The Garden Magazine, January, 1924 
264 
r. Remove dead tops, fertilize, and put to bed in the fall, 
mulching with leaves and manure after the ground is frozen 
hard. 
2. Cultivate with discretion in the spring after the bulbs 
and perennials are well up, removing as little as possible of the 
mulch, but working it into the soil. 
3. Hand-weed throughout the summer when necessary, 
removing the corpses bodily. 
4. Encourage a dense growth of low foliage masses—bulbs, 
ground covers, and seedlings, in front of and between the larger 
perennials. 
5. Clip back dead flowerstalks, and thin rank growth be¬ 
fore decay sets in, to prevent important plants being choked. 
6. Put in as fillers the right seed, plant, or bulb in the right 
place at the right time. 
7. Dispense for the most part with staking and watering. 
Simplicity Versus Fussiness 
N EXT we will consider the design itself, and how it affects 
the upkeep of the place, though really it is first in impor¬ 
tance. To begin with, a fussy garden cut up into small beds 
with disproportionately wide walks and grass edges which must 
be kept clipped is one of the hardest to plant effectively or to 
keep in order. Every misplaced blossom, every too-long blade 
of grass shows. We do not want this kind of garden unless 
prepared to keep everlastingly at it. If you have a garden laid 
out thus formally, by all means treat it most informally. In 
the first place do not have it too large, unless there is a central 
turf panel to take up space and save work. Have the walks 
relatively narrow, so that the flowers melt in together, and each 
bed does not stand out like a floral pattern on a dinner plate. 
For a square lot, particularly if the house is at one side, a 
design affording an excellent effect for a little work is that 
of a green lawn framed by trees and shrubs in front of which 
are massed perennials and ground covers. 
For the long, narrow lot, a simply designed long walk can 
readily be kept as a presentable vista, while minor narrow walks 
leading off at the sides conceal or reveal at your discretion 
the secrets contained therein. In a minor way, the alternation 
of rounded with pointed forms, Gypsophila with Liatris or Holly¬ 
hocks, Funkias with Ferns, make for variety and interest. 
The materials used affect maintenance. Brick walls or 
latticed fences, unlike hedges, require no clipping; and expanse 
of grass is more easily attended to than a bed of flowers and 
often serves a better purpose. As for walks, those of brick or 
of nearly square paving stones are the least difficult; next come 
those of mossy earth or fine gravel; then grass or flat stones with 
wide grass joints over which the lawn mower can be run. Though 
enchanting to view, those walks of irregular stone, their inter¬ 
stices filled with creeping plants, are the most vexatious to take 
care of. 
Which Plants to Choose 
N OW we come to the real heart of the problem; the choice 
of plants. Here is scope for the exercise of restraint and 
discrimination, not for the aquisition of as many kinds as 
possible. 
I. First; learn to depend more on evergreens, flowering trees 
and shrubs, and the more enduring bulbs, with ground covers 
like Vinca, Ferns, and Pachysandra, keeping the perennials 
subsidiary, of few kinds but those broadly massed. Let these 
be of the very best throughout the season; Iris, Peonies, Lark- 
spur, Phlox, Lilies, and hardy Asters it might be; though the 
choice would vary with every problem. 
11 . Second, in selecting the plants, see that they are adapted 
to their specific environment. Exhaustive lists of plants, 
adapted to sun or shade, dry or heavy soil, and other situations, 
are readily available and space need not be taken here to repeat 
such lists. 
In considering this phase, two specific gardens come to mind. 
a. I he first is of the informal type. The soil is low-lying, some¬ 
what soggy, yet will bake very hard in time of drought. In the 
lower parts of the grounds a shady background of Laurel-leaved 
Willow, Syringa, Honeysuckle, Flowering Dogwood, and fragrant 
dwarf Sumac, have by a process of gradual elimination become 
the best possible background for outstanding features of special 
interest like flowering Crab and Peach, Magnolia, and Forsythia. 
