 
by simplifying the design as much as 
p.ossible. I am quite sure it is a mistake 
to begrudge a path of a reasonable width ; 
to my mind nothing makes a garden 
look so insignificant and toy-like as a 
two-foot, or thereabouts, pathway. I feel 
sure it must be hard lines in a very small 
garden to widen one of these narrow 
pathways at the expense of the small 
lawn or the narrow border, but still I 
know it is worth it. Suppose we take 
six inches from the lawn on one side and 
six inches from the border on the other 
and give them to the mean little path¬ 
way—immediately the whole design seems 
to grow in simplicity, in breadth of de¬ 
sign, and in restfulness. 
Too many Evergreen Shrubs. 
Another question that might be asked 
is this :—Are we overdone with evergreen 
shrubs? I have often seen small town 
and suburban gardens thus overloaded 
and felt how much more charming and 
decorative an effect would be achieved 
if these were made to give way to such 
subjects as the dainty and free flowering 
blooms, such as the beautiful white 
Cytisus albus, or the yellow C. sessili- 
folius, or the gay yellow and chestnut- 
coloured C. scoparius andreanus. Or, 
again, if these overgrown evergreens were 
replaced by Rhus Cotinus with its wealth 
of graceful bloom—and other subjects 
equally suitable would be Spiraea Arun- 
cus, S. ariaefolia, and the China Roses. 
I often think that to use these last as 
deciduous shrubs is to secure a maximum 
of blossom on a minimum of ground 
space. 
China Roses. 
I delight to see China Roses doing 
duty in a mixed border of perennials so 
long as they have ample space about 
them. They give variety of height in 
winter, when the herbaceous things are 
below the soil, and from June to Decem¬ 
ber they will yield, at any rate, some 
blossom. The pale pink—Monthly Rose 
—as it is called, is the one that pleases 
me best, for it is just the colour at the 
height of summer now easily secured 
among the hardy perennial plants, and 
is a beautiful addition to a border of 
Delphiniums, Campanulas, and other old 
favourites. F. NORFOLK. 
-- 
Chrysanthemum Hilda Lawrence. 
The above is a single variety having 
large lilac-pink florets in three rows and 
produced in bunches. Award of Merit 
by the R.H.S., when shown by Mrs. R. 
Gregory (gardener, Mr. L. Law-rence), 
Shoreham Cottage, Shoreham. 
