THE GARDENING WORLD. 
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 pape, 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¬ 
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 
plat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be maiked. 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. 
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WINDOW BOXES. 
1952. Hanging Plants. 
Could you name some hanging plants 
that would be suitable for a sunny window, 
also some that would thrive in a window 
box where no sunshine reaches except early 
in the morning? (A. Morris, Kent.) 
Plants that would thrive and bloom in a 
sunny window would be Tropaeolum canari- 
ense, T. major, T. minor, Ivy-leaved Pelar¬ 
goniums, Cobaea scandens and Verbenas 
might be tried. The Tropaeolum minor 
would not hang down to any great length, 
but if you succeed in getting good growth 
it would hang over the box considerably. 
Plants that would thrive in a shady window 
and hang over the edges of the box are 
Creeping Jenny, Vinca major, V. minor and 
their varieties. Nepeta Glechoma varie- 
gata, Polystichum angulare, Ampelopsis 
Veitchii and other plants of that class. Al¬ 
though some of these are showy when in 
bloom you cannot expect them to give many 
flowers in so shady a situation. 
1953. Wallflowers in Window Boxes. 
I had a very fine display of Wallflowers 
in my window box in spring, but -as they 
have stopped flowering I would like to fill 
the boxes with something else for the sum¬ 
mer. If I lift the Wallflowers and plant 
them in the garden, would they flower again 
next spring in the box by planting them 
back there in autumn? (Window Box, 
Hants.) 
No doubt the plants would succeed as you 
state because the frequent lifting would 
cause them to make fibrous roots and be suit¬ 
able for shifting. They would also flower, 
but not so finely as they did last spring if 
the weather happens to be unsuitable. In¬ 
deed, the chances are that the plants would 
get killed in winter or greatly injured by 
frost, especially during windy periods. 
Tall plants do not succeed even in the gar¬ 
den so well as young ones, for the reason 
that they are less likely to get covered with 
snow in winter and they suffer by exposure. 
Your best plan would be to get some more 
seeds of the same sort and sow them either 
in a cold frame or out of doors at once. 
When they have made a few leaves trans¬ 
plant them into beds or nursery lines with 
sufficient space between them to allow of 
good growth being made. 
195 4. Ferns for Boxes. 
Would it be easy to grow Ferns in boxes 
where I could keep them in a shady position, 
removing them in winter (if necessary) to 
an indoor window sill ? Must the soil be of 
a particular kind? If the plan is practic¬ 
able, what sorts should be grown? (Frond, 
Middlesex.) 
There is no reason why most of the British 
Ferns and some of the hardy exotics might 
not be grown in window boxes if you can 
get the plants in pots. In lifting them you 
would also have to be careful not to over¬ 
water during the winter months till they 
have taken to the fresh soil. They should 
be kept damp, but not soddened by stagnant 
moisture owing to bad drainage or too much 
fresh soil in the pots. For instance, you 
could grow Polystichum angulare proli- 
ferum, or any of its varieties, P. aculeatum, 
Scolopendriums, plain and crested, Os- 
munda regalis, O. r. cristata, Lastrea Filix- 
mas paleacea cristata, Asplenium Adiamtum- 
nigrum, A. Trichomanes, A. marinum and 
the Lady Fern, plain or crested. We name 
the above, which are common and easily 
procurable forms so that you might 
gain experience before launching forth into 
expensive varieties. If you really take a 
liking to Ferns, however, you will want 
, some of the many fine varieties after you 
make their acquaintance and knoyr that you 
can grow them. During summer/especially 
when the weather is windy, they will take a 
good deal of water in boxes, and if the lat¬ 
ter are well drained you can scarcely over¬ 
water these hardy Ferns in the open air at 
that period. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
1955. Advice on Pansies. 
I should be very much pleased if you 
would tell me the best and simplest treat¬ 
ment for Pansies and where is the best place 
to send for seed and what sort of fancy 
Pansies to have to flower big. I can pick 
up a lot of clean horse dung on the roads. 
Is that any good? When should I put 
it on the soil between the plants, I mean as 
a top dressing ? I have got about sixty 
plants; I cannot get them big enough. 
