CULTURAL 7 



factory growth. In many cases considerable assistance 

 will be derived from two or three liberal root waterings 

 in May and occasional overhead syringings. Evergreens 

 moved in August should be syringed overhead three or 

 four times a week in dry weather for the purpose of 

 reducing the evaporation until the roots are able to take 

 up moisture in quantities sufficient for the requirements 

 of the plants. 



It is important to avoid overcrowding, and there are 

 two courses open to the planter ; one to arrange the plants 

 far enough apart to allow for several seasons' growth 

 and the other to plant somewhat closer and remove a 

 certain proportion of the plants when they are beginning 

 to touch each other. The first is the preferable of the 

 two courses, and until the shrubs occupy the whole 

 space, the borders can be made bright with bulbs in 

 spring and annuals in summer. The annuals should be 

 dwarf in growth so that they will not interfere with the 

 development of the shrubs and also be rather thin on 

 the ground. Anemones, chinodoxas, muscari, snow- 

 drops and other spring flowering bulbs may be grown 

 permanently amongst shrubs as they will produce 

 beautiful displays of flowers without in the slightest 

 interfering with their growth. 



Very little pruning will be required, and in the case 

 of flowering shrubs should be limited to the removal in 

 the winter of the old and exhausted growths. When 

 shoots are cut back annually as is done in many cases 

 under the erroneous impression that an annual pruning 

 is a necessary part of the management of shrubs they 

 produce but few if any flowers and present a formal and 

 unsatisfactory appearance. Branches that are likely to 

 spoil the contour of a specimen or invade a neighbour's 

 territory should as a matter of course be cut hard back. 

 Much the same practice should be followed in the case 

 of evergreens, and they are here referred to specially 



