Bed (horticulture)

“ Bedding is ordinarily a temporary species of planting; that is, the bed is filled anew each year. However, the term may be used to designate a permanent plantation in which the plants are heavily massed so as to give one continuous or emphatic display of form or color. Some of the best permanent bedding masses are made of the various hardy ornamental grasses, as eulalias, arundo, and the like. The color effects in bedding may be secured with flowers or with foliage. ”

“ The beauty of a formal bed in the center of the lawn is destroyed if some of the plants are injured or do not develop. Symmetry is part of its merit. If, however, the bed is along the border, a few vacant places in the bed do not attract great attention. In school grounds it is well to have the beds somewhat near together or continuous, in order that the labor of taking care of them may be less.
It is always well to plant profusely. Much of the beauty of a flower-bed lies in an abundance of color. One must consider, also, that some of the roots, seeds, or bulbs may fail. ”

“ Then we fill the bed with balsam boughs. These are the ends of the branches and the heaviest stems are less than a fourth-inch thick. We commence at the head and stand the boughs on end at an angle, stems down. When entirely filled we have a soft and fairly comfortable bed, of course not equal to the spring bed we have at home, but then we are not expecting home comforts in the big woods, and we are always tired enough to rest well in a bough bed. For pillows we use grain bags in which we place our extra clothing. ”

“ Two rows of the plushy branches overlapping along the middle, and a crescent of smaller plumes mixed with ferns and flowers for a pillow, form the very best bed imaginable. The essences of the pressed leaves seem to fill every pore of one’s body, the sounds of falling water make a soothing hush, while the spaces between the grand spires afford noble openings through which to gaze dreamily into the starry sky. Even in the matter of sensuous ease, any combination of cloth, steel springs, and feathers seems vulgar in comparison. ”

“ In stubborn, heavy soil the best method to pursue in making a permanent bed is to throw out all the dirt from the trench and replace with good, fibrous loam.
In setting, 1-year-old plants will prove more satisfactory than older ones, being less liable to suffer from injury to the root system than those that have made a larger growth. Two years after setting the crop may be cut somewhat, but not sooner if a lasting bed is desired, as the effort to replace the stalks has a tendency to weaken the plant unless the roots are well established. ”

“ As a general thing, for the ordinary home garden a bed three feet by twelve is sufficient, but the added expense of a few additional feet is so slight and the use of a bed so appeals to one once one realizes its convenience, that it is seldom a mistake to make it too large as, aside from the sowing of seed, it may be used for starting roots of bedding plants, cannas, dahlias, begonias, tuberoses, caladiums ”

“ Beds should be well covered before the sun has left them in the afternoon, and not opened in the morning until the sun is well up. Seeds of vegetables for early planting, and those of annual flowers may be sown, and cuttings of green-house and bedding plants started in pots. Such a bed will also be a favorable place for the propagation of grape eyes, in which an experienced person will often succeed better by this humble means, than with the best designed and most conveniently arranged propagating house. ”

“ The little plants appear in from five to seven days, and will need shade and moisture until they have become established. For beds that lie in partial shade they make beautiful borders, forming little rosettes of leaves that in the fall may be taken up and divided by pulling apart into as many plants are there are crowns; in this way one will, in a short time, secure a large bed or border. They should be protected in winter by a mulch of rough stable litter, evergreen boughs, or corn-stalks, and the bed raised to shed water. ”

“ A bed may be formed any time of the year, but the usual custom is to prepare it so as to be ready to cut, say, in the fall, for the first time. Take a pan or shallow box and sow the seed any time during the winter before March. When well up, so they can be handled, transplant into small pots, and from these shift into larger, say to three or four inch pots. Keep the shoots pinched back so as to form a stout, bushy plant. During winter they will require an artificial temperature of not less than 50 degrees. ”

“ I had a very fine bed four years ago, and when frost set in was loth to lose them. I dug them up, cut them down, shook the earth from the roots and hung them up in the cellar all winter, and not one grew the following spring. I tried the same method next fall, but did not cut them down until spring, the same results followed, not one grew. Last fall I dug my bed up with as much earth as possible, put them in boxes, gave them winter quarters in the cellar, gave them a little water now and then. ”

“ The bed need not be deep, but it must be constantly moist, and old lights should be at hand to give shelter when needful. If well grown in trenches, this first crop will be of excellent quality, and will come in early. ”

“ Such a bed can be made in either spring or fall—indeed, at any time when the soil is free from frost, and neither too wet nor dry. I do not believe in preparing and fertilizing ground during a period of drought. ”

“ Beds for annuals or florists' plants are thoroughly dug and graded each [Pg 33] spring, so that the weeds that must be combated are of new and comparatively shallow growth. The hardy bed, on the contrary, in certain places must be stirred with a fork only and that with the greatest care, for, if well-planned, plants of low growth will carpet the ground between tall standing things, so that in many spots the fingers, with a small weeding hoe only, are admissible. Thus a blade of grass here, some chickweed there, the seed ball of a composite dropping in its aerial flight, and lo! ”

“ BEDDING PLANTS By bedding plants we mean those plants that are raised in great quantities under glass, and are put out into our gardens in May. To be sure, you hear of ‘spring’ and ‘summer’ bedding, because in the autumn, when you take up your summer plants, you can fill your bed with bulbs and spring flowers, such as Stocks, Wallflowers, Primroses, and Forget-me-nots. The principal of ‘bedding’ is, you see, to plant your piece of ground, so as to have a good display twice a year. Every autumn you throw away your summer plants, and every summer you throw away your spring ones. ”

