796 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 26, 1908 
Address : The Editor, The ■ Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should be as brief as ■possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans. —Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac- 
8TOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
3483. Cutting Back a Hydrangea. 
I have a Hydrangea, itlhait is much too 
large for my greenhouse, but I do not wish 
to destroy it, as it blooms such a long time 
in summer. It takes up a lot of room that I 
want for other things. Would it' bloom next 
year if I cut it well back? (T. Groves, 
Middlesex.) 
If you mean the common Hydrangea it 
would be a mistake to cut it hard 'back and 
expect it to bloom next year. This Hydran¬ 
gea blooms 'in the following year from the 
big buds at the ends of itlhe shoots made dur¬ 
ing this year. You can reduce the size of 
the plant by pursuing a certain method and 
still expect to get some flowers from it. If 
you had 'done the cutting as soon as it 
finished blooming it would have given the 
remaining shoots even a better chance. On 
a big Hydrangea there are always Short side 
shoots which do not bloom. If you had cut 
back the flowering stems as soon as the plant 
ceased to be ornamental these side shoots 
would then have got more light and air, and 
would have plumped up their buds better 
by the time the leaves were ready to fall 
away. The best plan mow would be to cut 
back those long stems, as there would be few 
or no flowers at the end of them next year, 
and at the same time leave those shorter 
Shoots with a good plhmp bud at the end. 
That will have the effect of reducing the 
9ize of the plant, and it can be still further 
reduced by tying up some of the straggling 
shoots from which you hope to get flowers 
next year. It is not well to have the plant 
too crowded, but if loosely tied up in winter 
it would save a deal of house-room, and the 
ties could be undone when, the plant com¬ 
mences to grow in spring. If you have not 
sufficient room for it in the greenhouse it 
could bloom out of doors in a sheltered situa¬ 
tion, and all you would have to do would 
be to tie up the shoots, so as to reduce their 
bulk when taking the plant into the house 
about the end of September or the beginning 
of October. 
FERNS. 
3484. Ferns Turning Yellow. 
Oan you say why my Ferns in the green¬ 
house turn yellow in the autumn? They are 
evergreen kinds and should keep green all 
the winter. They do all .right in the summer 
time, but by September they show yellow 
markings and gradually get worse till they 
ter and height of the fence or wall; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully -filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
look quite yellowish and certainly have not 
the bright grassy green of the same kinds I 
see elsewhere. (C. Y., Oxford.) 
Wiiitlhout specimens it is impossible to be 
certain as to the true cause of Fern fronds 
assuming a yellow hue, as there are several 
causes that might bring about this result. 
The plants may have had too much exposure 
to sunshine in the summer in a dry atmos¬ 
phere. That would .turn the fronds yellow, 
or of a yellow-green, even although the 
plants were otherwise quite healthy. You 
may have given them too little water at the 
■roots, or it may have been a combination of 
these two causes in autumn when you were 
preparing them for winter. In a dry atmos¬ 
phere tlhrips and red spider are very liable 
to multiply and they very soon disfigure 
Fern fronds. You should examine them to 
see if any insects are present on the under¬ 
side of tihe fronds, and if so dip them in 
very strong soapsuds, repeating the operation 
the following day to make sure that the in¬ 
sects are destroyed. If the yellowing was 
due to too much exposure to sunshine in a 
dry atmosphere it would be advantageous an¬ 
other year Ito give them a fair amount of 
shade. If the sun strikes much upon the 
glass all the upright sides of that portion 
of the house might be whitewashed, say, 
about the beginning of June, when the sun 
is getting strong. If it strikes much upon 
the roof a good plan would be to fix up a 
blind that could be let down during bright 
sunshine and afterwards drawn, up. Besides 
seeing that they get plenty of water at the 
roots you should make a point of keeping 
tihe atmosphere of the house a little more 
moist. That could be done by syringing the 
floor or pathways and any bare part of the 
house once or twice a day in fine weather. 
This produces a steamy moisture, which 
serves to keep the atmosphere cool and is 
genial to Ferns. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3485. Laying: Out a Carden. 
