526 
THE GARDENING WORLD , 
August 15, 1908. 
— HOW I MADE — 
A Garden 
In a London Suburb. 
When 1 entered a house which the 
builders had just left the garden was an 
oblong piece of stiff unyielding London 
clay, in which the builder’s men 
had skilfully planted beautiful little 
colonies of brick-bats, broken glass 
and slates, interspersed with sundry 
other objects of interest such as 
odds and ends of timber, bits of plaster 
and broken water-spouts. This was on 
September 2nd, 1907, and at the time the 
ground was harder and drier than at any 
other period of that year. 
With stout tools I set to work to un¬ 
earth the unlovely materials above-men¬ 
tioned, and cast them over the wooden 
fence into the outer world—a strip of 
waste land at the back of the garden offer¬ 
ing convenient accommodation. I should 
say, however, that most of the broken 
bricks were retained, to be used later as 
a foundation for the paths of the garden. 
t had by the aid of a strong four-tined 
fork turned over the whole of the ground 
by Christmas, leaving the soil in rough 
clods for the weather to pulverise. At each 
digging a quantity of ashes, road scrap¬ 
ings and other rubbish that would rot 
and assist in lightening the soil, was 
buried, and after the third digging I 
waited for frosts to do a bit more work. 
In February I lined out the paths. A 
space of 10ft. wide was left right across 
the end of the garden nearest the house 
to provide a little playground for the 
youngster; the rest of the garden was 
made into one oblong bed with a 25ft. 
path around, a 3ft. border down each side 
of the garden and a 5ft. border across the 
end. Into the space cut out for paths I 
put all the brick-bats I had retained, and 
any stones and similar material I could 
lay hold of, ramming the whole in as 
firmly as possible; over these a few inches 
of siftings from a builder’s rubbish heap 
close at hand, and the paths were ready 
for gravel. 
I next purchased half-a-dozen loads of 
decent soil of a light open character, and 
top-dressed the bed and borders there¬ 
with, reserving a certain quantity with 
which to fill in holes at planting time, to 
give the roots of the plants something to 
get a start in before coming to the stiff, 
heavy clay. 
No planting was done until March, 
when I put in a couple of dozen Roses, of 
such vigorous kinds as Mrs. J. Laing, 
Fisher Holmes, Paul Neron, Caroline 
Testout, etc. 
Six ramblers were planted by the fence 
at the bottom of the garden, where they 
have almost a western exposure. The 
borders were planted with Pyrethrums, 
Polemoniums, Geums, Phloxes, Trollius, 
Anemones, and such things, having re¬ 
gard to their ability to thrive in heavy 
soil, and to their flowering at various 
times. In the centre between the Roses I 
planted Pentstemons, Heucheras, Antir¬ 
rhinums, Pansies, etc., and the whole 
bed was bordered with alpines such as 
Aubrietias, Arabis albida fl. pi., Thymus, 
Antennaria tomentosa, Phlox subulata, 
and Saxifragas and SempervivUms. As 
previously hinted, fine soil was worked 
among the roots, and, fortunately, within 
24 hours of planting a nice steady rain 
fell, which settled the soil about the 
plants and gave them a start. 
My Pyrethrums, Trollius, and Geums 
bloomed well, and have passed. Some of 
the Alpines opened a few flowers, but they 
are making growth, which promises a fine 
display next year. 
I have cut a few decent Roses, and the 
plants are full of buds. Phlox Carolina 
is full of bloom as I write, as is also Del¬ 
phinium nudicaule. 
The Polemoniums are blooming, so too 
is Geranium sanguineum. Within an¬ 
other week several other plants will be in 
bloom, and by August and September my 
little garden will be gay, which twelve 
months before was a patch of London clay 
and builders’ refuse. 
Malmaison. 
-- 
According to an official estimate just 
published, Strawberries this season have 
been an abundant crop generally. Bush 
fruit is reported as only fairly good, while 
not more than a moderate yield of Plums 
and Apples is anticipated. 
- a. w. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS: —Competitors mast 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any way,' any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care- 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLINGS will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making the award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
following date of issue. Entries received later 
than Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
the following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OP 
LAST WEEK'S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
A prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ Arthur D. Cooper ” for the 
article on “Roses in a Suburban Garden,” 
page 512. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to “ J. M. Stevens,” for the 
article on “Francoa ramosa” ; and another to 
“ Reginae ” for the article on “ Strelitzia 
Reginae,” page 522. 
HERBACEOUS.. 
Paeonies. 
There are those who see no beauty in 
this lovely race of flowers; it may be they 
have no taste for any section of the garden 
or have never seen them brought to per¬ 
fection. A herbaceous border filled with 
a good collection of Paeonies is to be ad¬ 
mired by all who have any admiration in 
them. The photograph is of a plant of 
Lady Beresford carrying forty heads of 
well developed blooms of soft blush pink. 
(Unfortunately not suitable for reproduc¬ 
tion.—E d.). 
There is a lot of talk at meetings of 
horticultural societies and discussion be¬ 
tween gardeners about the correct culture 
of these plants. Whether mine is correc’ 
or not I will endeavour to put before the 
readers of The Gardening World the 
way the plant was cultivated to carry 
forty heads of bloom. 
First, I selected a piece of good ground 
between two Apple trees in the border of 
the kitchen garden, well manured it with 
decayed grass and pig manure rotted to¬ 
gether, and then trenched it twice before 
planting. The soil consisted of good 
yellow sandy loam, well manured and 
trenched and laying in a position to get 
morning sun until eleven o’clock and the 
evening sun after three. 
The next thing is to select a firm with 
a good reputation to purchase your plants 
from. 
If intending to make a large border the 
same operation must be carried out, and 
be sure to let the ground lay idle some 
time before planting, so as to allow the 
manure and soil to get well mixed 
together, and also to get a piece of ground 
where they can grow without being dis¬ 
turbed for years, as they enjoy having 
their roots left in quietness. 
Planting should be done as soon as 
possible after the foliage has died down. 
It w'ill be found beneficial to water if the 
weather continues dry after planting. 
Like Potatos, so long as there is an eye 
they will grow’. A covering of cow' manure 
or leaf litter will keep the soil moist in 
hot weather, and good waterings of 
manure water will increase size of blooms 
tremendously. 
As far as is known Paeonies are free 
from animal and insect pests. 
The following varieties are good and 
w'ill be found reliable to furnish good 
blooms :—Lady Beresford, Addison, A. J. 
Hunter, Admiral Dewey, Coronation. 
Temple, Lady’s Realm, Hallam, Mrs. 
E. Harwood, Gravetye, Sir T. J. Lipton. 
Mrs. Gwyn Lewis. All Paeonies are 
valuable as cut flowers for decoration. 
Henry Page. 
N. Devon. 
-- 
Carnation Cardinal. 
The flowers of this border Carnation 
are of large size, smooth, with brilliant 
scarlet, broad and well-formed edges. L 
W'ould prove a highly meritorious border 
variety. Award of Merit by the R.H.S. 
when showm by Mr. James Douglas, Grea 
Bookham Surrey, at a recent meeting. 
