Garden guide; the amateur gardener's handbook. Profusely illustrated with over 275 teaching plans and diagrams and reproduced photographs, all made expressly for this standard text book

Front matter

Class __iLji_- Book

Copyright

CDEXRIGHT DEPOSm f

Contents

(Readers are requested always to consult the Index to Contents which will be found in the final pages of this book. Any general subject can, however, be located quickly and easily by means of the following synopsis of chapters, each of which is practically complete in itself).

CHAPTER I— Planning the Home Grounds

First Considerations in the Composition of a Garden — Drives — Lawns — Locating the DweUing House — Treatment of the Shrubs, Belts, Borders, Beds— A Plea for Greater Seclusion — Home Grounds — Planting Plans and Keys thereto. - Pp. 13-33

CHAPTER II— Lawns and Grass Plots

Seed Mixtures — Sowing — Yearly Care — Mowing — Rolling — Weeding —Turfing. Pp. 34-38

CHAPTER III— Hedges and Fences

Hedges of Privet, Berberis, Siberian Dogwood, Box, Yew,^ Ilex, Buckthorn, Crataegus Oxycantha, Hemlock, Arborvitae and Norway Spruce — Location — Soil — Fences with Climbers. Pp. 39-42

CHAPTER IV— Trees and Shrubs

Trees for Shade and Shelter upon the Lawn — Street Trees — Evergreens — Planting Trees — Best Shrubs — Shrubs with Edible Berries — Evergreen Shrubs — Ground Cover and Low Growing Shrubs — Low Growing and Trailing Shrubs for Various Purposes — Bushes for Wet Places — Flowering the Branches of Shrubs Indoors — Blooming Dates of Trees, Shrubs and Climbers — How to Treat Nursery Stock and Material Gathered from the Wild. Pp. 43-63

CHAPTER V— The Rose Garden

Best Soils — Width of Beds — Preparation of Soil — Time to Plant — Distance Apart — Summer Treatment — Insects — Diseases — Kinds of Roses — Brier Roses — Chmbing Roses — Tea Roses — Hybrid Teas — Hybrid Perpetuals — Pernetiana, Moss and Polyantha Roses. Pp. 64-74

CHAPTER VI— Hardy Perennials for the Permanent Garden

Combinations of Perennials — Considerations for a Perennial Border — Situation of Border — Preparation of Soil — Planting — Spring Planting — Autumn Planting — Cultivation — Staking — Removal of Old Flowers and Seed Pods — Necessity for Replanting — List of Indispensable Hardy Perennials — General Selection of Hardy Flowers — Medium Tall Perennials — Dwarf Perennials — Plans for Perennial Borders. Pp. 75-87

CHAPTER VII— Annuals and Biennials

Care in Pmchasing Seed — Sowing — Transplanting — Time to Sow Out-of-Doors — Preparation of Soil — Keeping Seed Pods Removed — Vines — Combinations of Annuals — Everlasting Flowers — Annuals Useful for Cut Flowers — Lesser Known Annuals — Annuals for Edging Beds of Other Plants — Foliage Annuals — Biennials — Germination Table. Pp. 88-102

CHAPTER VIII— Some Garden Favorites and How to Grow Them

Asters — Cannas — Campanulas — Coleus — Columbines — Dahlias — Chrysanthemums and Daisies — Delphiniums — Foxglove -Geraniums — Gladioh — Hibiscus — Irises — Lathyrus — LiUes — Marigold — Pansies — Peonies — Petunias — Phlox — Pinks — Poppy — Salvia — Snapdragons — Sweet Peas — Sweet William — Tritomas ~ Tuberous Begonias — Zinnias.

