THE 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Vol. XX. 



APRIL, 1878. 



Number 232. 



Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



April is a good planting month. There is not 

 uuich art in planting trees, though it is often 

 much of a myster}'. Xot to let the roots dry for 

 an instant between taking up and planting, 

 everybody knows, but everybody don't do it; in 

 fact, everybody deceives himself. We have 

 seen this distinguished individual leave the tops 

 of trees exposed to the sun, with a mat or straw 

 thrown over the roots, and think all v/as right — 

 or heel in for a day or two, by just throwing a 

 little dirt over the roots. This is a little good ; 

 but everybody's fault is, that although this may 

 be ten minutes of good, he expects to get ten 

 hours, or even ten day's value out of it, and thus 

 he suffers more than if he had done; nothing, 

 because he forgets that the branches evaporate 

 moisture from the roots in a dry wind, and the 

 juices go from the roots through the branches, 

 very nearly as w^ell as directly to the air from 

 the roots themselves. So Avith heeling in. The 

 soil is thrown in lightly, or at most just "kicked" 

 down. " It is only temporary," very few of the 

 roots come in contact with the soil. They can 

 draw in no moisture to supply the waste of evapo- 

 ration, and thus they stay day after day — every- 

 body satisfied because he sees the roots covered, 

 really worse than if they had been exposed. 

 We have no douljt that more trees are lost from 

 imperfect heeling in than from any other cause 

 Avhatever. Of course, if the tops be covered as 

 well as the roots, there is less waste of moisture 

 and more chance of success. 



This hint will help us in planting. That is, 

 pound the soil in well about the fibres, so that 

 they may be in close contact with it ; or they 

 cannot draw in the necessary moisture. Should 

 the trees appear a little dry, or the roots badly 

 mutilated in digging, or have few fibres, cut 

 awa}^ the plant according to the severity of the 

 injury. It is scarcely necessary to repeat that 

 for this evaporation reason, it is best to plant 

 trees when the ground is rather dry, because it 

 then powders best in pounding, and gets well in 

 about the roots. Wet ground j^/as/e/'s, and leaves 

 large hollows in which roots cannot work. 



Where evergreens can be benefited by prun- 

 ing, April is a very good month to attempt it. 

 If a tree is thin in foliage at the base, the top of 

 the tree, leader and all, must be cut away. It 

 makes no ditference what the kind is, all will 

 make new leaders after being cut back, if pro- 

 perly attended to. We make this remark be- 

 cause there is a prevalent idea that Pines will 

 not stand this cutting. Of course the trimming 

 should be done in a conical manner, so as to 

 conform to the conical style of the evergreen 

 tree. Sometimes an evergreen, especially a 

 Pine, will rather turn up some of tlie ends of its 

 side branches than push out another leader; 

 when this is the case, cut these away, and a real 

 leader will form the second year. 



Evergreen hedges should be trhnmed now, 

 cutting them conically, so as to give light to the 

 lowermost branches. 



There is so much to be done in April, that 

 the briefest hints must sutlico. First, of course, 

 w'e must prepare the ground for planting. Soil 



