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How does your garden grow?
THE FAMILY FILM
A GOOD garden movie, just as with a good garden, should begin late in the ivinter. . . . And here it is April!
Well, if you haven't already begun your garden film, perhaps we can do a little fast catching up. Good scenes to start with might show the Missus of the house (I'm assuming she is the family gardener) poring over a bright pile of seed catalogs. Pose her in front of the fireplace (to suggest that it is still winter), and picture her hesitant delight as she debates the almost impossible choices between one beauty and the next. Cut from your establishing shot to a series of closeups — the glowing, incredible pages, her intent face and, finally, the ever lengthening list that is her order. Fade out then on her face, happy with anticipation.
PREPARING THE FLATS
Your next sequence — again easily staged — might show the preparation and planting of the seedling boxes called flats. As you probably know, these are usually filled with a mixture of two parts of garden soil, two parts of sand, one part of leaf mold and one part of fertilizer. The smallest of your seeds — such as poppies, petunias or sweet alyssum — are sprinkled on the surface of this mixture and then the soil is firmed lightly with the hand.
The larger seeds . . . but, goodness, Movie Makers
MARY LOUISE HARLEY
didn't ask me to discuss the techniques of gardening! You know these as well as I do. The point I wanted to make .is that these early, indoor operations — although not so colorful as the lovely flowers to come — belong with the blooms in any well rounded garden film.
SIGNS OF LIFE
My flats were planted weeks ago. Placed inside our sunniest windows, they are already showing thrilling results. What a human touch, to show the smallest member of the family padding barefooted in the morning to gaze at these windowboxes! Be sure to show his grave concentration in closeup. And look, here are the first signs of life! Pale, tender green shoots are curling up from the black, loamy surface. Filmed with the supplementary lens of a titler, a portrait lens or a telephoto lens, closeups of these tiny plants will show up as giants on the screen. The tip of a small finger, loosening the soil around a plant, will give a sense of scale.
After a few weeks time, these flats must be thinned out by removing the weaklings and keeping only the healthy, husky plants. The action of thinning with a pair of tweezers gives life to a sequence, especially when near shots are varied with closeups from various angles. Back lighted scenes of this activity are very effective, imparting a feeling of the warm sun streaming through the window.
BULBS ARE BLOOMING Now let's take a look at the bulbs that we planted last fall. After hiding under the snow blanket all winter, the snowdrops are now peeking [Continued on page 173]
From flats to flowers, a complete film of your garden is rich in fun, rewarding in the future
Photographs by Joseph J. Harley, FACL
CHOOSING the seeds for this year's garden, a sequence easily staged, makes an attractive opening for your garden film. Preparing the seed flats, a cellar job, comes next on the gardening script.