IRrSII GARDENING 



163 



Photo hij] :RJM. Po'.loch 



Fastigiate Birch (left) 



Fastigiate Poplar (right) 



Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. 



little, a nice shai)ely bush aiipearing to be the 

 one aim in view. 



Taking first the shrubs which flower on the 

 growths made the previous year, the pruning 

 of these when necessary or desirable should be 

 done as soon as the flowers fade. This only 

 really concerns shrubs blooming before mid- 

 summer. In some notable instances, if the 

 shrubs are large enough, hard pruning is 

 favoured — i.e., cutting back the growths which 

 liave borne the blossoms, to within a few buds 

 of the old wood. Forsythias, Prunus triloba 

 flore pleno, P. japonica flore albo and roseo 

 pleno, Philadelphus Lemoinei erectus, Cytisus 

 purpureus, are examples. 



Liberal thinning of the growths, cutting the 

 oldest out to the base, and sprays of twi^s 

 which have flowered back to where promising 

 young shoots are developing is the treatment 

 for Deutzias, most of the Philadelphus, Kerria 

 japonica flore pleno, Spiraea arguta, S. pruni- 

 folia flore pleno, S. van Houttei, S. Thunbergii, 

 and others of the earlier flowering group, 

 Shrtibbv Honeysuckles, and varieties of Dier- 

 villas. 



A considerable number of shrubs develop the 

 greatest profusion of blossoms when pruned 

 during February or IMarch, flowering on the 

 new shoots of the year. 



In young plants the pruning is not so hard for 



the first lew years, but having attained the 

 maximum size, the previous season's shoots 

 may be cut back to within two or three eyes or 

 buds of the old wood. The best known shrubs 

 so treated are Buddleia variabilis varieties, the 

 autumn flowering Ceanothuses, Hypericums, 

 Spiraea japonica varieties and allied species. 

 S. Lindleyana, S. Aitchisonii, arbox'ea, Teco- 

 mas, the hardy Fuchsias, Tamarix pentan- 

 dra, Amorphas, Indigoferas, Genista tinctoria, 

 Spartinim junceum, Cytisus nigricans. Hydran- 

 gea paniculata, and var. grandiflora, H. arbo- 

 rescens and var. grandiflora, Colutea arbores- 

 cens, Caryopteris mastacantha, and Elscholtzia 

 Stauntoni. 



The third group are generally shrubs which 

 in time become crowded w^ith shoots. It is 

 desirable to thin these, at the same time 

 shortening a growth here and there if necessarj' 

 to balance the bushes. In addition to improv- 

 ing the health of the shrubs liberal thinning of 

 the shoots admits light and air, ripening the 

 wood, which obviously will flower better. Ber- 

 beris, Wild Roses, flowering Currants (Ribes), 

 Tjilac (S3'ringa varieties), Symphoricarpus, and 

 Piubus deliciosus. 



A fourth method of pruning is usually a 

 rather severe business done in spring just as 

 new growth is about to commence. It is only 

 necessary when the bushes have become in 

 course of time lanky or too large for their posi- 



Pltolo b,i] [W. Ba'jour Gourlav, Esq. 



Fastigiate Scots Pine at Dryburgh House, 



