160 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



like most of the brooms, that are not very long-lived 

 by nature, but live much longer if they are cut back 

 after flowering. Cutting back is particularly useful 

 in a poor soil, when shrubs are always apt to get 

 straggly, especially if it is accompanied by a mulching 

 of manure or leaf-mould to encourage new growth. 

 When a shrub seems to be doing badly, it will often 

 take a new turn if it is cut back and mulched in early 

 summer, and this is particularly the case with Rhodo- 

 dendrons and Azaleas. If they are cut back at all 

 hard they will probably not flower the next year, 

 but they may be transformed into sturdy compact 

 plants, and one year's blossom is a small price to pay 

 for that. Roses, too, especially in a light soil, may 

 often be much benefited if they are cut back after 

 their first flush of bloom, but the gardener must not 

 hack at his Roses, or, indeed, at any shrubs or plants, 

 blindly. He must always be quite clear in his mind 

 before he does anything as to the reason why he pro- 

 poses to do it. His object in trimming a shrub may 

 be merely to prevent it from seeding, in which case 

 he will only cut away all the heads of the flowers. 

 Or it may be also to promote a vigorous new growth 

 by the removal of shoots which have done the duty 

 for the year by bearing flowers, in which case he will 

 cut away not only the flower heads, but also the shoots 

 which bear them, so far as they seem to be exhausted 

 by the process. Or he may wish to thin a shrub that 

 is getting crowded by the removal of the older and 

 weaker wood. The first of these operations may be 