CHAPTER IX— Bulbs and Tuberous-Roited Plants

Preparation of Beds — -Time of Planting — Planting — Naturalizing — Culture During the Season — ^Mulching after Planting — Descriptive List of Bulbs with Cultural Notes. Pp. 141-148

CHAPTER X— Hardy Garden Ferns and Water Plants

Fern Culture — Spores — List of Ferns — Waterside Plants — Water, Lilies. Pp. 149-154

CHAPTER XI— The Rock Garden

Regions Adapted for Rockeries — Japanese Gardens — Construction of Rock Gardens — Material for Rock Gardens. Pp. 155-159

. CHAPTER XII— Garden Furniture

Benches — Rustic Chairs, Seats, Screens, Trellises, Pergolas, etc. — The Garden House — Fountains— Bird Baths. Pp. 160-166

CHAPTER XIII— Window Boxes and Porch Plants

Self-Watering Boxes — Porch Boxes — Hanging Baskets — Concrete Boxes — Wicker Window Boxes — Plants for Window Boxes. Pp. 167-172

CHAPTER XIV— The Vegetable Garden

Growing Plants for Setting Out — Diggings and Preparing the Soil- Sowing and Transplanting — Watering — General Principles of Cultivation — Harvesting and Storing — Companion Crops — Succession Crops — Cultivation of the Chief Vegetables — Useful Pointers for the Vegetable Grower — LabeHng Plants — The Vegetable Garden in Winter — The Home Food Winter Storage Cellar— Herbs. Pp. 173-222

CHAPTER XV— Fruit for the Small Garden

Apples — Apricots — Cherries — Grapes — Pears — Plums — Peaches — Quinces — Strawberries — Currants — Gooseberries — Raspberries — Blackberries — Dewberries — Loganberries — Cordon and Espalier Training Systems— Ideal Fruit Garden. Pp. 223-243

CHAPTER XVII— Fertilizers

Essential Elements — Sources of Supply — Animal Manures — Green Manures — Commercial Fertilizers — Bonemeal — Nitrate of Soda — Poultry Manure — Lime — Humus — Where and How to Use Fertilizers — Home Mixing of Fertilizers— Suitable Fertilizers for Vegetables and Fruits — Fertilizing Table — Scarcity of Stable Manure — Some Commercial Fertilizers in Common Use. Pp. 248-258

CHAPTER XVIII— Pruning

Its Advantage — Pruning Briers and Roses for Landscape Effect — Climbing and Polyantha Roses — Hybrid Perpetuals — Hybrid Teas — Shrubs — Hedges — Fruit Trees — Evergreens — List of Subjects with Pruning Instructions. . Pp. 259-267 j

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XIX~Plant Propagation

Mardwdoci Cuttings — Soft-wooded Cuttings — Making Cuttings of Perennials — Leaf Cuttings — Root Cuttings — Division of Perennials — Seed Sowing: Perennials and Annuals — Vegetables — Starting Flowers Indoors — Shrub and Tree Seeds — Grafting — Budding — Layering.

CHAPTER XX— Transplanting

Basic Principles — Transplanting Seedlings — Transplanting to Open Ground — What and What Not to Transplant — Transplanting Shrubs and Small Trees — Frozen Ball Method of Transplanting — Transplanting Fruit Trees — Moving Large Trees — Operations Resembling Transplanting.

CHAPTER XXI— Winter Protection

Leaf Coverings — Protecting Lilies and Roses — Windbreaks for Trees and Shrubs — Covering Tender Plants — Facts about Frost. Pp. 288-292

CHAPTER XXII— Some Insect Pests of Cultivated Plants

The Life of an Insect — Spraying Equipment — Materials Used to Control Insect Pests — Fumigants — Insect Pests arranged by Host Plants.

CHAPTER XXIII— Some Common Diseases of Plants and Their Control

How Diseases in Plants are Exhibited — The Cause of Disease — Concerning the Control of Diseases — Materials Used to Control Plant Diseases — The More Common Diseases of Garden Crops. Pp. 309-318 CHAPTER XXIV— Lawn and Garden Weeds Pp. 319-321

♦ CHAPTER XXV— Greenhouses, Hotbeds and Frames

Advantages of a Greenhouse — What Can be Grown — Greenhouses for the Amateur — Span- Roofed Houses — Attached Conservatories — Heating — Frames and Their Uses — Management of Hotbeds and Coldframes — Useful Little Forcing Structure. Pp. 322-333

CHAPTER XXVI— Garden Tools Pp. 334-338

CHAPTER XXVII— Calendar of Garden Operations

CHAPTER XXVIII— Animal Life in the Garden

Poultry Possibilities — Pigeons — Bees — Rabbits — Larger Animals.

