374 



II OUT I VV LTURK 



Marrh 2U. ISIS 



CULTURE OF HARDY SHRUBS 



MastachutetU Horticultural Society Lecture by Arthur E. Thatcher. 



Conlinui-il Iron) page SOy 



When and How to Plant 

 Thoro ha« nlniiys boon ami probably 

 always win bo n dlfforonce of opinion 

 as to whotlior the fnll or sprlnp Is the 

 better time for plnntlnR. If the work 

 has to be done In the fnll on nrcount of 

 the nish of work in the spring it is 

 advisable to plant as early as possible 

 when the gronnd is In a moist condi- 

 tion, directly the leaves commence to 

 fnll. For my own part I am strongly In 

 favor of preparing the ground in the 

 fall, letting it He rough through the 

 winter and planting in the spring. If 

 the work is well done and the requisite 

 amount of attention Is given the 

 shrubs afterwards there is small 

 chance of failure. It is very true that 

 we often have a short, dry planting 

 season in the spring, but much disap- 

 pointment is frequently caused by 

 shrubs which if planted in the fall fall 

 to become sufficiently established to 

 withstand the severity of our Eastern 

 winters. 



With the ground in readiness and 

 the material at hand the next opera- 

 tion, that of planting shrubs, is pet^ 

 haps the most important part of their 

 culture. So much depends upon how 

 this Is accomplished as to after suc- 

 cess or otherwise that too much care 

 cannot be taken to have it well done. 

 From whatever source the shrubs are 

 obtained they should be carefully un- 

 packed on arrival and the roots thor- 

 oughly moistened and if they cannot 

 be planted for some time, they should 

 be laid in a sheltered place away from 

 the wind. It is a good plan to place a 

 stake with the name where each shrub 

 is to go; this will expedite matters 

 when the planting Is being carried out. 

 The best time for planting is when the 

 ground is in a moderately moist con- 

 dition, as the soil can then be made 

 firm without becoming pasty, and it 

 possible choose a calm day, as wind 

 has a most detrimental effect upon the 

 roots. A hole should be taken out of 

 sufficient size to accommodate all the 

 roots after they have been spread out 

 evenly, so that it will not be neces- 

 sary to bend any round or cramp them, 

 and having seen that the hole is of 

 sufficient depth, the planting can then 

 proceed. Cut off any broken or dam- 

 aged roots on the under side with a 

 sharp knife and take great care of the 

 small fibrous ones, as on these the life 

 of the shrub depends very largely, and 

 see that they are quite moist. Then 

 place the roots in the prepared hole 

 and spread out all of them evenly, 

 working in among them some of the 

 finest soil, pressing it firmly and add- 

 ing more until the hole is filled. AATiIle 

 the roots should be well covered, it Is 

 not advisable to plant too deeply, es- 

 pecially on heavy land, and the nearer 

 the fibrous roots are to the surfce the 

 greater warmth do they receive and 

 consequently start into active growth 

 more quickly than if buried some dis- 

 tance from the surface. When the 

 planting is completed it is an excellent 

 plan to give the shrubs a good mulch- 

 ing of any suitable material at hand 



such as di'<nyod loaves or long dresB- 

 Ing. This Is of the greatest nKHlstance 

 If warm wont her prevails, for it keeps 

 the roots moist and cool and provonls 

 surface soil from bocomlng baked. 



Not Too Much Watering. 

 Many people are under the im- 

 pression that nowly planted shnibs 

 should bo copiously watered at the 

 roots, but I consider this unnecessary 

 and oftentimes detrimental. If a good 

 watering is given ininiodlately after 

 they are planted, which will settle the 

 soil about the roots, and a mulching is 

 applied, very little water will be nwdcd 

 for some time by the roots but it Is an 

 excellent practice to spray them over- 

 head frequently. This keeps the wood 

 moist and greatly assists the buds to 

 develop. If shrubs of standard form 

 are planted they will need some sup- 

 port until they become well rooted and 

 for this purpose nothing is better tlian 

 a straight stake, sliarply pointed and 

 driven firmly into the ground as near 

 the stem as possible without Injury to 

 the roots. The shrub can be secured 

 to it by wrapping a neat piece of cloth 

 or rubber around the stem and tying 

 to the stake firmly with string, but 

 care should be taken that no injury is 

 done to the shrub as the bark expands 

 with growth. Many beautiful Ameri- 

 can shrubs are notoriously fond of 

 peat and if the conditions are not 

 naturally favorable for their cultiva- 

 tion, liberal additions of this material 

 should be incorporated when preparing 

 the ground, if It can be obtained. Peat, 

 however, is not always available, 

 neither is it absolutely necessary, for 

 many peat-loving subjects will succeed 

 admirably in a mixture of fibrous loam, 

 decayed leaf mould and sand. 



