Part 26

If weeds are kept down through the early part of the season, there will not be a great deal of weeding to do in midsummer. Still, we cannot afford to take it for granted that they require no attention, for they are most aggressive things, and so persistent are they that they will take advantage of every opportunity for perpetuating themselves. Therefore be on the lookout for them, and as soon as you discover one that has thought to escape your notice by hiding behind some flowering plant, uproot it. One weed will furnish seed enough to fill the entire garden with plants next year if let alone.

If the season happens to be very dry, some of your plants--Dahlias, for instance,--will have to be watered if you want them to amount to anything. These must have moisture at their roots in order to flower well.

Other plants may be able to get along with a mulch of grass-clippings from the lawn. Most of our annuals will stand quite a drouth.

If one is connected with a system of waterworks it is an easy matter to tide a garden over a drouth. But where there is nothing but the pump to depend on for a supply of water, I would not advise beginning artificial watering except in rare cases, like that of the Dahlia. We always find that so much work is required in supplying our plants from the pump that after a little we abandon the undertaking, and the result is that the plants we set out to be kind to are left in a worse condition, when we give up our spasmodic attention, than they would have been in if we had not begun it.

It is well to use the hoe constantly if the season is a dry one. Keep the surface of the soil open that it may take in all the moisture possible. On no account allow it to become crusted over.

Seed of perennials can be sown now to furnish plants for flowering next season.

Look to the Dahlias, and make sure they are properly staked.

Be on the lookout for black beetle on Aster and Chrysanthemum. As soon as one is discovered apply Nicoticide, and apply it thoroughly, all over the plant. Promptness is demanded in fighting this voracious pest.

During the latter part of summer, when the extreme hot weather that we have at the north sets in, cut away nearly all the top of the Pansy-plants. This will give the plants a chance to rest during the season when they are not equal to the task of flowering, because of the hot, dry weather which is so trying to them. Along in September, when the weather becomes cooler, they will take a fresh start and give us fine flowers all through the fall.

Look over the perennials and satisfy yourself that there is color-harmony everywhere. If you find a discord anywhere, mark the plant that makes it for removal later on.

Be sure to keep all seed from developing on the Sweet Peas. This you must do if you would have a good crop of flowers during the fall months.

If any plants seem too thick, sacrifice some of them promptly. No plant can develop itself satisfactorily if it is crowded.

Poor plants will find their way into all collections. If you find one in yours, remove it at once. There are so many good ones at our disposal that we cannot afford to give place, even for a season, to an inferior kind.

Let neatness prevail everywhere. Gather up dead leaves and fallen flowers, cut away the stalks of plants upon which no more flowers can be expected, and keep the walks looking as if you expected visitors at any time, and were determined not to be caught in untidy garments.

While the good gardener can always find something to do in the garden, he will not have as much work on his hands at this season as at any other, therefore it is the time in which he can get the greatest amount of pleasure from his flowers, and in proportion to his care of them earlier in the season will be the pleasure they afford now.

FALL WORK IN THE GARDEN

Because the growth of grass on the lawn is not as luxuriant and rapid in fall as it is in midsummer, is no reason why the lawn should be neglected after summer is over. It should be mowed whenever the grass gets too tall to look well, clear up to the end of the season. The neat and attractive appearance of the home-grounds depends more upon the lawn than anything else about them. It is a good plan to fertilize it well in fall, thus enabling the roots of the sward to store up nutriment for the coming season. Fine bonemeal is as good for this purpose as anything I know of except barnyard manure, and it is superior to that in one respect--it does not contain the seeds of weeds.

Go over the garden before the end of the season and gather up all plants that have completed their work. If we neglect to give attention to the beds now that the flowering-period is over, a general appearance of untidiness will soon dominate everything. Much of the depressing effect of late fall is due to this lack of attention. The prompt removal of all unsightly objects will keep the grounds looking clean after the season has passed its prime, and we all know what the Good Book's estimate of cleanliness is.

Seedlings of such perennials as Hollyhock, Delphinium, and other plants of similar character, ought to be transplanted to the places they are to occupy next season by the last of September. If care is taken not to disturb their roots when you lift them they will receive no check.

If you give your Hybrid Perpetual Roses a good, sharp cutting-back early in September, and manure the soil about them well, you may reasonably expect a few fine flowers from them later on. And what is more delightful than a perfect Rose gathered from your own garden just at the edge of winter?

Perennials can be divided and reset, if necessary, immediately after they have ripened off the growth of the present year. If this work is done now, there will be just so much less to do in spring.

Before the coming of cold weather all tools used in gardening operations should be gathered up and stored under cover. If any repairs are needed, make note of them, and see that the work is done in winter, so that everything needed in spring may be in readiness for use. It is a good plan to give all wood-work a coat of paint at the time it is stored away, and to go over the metal part of every tool with a wash of vaseline to prevent rust.

Have a general house-cleaning before winter sets in. Cut away the stalks of the perennials. Pull up all annuals. Rake up the leaves, and add everything of this kind to the compost heap. All garden refuse should find its way there, to be transmuted by the alchemy of sun and rain, and the disintegrating forces of nature into that most valuable of soil constituents--humus. Let nothing that has any value in it be wasted.

After hard frosts have killed the tops of Dahlias, Cannas, Caladiums and Gladioluses, their roots should be dug, on some warm and sunny day, and prepared for storage in the cellar or closet. Spread them out in the sunshine, and leave them there until the soil that was dug with them is dry enough to crumble away from them. At night cover with something to keep out the cold, and expose them to the curative effects of the sun next day. It may be necessary to do this several days in succession. The great amount of moisture which they contain when first dug should be given a chance to evaporate to a considerable extent before it will be safe to put them away for the winter. Cut off the old stalks close to the root before storing.

While clearing the beds of dead plants and leaves be on the lookout for insects of various kinds. The cut-worm may still be in evidence, and may be found among the rubbish which you gather up. And if found, destroy it on the spot. This precaution will go far toward safeguarding plants in spring, many of which are annually injured by the depredations of this pest.

When you are sure that cold weather is at hand, cover the bulb-bed with coarse manure or litter, hay, or straw, as advised in the chapter on The Bulb Garden. And give your Roses the protection advised in the chapter on The Rose.

Cover Pansies lightly with leaves or evergreen branches. If you have mulch enough, apply some to your hardy plants, and next spring note the difference between them and the plants which were not given any protection.

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