SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS
Reading edition
CHAPTER I
The General Arrangement of the Garden
What to go in for, and what to avoid—Brick walls—Trees, their advantages and disadvantages, etc.
CHAPTER II
Lawns, Paths, Beds, and Border
How to keep the lawns level—Paths, and how to lay them—Beds and bedding—The new style VERSUS the old—Flower borders and their backgrounds—Improvement of the soil.
CHAPTER III
On the Duty of Making Experiments
Description of a small yet lovely garden—Colour schemes—A novel way of growing flowers, the spring dell—Variety in the flower-garden.
CHAPTER IV
Some Neglected but Handsome Plants
The sweet old columbine—Bocconia cordata at Hampton Court—Campanulas as continuous bloomers—The heavenly larkspurs—Christmas roses—The tall and brilliant lobelias—Chinese-lantern plants—Tufted pansies.
CHAPTER V
The Conservatory and Greenhouse
Mistakes in staging—Some suitable climbers—Economical heating—Aspect, shading, etc.—The storing of plants—No waste space—Frames.
CHAPTER VI
The Tool Shed and Summer-House
Spades and the Bishop—Weeding a pleasure—Trusty thermometers—Summer-houses and their adornment.
CHAPTER VII
Roses for Amateurs
Teas—Hybrid perpetuals—Bourbons—Rose-hedges—Pillar roses—Suitable soil.
CHAPTER VIII
Enemies of the Garden
Slugs, and how to trap them—Blight or green fly—Earwigs—Wireworms—Snails—Mice—Friends or Foes?
CHAPTER IX
The Rockery
A few hints on its construction—Aspect and soil—A list of alpines—Other suitable plants.
CHAPTER X
Trees, and How to Treat Them—Shrubs
Some good plants for growing beneath trees—List of hardy shrubs—Climbers—Enriching the soil.
CHAPTER XI
The Ins and Outs of Gardening
Planting—Watering—“Puddling”—Shelter—Youth and age, in relation to plants—Catalogue defects—A time for everything.
CHAPTER XII
The Profitable Portion
Fruit, best kinds for small gardens—Size minus flavour—Vegetables—Herbs.
CHAPTER XIII
Annuals and Biennials
Why they fail—Table of good annuals—Table of biennials.
CHAPTER XIV
Window-Boxes
How to make them—Relation of box to residence they are intended to adorn—Suitable soil—Window-plants for different aspects.
CHAPTER XV
Table Decoration
Graceful arrangement—Thick-skinned stems—Preserving and resuscitating flowers—Colour schemes—Table of flowers in season.
CHAPTER XVI
The Propagation of Plants
By division—By cuttings—By seeds—By layers.
CHAPTER XVII
The Management of Room Plants
Best kinds for “roughing it”—Importance of cleanliness—The proper way of watering them.
CHAPTER XVIII
Various Hints
Artificial manures—Labelling—Cutting off dead flowers—Buying plants—Tidiness in the garden, etc.