.Uli 



HOHTlCULTUlli: 



Miirih 6, 1915 



CULTURE OF HARDY SHRUBS 



Horticultural Society Lecture by Arthur E. Thatcher. 



A timely address on the culture of 

 hardy shrubs was dollvcred before the 

 Mu^sachusetts Horticultural Society 

 on February 1'7 by Arthur E. Thatcher 

 of Bar Harbor, Me., superintendent of 

 the Mount Desert Nurseries. He 

 showed how the garden may be made 

 much more attractive by the use of 

 hardy shrubs, which requires little 

 care from year to year, If planted 

 rlKhl, and suKsested that good Ideas 

 on what shrubs to select and how to 

 arrange them may be obtained by vis- 

 iting the Arnold Arboretum. He said 

 in substance: 



When one considers what a large 

 number of people there are who spend 

 the most pleasant part of the year in 

 their country homes it is somewhat 

 surprising that so little attention has 

 been given to the hardy garden and 

 the many beautiful subjects which are 

 suitable for adorning lawns and pleas- 

 ure grounds. But the rapidly increas- 

 ing interest which is being taken in all 

 branches of horticulture makes it safe 

 to assume that a much greater use 

 will be made of those shrubs and 

 plants which are capable of withstand- 

 ing the rigors of our variable climate 

 and which, instead of having to be re- 

 newed every year like the majority 

 used for garden decoration at the 

 present time, are enabled to continue 

 giving pleasure year after year with a 

 minimum of expense and yet giving 

 far more beautiful and adequate re- 

 turns than annual plants are capable 

 of doing. Along the Eastern seaboard 

 of North America from Washington 

 to Bar Harbor and inland for some 

 hundreds of miles we have a climate 

 remarkable for its variableness and 

 severity and also remarkable for the 

 fact that in no pari of the world do 

 flowering shrubs succeed better. Eng- 

 lish enthusiasts when visiting this 

 country are always impressed with the 

 beauty of our deciduous shrubs pro- 

 duced by the well-ripened wood, the 

 result of our warm summers and con- 

 genial warm temperature, and though 

 we cannot succeed so well with many 

 of the ornamental leaved evergreens 

 so conspicuous in English gardens yet 

 we have our corresponding advan- 

 tages. Having been privileged to 

 work for many years in one of the 

 foremost gardens in England, where 

 hardy trees and shrubs received the 

 careful attention of the owner and 

 were a great specialty, and also for 

 seTeral years in that great institution, 

 the Arnold Arboretum, I may claim to 

 have had exceptional opportunities for 

 studying their requirements. Knowing 

 the Boston Arboretum as well as I do 

 I would like to draw special attention 

 to the remarkable collection grown 

 there and the great facilities it offers 

 for people to learn what are the most 

 beautiful shrubs to plant and which 

 will succeed in this climate. 



How to Start a Garden, 



In laying out and planting a garden 

 it is a very much better plan to go to 

 such a wonderful Arboretum as this 

 and make one's own notes of the 

 shrubs which will succeed in different 

 situations, than to leave the selection 

 to others. One of the principal rea- 

 sons why so many shrubberies are un- 



intercRtiniE; today is because of the con- 

 slant rciietiliiui of a few well-known 

 sorts and yet there is a great variety 

 of inexpensive material which can be 

 seen at any good nursery which by a 

 judicious selei'tioii will add much in- 

 terest and distinction to a garden. In 

 making a choice it should be remem- 

 bered that there are other shrubs than 

 those remarkable for the beauty of 

 their (lowers deserving of inclusion. 

 In some, such as the Ithus family, the 

 foliage Is very ornamental; others 

 whose flowers may be inconspicuous 

 attract much attention when carrying 

 beautiful fruit; some are most note- 

 worthy when their green mantle has 

 changed to various shades of crimson 

 or gold in the autumn, and others are 

 again desirable on account of their 

 richly colored stems in winter. Many 

 persons in making a selection are apt 

 to attach too much importance to conif- 

 erous and other evergreen shrubs, 

 and although I am fully aware of their 

 value when used with discrimination, 

 there can be little doubt that they 

 have been overdone in the past. 



