Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-07
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

One way to avoid a colorless garden
| Is to get into it early enough in the
Spring to give plants a chance to be-
come grown by the time the early
boomers are through.
A covered seed box OF some deScrip-
tion in which one may grow seedlings
will give the gardener a great jump on
the season The lack OF this garden
adjunct is one of the main reasons Tor
the many colorless gardens one sees al
this time of the year.
Special stress must be placed on Sc
curing blooms for this month 1t Is. IN
ordinary seasons. and in most gardens,
the most lack-luster of alK
The garden in the shade is the most
handicapped of all. Few amateur
workers with the soil who have had
yards exposed TO the sun all day long
will realize just how difficult it is to get
color in shady garden.
Happily there is no need for despair,
II ones garden has only the green OF
greSs, shrubs and trees.
Violent emotions are out OF place in a
garden. Here is one place where pol
icy OF determination may be too com
plete.
There is nothing prettier about a
garden than a nice lawn, after all, even
an approximation Of good turf.
II there is a tree to lend its shade,
so that the mystery OF shadows may be
seen at all hours, If the grass is green;
and the shrubs and evergreenS in good
condition. the home plot may be beau
tiful without much flower color.
The necessity here is that the greens
be deep and rich. Most Of this will de-
pend on plenty of water and proper
| feeding. Nature has taken care OF the
former in this vicinity this year so far;
where most Of us fall down Is in fertill-
cation.
! Here many things contribute to neg
lect In the first place. many an anna
+ teur is afraid of chemical fertilizers,
/ He has heard so much about burning
that he suffers his plants TO become
stunted rather than run the risk Of
killing them. This danger mainly oc-
ours because one uses too much, or be-
cause what is used is not watered in at
! once.
The safest general fertilizer for the
! amateur to use is bone meal Of the
finely ground type often called rose
/ bone meal. There is little chance OF
hurting anything with this, and because
Of is divided state the elements in it
are much more quickly available to the
plants Especially for grass there is
nothing better. If it is used in large
enough quantities and watered in well.
There seems TO be a soil-sWeetening eff
feet to bone meal which few other fer
/ tiliZerS possess. The results one secures
with 1t are not spectacular. but they are
4 sure and it NAV be used as often as
once q week say a small handful to a
bush. without harm.
The ideal OF a succession Of bloom IS
the one TO be held. and the one to be
worked for. but We say again. let no one
be worried If his garden does not show
forth perfection in this matter.
| II you worry about he lack of flowers
at given time YOU had better give up
gardening. for there are enough matters
/ to worry about in life without maintain
ing at some cost. work and intelligence
a fenced-in subject of worry.
Be satisfied. II YOU must, with grass
and shrubs and trees. They are beauti-
full. and are the background for sll else
You would miss them a great deal more
/ than you would all the roses and other
/ flowers in the world
/ Every ideal is a mark to shoot at. not
necessarily to hit. Hitting the bulls-eye
4 depends on such a variety of circum-
stances that no one can be sure of doing
It, Being satisfied with what one has is
a difficult mark, too. and perhaps more
/ Of us fail in this craftsmanship than in
any other.