Pruning Too Little Understood. 

 The pruning of hardy shrubs is one 

 of the most important matters con- 

 nected with them but at present it Is 

 very imperfectly understood and we 

 see far too often the lamentable re- 

 suits accruing from a lack of knowl- 

 edge of their individual requirements. 

 All that Is generally considered neces- 

 sary Is for an incompetent workman to 

 give the shrubs an annual trimming 

 with a pair of shears, with the result 

 that when the work is finished the 

 shrubs all have about the same round- 

 ed, stiff appearance, much of the old 

 growth which should have been re- 

 moved is left and forms a mass of use- 

 less growth and the young wood, w hlch 

 should be carefully preserved for fu- 

 ture blossom, is cut away. It is not 

 possible to lay down any hard and fast 

 rule, as shrubs differ so much in their 

 individual requirements, but it is bet- 

 ter not to prune at all than to prune 

 indiscriminately. The large majority 

 of flowering shrubs p.'oduce their blos- 

 soms during the spring and summer 

 months and some of these, such as the 

 Philadelphus, Deutzias and Forsythias. 

 which produce their flowers on wood 

 of the previous season's growth, are 

 improved by having some of the flower- 

 ing stems cut clear out as soon as the 

 blossoms have fallen. This will help 

 to strengthen the new growths sent 

 out from the base and give them a bet- 

 ter opportunity of becoming well 



ripened before winter sets In. The 

 majority of hardy shrubH, however, re- 

 quire very little pninlng bt-yond oc- 

 casionally removing the old growth so 

 as to kei'p thetn Hlinpely and open to 

 enable them to receive the full benefit 

 of the sun and nlr. It Is only by in- 

 telligent study and actual practice that 

 one can become conversant with the 

 requirements of different shrubs. 



A Very Common Mistake. 

 As I have previously inehtioned. it is 

 (|Uile unnecessary when j)laiiling or- 

 namental shrubbery to use only those 

 shrubs which are of bushy form, and 

 by the inclu.slon of some of pyramidal 

 growth for example and the proper use 

 of standards one can produce a very 

 much more attractive arrangement A 

 very common mistake, which should be 

 carefully guarded against, is to plant 

 ail the larger shrubs at the back and 

 graduate the others down to the front. 

 By bringing some of the larger shrubs 

 to the front and placing a well-grown 

 standard on the edge of the shrubbery, 

 where It stands clear above Its neigh- 

 bors, one will be able to give the ap- 

 pearance of much greater depth, which 

 is important where space Is limited. It 

 will, of course, be necessary when the 

 shrubbery is first made to plant more 

 shrubs than those which can perma- 

 nently remain. 



LANDSCAPE WORK AT THE PANA- 

 MA FAIR. 



(By John M'L.nrpn. Clilef of tlie Depart- 

 ment of Lanil.scapc Gnrdenlng). 



The good results achieved in the 

 landscape gardening at the Exposition 

 are due to three things. First, the 

 climate and nature of the soil of Cali- 

 fornia, In which State plant life 

 thrives better than It does In any 

 other State; second, the generosity 

 and patriotic spirit of the people: 

 third, the expert knowledge and 

 skilled gardening of the landscape de- 

 partment. 



The credit for planting the gardens 

 and bringing the plants to their pres- 

 ent splendid growth belongs not to me 

 but to my assistants. They put their 

 souls into the work; they gave their 

 days and nights up to it; they watched 

 every tree and shrub with solicitous 

 care, and they have their reward in 

 seeing the exquisitely beautiful gar- 

 dens which they created and which 

 cannot be surpassed anywhere on 

 earth. 



Nature has endowed California with 

 practically every climate in the world. 

 Therefore there are very few plants 

 that cannot be grown within the 

 State's borders. To this may be at- 

 tributed the fact that the Exposition 

 presents, growing in the open, such a 

 wide variety of plant life, embracing 

 plants native to the tropics alongside 

 of plants native to the temperate and 

 cold zones. 



The generosity of the people of the 

 whole State has been boundless. We 

 have asked for much and have Invari- 

 ably been told to come and take what 

 we wanted. Private gardens have 

 yielded practically every plant in the 

 open air at the Exposition, and they 

 were given to us ungrudgingly and 

 without price. — Boston American 



