Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE HERBACEOUS BORDER1 The herbaceous border of perennial plants is, in all respects, the most interesting part of the garden, to the true lover of flowers. Especially is this so, to the owner of a small garden where there is room but for one good-sized border with a genial and kindly aspect. It is worth both trouble and thought to make of this border a harmony of flower and foliage through the greater part of the year. This result can only be attained through much striving, and many will be the alterations which experience will suggest from year to year. It is generally admitted that to work to a definite design in planting is extremely difficult. This difficulty is, of course, increased for a beginner, who has but a dim notion of what space his various plants will occupy when they are full grown. In making the plan, work on a large scale and rule it out into three or four foot squares in red ink, a salready recommended, and in planting 1 See Plan X. check the design by frequent measurements. Numbered pegs driven into the ground corresponding with numbered points on the plan would give a certain fixity to the gardener as he plants. It is most important that the planting be done under the superintendence, if not actually by, the designer himself. In preparing the ground, remember that it is undesirable that it should be frequently dug up, and, though fresh manure is not necessary in the top spit, if it be good soil, a heavy dressing should be placed in the bottom of the trench. The plants may then remain, with a minimum of disturbance, for several years. In heavy soils, it is well to prepare the border in the autumn and leave it fallow through the winter, with a rough and broken surface for the better admission of frost. In this case planting may be …
