THE FLORISTS^ MANUAL. 



J23 



ful and inspiring in the warm days of 

 spring, after the hibernating days of 

 winter, to see willows blossom, and 

 later the gay scarlet flowers of Pyrus 

 japonica and the yellow wreathing of 

 forsythia. And then the many tinted 

 leaves of the hardy shrubs. It is an 

 awakening, an annual treat and pleas- 

 ure to the senses that the monotonous 

 sombre evergreen cannot give. So 

 everything is right as it is. And Ja- 

 pan has to be thanked for contributing 

 a whole host of our best hardy shrubs. 



Shrubs, so called, are always more 

 safely transplanted than trees for two 

 reasons. They are seldom in the nurs- 

 ery more than two or three years, and 

 even the neglect of transplanting, of 

 which our American nurserymen are 

 woefully guilty, should they be left 

 five or six years in one spot, does not 

 prevent them from making a mass of 

 roots, most of which can be lifted. So 

 the percentage of loss in transplanting 

 shrubs with any ordinary care is very 

 low. 



The time of transplanting varies a 

 week or so with the season. With a 

 dry season and early frosts you can 

 plant from middle of October till late 

 in November. If you start early in the 

 fall and the leaves have not fallen off 

 the shrubs, pull or rather rub them 

 off. If they come off easily no harm is 

 done. In spring the transition from 

 winter to summer or hot weather is 

 sometimes very short and affords the 

 planter but a very brief time. Had we 

 a month of cool, moist weather be- 

 tween frost and the bursting of the 

 buds into leaf, I should say that April 



A Field of Japanese Iris. 



and even May was the best time of all 

 to move shrubs. 



If the buds are breaking and the 

 leaves showing, then the shrubs must 

 be severely cut back. Even if you 

 plant them in the most favorable time 

 and in the best condition, it is neces- 

 sary to shorten back the shoots. The 

 larger and taller the shrub the more 

 in proportion should it be cut back. 

 Don't think, and don't let your cus- 

 tomer think, there is going to be any 

 eventual loss of growth or size on ac- 

 count of this cutting back. The roots 

 are disturbed, the fine fibrous roots 

 that are the feeders and nourishers of 

 the plant are gone or inactive, the 

 shortened supply of sap goes to the 

 extremities of the shoots and a feeble 

 break or growth occurs at the end of 

 the shoots, and the lower buds perish, 

 and then you have bare stems. In- 

 sist on it that transplanted shrubs and 

 trees must be pruned, more or less ac- 

 cording to the loss of roots. 



A word here about future pruning. 

 No shrubbery is planted for all time. 

 Perhaps where they do well a mixed 

 belt of shrubs never looks better than 

 from six to ten years after they are 

 planted. Then they crowd each other. 

 Some grow tall and lose their beauty, 

 so a shrubbery is never finished; it is 

 a continual thinning out and replen- 

 ishing. 



In pruning distinguish the differ- 

 ence between those that set their 

 flower buds in the fall and those that 

 flower on the growths of the current 

 year. The lilac is a good type of the 

 former, and if you prune severely in 



winter and spring you must cut away 

 the flower buds. You will readily dis- 

 tinguish the difference in these shrubs, 

 and if they are to be pruned, a good 

 time is just after they have done 

 flowering, when they have time to 

 make more growth and set more 

 flower buds. The latter type is well 

 represented by our hardy roses and the 

 Hydrangea paniculata. The harder 

 back this class of shrubs is pruned the 

 larger and better the flowers. 



To revert once more to plant- 

 ing. Many of our hardy shrubs will 

 exist in any soil, but a quick and 

 thrifty growth is what our customers 

 want and expect, and when planting 

 a group or bed of shrubs the soil 

 should be dug a foot deep. Not mak- 

 ing small holes for each plant, but the 

 whole space dug deeply, and to it add 

 plenty of animal manure. Don't be- 

 lieve for a moment that shrubs don't 

 like manure. It is just what will make 

 them jump and grow. 



When singly on the lawn, let it be 

 either a shrub, tree or any of the ever- 

 greens, it is not depth that is needed. 

 The hole to receive the shrub or tree 

 need be only sufficient to let the plant 

 down to the same depth it stood in the 

 nursery, an inch or so lower won't 

 hurt many- of the shrubs but with the 

 trees and the evergreens this is very 

 particular. When the ground is set- 

 tled round them let it be just about as 

 high on the stem as it was before mov- 

 ing. 



It is width of hole you want, and if 

 a stiff clay, not only should width of 

 excavation be large enough to enable 



