CHAPTER XX 



Transplanting 



Basic Principles — Transplanting Seedlings — Transplanting to 

 Open Ground — What and What Not to Transplant — Transplanting 

 Shrubs and Small Trees — Frozen Ball Method of Transplanting — 

 Transplanting Fruit Trees — Moving Large Trees — Operations 

 Resembling Transplanting 



THE operation of transplanting is, first of all, a means of saving 

 time in gardening. Whether it is the setting out of a Tomato 

 plant started indoors weeks before seed could have been sown 

 outside, or the moving of a 30-foot tree to produce an effect that would 

 otherwise have taken as many years to achieve, the time element is 

 the important factor. Of course there are other reasons for trans- 

 planting. One may desire to rearrange his garden plan; it may be 

 necessary to thin out an overcrowded stand of perennials (and inci- 

 dentally secure a supply of new plants) ; the object may be to estabhsh 

 specimens raised and obtained elsewhere, as in a nursery, the open 

 fields or a woodlot. Again, as in the case of Celery, evergreens and 

 other materials, transplanting induces a compact, fibrous root system 

 which means both thrifty plants and, in the case of nursery grown 

 stock, easier and safer transplanting when sold. But in every case the 

 most notable result is the saving of weeks, months, or even years that 

 would have been required to produce the same effect by waiting on 

 Nature or from the sowing of seed. And oftentimes, of course, the 

 latter program is impossible for the amateur or small gardener. 



Basic Principles 



There are certain basic principles common to all the different kinds 

 or classes of transplanting. These may be Usted as follows: 



1. Keep the roots from drying out. 



2. Injure the feeding root system as httle as possible. 



3. Balance unavoidable root disturbance and reduction of the ab- 

 sorbtion area by reducing the transpiring (leaf) area of the plant. 



4. Prepare the soil thoroughly; firm it securely around the newly 

 set place, and do not let it dry out while the plant is getting established 

 in its new location. 



These rules apply, with very slight modifications, to transplanting 

 activities of all kinds. This should be kept in mind as we discuss the 

 detailed methods of handling different classes of plants, even though 

 each rule may not be specifically referred to in each case. On the 



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