188 



GARDEN GUIDE 



The most pernicious habit 

 is the one which so many en- 

 thusiastic gardeners have of 

 pruning everything in the 

 Spring, and not only that, but 

 making the graceful Barberries, 

 Spiraeas, and Mock Oranges 

 into formal, stiff shapes, due 

 entirely to cutting their bushes 

 with shoots all the same length. 



Many Spiraeas and Golden 

 Bells never bloom well, while 

 the Hydrangea blooms per- 

 fectly, merely because every- 

 one prunes in the early Spring, 

 not at all the proper time for 

 Golden Bells or Spiraeas but 

 exactly proper for Hydrangeas. 

 Spring blooming shrubs must 



YOUNG TREES PRUNED 

 One at the left pruned properly, the head 

 started low and branches well distributed. 

 One at right head too high, branches 

 form a crotch and tree is not balanced 



be headed in a trifle after flowering, 

 which will cause the production of 

 flowering wood for another year. 



HEDGES. A hedge, in order to give 

 the best light conditions to the lower 

 branches, should be broad at the bot- 

 tom and narrower at the top. It is 

 best not to be flat on top for snow 

 quickly lodges in this sort of hedge and 

 spreads it so that the true beauty is 

 spoiled. Hedges should be trimmed be- 

 fore growth starts in the Spring and 

 again lightly in late Summer or Fall. 

 The young growth is best kept its 

 proper length before it grows very long, 

 otherwise the cut ends of the branches 

 are large and over conspicuous. 



PRUNING A LIMB 



a, Branch cut off too long, b, The branch (a) after several years, has died back but 



cannot heal, c, A branch cut properly, d, A branch which is cut so that a little 



pocket is left in which water can settle and cause decay, e, A wound healing 



properly, f , A branch being strangled by a wire-tie 



