Manual of Gardening

by Liberty Hyde Bailey

EXPLANATION

It has been my desire to reconstruct the two books, "Garden-Making" and "Practical Garden-Book"; but inasmuch as these books have found a constituency in their present form, it has seemed best to let them stand as they are and to continue their publication as long as the demand maintains itself, and to prepare a new work on gardening. This new work I now offer as "A Manual of Gardening." It is a combination and revision of the main parts of the other two books, together with much new material and the results of the experience of ten added years.

A book of this kind cannot be drawn wholly from one's own practice, unless it is designed to have a very restricted and local application. Many of the best suggestions in such a book will have come from correspondents, questioners, and those who enjoy talking about gardens; and my situation has been such that these communications have come to me freely. I have always tried, however, to test all such suggestions by experience and to make them my own before offering them to my reader. I must express my special obligation to those persons who collaborated in the preparation of the other two books, and whose contributions have been freely used in this one: to C.E. Hunn, a gardener of long experience; Professor Ernest Walker, reared as a commercial florist; Professor L.R. Taft and Professor F.A. Waugh, well known for their studies and writings in horticultural subjects.

In making this book, I have had constantly in mind the home-maker himself or herself rather than the professional gardener. It is of the greatest importance that we attach many persons to the land; and I am convinced that an interest in gardening will naturally take the place of many desires that are much more difficult to gratify, and that lie beyond the reach of the average man or woman.

It has been my good fortune to have seen amateur and commercial gardening in all parts of the United States, and I have tried to express something of this generality in the book; yet my experience, as well as that of my original collaborators, is of the northeastern states, and the book is therefore necessarily written from this region as a base. One gardening book cannot be made to apply in its practice in all parts of the United States and Canada unless its instructions are so general as to be practically useless; but the principles and points of view may have wider application. While I have tried to give only the soundest and most tested advice, I cannot hope to have escaped errors and shortcomings, and I shall be grateful to my reader if he will advise me of mistakes or faults that he may discover. I shall expect to use such information in the making of subsequent editions.

Of course an author cannot hold himself responsible for failures that his reader may suffer. The statements in a book of this kind are in the nature of advice, and it may or it may not apply in particular conditions, and the success or failure is the result mostly of the judgment and carefulness of the operator. I hope that no reader of a gardening book will ever conceive the idea that reading a book and following it literally will make him a gardener. He must always assume his own risks, and this will be the first step in his personal progress.

I should explain that the botanical nomenclature of this book is that of the "Cyclopedia of American Horticulture," unless otherwise stated. The exceptions are the "trade names," or those used by nurserymen and seedsmen in the sale of their stock.

I should further explain the reason for omitting ligatures and using such words as peony, spirea, dracena, cobea. As technical Latin formularies, the compounds must of course be retained, as in Pæonia officinali, Spiræa Thunbergi, Dracæna fragrans, Coboea scandens; but as Anglicized words of common speech it is time to follow the custom of general literature, in which the combinations æ and oe have disappeared. This simplification was begun in the "Cyclopedia of American Horticulture" and has been continued in other writings.

L. H. BAILEY.

ITHACA, NEW YORK, January 20, 1910.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE POINT OF VIEW