CHAPTER XXIX— Birds in the Garden

Best Type of Bird Houses — Feeding the Birds — Berry-bearing Shrubs.

CHAPTER XXX— Fruits and Vegetables for Winter

Canning Fruits and Vegetables — Methods of Canning — Scalding, Blanching and Cold-Dipping — Sterilization — Equipment — Jars, Tin Cans and Rubbers — Sirups — Flat Soifr — Treatment After Canning — Preservative Powder — Instructions for Canning Vegetables and Fruit — Recipes — Time Table for Scalding, Blanching and Sterilizing Vegetables and Fruits.

CHAPTER XXXI— Topics, Miscellaneous Pp. 365-372

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

{For Geneml Index, See Pages 373 and on)

Annual and Perennial Flowers,

Garden of 90

Apple Tree, Typical Half Stand-

Arbor vitse, American .......... 45

Asters: China '* Comet" 103

Birds: In Garden, 349 to 356;"

Nests, How to Build, 351,

Bulbs : Table Showing Planting

Depths, 142; Garden View... .144 Cannas: Easy to Grow, 104;

Bed of ' 105

Canterbury Bells 107

Chrysanthemum Cuttings, Propagation of 268

Chrysanthemums, Cluster of

Hardy 113

City Houses and Their Rear

Yards 363

Coldframe, Double Glass, 329;

Facing due South 330

Conservatories for the Amateur

323, 324, 325 Cordon System of Training

Fruit Trees 228

Crocus: Naturalized in Grass. . 140 Currant, Standard Grown, 231; Pruning Shoots, 232; Propagation 268

Daffodil: Typical Flower of. .146 Dahlia: Hedge of, 110; Roots,

Propagation of 269

Espaher System of Training

Fruit Trees 228

Flagstaff 368

Fern Plant Showing Frond,

.Spores, etc 150

Forcer, "Gro Quick".. 333

Forcing Frame 328

Foxgloves, View of 92

Fruit Garden, Plan for an Ideal. 24 3

Fruit Pruning

Fruit Trees : Trained to Cordon

and Espaher

Garden Board 368

Garden Frame 326

Garden Tools .334-33B

Geranium, Bed of, 115; In planting 247

Gladiolus, Spike of 117

Grapes, Training System (Mun-

Hardy Flowers: Borders of, 76, 77; 80; Bringing Flower Garden Up to House 78

Hedges: Privet, 41; Hemlock,

42; Morning Glories 98

Home Ground Surroundings : Working Men's Dwellings, Gaimt and Bare, 18; Superb Setting for a House, 19; Property of One Acre, 39; Ungainly, 40; Neglected, 40; Good Planting, 47; Effective Mixed Planting, 53; Garden Scene in Summer, 54; Garden \iew of Flower Favorites, 102; Flower Garden Surrounded by Arches of Roses, 62; An Early Summer Scene 101

Hotbed Frame, Section of 327

Hotbed, Plan for Planting a. . . .331

House Front, Locating the 16

Insect Pests, 46; Named Species

293-308

Iris: Bed of, 118; Typical Bloom of German, 119; Japanese, Colonized, 120; Border

