October, 1914 



THE CANADIAN HOETIC ULTUR 1ST 



243 



Planting Shrubs and Trees for Winter Effect 



Henry Gibson, 



THE impression that the spring time 

 is the one and only time for active 

 garden operations is being proved 

 more and more a fallacy each year by 

 the more enthusiastic and progressive of 

 our gardeners. More planting and pre- 

 paring for the following year's garden is 

 being done in the autumn than ever be- 

 fore. This is a step in the right direc- 

 tion and one that should be encouraged. 



Among the many activities that will 

 aid in making the garden and home 

 grounds more beautiful and attractive is 

 the planting of flowering shrubs and 

 trees. This work can be done this fall 

 with equally as good results, and in 

 many cases better results, than if it was 

 deferred until spring. All that is neces- 

 sary is a little extra care in protecting 

 newly planted stock during the winter. 



The number and varieties of summer 

 flowering shrubs are legion. By a judi- 

 cious selection therefrom, one may have 

 a continuity of bloom from the time that 

 the earliest of the Forsythias throw out 

 their golden bracts, right through the 

 summer and fall, to finish the season 

 with that very popular and much appre- 

 ciated shrub. Hydrangea Paniculata 

 Grandiflora. 



It does not necessarily follow that 

 when the flowering period of these 

 shrubs is past that the garden need be 

 a dreary, bleak spot. There are many 

 trees and shrubs whose flowering is only 

 a passing incident, but whose fruits and 

 Ix;rries possess the color and stability to 

 brighten the home surroundings long 

 after the foliage has gone. While plant- 

 ing operations are in progress, select a 

 few of the best of these berried shrubs. 

 True, not much could be expected of 

 them this coming winter, but they will 

 prove a source of pleasure later. A little 



Tuxedo Park 



studied effort in the selection and dis- 

 position of certain of those trees and 

 shrubs that possess beauty of bark and 

 berries will go far towards making the 

 garden a very pleasant place in winter. 



SUGGESTED VARIETIES 



Try grouping a few specimens, as for 

 example, the Bayberry, or wax myrtle, 

 with its shoots thickly clustered with 

 wax-like masses of fruits, with the com- 

 mon barberry, with its orange-red ber- 

 ries in rich clusters. The contrast is a 

 strong and pleasing one. With a back- 

 ground of these two, to the group could 

 be added that very common and useful 

 shrub Thunberg's barberry — a shrub 

 that has many other attractions through- 

 out the year. Add to this the snow- 

 berry (Symphoricarpus Racemosus), 

 whose great white fruits hang persist- 

 ently all through the winter, and its 

 red-fruited relative, the Indian currant, 

 and there exists a group that can be 

 carried out on any scale, according to 

 the space available. 



Another group suggests itself in the 

 viburnums: V. prunifolium, which 

 grows to the size of a respectable tree 

 and covers itself with deep blue fruit 

 until frost destroys the berries ; V. Ian- 

 tana and V. Sieboldi, with a foreground 

 of V. cassinoides and V. acerifolium, 

 covered with clusters of black berries 

 that hang long after the foliage has 

 fallen. Some of the thorns (Crataegus) 

 that are indigenous to North America, 

 should not be overlooked ; they make 

 small, neat trees, and should be far 

 more frequently seen in small gardens. 



The Euonymus or spindle tree is also 

 a brilliant spot when it is smothered 

 with its bright fruits. Ilex verticillata, 

 very appropriately named winter-berry, 

 make another picture against the snow. 



The Pyracantha is an evergreen thorn 

 far too little seen in gardens. It will 

 train against the wall, and make an ad- 

 mirable covering and a great mass of 

 color when bearing its clusters of 

 orange-red berries. 



Our native holly (Ilex opaca) is wor- 

 thy of the special care needed to estab- 

 lish it in the garden. In order to secure 

 the ornamental fruits a staminate bush 

 should be planted among the pistillate 

 ones. The rowan tree or mountain ash 

 makes a fine specimen for a lawn. Its 

 bright scarlet berries hang from early 

 summer until late winter. 



In planning the shrubberies about the 

 home keep in mind the essential point — • 

 that of having something that is pleas- 

 ing and attractive for the greatest 

 length of time. Don't let the factor of 

 flower bloom deter you from planting 

 some of the shrubs that will help to 

 brighten the garden well into the winter. 



PREPARE YOUR SOIL 



Soil required for vegetable or other 

 plant growth in the spring should be 

 deeply dug or trenched this fall. Any- 

 one who has grown plants in trenched 

 ground only requires the one experience 

 to always practise it in the future. Dig- 

 ging the ground two spades deep turns 

 up dormant food supplies to the action 

 of the air, allows the moisture to pene- 

 trate into the hard pan or subsoil, and 

 leaves the soil porous and full of air and 

 full of cavities, into which heated air, 

 moisture and solvent foods for the 

 plants are absorbed. It allows also the 

 young plants of next season's growth to 

 let their roots down into the loose, rich, 

 moist, cool subsoil below, and thus 

 keeps, no matter how great a dought 

 may prevail. Your plants grow as by 

 magic, and all from the important fact 

 that your soil was prepared by thor- 

 ough deep cultivation the fall previous.. 

 I could not enlarge too much on this 

 subject, and I would count my time well 

 spent could I but so convince the reader 

 who has not tried it in his garden to 

 give it but one trial. 



Now all this talk is but a repetition 

 of the same advice given every year to 

 the garden amateur, and as this is also 

 the month to plant your tulips, hya- 

 cinths, lilies, and other plants of the 

 bulb family, prepare your beds for them 

 by trenching instead of just one spade' 

 deep, and you will marvel next spring 

 at the results. 



You can have the earliest sweet peas 

 by preparing the ground for them now. 

 Also try planting a part of them in 

 November. They do not make any 

 growth until spring but will be much 

 earlier than those planted then, and 

 some claim their flowers are much 

 larger. 