Shrubs that Blend Well. 



to produce the most pieasing eflecls 

 bolli evergreen and deciduous shrub.s 

 must be happily blended, but it should 

 be borne in mind that deciduous 

 shrubs are much more beautiful, less 

 expensive, and give the most satisfac- 

 tory results. In selecting material foi' 

 the planting of an ornamental shrub- 

 bery, whether one has a limited area 

 or unrestricted space, it should be 

 borne in mind that one need not be 

 confined to shrubs only of a bushy 

 nature, for while they form the basis 

 of a shrubbery, others grown as stand- 

 ards or half-standards may be em- 

 ployed with excellent results. A very 

 pleasing method of growing many of 

 the hardy climbers such as ornamen- 

 tal grapes and roses is to firmly insert 

 a stout pole into the ground, leaving 

 ten to twelve feet above the surface 

 and lightly nailing or tying the long 

 shoots of the climbers to it. The pole 

 soon becomes completely covered. If 

 varieties of sufficient hardiness are 

 employed so that no taking down or 

 covering is required they will need lit- 

 tle attention beyond tying up the new 

 growth. 



The pole should be sunk into the 

 ground three or four feet so that the 

 frost will not loosen it, and the buried 

 part should be well treated with creo- 

 sote or tar, which will preserve it for 

 many years in good condition. A good 

 straight larch or cedar pole answers 

 well for the purpose. Many varieties 

 of shrubs are now obtainable in stand- 

 ard form, such as the following: 

 Crabs, thorns, maples, particularly the 

 handsome Japanese varieties, and 

 many others which by proper method 

 of pruning are amenable to this form 

 of cultivation. 



Pick the Sunny Spots. 



.All hardy shrubs, except those which 

 are naturally more at home beneath 

 the shade of trees, succeed best in an 

 open sunny txjsition where they -e- 

 ceive the full benefit of light and air, 

 and this is particularly true of those 

 grown for their floral beauty. It is im- 



portant therefore to select If possible 



a |K)sition which while being sheltered 

 from rough and cold winds. Is fully ex- 

 |)08ed to the beneficial influence of the 

 Kun. This enables the wood of the 

 current season's growth to become 

 thoroughly ripened and consequently 

 much better able to pass through the 

 winter without harm. Having selected 

 the position it is of paramount impor- 

 tance that the ground be properly and 

 thoroughly prepared, flrst by seeing 

 that it Is well drained, as very few 

 shrubs will succeed in a water-logged 

 soil, and then by having it well broken 

 up to a depth of at least two feet. If 

 the soil is naturally very heavy It Is 

 a good plan to freely lncori)orate de- 

 cayed leaf mould and sand, but if very 

 light and dry in character nothing is 

 better than a good heavy loam. Well 

 decayed manure will prove of much 

 benefit to the shrubs if it can be 

 worked deeply into the ground, others 

 wise I do not advocate its use. All 

 hardy shrubs will succeed in a loamy 

 or peaty soil providing it is well 

 drained and deeply worked, but it may 

 seem to some that it is quite unneces- 

 sary to prepare it so deeply as I have 

 advised. It is, however, highly impor- 

 tant, even if the expense Is somewhat 

 larger, for the difference between 

 shrubs planted in ground which has 

 been properly prepared and those in 

 I)oorly worked soil is quite remark- 

 able, and no one will question the ad- 

 visability after seeing the results. 



(To l<e contiHueti) 



DARWIN TULIPS FOR WINTER 

 FORCING, 



The adaptability of the Darwin tu- 

 lips for winter forcing is only now- 

 coming to the knowledge of many of 

 the commercial plantsmen. The gar- 

 deners on the private estates, in this 

 as in many other items now general- 

 ly adopted as standard goods for the 

 trade florist, have been the flrst to 

 demonstrate their value as subjects 

 for winter forcing, for pot plant use 

 or for cut flower purposes. It is now 

 well proven that quite a few of these 

 Darwin tulips may be readily forced 

 and the beautiful variety William 

 Copeland shown in our cover illustra- 

 tion is one of the best of its class and 

 the one most in use in England where 

 it is forced by the hundred thousand. 

 In color the flowers are bright violet, 

 and as with all the representatives of- 

 this class, the stems are invariably 

 long even when brought into bloom in 

 .January. The Darwin tulips afford a 

 wide selection of unusual and beauti- 

 fully illumined art shades, apprecia- 

 tion for which has only begun, but it 

 will not take long before they will 

 largely supercede in popular favor the 

 garish flaunting colors of the tulips 

 hitherto used for winter forcing. \Ve 

 are indebted to R. & J. Farquhar & Co., 

 for the beautiful photograph from 

 which our engraving was made. 



Lexington, Mass. — Hon. Augustus E. 

 Scott has made a gift of 25 acres of 

 beautiful meadow land to the town of 

 Lexington for park and playground 

 purposes. 



