The Garden Magazine, January, 1924 
263 
space and nourishment for healthy growth and can¬ 
not do their best in soil that is poor and caked. 
Attaining Luxuriance Cheaply 
N OW for maintenance. In order to reach a goal it 
is well to understand clearly for what one is striving. 
In the self-sustaining garden, abundant luxuriance of 
bloom is not so much desired as the creation of a restful, 
colorful picture. It is easily possible to over-care for a 
garden—to comb and clip away every vestige of grace 
and beauty, to stake and cultivate the plants until they 
look like tortured martyrs in a desert of pulverized 
dusty soil. Such is not beauty from the standpoint of 
the true designer, no matter how fine the individual 
flowers. Therefore, almost the first essential is to cover 
the soil. Nay, more, have the plants so thick that there 
is no room for weeds. One way to promote this luxuriance 
is by a special method of weeding. Pull, rather than 
hoe, so as not to disturb the bulbs and little seedlings. 
The latter, both annual and perennial, if thinned and 
gently cultivated (self-sown Forget-me-nots and Pansies 
blooming by August, annual Phlox, Shirley Poppies, 
single white Petunias, and the like), will form a dense 
mat between the established clumps of taller perennials, 
keeping the soil cool and the weeds down. Any desperado 
weed that rears its ugly head above this verdure can be 
plucked by the root and carried off in a basket, the 
rest are in a silent minoritv. 
GROUND COVER OF MYRTLE (VINCA) 
“In the self-sustaining garden, abundant luxuriance of bloom is not 
so much to be desired as the creation of a restful, colorful picture” 
“TUCKING THE RIGHT THING IN THE RIGHT PLACE” 
Ferns and Pansies in happy conspiracy to cover bare spaces and 
fill every nook and cranny with feathery green and velvety color 
Another way to attain luxuriance cheaply is by a system of 
double cropping; tucking in at the psychological moment the 
right thing in the right place; spring bulbs among the Peonies 
or other plants with compact roots and spreading tops; Gladiolus 
among the Japanese Iris; Dahlias between hardy Asters for fall 
combinations of color; Poppy seeds between the German Iris, 
sown late for September bloom; Ferns after Crocus and Daffodils 
with speciosum Lilies later growing up between; and if a little 
money is no object, plants are cheap and easy—Cosmos between 
the Larkspur, with Heliotrope, Calendulas, Ageratum, Verbenas, 
or Snapdragon wherever a bare spot shows. All this is not so 
strenuous as it sounds. Each operation takes but a short time, 
and makes a tremendous difference in the results. Co out and 
fuss in the cool of the evening, and consider it fun rather than 
work. 
Cutting back after blooming helps the plants to renew a green 
mass. Most border plants improve with this treatment, instead 
of becoming straggly and damping off. Dianthus deltoides can 
hardly be distinguished from turf, perennial Forget-me-nots, 
Violas, and Iceland Poppies bloom again, and Arabis and Ceras- 
tium become neat and compact for next year. Larkspur, if cut 
to the ground, sends up new shoots; Phlox cut back one half at 
blooming time will send up new stalks to flower as late as Octo¬ 
ber; and hardy Chrysanthemums are much more bushy and 
compact if beheaded several times during the growing season. 
The following table of procedure might serve for the garden 
of little care: 
