HARDY DECIDUOUS AND EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 43 



unless they are placed in low, damp ground ; and others do not 

 nourish if much exposed to the rays of the sun. 



" The kind of Soil best suited for them. With respect to 

 soil, hardy shrubs may be divided into two kinds, viz., first, 

 shrubs requiring common soil; and, second, those shrubs con- 

 stituting the American garden. A rich, light, hazel loam, 

 undoubtedly suits the greater part of the first class of plants, 

 although many of the stronger-growing kinds will make fine 

 bushes on almost any kind of soil. The American plants, 

 Kalmias, Rhododendrons, Andromedas. &c., &c., make the finest 

 plants and the best show, if they are planted in a soil com- 

 posed for the most part of sandy peat ; but, in the absence of 

 this, a very good compost may be made for them of light 

 hazelly loam, river sand, and vegetable or leaf mould, equal 

 parts, or a little peat earth mixed with it. After having taken 

 out the original soil from the proposed border to about a foot 

 and a half deep, substitute the above mixture in its place. 



" To encourage the growth of the Shrubs after being planted. 

 Whilst the plants are small, constantly keep down all rank- 

 growing weeds, and clear off all rubbish that would otherwise 

 retard their growth ; also they receive much benefit by the sur- 

 face of the ground being often stirred with a Dutch hoe, as it 

 prevents the surface baking hard in dry weather." 



Watering shrubs, except in peculiar situations, during dry 

 summers, appears to be of very little if any benefit ; on the 

 other hand, it takes up much time, and is the means of the 

 ground baking hard when dried by the sun again. When they 

 have advanced to a large size, all the care that is required is to 

 cut ofF the overhanging branches, so as not to allow them to 

 smother each other, or the stems of those overhung will become 

 naked and unsightly. 



