SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS

[CHAPTER I]
The General Arrangement of the Garden
What to go in for, and what to avoid—Brick walls—Trees, their advantages and disadvantages, etc.
[CHAPTER II]
Lawns, Paths, Beds, and Border
How to keep the lawns level—Paths, and how to lay them—Beds and bedding—The new style VERSUS the old—Flower borders and their backgrounds—Improvement of the soil.
[CHAPTER III]
On the Duty of Making Experiments
Description of a small yet lovely garden—Colour schemes—A novel way of growing flowers, the spring dell—Variety in the flower-garden.
[CHAPTER IV]
Some Neglected but Handsome Plants
The sweet old columbine—Bocconia cordata at Hampton Court—Campanulas as continuous bloomers—The heavenly larkspurs—Christmas roses—The tall and brilliant lobelias—Chinese-lantern plants—Tufted pansies.
[CHAPTER V]
The Conservatory and Greenhouse
Mistakes in staging—Some suitable climbers—Economical heating—Aspect, shading, etc.—The storing of plants—No waste space—Frames.
[CHAPTER VI]
The Tool Shed and Summer-House
Spades and the Bishop—Weeding a pleasure—Trusty thermometers—Summer-houses and their adornment.
[CHAPTER VII]
Roses for Amateurs
Teas—Hybrid perpetuals—Bourbons—Rose-hedges—Pillar roses—Suitable soil.
[CHAPTER VIII]
Enemies of the Garden
Slugs, and how to trap them—Blight or green fly—Earwigs—Wireworms—Snails—Mice—Friends or Foes?
[CHAPTER IX]
The Rockery
A few hints on its construction—Aspect and soil—A list of alpines—Other suitable plants.
[CHAPTER X]
Trees, and How to Treat Them—Shrubs
Some good plants for growing beneath trees—List of hardy shrubs—Climbers—Enriching the soil.
[CHAPTER XI]
The Ins and Outs of Gardening
Planting—Watering—“Puddling”—Shelter—Youth and age, in relation to plants—Catalogue defects—A time for everything.
[CHAPTER XII]
The Profitable Portion
Fruit, best kinds for small gardens—Size minus flavour—Vegetables—Herbs.
[CHAPTER XIII]
Annuals and Biennials
Why they fail—Table of good annuals—Table of biennials.
[CHAPTER XIV]
Window-Boxes
How to make them—Relation of box to residence they are intended to adorn—Suitable soil—Window-plants for different aspects.
[CHAPTER XV]
Table Decoration
Graceful arrangement—Thick-skinned stems—Preserving and resuscitating flowers—Colour schemes—Table of flowers in season.
[CHAPTER XVI]
The Propagation of Plants
By division—By cuttings—By seeds—By layers.
[CHAPTER XVII]
The Management of Room Plants
Best kinds for “roughing it”—Importance of cleanliness—The proper way of watering them.
[CHAPTER XVIII]
Various Hints
Artificial manures—Labelling—Cutting off dead flowers—Buying plants—Tidiness in the garden, etc.

TERMS USED BY GARDENERS

Mulching—Term used for applying manure in a thick layer round the roots of shrubs, as a protection from frost.

Pricking off—Transplanting seedlings into separate pots.

“Eyes”—Incipient leaf-buds.

“Heel”—The hardened part of a cutting, formed where it is joined to the original plant.