Bedding-Out
The temporary placing out of doors of greenhouse and other tender plants during the summer months. It is considered by some to be the showiest, most expensive, and most unnatural of any style. The geometrical arrangement of gaudy colours is not at all times satisfactory, and under the most favourable conditions the design is rarely retained more than two or three months, say, from July to September. The method is, however, so extensively adopted as to demand due notice in this work. Bedding usually commences in May. An important consideration is the proper preparation of the soil for the reception of the plants. It will be found to materially assist the growth if the soil is well dug over a fortnight before the plants are put in. By this means, it will acquire a certain amount of solidity, a point of great importance with fibrous-rooted plants that are subject to injury from the fine roots not taking a firm hold of the soil. Having decided upon the arrangement of the plants, proceed to work with the planting. With round, oval, or, indeed, almost any shaped bed, begin in the centre and work towards the edge; in borders, commence at the back and finish with the front row. Plant with a trowel, disturbing the balls as little as possible, and when in the holes press the soil moderately firm. After the Bed is finished, give a good soaking of water to settle the soil at the roots. Manure for Flower-beds should always be perfectly rotten, such as that from a spent hotbed. When the plants are thoroughly established, water must only be given if they show signs of distress; and then a good soaking should be applied. A careful hoeing of the surface after planting will be most beneficial, leaving it smooth and tidy. A Dutch hoe will be the best to use. Injudicious use of manure and water will only cause a foliaceous growth. The proper treatment of the various Bedding Plants will be found under their respective headings. For spring decoration, the Beds may be filled with Dutch bulbs, and spring-flowering annuals and perennials ad infinitum; or, after the plants are removed in autumn, the Beds may be filled with evergreens plunged in pots, such as Aucuba, Arbor vitae, Euonymus, and various little Conifers, which have a bright appearance through the winter, and can be removed at any time. With the relative value, or advisability of adoption, of either or any system of gardening, it scarcely comes within the province of this work to deal. No hard-and-fast rules can be laid down as regards "style," and each individual may follow his own taste and inclination.