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Geometrical Flower Beds: Present day trends in the design of houses and gardens are toward simplification. Functionalism is considered good. So is originality, provided it is not too ex¬treme. Originality that comes from strain and striving for the unusual defeats its purpose. It lacks restraint. Superficial Decoration has been discarded. Along with the gingerbread and curlicues of late nine¬teenth and early twentieth century archi¬tecture have gone geometrical flower beds, tortuous paths, elaborate fountains, com¬plicated rustic work, gazing globes and other features that once cluttered gardens. The best gardens of today are lovely and
livable.
The grass has had no lime, fertilizer, weed control measures or treatment for pests or diseases. Neither has it been watered, but because it is lo¬cated in a low-lying area this is not serious. Except hi the severest droughts the soil is reasonably moist beneath.
The interesting thing is that after a quarter of a century the outlines of the flower beds are clearly discernible. With¬in the beds the grasses are practically all.
Kentucky Blue and other desirable kinds, except for odd places where sod has been kicked up by ball players or others or has been disturbed by a badly handled mow¬ing machine, or in other ways, and crab grass has invaded. This survival of desir¬able grasses would not be so surprising were it not for the fact that between the beds (and the between the beds area is far more extensive than that of the beds) there is practically nothing but crab grass; it is almost a pure stand.seriously injured.
The reason the turf in the beds is thick enough to repel crab grass through all these years is simple. The soil there was origi¬nally spaded and generously nourished.See Also Flower Cleome:They are good at the back of the border because the individ¬ual blossoms—which close at night—are large and easily visible from a distance. Germination takes two to three weeks and they are hardy annuals. Set plants 6 inches apart and make successive sow¬ings over the summer.
The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) has made such an impressions on my consciousness that it has a special essay on page 26.
Spider flower Cleome (Cleome Hasslerana.) gets its name from the spider-like (or more truthfully, daddy-longlegs-like) blossoms with many long, waving stamens. Planted in large masses, spider flower Cleomes look j like blooming shrubbery.
Also for late July into August a pot containing one blooming lily-of-the-Nile (Agapanthus africanus 'Albus') should be moved about for the best effect. This plant is only hardy above Zone 8 and should spend winters in a greenhouse or a cool north window.
Among the annuals used for the moonlight garden are white gera¬niums (Pelaragonium x hortorum), white petunias (Petunia x hybrida), white nicotiana (Nicotiana data 'Grandiflora'), white cosmos (Cosmos tipinnatus 'Purity'), white spider flower Cleome (Cleome Hasslerana 'Alba' or 'Snow Queen'), and for a final round of color under a Harvest Moon, some white bedding mums (Chrysanthemum x morifolium).
On The Other Hand See Dead Flowers:Regularly removing dead flowers—or "deadheading"—encourages the devel¬ opment of further buds and prolongs the display. Blooms left on plants decay and encourage the onset of diseases. Where plants have long flower-stalks, cut these back to the base. Where flowers are borne in tight clusters close to the main stem, use scissors to cut them off. Pick up all the dead flowers and place them on a compost pile. Left among the plants, they en- Deadhead plants courage diseases.
Regularly removing dead flowers—or "deadheading"—encourages the devel¬ opment of further buds and prolongs the display. Blooms left on plants decay and encourage the onset of diseases. Where plants have long flower-stalks, cut these back to the base. Where flowers are borne in tight clusters close to the main stem, use scissors to cut them off. Pick up all the dead flowers and place them on a compost pile. Left among the plants, they en- Deadhead plants courage diseases. |
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