2684 



PLANTING 



PLANTING 



Pinus Strobus. Excellent for screen-planting. More graceful, 

 effective, and permanent than Norway spruce or Scotch 

 pine. 



Pseudotsuga taxifolia. 



Rhododendron album elegans (color white, blooming-period 

 medium). 



Tsuga canadensis. The most graceful and effective large 

 evergreen for screen-planting. Takes up less room than 

 white pine and is much slower-growing. Can be restrained 

 easily and therefore is adapted to small-scale planting. 



RALPH W. CURTIS. 



Winter protection of planting. 



Winter protection is the preparing of plants to with- 

 stand the winter (Figs. 3032-3047). All plants are usu- 

 ally hardy in their own habitat, but many become tender 

 when removed to a colder climate, requiring artificial 

 protection. A permanent covering of snow furnishes 

 ideal protection, but unfortunately the American win- 

 ters are very changeable. Continued steady cold is 

 seldom injurious, but the alternate freezing and thawing 



toward spring 

 are often fatal, 

 the damage 

 varying accord- 

 ing as the situa- 

 tion is wet or dry 

 and the soil light 

 or heavy. For ex- 

 ample, shallow- 

 rooted plants, 

 as Lobelia cardi- 

 nalis, will often 

 be thrown out of 

 the ground in 

 clayey soil. Such 

 damage may 

 be prevented by 

 placing sods over 

 the plants. Gail- 

 lardias will win- 

 ter safely in light 

 well-drained 

 soils with ordinary protection, but perish if wet and 

 heavy. The remarks in this article are meant to apply 

 in the vicinity of Chicago. 



Winter-covering intercepts the sun's rays and retards 

 premature activity. It is as essential "to keep in the 

 cold" during temporary warm spells as it is to retard 

 excessive depth of frost. More damage is generally done 

 in February and March than earlier. Roses and other 

 shrubs may be prepared for the winter any time from 

 the last half of November until well into December, 

 but any plants of an herbaceous nature may be cov- 

 ered much earlier. Where field-mice are troublesome it 

 is well to defer covering until after a good freeze, so 

 that these nibblers may seek other winter quarters. 

 Rabbits are fond of the Japan quince, Spiraea Van- 

 houttei, Evonymus alata, and some others, and often 

 damage newly planted material the first winter. When 

 the branches are beyond then- reach, protect the trunk 

 with straw, tar paper, or burlaps, which will also prevent 

 sun-blistering. If the shrubs are in groups or low- 

 branched, run wire netting around them. Fall-planted 

 material should be better protected against frost than 

 established plants of the same species. All the Japanese 

 flowering forms of the plum, peach, and cherry tribes 

 should have their roots mulched 4 or more inches deep. 

 The fatal damage in the winter of 1898-1899 was at the 

 roots, not overhead. Figs. 3032, 3033 show protection 

 by means of straw and boughs; Figs. 3034-3036, pro- 

 tection inside of boxes, barrels, and wire netting. 



Plants with evergreen foliage, like Heuchera sangui- 

 nea, are safer with a covering that will not mat down 

 and rot the foliage or injure the crown. The danger is 

 in open, wet seasons. Forest leaves are excellent for 

 whiter covering, provided they do not mat down. Oak 



3032. Straw overcoats for roses. 



leaves are good, but those of elm, maple, and other 



trees that shed their foliage early are soft and mat too 



much. Leaves may be held in place by evergreen 



boughs, brush, or tops of bushy perennials like the 



native asters, or coarse strawy material. When leaves 



are used in bar- 



rels or boxes, 



the top of the 



package should 



be water - tight, 



and the leaves 



dry when put in. 



This precaution 



is not essential 



in all cases, but 



it is a safe rule 



to follow. Tar 



paper is com- 



paratively cheap 



and comes 



handy in many 



phases of win- 



ter-covering. 



Gather the 



leaves when they 



are dry, and 



store under shel- 



ter until wanted. 



::. ..*? 



3033. A tender tree bound in branches 

 of hemlock. The protected tree is a speci- 

 men of gordonia about 10 feet high, at 

 Arnold Arboretum, Boston. 



Save vines like 

 those of Clematis 

 paniculata and pole limas; they are good for covering 

 climbing roses that are almost hardy. These keep off 

 the bright sun when the plants are in a semi-frozen con- 

 dition, shield them from the drying winds, and retard 

 premature starting of the flower-buds. Forsythia sus- 

 pense trained as a climber on a south wall is benefited 

 by such covering, or by burlaps, as its sheltered position 

 induces activity too early and its flowering buds become 

 a victim to late frosts. Any rhizomatous iris, such as 

 the German iris, should be planted where surface drain- 

 age is ample, and in the case of young plants, or those 

 recently divided, not covered with heavy manure or 

 they are likely to decay in wet weather. Cover such 

 plants with fight material. Old established plants 

 seldom need protection. Chrysanthemum coccineum 

 requires similar conditions and treatment. All lilies 

 except the hardiest, such as L. tigrinum, L. elegans, L. 

 canadense, L. superbum, L. philadelphicum, L. spe- 

 ciosum, L. tenuifolium, and so on, are best covered by 

 a mound of ashes wood or coal which retains an even 

 temperature. The other lilies may be mulched with 

 manure and L. candidum with leaves. Eremurus in all 

 its species, and Alstroemeria aurantiaca, require a deep 

 box of leaves and the surrounding soil well mulched. 

 An inverted V-shaped trough placed over such low 

 edging plants as 

 Veronica circse- 

 oides and Thy- 

 mus Serpyllum 

 var. montanus, is 

 beneficial. It is 

 well to take up 

 a few plants of 

 Monarda did- 

 yma, the double 

 perennial sun- 

 flower, and Thy- 

 mus Serpyllum, 

 and winter them 

 in a frame, over 

 which place a 

 wooden shutter 

 to shed rain, - . ""i_. 



placing leaves or 3034. One way of protecting young rho- 

 manure on those dodendrons. The space inside the wire 

 that remain netting is filled with autumn leaves . 



