246 TREES AND SHRUBS 



their own will, become straggling in growth and 

 unsightly. 



Evergreens differ from deciduous plants in regard 

 to time of pruning. Most deciduous things may be 

 pruned at any time between the fall of the leaf and 

 the recommencement of growth in spring. But ever- 

 greens should never be pruned in late autumn or 

 winter. For plants that are grown merely for foliage 

 sake and not for the flowers, pruning should be done 

 just as new growth is commencing. In the case of 

 flowering shrubs like Rhododendron or Berberis it 

 should be done as soon as the flowering season 

 is past. 



Rhododendrons are improved by pruning, but the 

 pruner must know something of the varieties and 

 their growth. Berberis stenophylla gains in beauty by 

 severe pruning, thinning out and cutting back after 

 flowering is over. It helps the plant to make those 

 long, drooping growths which are so beautiful in 

 spring. 



CLIMBING EVERGREENS. One of the peculiar- 

 ities of the evergreen class of plants is the marked 

 absence of climbing species in cool temperate coun- 

 tries that is, true climbers, not, the numerous 

 things that are made to do duty as such on 

 walls. If one takes up a tree and shrub catalogue 

 of even the best nurserymen, one is struck by the 

 few evergreen climbers offered. In spite of the 

 fact that the cool, temperate regions of the earth 

 have been so thoroughly ransacked during the last 

 century, no plant has ever been found that equals 



