Amateur gardening

“ INTRODUCTION Formerly it was the custom for gardeners to invest their labors and achievements with a mystery and secrecy which might well have discouraged any amateur from trespassing upon such difficult ground. "Trade secrets" in either flower or vegetable growing were acquired by the apprentice only through practice and observation, and in turn jealously guarded by him until passed on to some younger brother in the profession. Every garden operation was made to seem a wonderful and difficult undertaking. ”

“ For the love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but always grows and grows to an enduring and ever-increasing source of happiness. ”

“ A gardener must do likewise. Sometimes, when ground is not yet laid out, he must do more. He then has to think some years ahead and imagine what this bare piece of meadow will be when plants have grown in it. The lay of the land, the character [xiii] of the soil, the relation of the house with the garden—all have to be weighed before planting is commenced. Therefore, our gardeners must be artists as well as successful cultivators of plants. ”

“ It is quite necessary that a young gardener should have proper tools. He should have a small but strong spade, a small but strong rake, a digging fork, a hoe, a trowel, a good pruning-knife, a box for seeds, a little wheelbarrow, a line, and above all, a little gardener's apron, and a straw hat with a broad brim. Thus equipped, he may commence his gardening operations with great comfort to himself and some chance of success. ”

“ For example, do not plant different kinds of corn close together. The pollen from one kind will fertilize another kind and so you get a crossing which results in a mongrel sort of corn. Melons and cucumbers will do the same thing. And so care must be taken in order that this sort of intermingling does not take place. You see, Jack, that there are many things a real good gardener has to consider. Gardening is not only a matter of soil preparation but it is also a matter of understanding plants and their relations one to the other. ”

“ As there is always a lack of basic salts in this type of soil, liming is practised, usually to good advantage.
Those who contemplate taking over a piece of land for the purpose of growing vegetables should, if the land has not previously produced a crop, obtain the opinion of a competent gardener as to its possibilities from a gardening standpoint. Such men are usually available in every community, and as a rule are glad to help. ”

“ As your mother is working in the kitchen during the hot summer or sewing during a long dull winter afternoon, would it not be a joy to her to look out at a syringa sweet with blossom or a barberry with nodding red berries? Landscape gardening is not only for the purpose of adding beauty to the earth's surface, but also for the putting joy into the heart of a person as well.
"I forgot to say that in tree and shrub selection it is usually better to choose those of the locality one lives in. Unusual and foreign plants do less well, and often harmonize but poorly with their new setting. ”

“ But if one has no area which he can make into a lawn and upon which he can plant such verdurous masses, what then may he do? Even then there may be opportunity for a little neat and artistic planting. Even if one lives in a rented house, he may bring in a bush or an herb from the woods, and paint a picture with it. ”

“ F. W. Moore, Esq., Director of the above gardens, is kind enough to admit two ladies as students in horticulture. No fees are charged, and there is no remuneration of any sort given. There is no syllabus, as the students work under the immediate direction of Mr. Moore. They obtain a thorough knowledge of general garden practice. Cross pollination, collecting seeds, fruit pruning, and all kinds of work, both indoors and out-of-doors, is taught. It is not possible to obtain a more general gardening experience than is given here. All lectures are free. ”

“ They will grow in smoky districts, and may be increased by cuttings of firm side-shoots under a glass in summer or by layers in September. With the protection of a greenhouse they come into flower early in spring. They are the most beautiful of all flowering hardy climbers. The stove and greenhouse varieties are best planted in loam and peat, though they will thrive in any light soil. Any good garden soil suits the hardy kinds. The herbaceous varieties are increased by dividing the roots early in spring. They bloom at various periods. ”

“ If you have room for but one sort in your home garden, plant this for early, and a month later for main crop.
Do not fail to try some of this year's novelties. Half the fun of gardening is in the experimenting. But when you are testing out the new things in comparison with the old, just take a few plants of the latter and give them the same extra care and attention. Very often the reputation of a novelty is built upon the fact that in growing it on trial the gardener has given it unusual care and the best soil and location at his command. ”

“ The easiest way to spoil a good lawn is to put a flower-bed in it; and the most effective way in which to show off flowers to the least advantage is to plant them in a bed in the greensward. Flowers need a background. We do not hang our pictures on fence-posts. If flowers are to be grown on a lawn, let them be of the hardy kind, which can be naturalized in the sod and which grow freely in the tall unmown grass; or else perennials of such nature that they make attractive clumps by themselves. ”

“ THE GROWING OF THE VEGETABLE PLANTS
A vegetable garden is admittedly a part of any home place that has a good rear area. A purchased vegetable is never the same as one taken from a man’s own soil and representing his own effort and solicitude.
It is essential to any satisfaction in vegetable-growing that the soil be rich and thoroughly subdued and fined. The plantation should also be so arranged that the tilling can be done with wheel tools, and, where the space will allow it, with horse tools. ”

“ Some of the bulbs you have planted in autumn will be flowering; others will be pushing their way up towards the light; and your herbaceous plants—those that died down in the autumn—will be coming up again, and making delicious young green leaves. The part of your garden that you have saved for annuals must be carefully hoed and raked now, so that all the weeds are destroyed, and the soil made fine and powdery for your seedlings. Their little roots could not strike down and get any hold in hard, big lumps of earth, and it would be a waste of money and time to sow seed there. ”

“ If you are just getting ready to start your garden, the annuals,—the plants that flower from seed the first season though they do not come up again,—will probably interest you most as they give the quickest returns. Many kinds can be started in the house in March, and for this purpose any kind of a shallow box will answer. Bore holes in the bottom and put in a layer of broken pottery or stones, to permit drainage, so the roots will not rot. Fill three or four inches deep with good soil, after pulverizing and taking out all sticks and stones. ”

