92 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



actual moving it is advisable to cut round each plant with a very 

 sharp spade, severing the long-growing roots, and forcing the shrub 

 to form new ones in a compact ball, which can be readily lifted 

 with a good mass of soil when the due time arrives. The florist, 

 if he does his duty properly, will attend to this. In the meantime, 

 as soon as the order for the plants has been given the ground 

 should be made ready for their reception. This will involve a 

 thorough digging and manuring of the soil, care being taken to 

 bury the manure deeply so that it will not come in direct contact 

 with the young roots of the plant. The stations for the plants 

 should be marked out and be left well exposed to the weather 

 so that the soil shall have time to sweeten before the shrubs are 

 planted. The need for a careful spreading out of the roots and 

 for firm planting must be insisted upon. After the operation is 

 completed water must be applied freely so that it sink deep down 

 to the roots. It will also be found of great benefit if the foliage 

 be sprinkled several times after planting. It may also be added 

 that plants of trees and shrubs that have been grown in pots 

 may be planted out at any season of the year, save in frosty 

 weather, without any great risk, providing the roots are carefully 

 untwined and spread out to their fullest limits, and that the 

 plants are well supplied with water until they become thoroughly 

 established. 



The pruning of shrubs is not a difficult operation, provided 

 it be done with discretion. The clipping of evergreens, so as to 

 dispense with ragged and straggling growths, is best undertaken 

 in autumn when rampant growth is suspended, but in the case of 

 shrubs which throw out long growths in summer it is necessary 

 to keep them in check so as to preserve the shape and beauty of 

 the shrub, and here a judicious use of the shears is necessary. 

 With regard to flowering trees and shrubs their pruning should 

 be neither wholesale nor drastic. To clip vigorously forsythias, 

 ribes, mock oranges and such like plants is, indeed, as unwise as 

 it is unnecessary, since it not only robs them of their natural 

 beauty but also restricts their ability to produce so great a wealth 

 of blossom as is expected of them. The object in pruning flower- 