I have lately come into a garden 45 ft. 
long and 30 ft. wide, and I would like to 
grow Roses, Sweet Peas and hardy flowers 
of sorts, besides vegetables. At the end next 
the house I would like a bit of lawn where 
we could sit outside in fine weather. At pre¬ 
sent there is nothing in it, and it seems to 
have been used for growing vegetables. How 
would you lay it out to the best advantage 
for growing the plants above named ? L 
Taylor, Lancs.) 
If a depth of 15 ft. of lawn would be : fi. 
cient at the end next the house, then at 
will leave the rest of the garden square It 
would be somewhat a formal garden, b it 
may, nevertheless, be turned to useful c- 
coumt. In the neighbourhood of houses, r- 
dens must of necessity be formal as a j e. 
There are several ways of laying out tie 
rest of tihe ground by running a path ij 
from one end to the other along the mix e. 
making two equal portions. Another w !d 
be to run a pathway across it as wel is 
lengthways, thus dividing it into four e* al 
portions. As you intend to grow vegeta s. 
a simpler method would be to have a bo jr 
running right round the four sides of ie 
garden, then a pathway of suitable \v ch 
following the same outline. You could 50 
have a border, narrow or wide accordin to 
your requirements, on the linner side of le 
path, so that by this method you would J ,e 
a square garden, with a path all rount t, 
borders on each side of the path, and a 2. 
tral square area which could be devoted 1. 
tirely to^getables. No walks of a pe- a- 
nent character would be necessary in it 
kitohen garden, so that it could be laid o :o 
suit the kinds of vegetables you wisl :o 
grow. This latter method of laying it it 
is quite in the style of old gardens w -e 
they are of this shape. The Roses couL >e. 
planted between the pathway and the v 5- 
table ground, and if you have dim -s 
amongst them they could be arrange: it 
suitable intervals at the far side of the r- 
der from the path and have clumps of S' it 
Peas between the climbing Roses. On ip 
other hand you could make a hedge of Sv st 
Peas of suitable length along the furl -r 
side or back of that border. The boi -r 
next to the wall or fence could be devote 0 
a variety of purposes, including the rear g 
of vegetables, also for making beds or 1 ■- 
ders for flowers.. Hardy flowers could, f 
course, be planted in t!he borders- on eit r 
side of the path, but we should give e 
Roses the preference for the border ford it 
from the fence, as they would get more li .t 
and air tJher*. 
ROSES. 
3486. Planting: .Between Roses. 
I have just planted a large bed of E e 
trees on the middle of the lawn, and as e 
plants are small I thought of planting so - 
thing else between, them for a year or 0 
until they grow and can cover the spa. 
Something dwarf would, of course, be b , 
so as not to smother the small bush Ro, . 
What do you think of planting Pans , 
Pentstemons, or Geraniums to cover the I 
and make it look full? (R. Jack, Notts. 
We quite understand that the Rose i 
would look rather thin for a year or two • 
til the plants grow. The subjects you m - 
tikm, however, are rather leafy for the p - 
pose, as they would keep the ground entir v 
covered up and prevent you-from hoeing il 
keeping the soiil loose during the sunur . 
Roses like the soil to be well stirred on e 
surface during summer, as it serves to p- 
serve the moisture and to aerate it. Te 
Pansies do not grow tall nor root deeply, t 
they soon cover up the surface of the si 
completely. We should prefer to keep s 
ground bare or plant bulbs to help fhich 
the bed. In the spring, for instance, u 
could have Daffodils and Tulips, with (Il¬ 
euses ot Hyacinths round the margin. Ir 
blooming later on—say, in summer and . - 
tumn, you could plant Gladioli and e 
Cape Hyacinth (Galton.ia canddcans), wh’i 
would not cover the soil completely it 
shade the surface too much, seeing that th r 
leaves are narrow and erect. Indeed, e 
think that with these two latter kinds a' 
other planting could be dispensed wi~ 
You would then be able to stir the surf:.- 
occasionally with a small hoe or a foi, 
both to keep down weeds and preserve t; 
