RAISING SHRUBS 139 



with a ball of soil. With enough soil around the roots you can lift 

 and transplant a large Lilac or Spiraea Vanhouttei in full bloom and 

 make it Uve. This is not to say that such a plant is as good as one 

 which hasn't been disturbed, but the very fact that it can be done 

 means a lot. 



Most nurseries don't bother with such large stock. When a 

 shrub gets to be from 4 to 5 ft. in height, they get rid of it one way 

 or another. For them there is more money and less bother in grow- 

 ing on regular sized stock from rooted cuttings in the nursery row 

 and every three years or so clearing the land for another lot to come 

 on. But I am convinced that the local florist with room outdoors, 

 who makes a side line of fixing up small grounds for his customers 

 wiU find a good margin of profit in growing on specimens of the 

 popular varieties, and in taking proper care of them. 



Growing on Specimen Shrubs 



The most important factor in growing shrubs into large 

 specimens is to give the plants sufficient room for development. 

 You cannot get results under crowded conditions. The next thing 

 is to keep the soil well cultivated, keep the plants sprayed and give 

 them each year a httle pruning. Usually a Lilac, a Spiraea or a 

 Bush Honeysuckle, if given plenty of space, will develop into a 

 fine-shaped specimen even if left alone. But in the case with a 

 Spirsea or a Honeysuckle, if you keep the inside of the plant cleaned 

 out a little and after it is through flowering prune back some of the 

 heavy growth, you help matters along. 



Your nurseryman will supply you with 2- to 3-ft. or 3- to 4-ft. 

 stock in early Spring. Order enough of it and fine it out in nursery 

 rows, allowing about 2 ft. between the rows. Prune back well and 

 the foUowing year you can lift every other plant in the rows and 

 sell them. With 4 ft. of space each way the plants wiU be all right 

 for at least two more seasons, or even three. After that, either sell 

 more, to give the remainder more space, or transplant. In four 

 years after planting you wiU have good specimens for sale and by 

 planting a few plants each year, you can always have some coming 

 along. If you wish, you don't need to have the plants in straight 

 rows; the stock may be grown on in an irregular border along the 

 lot lines of your property. Thus you can not only beautify your 

 grounds, but also, by taking out a few of the large plants each year, 

 and replacing them with others that wiU come along, make it a 

 paying proposition. 



Growing on Small Nursery Stock 

 You are not butting in on the nursery business, nor interfering 

 with it in anyway by growing on a part of your own nursery stock. 

 In fact, almost every nursery in the country today issues each Spring 



