Garden Suggestions 
ov/er 
CONDUCTED BY GRACE TABOR 
Author of The Landscape Gardening Book, The Garden 
Primer, Old-Fashioned Gardening, etc. 
The September Garden 
A FTER the heat and the seed harvest 
of August—a time wherein every¬ 
thing seems bent on turning brown and 
ugly—the September garden should be a 
blaze of beauty with the Japanese anem¬ 
one, the boltonia, mallows, and finally the 
hardy pompon chrysanthemum. If it lacks 
flowers, it is because it lacks these. And 
there is no time like the present for doing 
something about it. If you have no place 
for a mass of any one of them, it is al¬ 
most certain that there will be a place for 
a clump here or there. Boltonia is so tall 
and strong and rank in growth that it 
forms a delightful 
addition to a shrub¬ 
bery border or a 
group of shrubbery. 
Likewise the mallow, 
although herbaceous, 
is excellent when 
grouped against 
shrubs, for its natural 
growth is usually 
thus. The Japanese 
anemone must be 
planted in quantity to 
get its real effect— 
that is, half a dozen 
at least of the plants 
should form a group. 
Fifty or a hundred 
in a mass along a 
border will be, of 
course, just that much 
better. The hardy 
pompon chrysanthe- 
m u m s are perhaps 
seen at their best 
when planted singly, 
either in the h e r b- 
aceous border or with 
shrubs. These are, of 
all the garden orna¬ 
ments, the latest 
lingering, and it is 
not an uncommon thing to be able to cut 
enough for a bowlful after hard frost or 
even a considerable fall of snow. All of 
these things may be planted now or they 
may wait until spring. It is, of course, bet¬ 
ter never to transplant anything when it is 
as active as it must be during its blossom¬ 
ing season. However, a little later in the 
fall is a better time to handle these plants 
than just at present. If they are planted 
now and well mulched after the crown is 
frozen, they are more likely to yield a 
normal amount of flowers next autumn 
than they would if planted in the spring. 
Keep the Garden Neat 
E VERYTHING that has finished grow¬ 
ing should be trimmed up and tied 
up, if the garden is to look well during 
these last weeks of summer. This does 
not mean that plants should be cut back 
quite yet, but seed heads and dead leaves 
and all of the tired-out-looking portions 
may be trimmed away without injuring 
the plant in the least and to the great ad¬ 
vantage of the garden adherents. Of 
course all leaves or branches that have 
turned brown, either from old age, 
drouth, or a diseased condition, are useless 
and should be taken off; everything of 
this sort should be piled in a place by 
itself, and burned entirely up. 
Fall Planting 
HE general fall planting season opens 
with the month of September, and in 
localities where the climate does not for¬ 
bid transplanting at this time of year al¬ 
together, it is well to get at it immediately. 
All trees excepting tender barked species 
such as the beech, the birch, and poplars 
and willows, may be transplanted now; 
and all shrubbery save the broad-leaved 
evergreens. The time gained by fall plant¬ 
ing has been so many times explained and 
dwelt upon that it is hardly necessary to 
more than mention it here. Remember, 
however, that fall planting is a success 
only when followed by heavy winter 
mulching; and that no tree or shrub or 
plant of any kind, however hardy it may 
be, is equal to withstanding its first winter 
in new quarters without protection for its 
roots. Neglect of this is the cause, nine 
times out of ten, of the death of specimens 
planted in the fall, though the blame is 
often put upon the soil, dry weather or any 
cause other than the right one. A good 
mulch is an absolute necessity. 
Arranging for Next 
Year’s Effects 
HIS is the time 
to take note of 
those things which by 
their very nature and 
habit demand some 
kind of reinforce¬ 
ment in the planting. 
For example, clema¬ 
tis is by now dry and 
weedy at the root. 
In order to avoid the 
unsightly appearance 
of it another season, 
make a note of it and 
plant it by late this 
fall or early in the 
spring. Many times a 
second vine may be 
used which has not 
this fault of dying at 
the base. Akebia quin- 
tata is excellent for 
combining with cle¬ 
matis ; or if combina¬ 
tion is not desired, 
put a low growing 
shrub or two or three 
before a clematis 
plant. Deutzias do well in either sun or 
shade; consequently they may be used 
near a building. Mallow or boltonia would 
be excellent here, particularly the former 
as it is taller growing and consequently 
more certain to hide all of the unsightly 
portions of the clematis. Go all around 
the garden and make notes of this and 
that that needs such protective planting. 
You will be surprised at the improvement 
which another year will show, if this idea 
is adopted. Be sure that you decide, how¬ 
ever, exactly where the screening plants 
are to be set; mark the place with a label. 
A lawn border of phlox, hollyhocks and other hardy plants. To attain such results next 
year, begin to plan for them now 
(162) 
