IN THE GARDEN.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1922, Page 10

IN THE GARDEN.

THE HOUSE AND ITS GARDEN. {By “Agricola.”) Although many architects of to-day arrange houses regardless of the surroundings, the fact remains that it is their duty to adapt a building to the place on which it is to stand. Many questions group around the house—the relations of the rooms to the view, to the lawn, and to the garden; how the walks or paths may best approach the house, and other considerations which are not the average architect’s speciality. To understand these matters perfectly and to be able to guide their development aright the architect should acquire some particular knowledge of an art which is sufficient in itself to occupy a man’s whole attention. If the architect tries to acquire this, knowledge and practise both arts he may not excel in either, although there are men whose natural aptitude for the treatment of grounds enables them to give, valuable general advice without entering into minute details. The owner should, therefore, control the architect, and settle for himself many of the important points of location and aspect. At this point a plan should be made which will show just what the owner would like to do, and enable some idea to be gained of the relation and balance of parts and the effect of the wholework. If a satisfactory decision cannot be come to an expert landscape gardener should be called into consultation, for, as he makes his plan, questions will be continually presenting themselves of what it is best to do or avoid, the cost of various improvements, eta. All these questionshis plan may or may not enable him to estimate before irretrievable acts are committed and money unwisely spent. He can decide on paper, by the aid of pencil and indiarubher. whether it will be best to go on, recede, or change the entire plan. As the occupier trios to make his plans he will learn to value the counsel that experienced men can give, and to understand that it may be better to pay for advice than to stumble through the task, with heavy bills for needless labor, lazy workmen, or careless nurserymen, attended by constant vexations.

TASTE IN ARRANGEMENT. While a house ,represents labor and materials and plans, skill, and taste in arrangement and design, the same is. true of its surroundings, and if labor and materials are used without skill and taste the result will fall far below what might have been produced As we formulate our ideas on paper, many things we have read or been told about acquire real significance. To make a terrace here, fill out a slope there, or raise a hollow to give good form to a pergola, seems quite easy in talk, but we find the requirements will include grave] and loam and excavation to be measured by the cost, and the amount of money to be spent gradually appears; the necessary quantity of gravel or stones and loam takes shape in yards and squares; the number of feet of turf and trees and shrubs stand out definitely. With this forecasting of the woi;k one is prepared to meet contractors or decide, to employ workmen, and can prepare to find supplies of materials, visit nurseries, and select plants. Such analysis of the work proposed enables one also to understand the value of special knowledge alnd. to learn how necessary this is if men are to deal efficiently with the earth and develop out of it, by the aid of flowers, grass, and trees, the beauty we all , value and desire. Even with rhe best of preparations, some unforseen ex* I penses and unexpected delays will probably occur, but we can certainly reduce their number and amount by plans made in advance. By this preliminary •.urvey it can be decided whether it will , be best to superintend our own work ’or to employ someone competent to undertake it without our having any personal responsibility beyond the first recision as to what shall be done and the payment of the necessary bills. ROUTINE WORK. Earth up late planted potatoes when the haulms are five or six inches in height. Spray both these and tomatoes regularly in order to combat the blight. Thin' all advancing crops, and continue to sow as required: French, runner and wax-beans, beet, carrot, cucumber, sweet-corn, lettuce melon, marrow, pickling onion, peas, pumpkin, radish, squash, and turnip. Plant: Broccoli, borecale, cabbage, savoy, celery, leek, and late tomatoes.

