THE NEGLECTED CARDEN

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11685, 24 November 1923, Page 12

THE NEGLECTED CARDEN

A SKETCH (For “New Zealand Times.’’) Thera it lay—a hideous picture of studied neglect; au eyesore to the beholder, n>ud a blot on the cheerful landscape. The long rank grass afforded a fine fighting ground for all the stray cate from far and near, who clawed, and spit, and fought, till the blood flowed down their faces. Song-birds fled in dismay' from this treeless, bushless, flowcrlcsu wilderness surrounded by broken-down unpaintoo fences, which made the house to which it belonged appear very' much less valuable than it really' was. The disused fowlhou.se harboured flies of all kinds; here, in years past, about a dozen pullets were kept, which ensured a few new-laid eggs daily' to those who then occupied the now neglected’ home. The fowls cost next to nothing to food —a littlegrrin, and table scraps properly prepared by iheir thrifty owners, who wasted nothing in the w r ay of precious food, was quite sufficient, aud they were rewarded for the care and attention bestowed on this useful addition to the garden. The little bushes that badt been planted as a screen and also to shade the fowls, V.ere now perpetually decorated with ragged, unsightly, kitdhen clothes, and round tho roots of the bushes piles of empty tins and broken crockery lay in a disordered mass. Tbe view _ into this bankrupt ground was depressing in tho extreme; but by keeping blinds lowered it was possible to try and picture in the mind something vastly different beyond the screened windows. The neglected garden seemed tho last word in dilapidated; old boards and weeds, rank grass and rubbish, rotted round the house, where flow’ers and climbing plants would have made the ground a place of beauty and a valuable asset to the house. Passers-by, who looked in sadness and dismay at the neglected surroundings of the house, no doubt concluded that the inside was in a similar state. And an onlooker, as he gazed at tho cheerless view, often visualised the garden as it might be. A feiv hours’ work daily for a few weeks would ivork wonders. The rank grass would disappear, the tall weeds, growing in such profusion, would be rooted out, and tho precious soil sow'n with something useful in the way of vegetables, and something ornamental, and colourful, and fragrant in the way of blossoming plants. Neat paths would replace the trackless wilderness, and battered fences could be disguised by quickly growing climbers. Inexpensive lattice work—a background for sw'eet peas or roses —could make of unsightly corners and ugly' walls veritable screens of joyous oolour. And slowly, but surely, a few precious trees—planted at the boundary walls— Would, as tho months sped on, shoot upwards with marvellous rapidity; their increasing neight watched and marked with unabated interest by the lover of trees. Yes 1 perhaps in one short year, the quickly grooving trees might even attract a feathered songster, who would 6ing a melody amidst the buds and blossoms in a garden which a few months back was but a borne for noxious weeds and a blot on the fair landscape. —LAURA JEAN VICTORY. A SLANTING GARDEN All on the sunny slant the flowers grew. In quaint cut beds, circled by rims of green. The bees and butterflies with restless wings, Hovered o’er fairest blossoms ever seen. All on the sunny slant; the. roses blushed, With petals opened' to the golden sun; In the quaint beds the pale hued fragrant stocks Wafted their perfume when the day was done. High on tho sunny slant the wallflowers bloomed — A mass of brown and yellow touched with gold, And proudly rearing up its stately bead, A giant lily in a green enfold. And on tho sunny slant in joyous clumps Sweet myositis reigns, with eve of blue, And message wafts to hearts aflame with love, "Though rll the world divide, I will be true." And on that sunny 6lant the pansies smiled, And told of Love and Faith without alloy, And o’er that bed of purple blossoms fair A blackbird sang a melody of Joy! —LAURA JEAN VICTORY.