“ With round, oval, or, indeed, almost any shaped bed, begin in the centre and work towards the edge; in borders, commence at the back and finish with the front row. Plant with a trowel, disturbing the balls as little as possible, and when in the holes press the soil moderately firm. After the Bed is finished, give a good soaking of water to settle the soil at the roots. Manure for Flower-beds should always be perfectly rotten, such as that from a spent hotbed. When the plants are thoroughly established, water must only be given if they show signs of distress ”

“ Beds should only be four to five feet wide so that they can be reached, for walking on the beds is objectionable. Make your walks about from four to six inches below the beds, for an undrained bed will produce "root rot." The ground should be very rich and "mulchy." Use well rotted horse manure in preparing the beds, for fresh manure will heat and hurt the plants. ”

“ But let no one persuade us that the newly planted beds would look better if raked smooth instead of being left quite rough. A smooth rose bed means that the soil cakes hard, preventing the rain penetrating in summer, and the frost mellowing the ground in winter. And from early spring to late autumn the hoe should be kept constantly at work between the plants; not merely to keep down weeds, but to keep the surface of the ground open to the influences of rain, sun, and the watering-pot. ”

“ If a good deep bed is given, they will lie down and rest themselves, whereas, if there is not enough, and the floor feels hard through it, they will walk about over it, and far more will be wasted than if the horse was lying down on it. The bedding should be taken up every morning, and any soiled straw removed. It should be well shaken up and spread out in the sun to dry and air, and at night, when again put down for use, a small quantity of fresh straw added to it. In wet weather the bedding can be aired and dried in the verandah. ”

“ The beds are spawned when at about a temperature of eighty degrees, the pieces of spawn being placed about a foot or so apart, and it is then immediately earthed, the ordinary soil being used, and the bed covered to a thickness of a couple of inches. ”

“ When, however, the bed has totally ceased to produce, it will furnish a supply of spawn for other beds, and the dung will be excellent manure to wheel on the kitchen ground. Be careful in pulling it to pieces, to preserve the fresh good lumps of spawn, and lay them up dry, as formerly directed, till they shall be wanted for new beds. ”

“ Another type of bed is that which attempts to make patterns or designs, or carpet-bedding. There are comparatively few plants which are adapted to this purpose, for the plants must be such as will stand shearing and which have very strong and constant colors of foliage. ”

“ Of course, if there be room for but one bed, a succession cannot be kept up, and in this case a bed should be made in autumn, which, if well managed, should be in full bearing for a month or six [56] weeks before and after Christmas. There are, however, numerous spaces such as those alluded to where there is room to make a succession of beds. No person having but one greenhouse need fear much or any inconvenience from the odour of the manure—at least, not after the beds are earthed. The couple of inches of soil over the manure would absorb any vapour given off by the bed. ”

“ You get a bed quicker by using plants that are two years old, and of course there are some plants better than others. I bought my plants in the east. Now they have good plants here, a good many of them, too, but I have never seen anything as good as I got for my last bed. The best way if I was going into it, being a market gardener, would be to go to some neighbor that had a good straight bed and get my own seed. It is very easy to save, and most anyone would give a man all he wanted and charge him nothing. ”

“ I don’t see how one can get along well without it, or without a short hand-rake. But I wanted to read what it says about making the garden beds. That is why I began reading it to-night.”
“It says the bed should be three feet wide by twelve long,” read Natalie.
“Yes, I see; but I have found three feet of soil to be uncomfortably wide to reach over when you wish to weed or dig about the plants. If the vegetables are bush-beans it is almost impossible to work in the middle of the bed without rubbing against the outside plants and breaking off branches. ”

“ If there is a bit of land that has been used for a vegetable garden and is not wholly worn out, so much the better. The best seed bed I have ever seen belongs to Jane Crandon at the Jenks-Smith place on the Bluffs. It was an old asparagus bed belonging to the farm, thoroughly well drained and fertilized, but the original crop had grown thin and spindling from being neglected and allowed to drop its seed. ”

“ In this state the bed should remain about a fortnight, and then some bricks of mushroom spawn having been procured from a nurseryman, they should be broken into pieces about an inch or an inch and a half square, and strewed regularly over the bed, each piece of the spawn being buried by raising up a little of the dung and inserting it. After this, the surface of the bed must be beaten flat with the spade, and the whole covered with a loamy soil, and beaten quite smooth. ”

“ A raised bed, on which to sit during the day and sleep during the night, is formed either by leaving a part of the snow-bank or else by bringing in blocks and arranging them as a solid mass. On this are spread bows of spruce, or dry grass, if obtainable, otherwise fine twigs of willow or alder, and over these heavy reindeer or bear skins are thrown. On these bed-skins are laid other softer skins of reindeer, with which to cover the person on retiring to sleep. A window is sometimes set in the side of the structure toward the sun. ”

“ Culture in Beds.—The Hyacinth will grow well in any ordinary garden soil, but that which suits it best is a light rich loam. The bed should be effectually drained, for though the plant loves moisture it cannot thrive in a bog during the winter. It is advisable to plant early, and to plant deep. If a rich effect is required, especially in beds near the windows of a residence, the bulbs should be six inches apart, but at a greater distance a good effect may be produced by planting nine inches apart. ”

“ A well-spaded bed of good soil, enriched with a little well decayed manure—that from last year's hotbed will answer, or bone meal may be used or a commercial fertilizer, for the plants will30 need food at this stage of their growth, should be prepared and the frame set on this or sunk a few inches into the ground to insure warmth and prevent the ingress of small rodents which somehow show a peculiar penchant for hotbeds and cold frames and have been known to destroy a whole planting of seeds in a single night. ”