January 16, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
pots or pans containing the seeds on the sur¬ 
face of the soil. Indeed, you can be sowing 
the seeds at your leisure while the manure 
is sinking to the proper temperature. Have 
your other frame in readiness so that the 
seedlings which have germinated may be 
shifted into the cold one as soon as the 
seed leaves are fully grown. If the weather 
is not very genial the frame containing the 
newly-germinated seeds should be well 
matted up at night to keep them snug. Ven¬ 
tilation will have to be given during the day 
if the sun shines brightly. When these 
things have made the first rough leaf, or the 
first pair, you should commence transplant¬ 
ing them into boxes consisting of about equal 
parts of loam-, leaf mould and sand. Water 
the seedlings immediately to settle the soil, 
but do not give any more water until they 
show that they actually need it. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3538. Building- a Terrace Wall. 
There is a low grass slope at one end of 
our lawn, and I wish to stop people from 
running down it instead of going round by 
the path. I have thought of building a low 
wall and covering it with plants so as to 
give it an ornamental appearance. I do not 
want an eye-sore in the garden that would 
be seen from the windows. I would be glad 
if you would suggest how this could be 
done. (M. B., Durham.) 
Your best plan would be to build a double 
wall of the height you require with the ob¬ 
ject of filling the space between the two 
with some good soil. You can then grow any 
class of plants, practically which you like. 
Openings may be left here and there along 
the sides of the wall, if any height, and by 
that means you can grow plants on the sides 
of the wall as well as on the top. From 
your suggestion, however, we consider that 
a high wall would be undesirable. Some 
plants on the top would hang over the sides 
sufficiently to partly cover the wall. The 
perennial Candytufts, for instance, would 
hang over as far as you desire them. Au- 
brietias would also hang over, as well as 
Snow in Summer (Cerastium tomentosum), 
etc. Here and there along the wall you 
may have an isolated specimen of Fuchsia 
Riccartoni, double "Scotch Roses, Spiraea 
Anthony Waterer and Yuccas, such as Y. 
filamentosa and Y. recurvifolia. The two 
latter are amongst the hardiest and shoiNd 
succeed in your district, and if so they 
would relieve the monotony of a flat line of 
flowers. We have named a number of mode¬ 
rately tall growing subjects with the object 
of relieving the flatness produced by low- 
growing ones. The tallest is Fuchsia Ric¬ 
cartoni, and that you could dwarf by cut¬ 
ting down to the ground every March. 
Young shoots will be produced during the 
summer and flower while only of moderate 
height. 
353 9. Flowers for a Succession to 
Bulbs. 
Thanks for your replies 3499 and 3516 in 
the current number. I have no object in lift¬ 
ing any of the bulbs, and would rather let 
them lie all the year round than move them, 
unless any of them would be injured by re¬ 
maining in the ground for — say, two or 
three years. All the Tulips and most of the 
Hyacinths, Anemones and Ranunculuses are 
planted in designs where they are not likely 
to overcrowd for some time, but I have noted 
your advice about the last-mentioned flowers 
and shall follow it. (N. B., Barnes, Sur¬ 
rey.) 
If the Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths and 
Crown Imperial are not too thickly planted 
you can stir the surface of the ground with 
a small hand-fork about the beginning of 
Aoril and sow double Larkspurs, Mignon¬ 
ette, Annual T'hrvsanthemums, Coreopsis or 
any other annuals which you may prefer. 
These will grow up and occupy the place of 
the bulbs when the foliage dies down in 
early summer. On the other hand, if you 
have the convenience of a cold frame, you 
can rear Stocks, China Asters, Phlox Drum- 
niondii, annual Chrysanthemums, or any 
other choice half-hardy annuals }'ou may 
fancy, and plant these between the bulbs at 
the end of May. They would then be rather 
more advanced than if they were sown at 
the beginning of April where they are to 
bloom. We only advise these annuals in the 
case of those bulbs which die down com¬ 
pletely about the beginning of summer. We 
should not sow or plant annuals amongst 
Anemones, Ranunculus or Montbretias. 
These annuals can, of course, be removed in 
the autumn and the soil loosened up with a 
hand-fork and left neat for the winter. It 
is a plan by which you can keep the ground 
full throughout the season. 
LAWNS. 
3540. Grass Getting- Patchy. 
I have a lawn that is much shaded by 
houses and trees, not just over-hanging, but 
a little way off. The grass grew fairly well 
in summer, but it got patchy in autumn. 
Does it require manure, or what would you 
recommend me to do with it? (Lawn Grass, 
Surrey.) 
The soil may be poor and in need of 
manure, but we think the shady condition 
of the ground is more against it than any¬ 
thing. No doubt most of the grass on your 
lawn consists of the common meadow grass 
(Poa annua), which is an annual and dies 
off earlier or later in the season according to 
the drought or otherwise. It should have 
filled up again in autumn, unless you keep 
the lawn very closely mowed in summer, 
thus, to some extent, preventing the ripening 
of seeds. In the meantime you could give 
the grass a dressing of basic slag at the 
rate of 7 lbs. per rod of 30J sq. yds. Wood 
ashes would also be advantageous, or 2 lbs. 
per square rod of kainit. At the present time 
you could also give it a good dressing of 
sifted soil that has been used for potting 
purposes, as it would be fairly rich and in 
a finely crumbled condition. In the course 
of the next two months this dressing would 
have entirely disappeared amongst the roots 
of the grass, except in the bare patches. 