For winter effect there are intermingled Hemlocks and Red 
Pines, faced with Japanese Yew, Rhododendron, Laurel, and 
Pieris floribunda. These in turn are faced with Hay-scented 
Fern, Coral-bell, Myosotis palustris, wild Violets, Foam-flower, 
Solomon’s-seal, and Trillium. On the higher and drier parts are 
Lilacs, Deutzias, and Arborvitaes with a foreground of trailing 
Junipers and Mugho Pines faced with trailing Vinca and 
Pachysandra, Arabis, and Phlox subulata. 
Perennials which have survived the last ten years with little 
attention are Trollius, Iris (Siberian, German, Crested, Inter¬ 
mediate, and Japanese) Lemon Lilies, Peonies, early and late, 
a few clumps of choice Phlox and old-fashioned button Chrysan¬ 
themum. Boltonias, Helenium, and hardy Asters are permitted 
to remain in but small clumps or they would over-run the place. 
Of biennials, Foxgloves form large colonies in a damp though 
well-drained place and have resisted all efforts for their extermi¬ 
nation, since they bloom at a time when the people are away. 
Rudbeckia triloba, a bushy form of Black-eyed Susan, is very 
showy in late summer and self-sows abundantly. Myosotis 
dissitiflora, the branching Forget-me-not, though it self-sows, 
is of shifting tendencies, as a place which is full one season may 
be bare the next. 
b. The second garden, much neglected, yet noticeable for its 
abundant bloom, is on a sunny country hillside, where the 
loose, friable soil dries to powder. Forsythia and Daffodils prove 
their versatility by flourishing here, as do the Iris. But truly 
indigenous is Dianthus deltoides, a small carmine Pink, which 
multiplies with profusion in almost pure sand, and Artemesia 
Stelleriana, or Dusty Miller, a native of the dunes. In early 
summer Lupins and German Iris, followed by pink and white 
Sweet-William, old-fashioned double Columbines of large 
clear pink, and pink Oriental Poppies faced with Cerastium, are 
quickly succeeded by Harison’s Yellow Rose and Larkspur. 
Gypsophila grows to enormous size in midsummer, Hollyhocks 
do fairly well, but Phlox is really unhappy. Tall, pale yellow 
Mulleins, Liatris (Blazing-star), Echinops, Eryngium, and Tiger 
Lilies, all of striking forms, bring the season up to the time of 
Boltonias and hardy Asters. Annuals inured to extremes of 
drought are Mexican Prickly Poppy, Portulaca, annual Gyp¬ 
sophila, Eschscholtzia, white Petunias, blue Nemophila, and a 
new one from England, Sutton’s Phacelia, a border plant of deep 
larkspur blue. 
HI. The third point to remember in choosing plants is to have 
long-lived, durable ones, with good foliage when not in bloom. 
In this class are Peonies, Iris, Funkias, Dictamnus, Trollius, 
Heuchera, Baptisia, Amsonia, and Campanula carpatica. Plants 
having a fatal tendency to disappear may be eliminated after 
a fair trial. A few years will prove the adaptability of any 
selection of plants to a particular garden. 
IV. Fourth, if feasible, concentrate on some particular season. 
Usually in the city early spring and late fall; in the country, 
July and August are the seasons most enjoyed. Seasonal 
effects permit of more gorgeous coloring than when the entire 
year must be provided for, but some spot of interest is some¬ 
times needed at other times. One such contingency was an 
August wedding in a town house, when Gladiolus and Lilies 
had to be “planted” in the empty garden for immediate effect, 
in buried bottles. 
Putting Bloom Where it Tells 
O NCE they are selected, the happy arrangement of the 
plants has much to do with successful results. Think 
first of their height or habit. Put leggy or ungainly plants in 
the background, likewise the taller flowers, facing down with 
creeping ground covers, Ferns, or sweeping shrubs like Spiraea 
Vanhouttei. 