Backed with Shrubs 121

Larkspur 95

Lattice Screen 36

Lattice Work Fence 36

Lattice Work, Green 168

Lawn View, 34; Effective Disposition of 37

Layout of a Backyard Garden, 14; of a Suburban Lot. ..... 15

Lilies, Auratum ... 123

Mole Traps 366

Morning Glories — Hedge of 98

Mouse Trap 365

Narcissus — Glory of Leiden, 141 ; Poeticus, Naturalized. ....... 146

Oak, Pm, in all its Beauty 43

Pansies, Bed of 126

Perennials, Borders of Attractive Color Combinations 86, 87

ILLUSTRATIONS

Peony: Mons. Jules Elie, 128; Massed Bed of, 129; Types of, 131; Rack for Supporting 132

Pergola, Rustic Frame 65

Petunia, Single , 127

Phlox, Bed of 132

Pinks, Hardy .134

Planting Plans: For Shady Outlook, 17; A (for two adjoining houses), 21; B, C, (for property 50x100), 23, 25; D (for property 50x150), 27; E (for property 75x150), 29; F (for property 190 ft. sq.), 31; G (for property of two acres) . . 33

Plane, Oriental 44

Propagation: Gm'rant Cuttings, 268; Chrysanthemum Cuttings, 268; Dahlia Roots, 269; Artichoke, 260; Soft Wood Cuttings, 273; Cleft Graftmg, 274; Whip Graftings, 275; Roses, Budding of, 276; Gooseberries, Layering of, 277; Woody or Half-woody Plant Layering 277

Pruning! Dwarf Rose, 260; Shrubs, 261; Young Trees, 263; Limb of Tree, 263; Raspberry Canes £66

Raspberry Canes, Pruning 266

Rock Gardens: Views of, 156; 159; Diagram Showing Preparatory Stages 158

Roses : Diagrams Showing Planting Plans for Beds of Hybrid Teas and Hybrid Perpetuals, * 63; Arbor, 64; Summer House, Covered with Roses, 70 ; Roses Massed Around Sundial, 73; Depth to Plant, 50; DiflPerence between True and False Stock, 66; Where to Cut to Obtain More Flowers, 67; Bed of, 68; Arches of, 137; Pruning 260

Rustic Furniture . . . . . .161-166

Screen for Side or Back of House 69

Shrubs, Pruning 261

Spiraea Van Houttei 51

Spruce, Colorado Blue 46

Storage Cellar, The Home Food Winter 219

Strawberries, Good Sized 241

Sweet Peas: Spike of, 136;

TreUises for 137

Tools for Garden 334-338

Transplanting Box for Seedhngs.176 Tree Planting: Wrong Method,

49; Correct Method .49

Tritoma 139

Tulips, 'Bouton d'Or 148

Vegetables: Bean, 186; Beet, 188; Cabbage, 189; Carrots, 191; CauHflower, 191; Celery Plants, 192; Cucumber, 196; Egg Plant, 197; Kohl-Rabi, 198; Lettuce, 199;Muskmelon, 200'; Onions, 201; Parsnip, 202; Green Peas, 203; Potatoes, 204, 205; Radish, 206; Squash, 210; Swiss Chard, 211; Tomatoes Trained to a Fence, 212; Supporting Rack,

Vegetables, Fresh throughout

the Year.. 343

Vegetable Garden: An Amateur's, 173; On a Suburban Lot, 175; Views in, 179, 182; Working Plans for Model, 187, 190, 195, 208, 209; Handy Device for Marking

off Rows 193

Vegetable Planting Table. .344, 345

Water LUy, Pond of 154

Waterside Plantings 151, 152

The illustrations are on as generous a scale as the text matter. It was planned to illustrate freely every discussion in which a picture could assist the reader in arriving at a quick upderstanding of the subject.

PUBLISHERS^ FOREWORD

BOOK must bear a title, a distinguishing name, and so here we have the Gabden Guide, a Handbook for the Amateur Gardener, Its scope will he unfolded in the Introduction of its editors and compilers. The publishers, however, ask a first hearing. The conception of the book was not at all limited to the purpose indicated by its title. It had a higher aim. Through its medium we hope to win thousands from crowded city homes to the free air of the open country. We seek to preach freedom from the very housetops, to induce worthy citizens to cultivate their health as well as their gardens and, in so doing, add to their happiness and the years of their lives, to do their duty by their children through environing their young lives with the surroundings which will make them sturdy, selfreliant and observant, and best fit them for their own battle of life. Fundamentally, there is no excuse for weakhngs among those raised in the country and the out-of-doors.

