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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



August 29, 1907. 



congenial to them. Mulching and shelter 

 from wind are the most essential condi- 

 tions. 



One of my most satisfactory plantings 

 of rhododendrons was a small bed at the 

 south corner of a residence. They were 

 wanted in this position, but the owner 

 had been told that they would not suc- 

 ceed in southern exposure. Eecognizing 

 the fact that a large pear tree southeast 

 of this bed would afford midday shade 

 and groups of large forest trees and 

 neighboring buildings not far away 

 would afford shelter from wind, the loca- 

 tion was considered eligible. The nat- 

 ural soil was quite sandy, but by gen- 

 erous excavation two feet deep and 

 filling with muck and vegetable mold, 

 taken from open ditches on a near-by 

 farm, and a few barrels of Jersey peat, 

 a soil was prepared which proved suit- 

 able. The rhododendrons were, planted 

 four to five feet apart and all vacant 

 spaces filled in with Mahonia Aquifo- 

 lium, Mahonia Japonica and heath ar- 

 borvitffi (TTiuya ericoides) until the bed 

 was a solid mass of foliage, effectually 

 shading the stems of the plants and the 

 ground around them. The ground was 

 then covered with a mulch of leaves a 

 foot deep, with instructions to keep the 

 mulch there all the time, renewing it 

 every autumn, and that as the rhododen- 

 drons grew and spread the nurse plants 

 should be cut back or removed. This 

 planting was made nine years ago and 

 has been successful. 



Shrubbery in Small Yards. 



A most difficult problem in shrub ar- 

 rangement, more frequently met with in 

 the practical experience of florists and 

 jobbing gardeners than in the laying 

 out of large lawns where general rules 

 of landscape gardening might be ap- 

 plied, is the requirement of owners of 

 small yards, who want one dozen of 

 their old favorites set in a bed or along 

 a garden fence. Perhaps it will be a 

 lilac, forsythia, snowball, cydonia, wei- 

 gelia, spirsea, deutzia, chionanthus, dog- 

 wood, hydrangea, a purple filbert and 

 other such incongruous neighbors. He 

 who can arrange such a group as this 

 tastefully and so that it will continue 

 attractive throughout the year is a mas- 

 ter in the art of shrub arrangement. 

 Hopeless as this task may seem, there 

 are plants which we may always look to 

 for help in such emergencies. The slen- 

 der sprays of feathery foliage of the 

 tamarix, the gracefully drooping 

 branches of ♦ Spiraea Thunbergii, Ste- 

 phanandra flexuosa, the single flowered 

 kerrias, including the white form known 

 as Ehodotypos kerrioides with its 

 crinkled foliage, are all gentle, inoffen- 

 sive subjects who are willing to help fill 

 up a gap and hide from public gaze the 

 awkwardness of their fellows wherever 

 such service is needed. By adding a few- 

 plants of these slender species the stiff- 

 ness of a group may be much relieved 

 and some of its awkwardhess softened. 



One of my most valuable lessons about 

 planting was learned in walking through 

 a lawn with an old gardener who re- 

 marked, * ' The man who planted this 

 place understood his business. See — ev- 

 ery tree is set on a little hill or mound. ' ' 

 The next time you have an opportunity, 

 compare the difference in appearance of 

 a lawn where trees and shrubs stand in 

 mounds slightly above the level of the 

 surrounding lawn and other plantings 

 where the lawn level is carried up to 

 the roots of the plants, or, as is some- 

 times seen, where plants stand in a de- 

 pression. See which you like best and 



then judge of the wisdom of the above 

 suggestion. A bed or border for shrub- 

 bery should be heavily manured and dug 

 or plowed deeply, and prepared as care- 

 fully as for corn or potatoes or any oth- 

 er crop which is wanted to grow well. If 

 I tell you not to ram the roots into a 

 little hole in the ground, but to set them 

 on a little mound, you will think I am 

 joking, but that is pretty nearly what I 



mean. 



Care in Planting. 



It would seem as though every gar- 

 dener should be tired of hearing the 

 trite advice to dig big holes for shrubs 

 and trees, but the innumerable evidences 

 of violations of the rule show that many 

 planters have not yet learned this les- 

 son. Some shrubs, as forsythia, spiraeas, 

 deutzias, etc., may flourish if stuck in 

 the ground any way, but many others 

 need the best of care to insure success, 

 and carelaBsness in setting often discred- 

 its .good *iaterial and a job which in 

 other respects may be all right. Dig 

 holes larger and deeper than the roots 

 require and larger in diameter at bottom 



mulching and pruning. After planting 

 apply a good mulch of manurei to con- 

 serve moisture, furnish nourishment and 

 to suppress weeds. An annual mulching 

 of leaves, with coarse manure to prevent 

 their blowing away, is beneficial to al- 

 most every class of plants, and mulched 

 or fallow ground is better than grass 

 around the stems. 



Pruning. 



Most deciduous shrubs should be 

 pruned severely when planted. Rhodo- 

 dendrons, azaleas, andromedas, etc., are 

 usually transplanted with balls of earth 

 and do not need much pruning, but 

 where it is needful it will not hurt them. 

 The annual pruning is a most important 

 part of the care of shrubbery and the 

 point most diflBcult to give instruction 

 on by written directions. It is an art 

 which must be learned by practice and 

 observation. The general rule, to trim 

 early bloomers as soon as they are 

 through flowering and midsummer or late 

 bloomers in winter, contains a sugges- 

 tion, but the indiscriminate cutting back 

 of every shrub every year is a great 



North Side of the Main Hall of the Phi'adelphia Trades Display. 



than at top, then fill in some of the best 

 soil obtainable, making a little cone or 

 mound in the center of the hole. Then 

 spread out the roots of plants around 

 this mound of earth, so that all roots 

 tend downwards rather than horizontally 

 or upwards. Fill in the richest soil 

 first, tramping firmly as the filling pro- 

 ceeds. Remember Peter Henderson 's 

 chapter on the "Use of the Foot in 

 Planting," also bear in mind that it is 

 results that count, and five n^inutes spent 

 in care of planting may mean one or 

 two years saved in attaining the desired 

 end. 



Under the heading ' ' How to Treat 

 Shrubs" I will allude i^ manuring. 



mistake. When a shrub seems weak and 

 needs strengthening, cut out declining 

 shoots and apply manure around it. 

 When one is too vigorous and rampant, 

 remove or shorten superfluous shoots and 

 reduce to symmetry with as little mutila- 

 tion as possible. When one has become 

 overgrown and dilapidated in appear- 

 ance, cut back a part or perhaps all of 

 its unsightly stems severely, probably at 

 the ground, and allow new shoots to re- 

 store the beauty and vigor of youth. The 

 only way to learn the art of trimming 

 shrubbery is by observation and prac- 

 tice and the exercise of gumption. A 

 safe general rule is that whenever you 

 see a twig or branch which needs re- 



