THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE. ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Vol. XIX. 



AUGUST, 1877. 



Number 224. 



XOWER KARDEN AND if LEASURE MROUND. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



It is no wonder the Pampas grass increases in 

 popularity — there is scarcely anything more 

 charming in an American garden than a rich 

 stock of Pampas at this season. Then the flowers 

 come in so well for pai-lor decoration in Winter. 

 For this purpose they should be cut before they 

 are quite mature, and rolled in paper till wanted. 

 The Tritoma and the Gladiolus are the gems of 

 the garden at this season. It is hard to tell 

 what we should do without them — nothing 

 but fall back on the leaf plants. But those who 

 have been cultivating herbaceous plants will 

 soon be about rewarded, for large numbers of 

 Autumn blooming kinds are starting to flower 

 now. 



■^ Towards the end of the month, and in Sep- 

 ftember, evergreen hedges should receive their 

 ilast pruning till the next Summer. Last Spring, 

 I and in the Summer when a strong growth re- 

 I quired it, the hedge has been severely pruned 

 towards the apex of the cone-like form in which 

 it has been trained, and the base has been suf- 

 fered to grow any way it pleases. Now that, in 

 turn, has come under the shears so far as to get 

 it into regular shape and form. It will not be 

 /forgotten that, to be very successful with ever- 

 I green hedges, they ousht to have a growth at the 

 ' base of at least fjur feet in diameter. 



Transplanting evergreens in August and Sep- 

 tember, cannot well be done in any case where 

 the trees have to be packed in boxes or bales to 



■reach their destination ; as the chances of dry- 

 ing up in such hot weather as we usually get in 

 these months overbalances the advantages of the 

 rapid push of new fibres by the trees at this sea- 

 son ; but where the trees are at hand, and can 

 be taken from one place at once and put into 

 another, all in the same day, they do remark- 

 ably well; but very much of the success will 

 depend on how the trees are dug and re-planted. 

 In digging up trees great improvements have 

 been made over former years. The great 

 anxiety to save a "ball of earth " has given way 

 to great care to save all the roots. All the use 

 there can be to a " ball of earth " is to keep the 

 roots moist during removal ; but in most cases — 

 indeed in all except very small specimens — it is 

 found in practice that the preservation of young 

 roots in the ball, is at the expense of the numer- 

 ous fine fibrous roots necessarily left outside. 

 The digging-fork is now the chief tool used in 

 digging up trees ; and the distance from the 

 trunk at which the digging up is commenced is 

 much farther off". After a circle two feet deep is 

 dug around a tree, a few thrusts of the digging- 

 fork under the ball lifts the whole mass over, and 

 the soil can then be entirel}' shaken away. 



In re-planting, it is desirable to use soil for 

 filing in that is nearly dry, and will crush to a 

 jfine powder; it will then fall in all around the 

 root spaces, and the harder it is tramped or 

 crushed in, the finer it will break and cover up 

 the young rootlets. If the ground or weather be 

 very dry, water may be poured in heavily, to 

 assist in packing the soil well about the roots, 