What about Toogood’s Pansies? (S. H. 
R. V., Cornwall.) 
The simplest plan with Pansies would be 
to sow them on a prepared bed in the gar¬ 
den some time in August. They will make 
sufficient growth this coming autumn to en¬ 
able them to flower early next spring. We 
should, however, take the trouble- to sow the 
seedlings in boxes or seed pans, and to 
prick them out into other boxes when they 
have made the first rough leaf. They will 
make nice tufts in a few weeks, which can 
be planted in their flowering positions any 
29 , 1907 - 
time after they are ready. If you have 
command of heat, you should, of course, so 
them in March and give them the san 
treatment as a half-hardy annual. By th: 
means you will get them ready for plantin 
out some time in May to commence to flowe 
in June or July. There is no best place t 
send for seed. If you deal with a reliabl 
seedsman you will get the best of the: 
strain, but if you fancy any other strai 
you would want to get that. It is very muc 
a question of liking or fancy as to which . 
the best. You can consult our advertisin 
pages for seedsmen. You can obtain seed 
collected from fancy Pansies, or you ca 
get seeds of Trimardeau Pansies. Both c 
these types have large flowers, and if yo 
treat them well you can produce large 
flowers than if you were to leave them t 
their own resources in the garden. Hors 
droppings make useful material for diggin 
in the soil or for mulching the ground. Th 
most necessary time to apply this as a sui 
face dressing is a-t the beginning of he 
weather, but no harm will result by puttin 
it on any time from April to June. You d 
not tell us the age of your plants, nc 
whether ‘it is the plants or the flowers thr 
you cannot succeed in getting of large sizt 
We have not seen Toogood’s Pansies, as the 
are rarely, if ever, exhibited about Londor 
To get large Pansies there are several n 
quirements, namely, to get the strain w 
mentioned above and to cultivate the groun 
well, giving the plants good attention, an 
the weather. The latter is the most difficul 
to surmount, but by mulching the groum 
and watering you can get very satisfactor 
results. 
1956. Advice on Wallflowers. 
I have had bad luck with Wallflowers, 
threw away about a hundred last year eate 
or rotted off level with the surface. Ther 
were a lot of tiny maggots o,r something 0 
other in the stem that was left. What kim 
of creature is it? My plan is when 3 in 
high to prick them out into ground that i 
mixed with air slaked lime, and at the sam 
time mix up three parts of earth and on 
part of soot together, and dip the roots i: 
it. I want advice to get them bushy am 
to get sound, big and healthy roots, am 
large flowers. (S. H. R. V.', Cornwall.) 
We suspeat that your Wallflowers hav 
been attacked by the Cabbage Fly (Anthc 
myia Bra&sicae), or some of its relatives 
which attack a variety of plants belongin 
to the Cabbage family. It is just possibl 
that your Wallflowers were attacked wit! 
club-root,' causing them to get broken off a 
the ground line by the wind. Of course 
that has to be determined on the spot, unles 
you send us some affected specimens. 1 
good plan m either of those cases is t 
trench the ground on which you intend t 
sew or plant the Wallflowers. If this trenc. 
is 2-I, ft. deep so much the better. The to 
spit of soil should be put into the bottor 
of the trench because by that means yoi 
bury the grubs, eggs and pupae of insect; 
as well as slugs and the spores of fungi 
Indeed, deep trenching is the secret of get 
ting the ground clean of many pests. Ob 
garden soils are usually dug too shallowly 
so that the .roots of plants have no root-ru: 
and suffer, especially in hot weather. Mix 
ing the soil with lime is a good antidote t 
the spores that produce clubbing. Dippini 
the roots into the mixture you mention i 
also a good antidote, but especially agains 
the beetles that eat into the roots of th 
Cabbage family. A good plan with Wall 
flowers would be to make up a bed of soi 
that has been trenched during May am 
sow the Wallflowers in that. The summe 
season will be sufficiently long to enable th 
plants to make good growth and be plantei 
in their flowering positions about the tim 
when the bedding plants are lifted in au 
tumn. It would, of course, be advantageou 
June 