Then, at the end of March, or the beginning 
of 'April, you could get some lawn grass 
seeds and sow the bare patches down rather 
thickly. A light sprinkling of soil over 
these seeds would helo to keep the birds off 
until it germinates. As soon as the seedlings 
are well uo you can commence rolling the 
lawn. When getting the grass seed you 
should state that vour garden is rather 
shaded, and even if you do not get Poa 
annua you will get some other grasses that 
are suitable for shad}' situations. 
HEDGES. 
3 5 41. A Quick Growing- Hedge. 
As the wind comes sweeping up from the 
south-west very strongly at times I wish to 
plant a hedge on that side of the garden that 
would grow quickly and not take up much 
space. What would be the best thing to 
get? (F. Williams, Herts.) 
For a permanent hedge nothing will beat 
the common Hawthorn, Darticularly if ex¬ 
posed on one side to cattle. Beech makes an 
excellent hedge if properly attended to, but 
it grows rather slowly during the first few 
years. The Hawthorn grows somewha't more 
quickly, but if you do not mind getting some 
Lombardy Poplars at the same time you c^n 
very quickly get a hedge. By planting the 
Lombardy Poplars on the side from whence 
the wind blows they would quickie' reach 
the height you desire and give the bushes in 
your garden the necessary shelter. Then 
when the Thorn or Beech hedge has «ro> 
to the proper height the Lombardy Pop!; 
could be destroyed or planted elsewhere 
you desire it, 
ROSES. 
3542. Roses in a Greenhouse. 
In the greenhouse we have planted c’ 
Niphetos, Alarechal Niel, and W. All 
Richardson Rose trees. What temperate 
should they be kept at? Do they want pru 
ing snow ? I suppose there will be green 1 
upon tbem presently. How should that 
prevented? (Planter, Surrey.) 
The Roses you mention really do not 1 
quire any heat unless you wish to brii 
them on quickly. They are perfectly hard 
and seeing that they are only newly planti 
it would be advisable to let them come aloi 
with the natural heat of the sun if the plan 
were lifted from the open ground. The 
would make more sturdy growth and be in 
fitter condition for hastening next year. C 
the other hand, if you had pot grown plan 
they could be subjected to heat without muc 
ill effect. In that case you coula keep tl 
house at 45 degs. by night, which would 1 
ample for the next two or three weeks. A 
they commence growing you can raise, tl 
night temperature to 50 degs., and when 1 
full growth the temperature might be raise 
to 55 degs. with 5 degs. or 10 degs. rise b 
sunheat during the day. The Roses yo 
mention do not require pruning in the regi 
lar sense of the term, if you wish to groi 
them as climbers. Both Niphetos and Man 
chal Niel, if intended for climbers, shout 
have the stems tied in at full length. 1 
there are weak side shoots any such migb 
be removed and the unripened tip of th 
main branches cut away. W. Allen Richard 
son only requires some of the more slende 
shoots to be cut out where they happen to b 
crowded. If you attempt to cut back an 
of the shoots you will get few or no flower 
from it. If green fly makes its appearanc 
the house should be gently fumigated on tw< 
successive evenings, and the best plan is ti 
have it done immediately rather than wai 
until the Roses get crippled. You will finr 
the proper material for fumigation in oui 
advertising pages of the issue dated 2nc 
January. It is up-to-date'according to tht 
best knowledge at the present day, both as tr 
effectiveness and in being harmless ] to 
plants. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
3543. Pruning: Clematis Jackmanni. 
I have a large plant of Clematis Jack¬ 
manni over an arch leading into the garden. 
It now looks like a bundle of dead sticks 
When can 1 prune it and how is it done? 
(W. Bevan, Herts.) 
We presume the plant has had little or nc 
pruning for some years, possibly not since 
it was planted. It would be a very difficult 
task to prune such a plant, and under the 
circumstances we consider the best plan 
would be to cut down the stems within 18 in. 
of the ground. This will cause the plant to 
shoot up strongly in spring and, if you at¬ 
tend regularly to the tying-up of the shoots 
as they progress, the plant will flower splen¬ 
didly in September and possibly give you 
finer flowers than you have had for the last 
year or two. In all probability if you were 
to attempt to unravel the stems, which milst 
be matted together by. their tendrils, you 
would break a good many of them, as they 
are soft and liable to get broken owing to the 
firmness with which the tendrils hold the 
shoots together. 
3544. Propagating: a Wistaria. 
We have a Wistaria on our house and 1 
would like to get some young ones from' it 
to plant against the summerhouse so that 
they may climb up and cover the roof. 
