The Flower Garden

by Ida D. Bennett

The garden should always be at the rear or side of the dwelling, never in front or along the street. The reasons for this are obvious. The garden proper is intended to furnish cut flowers, to provide a place of experiment with new varieties, and to grow hardy perennials which have certain seasons of bloom and cannot be depended upon, at all times, for ornamental effect. One should feel free to work there unobserved of the passer-by, and this is impossible in a garden close to the street.

Again, while the permanent garden is beautiful in itself, it is not suitable for the lawn and greatly mars the effect of the grounds. Beds of ornamental foliage plants—Cannas, Ricinus, Coleus, and the like—appropriately placed, add much to the beauty of a well-kept lawn, but should be carefully considered in relation to its size and the trees and shrubbery already there.

On a small city lawn not more than one such bed should be allowed. On a large lawn three will give a better effect than a great number, especially if care is taken to have them all visible from different points on the lawn and from the house, never isolating them by so placing that clumps of trees or shrubbery intervene, but using these rather as a background for the beds.

It is from the hammock that the amateur gardener will most enjoy the results of her labour. It is there she will find leisure to watch the growth of plants, to compare the effect of different varieties, to note where she may improve the vista by a different arrangement next year, to observe the effects of locality, of the afternoon and morning sun and all the peculiarities of plant growth that escape her when busy with trowel and watering-pot, so that the view from it should be first consideration.

A very good arrangement is to put a large bed of Ricinus on the most remote space of the lawn—four plants in the centre of a twelve-foot bed—surrounded with a row of Salvia splendens edged with Little Gem Sweet Alyssum. Nearer, an eight-foot bed of the large-flowered Cannas may be introduced and edged with Coleus or the second size of Caladiums, while a six-foot bed of ornamental grasses—Arundo Donax, Erianthus Ravennæ, Eulalia gracillima univittata—will make a satisfactory third. Such beds are rich in tropical effects and give more distinction to a lawn than any other class of plants.

Where there is an ample water-supply these beds may be elevated a few inches above the lawn to make them more conspicuous; but where the seasons are hot and dry and water must be carried it is better to set them slightly lower than the lawn, so that all the available moisture may be utilised. A few inches of margin must be allowed around the edges of beds on the lawn so that the mower may run close to the beds without injuring the plants, though even then it will be best to use the lawn-shears. Such beds call for carefully trimmed lawns. Unless the grass can be properly cared for, it is better to exclude flowers from this part of the grounds entirely, as it is time thrown away to plant flowers which will presently be hidden by tall grass and weeds. A neglected lawn involves an amount of labour in the semi-annual cleaning of spring and fall out of all proportion to the results, while a lawn well cut and raked is more easily cared for with each recurring year, the grass growing clean and straight, and the rake and mower passing freely and easily through it.

The scheme for a permanent garden must be decided by the size and shape of the plot of ground at command, an irregular plot sometimes lending itself to more graceful arrangement than a symmetrical one. The operation of laying out the beds will be the same, whatever the shape. Having decided the boundaries of the garden it will be best to mark the outlines by a cord attached to pegs driven into the ground. The sod should then be removed from the entire area by cutting just below the crown of the grass. Desirable arrangements of beds are shown in accompanying illustrations. Two and one-half or three feet should first be allowed for walks. The beds may be placed to advantage by finding the centre of the plot and driving there a stake to which a cord is loosely attached. Mark off on this cord half the diameter of the bed desired, for centre of plot, four, five or six feet—fasten to the cord at this point a sharp stick and describe the circle on the ground. In this way the garden walks may be outlined and the inner and outer circles of the round beds. The oval beds must be measured off and defined by stakes driven into the ground. The width of the beds should be not more than can be easily reached across for weeding and cultivating. Where the soil has not been previously cultivated it must be spaded at least two feet deep, and thoroughly pulverised. All roots and stones should be removed. If the soil is clayey or gravelly it will be best to remove it entirely and to fill in with soil better adapted to the growth of flowers. Or the surface may be removed for several inches and laid aside. Then the poorer subsoil should be dug out and removed and the surface-soil replaced in the bottom of the bed with a liberal quantity of old, well-rotted manure. The bed should then be filled to its original level with leaf-mould or muck. If all the original soil is to be retained, remove the top-soil for top-dressing. Spade the manure into the subsoil and replace the surface-soil. In ground which has not been cultivated this surface-soil is rich in humus or leaf-mould, which furnishes food in its most available form for the young plant, and should, therefore, be left where the plant can use it and not be turned under as is usually done. Nature never turns the soil upside down; nor will the wise gardener, except when a richer and better soil is to be added or when it is necessary to work in manure.

In making beds that have been worked before and need no enriching, excellent results may be secured by pushing a long spade into the ground the whole length of its blade and twisting it around. This breaks up and mellows the ground more effectually than turning it over, while it leaves the good soil on top where the young plant-roots can get it. Later, when the plant grows sturdier and stretches out its roots in search of food, the manure-enriched earth in the bottom of the bed will attract and draw them down into its cool, moist depths, away from the heat and drought of the surface. But the young plants must have mellow, nourishing soil from the start, or they will perish before they reach this store-house provided for the mature plant.

Never prepare a garden by turning under the sod. I am well aware that this, together with turning under the surface-soil, will be the method of the average man who has had some experience of farming, but the flower-grower cannot always follow farming methods with safety.

After spading the beds it will be well to inclose them with some such permanent material as brick, cement curbing, or narrow boards. Four-inch siding set in the ground an inch or more, and held in place on each side by pegs of wood (old waggon spokes, which can usually be found at the blacksmith’s, are excellent for this), make the cheapest and most quickly constructed inclosure, and may be quite covered with such border-plants as Dusty-miller or Phlox subulata. The boards may be given a coat of dull-green paint or shingle-stain before being put in place.