The country (and in this term may be included practically all our suburban towns, boroughs and villages) is the children's paradise, with all Nature's world as their playground.

The hygienic value of fresh vegetables and fruits is beyond question; their value to the family cannot be estimated in terms of money. The writer knows this and thousands of fortunate subiubanites will testify to its truth. A good garden is Nature's antidote for all ijls flesh is heir to; it certainly does not make for a source of revenue to the physician. Fresh fruits and vegetables, each in their season, taken from your garden, are something quite difl*erent from the much handled and frequently stale products one buys in the city. Nearly every vegetable is an annual and can be grown with the first year's occupancy, the second Summer the taste for all the small fruits can be indulged in to the full and almost before you realize it the young fruit trees you set out are in bearing.

The Cliff Apartment dweller, whose vision is bounded on all sides by straight lines of brick and mortar, cement and stone, whose life is harried by the janitor, whose quietude is distrubed by the noises ov^erhead and below, who cannot enjoy a night's sleep in the open without fear of arrest, whose movements to and from business are made miserable in trolley, subway .or "L," must surely envy the commuter, even though the latter be still made the butt of the irrepressible joker, whom we pardon because, poor man, he knows no better.

Advocacy of social advantages has no particular part in this presentation, yet these features have more play in country than in

FOREWORD towns, for the acquaintances made by your children in the former will be more permanent and have a larger bearing on their future because they are more intimately brought together in their school, their play and their daily association.

Suburban public schools are governed to a great extent .by men who have come out from the cities. Their advantages are equal to those of the city, perhaps superior, because the classes average smaller; high schools abound, and the education of the youth up to the age of seventeen or eighteen can thus be obtained near home.

Life in the suburbs opens the way to a family home — one's very own, eliminating forever the yearly move. Don't pay rent — own your home so you can do with it as you please. Permanence of location is helpful to well-being, so then make a careful selection. Take time to make an intelligent choice and, where you settle, make the best of it — stick. If you have the funds to pay for the home outright you are among the fortunate ones, otherwise the local building and loan association will take care of you at no greater outlay than rent if you own the ground and are considered a good moral risk. Inside of eleven years the home is yours and the money which would otherwise have gone to a generally indifferent landlord niay be applied to betterments, to education or to the purchase of more land.

Whether it is better to buy than to build depends on circumstances. Painstaking investigation is always in order.

The family home, the home for your children and quite likely for some of your children's children, the home wherein the family traditions will linger, surely that is the home that's wanted — the home to which your children may return, and the recollection of which will brighten the toilsome days they may be forced to spend away from it. The family home is the wisest of all investments; it is the foundation which makes for family honor and stability. Pedigree adds to the stabihty of our country and its institutions, and the family home is the source and foundation of true patriotism.

There is no Springtime in the city, no Autumn. Among the bricks and stone the unfolding glories of Spring are unknown to the toiler and his family. The city is equally unresponsive to the awakening life of the one as it is to the passing glories of the other. A city knows but two seasons, Summer and Winter; the reviving Spring and glorious Autumn are both unknown.

Do not let it be said of you: *The city was his country; he loved better to hear the trolley car rattle than the birds carol." The city may be a good place to work in; it undoubtedly is; but if all our homes could be in the freedom of the country we would be a superior race.

