Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/196

182 the same accomplished by others often enough to make exceptions to disprove the rule. Nevertheless, we pronounce the rule good, and hope the reader will be cautious in disregarding it, for above all things we do wish this little book to prove a preventive of vexations as well as a guide to the production and enjoyment of delights. If climbing plants do not grow vigorously and to a certain extent naturally, they soon become the prey of all sorts of vermin and in all likelihood will never flower at all.

If a border cannot be provided, boxes of wood, slate, or stone will be found useful as cheap and servicable substitutes. The boxes should measure a yard every way, to contain a cubic yard of soil at the very least, but they may be two feet instead of three feet deep and they may be only one foot wide. If the measurement is curtailed in one way it must be enlarged in another, and in any case there must be a depth of at least two feet of soil, or no strong growing plant will thrive in it. In making a border, the size and arrangement of the house must in some degree determine the order of operations. Most conservatories have a three-feet table round the sides, and underneath this table the border must be made; and here arise the principal difficulties that have to be contended with in dealing with houses that were erected without any reference to the manner in which they were to be furnished. The border should be three feet wide and four deep to grow the plants in a satisfactory manner. Now, if we go down to that depth, a hundred chances to one we shall let the walls in, and the pipes are generally above ground, under the side table, which prevents us running a four-inch wall up to within a few inches of it. In cases of this description, the boxes have to be put into use, and on the top of the table. To prevent their looking unsightly, a few shoots of the plants that are growing in them should be neatly trained over the sides.

The borders, as already explained, should be about three feet wide by four deep, but a few inches either way is of no material consequence. In the bottom of the trench or border should be placed twelve inches of broken brickbats for drainage, and over this bed should be laid fresh turves, grass-side downwards. For filling in the border, nothing beats a compost consisting of three parts good turfy loam, and a part each of decayed leaf-mould and manure. The loam should be obtained from the top spit of pasture or common land, and be full of