House and Garden 
best in a soil composed of leaf mold into which has 
been worked a small percentage of sharp sand. 
COVERING FOR AN UNSIGHTLY WALL 
My garden lies mostly to the side of my house and 
the bare wall, three stories, detracts very much from 
the surroundings. What treatment is best to relieve 
this situation ? W. S. R. 
Richmond, Virginia. 
The appearance of the wall can be very much 
softened by painting it a shade of medium gray. 
That would not be out of harmony with your garden 
effect. But perhaps the most satisfactory and effec¬ 
tive treatment would be the use of an ivy. 
I have been fortunate enough to secure a photo¬ 
graph of a house, closed for the summer, where the 
wall has been softened by the use of the Boston ivy. 
While in this instance the side yard is devoted to a 
lawn the wall effect is nicely brought out. 
SUGGESTIONS FOR A ROOF GARDEN 
Can you give me any suggestions for a roof garden 
in the city ? I have a line flat roof twenty by twenty- 
five feet. I presume I must have window boxes, 
and I don’t want it to be an expensive affair. The 
roof w ill probably be finished by the first of August. 
What can I plant now to transplant then? Is Vir¬ 
ginia creeper an annual, and can it be utilized for a 
pergola ? Miss E. A. R. 
New York City. 
Considering your specifications I would first call 
your attention to the fact that almost any roof garden 
arrangement will leave the soil about the plants sub¬ 
ject to great evaporation of the moisture and will 
therefore ordinarily require more water than plants 
grown in an indoor window garden. By starting 
your plants in a window garden, using window boxes 
that are approved, you can transfer them bodily 
when you are ready, avoiding the trouble of trans¬ 
planting, and not interfere with the growth of the 
plants. 
With reference to the plants that you will use: 
You will find Virginia creeper ( Ampelopsis quinque- 
folia) quite hardy and it will live on indefinitely. It 
can be used very nicely for a pergola; can be made to 
cling very satisfactorily. I am not sure that it would 
make a shade dense enough for your purposes and 
would suggest as something better the Dutchman’s 
pipe. This is a hardy climber and makes an amazing 
growth in one season. Cinnamon vine roots are 
also very good for a place of this kind. Of the quick 
growing annual climbers I would recommend moon 
vines, nasturtiums and morning glories. Of course 
in the use of these annuals, you should have the boxes 
filled with other flowers ."% For this purpose the free 
use of the healthy, vigorous growing geraniums, 
A WALL COVERED WITH BOSTON IVY FOR THE 
PURPOSE OF SOFTENING 
coleus and salvias would be found desirable. It 
would be well to keep in mind the dwarfer kinds 
of canna lilies that revel in sunshine and w^arm 
temperature, providing they get plenty of water. For 
the shady portions of the garden remember the fuch¬ 
sias, begonias and ferns. Palms can be arranged 
very nicely in jardinieres or vases. The general 
arrangement you can best determine for yourself, but 
in setting the plants in window boxes or roof boxes 
it is best to plant them about nine inches apart each 
w^ay. The appearance can be very much enhanced 
by planting along the edge to trail over the sides of 
the boxes such things as the Vinca variegata, Cissus 
discolor, parlor ivy, and indeed the English ivy is 
frequently used with very good success. 
The names and addresses of dealers in approved 
window boxes w ill be furnished direct if not found in 
the advertising columns of the magazine. 
RIDDING A LAWN OF MOLES 
Can you tell me how to get rid of moles on my 
lawn as I am suffering disastrously from them. 
Norwalk, Ohio. T. C. T. 
As a first aid, or emergency remedy, I would sug¬ 
gest that you try the use of bisulphide of carbon 
w T hich can be obtained of your druggist. Thor¬ 
oughly saturate strips of cloth, cut to sizes of about 
an inch square, pass along the trad of the mole and at 
distances of eight or ten feet insert into the run a piece 
of the saturated cloth. After the cloth has been 
inserted press the soil back into the hole. Go over 
all the trails with similar treatment. It is claimed 
that the odor from the carbon will drive the moles 
away—send them to your neighbor and that would 
seem justifiable under the conditions you mention. 
(i Continued on page 6, Advertising Section.) 
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