A. T. p.

Introduction To First Edition

E all have our dream gardens in which stretches of smooth lawns appear, with hedges of sweet smelling shrubs like Brier Roses, Lavender, Rosemary, or of neat leaved Box, such as one sees at the old home of George Washington at Mt. Yernon. We have our scenes of Rose beds encircled by grass or sand covered paths, with a little fountain and bird bath nearby, a cozy arbor or rest house off to one side, borders filled opulently with a variety of old time hardy flowers, fragrant with memories of other days. Here and there a fruit tree stands laden with the promise of luscious fruits, and all around is the busy hum of insect life, with the flutter of birds and butterflies, and the throbbing of a hundred creations from the great storehouse of Nature, that make a garden more than a dreamland, but certainly a place of great refreshing rest, recuperation, peace, happy thoughts. It is the place to commune with friends, either in bodily presence or in books. It is a place in which to plan, to read, to rest, to work, to play. Back of all there is the utilitarian kitchen garden, the drying yard, the chicken run, the place for the household pets, the children's swing and sand heap, and the other happy features and adjuncts that make the house and garden our home.

We beheve that one chief reason for the paucity of good and bright gardens is the lack of .knowing how to set about making them. Gardening is a very large subject. It has formed the study and recreation of the leisure moments of many eminent men from the time of Solomcm, Homer, Aristotle, Plato and others of the ancients, to Erasmus and Bacon of the Renaissance, Evelyn of the seventeenth century, to the more modern notabilities, as Pope, Walpole, Cowper, Goethe, Cobbett, our own Nathaniel Hawthorne and Thoreau, with many, many others. The amateur gardener is therefore in excellent company of the present as well as of all past times. Gardening is pleasurable, healthful, intellectual.

We should not forget the purely economical side of the matter that has been dwelt upon in the publishers' foreword. But this Garden Guide is not intended exactly to be a mentor on making money or saving money. You are willing to pay for your household goods and embellishments, your automobile, your camera and sporting outfits, your concerts and theatres. Expect to pay, therefore, for your gardening; yet we can assure the amateur that well-considered expenditure on the garden more than pays for itself. You can have delicious edible Asparagus on your table day in, day out for weeks in the early part of the year. You can have salads and young vegetables from April until November. Then there are the flowers and fruits over and above, and other assets of and from the garden that are too apparent to need to be mentioned.

Introduction

The plan of this book is sufficiently set forth in the table of contents, and we therefore offer this Guide confident in the belief that it will be found an excellent introduction to what is unequivocally one of the most delightful recreations that man can pursue.

Presenting Our Fourth and Perfected Edition

A quiet editor, upon being told that he ought to be the best judge of the merit of something he had written is said to have replied, in effect: ''Not so; did you never realize that it is only the silkworm itself that can never know what the coccoon that it has made looks like" For this reason we would be less confident of our judgment and optimism concerning the practical value of the Garden Guide were they not reinforced by the sentiments and actions of the public that has absorbed the three large editions which have preceded the present printing. As it is, the continued demand, the undiminished interest, the cordial commendation, tell us that the appreciation of gardening in America is constantly growing and that our efforts are truly filling the need for a compact, comprehensive, usable Garden Manual.

These efforts, however, are not the result of a hasty decision, a sketchy survey of the ground, but of a quarter century of actual gardening experience, of contact with garden lovers, of observation of their activities, and of a study of their needs. We set out to provide those facts that we know they are in search of, in the form and language in which they can grasp and use them. We have written, compiled, eliminated and augmented, not for effect, but for service, out of a personal knowledge, sympathy and enthusiasm that binds all garden lovers together into one great family.

In the present edition the changes, aside from minor improvements in 'arrangement, type styles, etc., designed to make the book more convenient and pleasing to the eye, have been mainly additions of new and valuable features. We call attention particularly to the chapter on Common Diseases of Garden Plants and Their Control, compiled by two representative plant pathologists of the country, men who stand with the highest. Among other new features covered may be mentioned the Canning of Fruits and Vegetables, Transplanting, The Vegetable Garden in Winter, Lawn and Garden Weeds, Facts about Frost, Bungalow or Mid-Summer Gardening, Animal Life in the Garden, Fertilizer Facts, etc. Needless to say, all data and suggestions have been checked up, verified and, where necessary, revised in accordance with up-to-date conditions and the most successful modern principles,