What a garden is

CHAPTER II

THE GENERAL PLAN OR THEORY OF THE PLACE

The plan of the grounds

The picture in the landscape

Birds; and cats

The planting is part of the design or picture

The flower-growing should be part of the design

Defects in flower-growing

Lawn flower-beds

Flower-borders

The old-fashioned garden

Contents of the flower-borders

The value of plants may lie in foliage and form rather than in bloom

Odd and formal trees

Poplars and the like

Plant-forms

Various specific examples

An example

Another example

A third example

A small back yard

A city lot

General remarks

Review

CHAPTER III

EXECUTION OF SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE FEATURES

The grading

The terrace

The bounding lines

Walks and drives

The question of drainage, curbing, and gutters

The materials

Making the borders

Making the lawn

Preparing the ground

The kind of grass

When and how to sow the seed

Securing a firm sod

The mowing

Fall treatment

Spring treatment

Watering lawns

Sodding the lawn

A combination of sodding and seeding

Sowing with sod

Other ground covers

CHAPTER IV

THE HANDLING OF THE LAND

The draining of the land

Trenching and subsoiling

Preparation of the surface

The saving of moisture

Hand tools for weeding and subsequent tillage and other hand work

The hoe

Scarifiers

Hand-weeders

Trowels and their kind

Rollers

Markers

Enriching the land

CHAPTER V

THE HANDLING OF THE PLANTS

Sowing the seeds

Propagating by cuttings

Dormant stem-cuttings

Cuttings of roots

Green cuttings

Cuttings of leaves

General treatment

Transplanting young seedlings

Transplanting established plants and trees

Tub-plants

When to transplant

Depth to transplant

Making the rows straight

Cutting-back; filling

Removing very large trees

Winter protection of plants

Pruning

Tree surgery and protection

Tree guards

Mice and rabbits

Girdled trees

Repairing street trees

The grafting of plants

Keeping records of the plantation

The storing of fruits and vegetables

The forcing of plants

Coldframes

Hotbeds

Management of hotbeds

CHAPTER VI

PROTECTING PLANTS FROM THINGS THAT PREY ON THEM

Screens and covers

Fumigating

Soaking tubers and seeds

Spraying

Insecticide spraying formulas

Fungicide spraying formulas

Treatment for some of the common insects

Treatment for some of the common plant diseases

CHAPTER VII

THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS--THE CLASSES OF PLANTS, AND LISTS

Planting for immediate effect

The use of "foliage" trees and shrubs

Windbreaks and screens

The making of hedges

The borders

The flower-beds

Bedding effects

Plants for subtropical effects

Aquatic and bog plants

Rockeries and alpine plants

1. PLANTS FOR CARPET-BEDS

Lists for carpet-beds

2. THE ANNUAL PLANTS

List of annuals by color of flowers

Useful annuals for edgings of beds and walks, and for ribbon-beds

Annuals that continue to bloom after frost

List of annuals suitable for bedding (that is, for "mass-effects" of color)

List of annuals by height

Distances for planting annuals

3. HARDY HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS

Perennial herbs suitable for lawn and "planting" effects

A brief seasonal flower-garden or border list of herbaceous perennials

One hundred extra-hardy perennial herbs

4. BULBS AND TUBERS

Fall-planted bulbs

List of outdoor fall-planted bulbs for the North

Winter bulbs

Summer bulbs

5. THE SHRUBBERY

List of shrubbery plants for the North

Shrubs for the South

6. CLIMBING PLANTS

Annual herbaceous climbers

Perennial herbaceous climbers

Woody perennial climbers

Climbing roses

7. TREES FOR LAWNS AND STREETS

List of hardy deciduous trees for the North

Non-coniferous trees for the South

8. CONIFEROUS EVERGREEN SHRUBS AND TREES

List of shrubby conifers

Arboreous conifers

Conifers for the South

9. WINDOW-GARDENS

The window-box for outside effect

The inside window-garden, or "house plants"

Bulbs in the window-garden

Watering house plants

Hanging baskets

Aquarium

CHAPTER VIII

THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS--INSTRUCTIONS OF PARTICULAR KINDS

Abutilons;

agapanthus;

alstremeria;

amaryllis;

anemone;

aralia;

araucaria;

auricula;

azaleas;

begonias;

cactus;

caladium;

calceolaria;

calla;

camellias;

cannas;

carnations;

century plants;

chrysanthemums;

cineraria;

clematis;

coleus;

crocus;

croton;

cyclamen;

dahlia;

ferns;

freesia;

fuchsia;

geranium;

gladiolus;

gloxinia;

grevillea;

hollyhocks;

hyacinths;

iris; lily;

lily-of-the-valley;

mignonette;

moon-flowers;

narcissus;

oleander;

oxalis;

palms;

pandanus;

pansy;

pelargonium;

peony;

phlox;

primulas;

rhododendrons;

rose;

smilax;

stocks;

sweet pea;

swainsona;

tuberose;

tulips;

violet;

wax plant.