“ There ought always to be at least a suggestion of system in all garden arrangements. To scatter shrubs all over the lawn breaks up the sense of breadth and dignity which should characterize it, however small it may be. This being the case, the best place for shrubs and perennials is at the sides of the lot, leaving the rear for the vegetable garden. ”

“ I have not much sympathy with finical, fussy gardening. One of the chief fascinations of gardening is the endless field it affords for skilful sleight of hand, short-cuts, unconventional methods, and experiments. The true gardener soon ceases to be a man of rules, and becomes one of strategy, of expedients. He is prompt to act at the right moment. Like the artist, he is ever seeking and acting upon hints from Nature. The man of rules says the first of July is the time to set out winter cabbage; and out the plants go, though the sky be brazen, and the mercury in the nineties. ”

“ What we shall plant—whether sward, lilacs, thistles, cabbages, pears, chrysanthemums, or tomatoes—we shall talk about as we proceed.
The only way to keep land perfectly unproductive is to keep it moving. The moment the owner lets it alone, the planting has begun. ”

“ Growing the majority of my family's food absorbs all of the energy I care to put into gardening. So my yard is neat but shaggy. Motivated by what I consider total rationality, my lawn is cut only when it threatens to overwhelm the lawnmower, and the lawn is not irrigated, so it browns off and stops growing in summer. ”

“ Cuttings of either of these strike readily, and stocks fit for grafting are easily procured. In sheltered and warm positions, the greenhouse species are admirably suited for sub-tropical gardening, either planted singly or in groups. ”

“ Many people begin their gardening by thinking that the making and maintaining of a handsome and well-filled flower-border is quite an easy matter. In fact, it is one of the most difficult problems in the whole range of horticultural practice—wild gardening perhaps excepted. To achieve anything beyond the ordinary commonplace mixture, that is without plan or forethought, and that glares with the usual faults of bad colour-combinations and yawning, empty gaps, needs years of observation and a considerable knowledge of plants and their ways as individuals. ”

“ I have spoken of a weedland to suggest how simple and easy a thing it is to make an attractive mass-plantation. One may make the most of a rock (Fig. 26) or bank, or other undesirable feature of the place. Dig up the ground and make it rich, and then set plants in it. You will not get it to suit you the first year, and perhaps not the second or the third; you can always pull out plants and put more in. I should not want a lawn-garden so perfect that I could not change it in some character each year ”

“ Never allow plants of slender habit to sprawl all over the ground. They give the garden an untidy, "mussy" look, and constantly accuse you of neglect. A bit of brush inserted by the side of such plants will furnish all the support required by them.
In watering the garden in a dry season make the application after sundown. This will allow the plants to get the benefit of the water before the sun has a chance to draw the moisture out of the soil, as it will rapidly do if watering is done in the morning.
What every gardener needs is a watering-pot with a long spout. ”

“ And it will be seen that it all resolves itself into a very simple proposition—viz., good stock, good soil, and cold storage until roots have formed—the three essentials spoken of at the beginning of this chapter. Nothing is required that the beginner in floriculture is not equal to. Potting the bulbs is a much simpler matter than potting a plant, and the preparation of soil for them involves no more labor or skill than the preparation of a soil for a geranium to grow in. ”

“ After a while, the different plants are known by sight, and one is able to see directly whether a flower or shrub is well grown and of good colour. Then, instead of ordering everything at the large nurseries, one can often pick up, in one’s wanderings, very good things at small cost. Until that is the case, it is wiser to order from some reliable firm who is sure to send out everything true to name. People who go in for gardening, should always be ready to learn; there are so many points which cannot be acquired all at once. ”

“ Show them how to take up the plants in such a manner that a considerable amount of soil will adhere to their roots. Help them pack them snugly into the baskets to prevent their being shaken about in transit, thereby losing the soil taken up with them. If the day happens to be a warm and sunny one, have them sprinkle the plants and pack some wet moss about them to keep them as fresh as possible until they can be planted in the home garden. Discourage them from taking large plants in preference to small ones, as they will most likely be eager to do. ”

“ So if you made a hedge of poppies all along one side of your border, you would use seven seeds out of two thousand. All gardeners sow more seeds than they mean to use, because they must allow for accidents and insects, and they expect to do some thinning. But the ignorant gardener invariably sows his seed too thick, and leaves his seedlings too close together; so he gets a crowd of starved, stunted plants that do not flower well, and are soon over for the year. You should begin by leaving three inches between your seedlings, and end by giving most of them a foot apiece. ”

“ There is nothing like individuality for making a small garden attractive. Few gardens are too small for the careful cultivation of one particular flower or series of [Pg 68] flowers. A sunny little patch entirely given up to rock and wall plants would be an interest and education to one’s neighbours as well as to one’s self; or a system of tubs and tubes might result in a pond-garden for many kinds of water-flowers; or one might have a Carnation garden, or a garden where all the Star-worts had a chance—there are now so many varieties that well repay for cultivation ”

“ We tell you this because you may belong to a garden where you can get all the annuals you need given this month in the shape of little ready-made seedlings. You must plant them several inches apart on a showery day, and shade them from the sun at first; a tent made of four sticks and a newspaper will serve when there is no wind. As soon as they have taken root, and look well established, it is a good plan to pinch off their tips with your thumb and finger, because then they will make spreading side shoots, and give you more flowers. ”