336 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE 



will bloom the following year. Of such plants 

 are lilac, mock orange, many spireas, and the like. 

 These shoots will form, of course, wholly without 

 the aid of pruning, but when the bush begins 

 to get crowded or weak, vigorous heading -back 

 and thinning -out may be advisable. The impor- 

 tant point is, that if the person desires to prune 

 to keep his plant within a given form or stature, 

 he should know when the cutting will not sacrifice 

 the bloom. 



Summer -blooming trees and shrubs bear flowers 

 on shoots of the same season. That is, the flower- 

 buds are not formed the fall before. In these 

 plants, we want a profusion of strong spring or 

 early summer growths, and fall, winter or very 

 early spring pruning is, therefore, desirable. Of 

 this class are most of the roses. Rose bushes are 

 pruned mostly in fall or winter. The hybrid per- 

 petuals are often cut to the ground and strong 

 flowering shoots arise in the spring. The hardier 

 and more perennial kinds as the moss and cab- 

 bage and rugosa types are cut back when dor- 

 mant, much as one would head -in and thin out a 

 small fruit-tree. 



Walker gives the following hints on pruning 

 outdoor roses:* 



" Pruning is an important matter in rose-growing. Climb- 

 ing and pillar roses need only the weak branches and the 



*Ernest Walker, in "Garden-Making," 297. 



