Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-20

DECORATING CITY YARDS.
A way I'm which to Make a Thing Of
beauty Out Of the Few Square Feet
Of Earth known rs the City Back
Yard.
It looks hopeless, know, but still 1t is DOS
sible to transform the little city back yard into
blooming garden that shall be a source of de-
light through all the hot months Of the summer
and through all the crisp days of the autumn.
Nature is very good to us; she provides flowers
for all places, and plants that win grow under
great disadvantages, If we only know how to
manage them. At the outset will make the
admission that there are few places where flow
ers are grown with more difficulty than I'm the
city back yard But 1t is q glorious thing to
overcome difficulties, There is happy sense
of having conquered, in seeing that waste
place, the little bin of earth, all verdant and
abloonl. 1t does one good, and it does ones
neighbors good. And how can it be accom-
plished?
1t is necessary that most of the back yards
of cities should be used as place for drying
clothes. This fact must not be lost sight of.
The center of the yard must not be laid out in
such way that 1t cannot be walked on. The
best way is to have grass In the center-good,
sweet, even turf Ali but you say. INV
grass-plat always looks ragged; little tufts OF
unhealthy looking grass spring up here and
there, and the rest is brown earth" Well.
have you ever looked into the matter to find
out the reason2 Take spade and turn up
few inches of the soil, and you will find that
grass and you will find that they only go
down an inch or two and then meet hard clay
or gravel. Show the grass to gardener and
he will tell you that that kind of grass will
Now for the remedy Send to the nearest Stable
for a load Of the best rotted manure that they
have. If they happen to be sweeping your
street get somebody to carry into your yard
few baskets of the street sweepings. Then
hire man to come with his spade. and let all
the old soil be turned over and shaken up and
mixed with the manure to twice the depth of
the spade II the soil then seems hard, get q
load Of sand and have it mixed in. 1t is some
trouble. and may cost you four or five dollars
altogether, but yen are doing it to stay. Now
go to the scotsman and tell him you want a
grass seed mixture to grow in partially shaded
place. Early In the spring or late in the fall
rake this mixture into your prepared bed, and
rake it pretty deep. Give it a good watering
with the house hose. and let it be to grow.
You will have provided a path about this
grass plat. and you must manage for while to
have your clOthes-line in a line with this path,
SO that your laundress may not be obliged to
tramp over the sprOuting bed. Presently the
young grass will DE up. For awhile it will need
special care. 1t must be kept well watered till
the roots Of the grass have found their way into
the deep soil that you have prepared for them.
Then it only needs to be kept closely cut. You
may not care to buy lawn mower; SO buy a
grass hook at IS cents; and let me tell you That
there is no way Of getting the delicious smell Of
new-mown hay into the heart of the city So sat-
isfactOrily as to 60 out and NOW over your back
yard in the cool Of summer mOgn-
ing. This grass-pat, if well attended, will
be source Of delight to you-always a
restful spot of green to look at. In the
fall, give it dressing Of street sweepings. and
II there comes a long drought give it good
wetting down now aud then. The center OF
your grass-plat will probably be the sunniest
spot in your yard. It will he good place for a
garden vase or large rustic basket. If you have
garden vase and want a great flame of brilliant
flowers the summer through. plant it with mas
tnrtiums. The tender green of the foliage and
the varied yeilOws and reds of the flowers make
most attractive object Or if you have plenty
of money you can have your vase filed at the
florists with plants of varied foliage. Only give
your vase plenty of water; it is surprising how
thirsty vase-plants will be, and when the season
is well along add little enrichment to the
water-a tablespoonful of guano or Bowfers
Food for Flowers" to each gallon of water.
II you have grasS-plat in the center and
walks about that, yOu will naturally keep
flower bed about the edge Of your garden.
good deal OF this bed will be shaded, and you
must not forget that fact in setting your plants.
There are plenty of plants that Ike the shade
or partial shade at least. The fuchsia thrlves
best where it has only all hour or two of direct
sunshine daily. TheheaonIaS thrive well in the
shade. The pansy takes cool and shady place.
VITA plenty Ut moisture. Ferns aud some of the
palms must have the deepest shade in order to
thrive at all. These plants viii give you variety
enough for the shaded parts of your flower
Deds, and you can keep tic sunny spots for
the roses and geranuEns and the qu:ck-grOw-
ing ANNALS which are so little trouble and
make so much show: the aster the balsan.
w inf haka
border deep. make It rlcl and give it plenty Of
water. If you have Eo hose have q biz water
ing pot and every evening dlrnCh the foliage of
your plants; it washes oil she dust and gives
the plants chance to bfesbae through the
night You may set your p!fnss very close in
your city borders: they Will Not grow rampant
ly. aud it is desirable to have the ground Gov
cred. About the edges and between the plants
SOW mignOnette- 1t will ill tle whole house
with it's delicate OdOr when the windows are
opened on summer mornings.
There are few vines hardy vines. that grow
we'll in city gardens. They should always be
kept closely trimmed and tied up to prevent
scraggy growth and that they may not make
punches of shade. The Chinese Wisteria is one
OF the best OF city vines. and the trumpet vine
and hOneysuckle thrive well even under The diff
fculties of city gardens. If you have q sunny
exposure and good. rich soil. you may have a
running rose or two. but the conditions must be
exceptionally favorable for the rose even the
hardy Prairie Queen. to flourish.
There are two pests in the city garden that
must be guarded aganst-the cat and the red
spider There ia little circulation Of air in city
yard. and much confined heat; conditions upon
which the red spider thfives. But the insidious
little insect can't ABIDE water. SO if the foliare
De wet daily he Will soon be driven away He
dislikes sulphur too. and pound of powdered
sulphur blown over the foliage will generally
Danish him from the garden But cats-cats
are perverSe and persistent The more mellow
you make your garden beds the better they like
TO dig in them. Sometimes think they are en-
dowed with dreadful and malicious curiosity;
| have known them to dig up whole row of
buried bulbs, apparently for no other object
than to see what they looked like. Spiked
fences broken glass on the top of your fences,
barbed wire barrcadrs-these are diff
fculties that the viii, and graceful. the cum
Ming and clever cat loves to surmOunt. There
is but one way to keep the cat out Of city gar
den and that is to surmount your fences with
pckets sharpened at the top, SO near together
that cat can't t-twl through. and So high that
cat can't jump over Even then the cat will
find some projecting cornice from which it can