FLOWER GARDEN

SUMMER DISPLAYS. NATURAL AND FORMAL, If more attention were paid to the effects of summer decorative display there would be less cause for deprecating so many examples of what may be called ill-sorted gardening. Even the class that ought to direct fashion in this particular are hot exonerated as many fall short of their place and avocation. Fortunately for the profession there are numbers of experienced gardeners well qualified to do all and even more than is expected of them; and even supposing not a few of them contend against adverse circumstances, they rise above them, and a leaf from the. book of such men’s plans carried into practice will provide serviceable to all aspiring amateurs. It it not only in the matter of colour—whether that colour is produced from variegated leaves or from a diverse inflorescence—that future plans should be conceived and matured. There are many happy colour combinations that are pre-eminent for something else, and that pre-eminence instead of being praiseworthy, is like a blot upon a beautiful specimen of caligraphy to the eye of the general reader. The beauty of anything consists in the rendering of its parts to make a harmonious, or as near a-, possible a. perfect whole. It is quite certain it is generally subservient to the general form or arrangement. of plants in groups. The form which resembles the outlines of a furniture brush, where every bundle of hairs, or what is often substituted for them, is cut to the nicety of a uniform surface it not at al! desirable. To introduce plants and afterwards dress them by pinching or clipping, to h>* chargeable w : th extreme formality, may pass muster with some Deciding

designs, but they do not look pretty or at homo as a rule. This brings u® to the more simple form of decoration which admits of the culture of flowers and foliage in a natural way. It is safe to assume that gardening cannot be conducted without a certain amount of formality, although the lover of natural methods of growth take® care that little of such formality is in evidence. The work is done on recognised lines, and when these lines are no longer visible gardening is absent. Nature alone remains. It does not follow that in putting out plants at equal distances straight lines are necessarily formed, but where these distances are observed the plants benefit materially, and all have an equal chance to grow and flower. On the other hand, when plants are sown and grown in wild form, some that may be the earliest or I strongest grow and strangle the others, and in all cases are far too crowded for their good. Tf we had allowed the wild growth practice in gardening to exist many of our most beautiful or useful plants would have been killed in infancy; or perhaps never germinated. Their existence now is l due to the gardener’s care, ro his judgment and treatment, which enable all to have an equal chance. In essentially rugged garden areas there is some reason for what may be regarded as wild or informal growth of all things sown or planted. Here should be grown only such things that associate with rough or natural surroundings, in which many choice and delicate garden plants would look out of place. Surely there would be little satisfaction in having what are called well kept gardens- if we do not find in them essentially garden features and garden culture.

Before clearing away the withered foliage of spring flowering bulbs the position of each should be distinctly marked with a. neat label and the name written plainly upon it. It is useless to write on unpainted wood, and equally so to write on wood after the paint' lias dried, as the name is only on the paint and comes off with it in a short time if near the ground. The proper way is to rub some white lead, mixed with a very little oil, on the label: then rub it off again with a piece of rag. Rub hard so as to fill the pores of the wood. The name should be written while the label is still damp. Write firmly and it will dent into the wood. Written in this manner the name will last as long as the label. A considerable amount of work will be necessary to keep the garden in order during the next few weeks. Numerous subjects will require staking; notably the tall growing campanulas, canterbury bells, calliopsis dahlias, delphiniums, hollyhocks, larkspurs, and others.

Keep verbenas, petunias-, and the taller varieties of phlox Drummondi pegged down so as to give the beds a furnished appearance and assist in checking evaporation. Continue to remove faded blooms or seed pods from sweet peas, annuals, chrysanthemums, gaillardias, pansies, violas etc.

Remove from the beds any autumn raised annuals that have passed the decorative stage. Dig the ground deeply, incorporate with it a liberal quantity of rotted manure, and replant with hafkly or ha3f-hardy annuals. If natural manure is not available apply a dressing of superphosphate to the surface soil and rake it in evenly before planting. Freesia seed should be sown without further delay if plants for flowering next season are required. The sowing can be made in boxes or in the open in light and well drained soil, covering the seed a quarter of an inch deep. Anemones raised in boxes should be pricked off into other boxes before they get too large, as the foliage is liable to become entangled by reason of the leaf stalks becoming drawn if they are left in a crowded state. The drainage of the boxes must be properly provided for as the plants must remain in them for a long time and if proper drainage is not secured the soil would sour. Azaleas that have finished flowering should be cut back as required at the earliest possible moment. should also receive this attention at once.