CHAPTER IX

THE GROWING OF THE FRUIT PLANTS

Dwarf fruit-trees

Age and size of trees

Pruning

Thinning the fruit

Washing and scrubbing the trees

Gathering and keeping fruit

Almond;

apples;

apricot;

blackberry;

cherry;

cranberry;

currant;

dewberry;

fig;

gooseberry;

grape;

mulberry;

nuts;

orange;

peach;

pear;

plum;

quince;

raspberry;

strawberry;

CHAPTER X

THE GROWING OF THE VEGETABLE PLANTS

Vegetables for six

The classes of vegetables

The culture of the leading vegetables

Asparagus;

artichoke;

artichoke;

Jerusalem;

bean;

beet;

broccoli;

brussels sprouts;

cabbage;

carrot;

cauliflower;

celeriac;

celery;

chard;

chicory;

chervil;

chives;

collards;

corn salad;

corn;

cress;

cucumber;

dandelion;

egg-plant;

endive;

garlic;

horseradish;

kale;

kohlrabi;

leek;

lettuce;

mushroom;

mustard;

muskmelon;

okra;

onion;

parsley;

parsnip;

pea;

pepper;

potato;

radish;

rhubarb;

salsify;

sea-kale;

sorrel;

spearmint;

spinach;

squash;

sweet-potato;

tomato;

turnips and rutabagas;

watermelon.

CHAPTER XI

SEASONAL REMINDERS For the North For the South

INDEX

LIST OF PLATES

PLATE

I. The open center.

II. The plan of the place.

III. Open-center treatment in a semi-tropical country.

IV. Subtropical bedding against a building. Caladiums, cannas, abutilons, permanent rhododendrons, and other large stuff, with tuberous begonias and balsams between.

V. A subtropical bed. Center of cannas, with border of Pennisetum longistylum (a grass) started in late February or early March.

VI. A tree that gives character to a place.

VII. Bedding with palms. If a bricked-up pit is made about the porch, pot palms may be plunged in it in spring and tub conifers in winter; and fall bulbs in tin cans (so that the receptacles will not split with frost) may be plunged among the evergreens.

VIII. A well-planted entrance. Common trees and bushes, with Boston ivy on the post, and Berberis Thunbergii in front.

IX. A rocky bank covered with permanent informal planting.

X. A shallow lawn pond, containing water-lilies, variegated sweet flag, iris, and subtropical bedding at the rear; fountain covered with parrot's feather (Myriophyllum proserpinacoides).

XI. A back yard with summer house, and gardens beyond.

XII. A back yard with heavy flower-garden planting.

XIII. The pageant of summer. Gardens of C.W. Dowdeswell, England, from a painting by Miss Parsons.

XIV. Virginia creeper screen, on an old fence, with wall-flowers and hollyhocks in front.

XV. Scuppernong grape, the arbor vine of the South. This plate shows the noted scuppernongs on Roanoke Island, of which the origin is unknown, but which were of great size more than one hundred years ago.

XVI. A flower-garden of China asters, with border of one of the dusty millers (Centaurea).

XVII. The peony. One of the most steadfast of garden flowers.

XVIII. Cornflower or bachelor's button. Centaurea Cyanus.

XIX. Pyracantha in fruit. One of the best ornamental-fruited plants for the middle and milder latitudes.

XX. A simple but effective window-box, containing geraniums, petunias, verbenas, heliotrope, and vines.

XXI. The king of fruits. Newtown as grown in the Pacific country.

XXII. Wall-training of a pear tree.

XXIII. Cherry currant.

XXIV. Golden Bantam sweet corn.

XXV. The garden radish, grown in fall, of the usual spring sorts.