After the seed is sown it must be raked well so that it is covered with earth, and then the surface has to be firmed again. After that we require gentle rain but, if it is not forthcoming, artificial watering must take its place, using a spray or a fine rose. The idea is to have the seed as closely embraced by damp earth as possible so that when germination takes place there are no air pockets to discourage the tiny thrusting roots. Birds sometimes enjoy a meal of grass seed, so it is really safest to cotton the ground after sowing.Once a lawn is made it really should not require a lot of attention if it is cut regularly. To keep it in good condition a light dressing of _granulated peat mixed with a little bonemeal and dried blood should b_e given in the winter. If there are weeds a selective weed-killer is used at the end of March, and in April a dressing of lawn sand will encourage new growth. Moss can be removed by raking and if rolling is done a spiked roller should be used to aerate the soil. Rolling with an ordinary roller does more harm than good, particularly with very heavy soils. The use of a lawn mower regularly gives it all the

rolling it needs. Read the rest of this entry »

And so our lawn was taken right up to the high wall. I was grudgi_ngly allowed a narrow bed in which to plant a few perennials and the climbers that were to clothe the wall, but I was warned that it was not to encroach too much on the precious green grass.

We were lucky in having one tree in the garden, a variegated sycamore. That was the tree we saw through the open door the day we decided to buy the house, and today it is the only thing that remains in the garden from those days. It is in the lawn, rather near the house, and the aspect would be very bleak without it. It is one of the tragedies of a new garden that all the trees must necessarily be very small, and I think we were extremely lucky to find one ready grown for us. Read the rest of this entry »

Levelling the beds was the worst job of all. I knew enough to save the top soil and take away the clay underneath, but the problem was what to do with the stuff. I had heaps of good soil all over the place where I was working and the clay had to be wheeled right away and dumped somewhere in the lower garden. The only way to get it there was down a plank over the stone steps. It was cold and damp with mud everywhere and the wheelbarrow was always tipping itself over as my unskilful hands tried to balance it on the greasy plank.

Luckily it was a mild, if wet winter, and by the early spring I had done most of the work. It didn’t meet with approval and I admit it did look bleak. Every morning at breakfast I was greeted with ‘Stones, stones, stones!’ Or it might be a query ‘How is the floral quarry this morning?’ Walter’s bathroom overlooked that part of the garden and as he liked to dawdle over his bath and shaving he had ample opportunity to gaze with horror on what I had done the day before. Read the rest of this entry »

While the lawn and drive were being made I had to work as a labourer with Walter and the garden boy, but when they were finished I was at last permitted to go off and amuse myself in what was to be my part of the garden, the flower beds. I had long been considering what should be done with the ground on the west of the house. This was on a higher level than the rest and sloped up to a small orchard. We were lucky that our garden was on different levels. A garden that is completely flat is difficult to make interesting. We all know gardens that start as a field and finish as a field, no matter what the owners do in the way of trouble and expense. The kindest thing fate can do to you is to give you a garden that slopes away from the house. The upward slope is more difficult to deal with as great care has to be taken that it does not become top heavy.

When we bought the house this part of the garden rose sharply to the orchard without path or form. The speculator who sold the house to us had put in a few miserable gooseberry bushes, but they were choked with couch grass. In fact, it was nothing but a wilderness and looked the most uninspiring material for a garden. Read the rest of this entry »