CHAPTER VI 

 GENERAL ADVICE ON BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS 



IN a class by themselves are the broad-leaved trees and 

 shrubs that hold their green foliage while dormant. The 

 numbers are many, particularly in mild climates. In the 

 North, the number is limited, but these species are of great 

 beauty and importance. Rhododendrons, kalmias, and hollies at 

 once come to mind, with all the associations of winter greenery. 



In this discussion only the most outstanding or significant 

 broad-leaved evergreens can be considered. As success with 

 many of them is largely a question of the proper soil, we may 

 first consider the most recent findings in this interesting subject. 



It may be said in passing that as to transplanting there are 

 few special difficulties. The statements touching the removal 

 of conifers apply for most of the species. The range of broad- 

 leaved evergreens is very large, however, and there are likely 

 to be special adaptations to consider. "Rhododendrons and 

 kalmias I have found easy to transplant," writes George P. 

 Brett, of experiences in Connecticut, "and I have met with 

 very few losses — in rhododendrons less than one per cent and 

 in kalmias, transplanted from their native state, less than two 

 per cent — and these trees, when once established, will grow 

 practically without care and produce their magnificent yield 

 of flowers. I do not mean by this, of course, that they will not 

 do better if they are properly cared for, but, thoroughly hardy, 

 they can be left without care longer than most other things of 

 the plant world which I know anything about. In transplanting 

 these broad-leaved evergreens, the greatest danger lies in using 

 a lime-impregnated soil. A leaf -mold from the woods or muck 



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