PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING 49 



When evergreens are shipped from a colder and more backward section 

 to a more advanced growing season in a warmer section of the country- 

 it is usually advisable to transplant in the fall. Evergreens in the 

 opposite-leaved group, comprising the arborvitaes, retinosporas, and 

 junipers, should seldom be transplanted in the fall after the plants 

 begin to shed their leaves. This condition may be recognized when 

 a considerable portion of the leaves throughout the plant turn 

 brown. 



If it is necessary to transplant evergreens during the fall when the 

 growing season is completed and the ground is subject to light freezing 

 and thawing, the best treatment is to immediately place around each 

 newly transplanted plant a light mulch of stable litter three or four 

 inches in depth. This is done in order to maintain the ground at an 

 even temperature and to keep the soil sufficiently warm so that some 

 root growth will start before freezing conditions develop. 



It is the general practice, in shipping evergreens, to "ball-and-burlap" 

 them. In this condition evergreens can be shipped for a considerable 

 distance, and if properly wet before being shipped they will remain 

 normal for a period of two or three weeks. As a rule, evergreens for 

 transplanting are grown in a soil which is composed of some clay 

 rather than in a soil which will not hold together around the roots. 



Rhododendrons. In the northern sections of the United States it 

 is generally assumed that spring planting of rhododendrons is more 

 desirable than fall planting. This is recommended mostly because 

 plants transplanted in the spring have a better opportunity to es- 

 tablish themselves and are less liable to injury during their first 

 winter. If rhododendrons are to be transplanted in the fall, it should 

 be ascertained whether the locality from which the plants are coming 

 has received a normal amount of rainfall prior to the time that the 

 plants are dug. The greatest difficulty in transplanting rhododen- 

 drons is that with insufficient rainfall and a dry season, before the 

 plants are dug, there is insufficient moisture stored in the plants to 

 offset the transpiration caused during the winter months. When 

 material is transplanted in the late fall roots do not seem to make 

 sufficient growth to take up the necessary moisture from the soil, and 

 therefore the plant must carry itself through the winter on the strength 

 of the moisture stored up in the cells. This appears to be the main 

 cause for criticism against the fall planting of rhododendrons. It 



