Vista in the gardens of Shadow Brook, Chesterfield County, Virginia. 
March, and at once made good growth 
The native Red Juniper gives the chief accent. 
These and other evergreens used were planted in 
Spring Planting for Evergreens in the South 
Vir- 
By J. M. Patterson, zinia 
WHY THIS IS THE RIGHT SEASON FOR MOVING CONIFERS AND BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS IN 
THE WARMER REGIONS—NATIVE MATERIAL THAT CAN BE UTILIZED 
HE practical planting time for 
evergreens in the South is the 
earliest spring. Plant your ever- 
green tree or bush the first part 
of March or as soon in the month as a 
spade can be gotten into the ground, 
even though the ground is wet; and the 
warm April rains will be so soothing 
and hospitable that although the lo- 
cality is strange the woodland conifer 
or that from the nursery will be quite 
established in its new quarters before 
the hot days of June. 
There are of course exceptional 
springs with long seasons of drought; 
in that event, the plant must be watered 
as the roots should never be allowed to 
get dry soon after planting. Ordinarily 
it thrives after one good soaking at the 
time of planting. It is most essential 
in transplanting evergreens from the 
woods to keep the roots protected from 
the wind, as the sandy soil drops away 
from the roots and there is no ball of 
earth to protect them as is the case with 
nursery grown stock, which is one great 
point in favor of what the nurseryman 
has to offer. Many growers advise 
planting evergreens the latter part of 
August or the first of September. These 
directions are evidently not meant for 
the South, as I have learned from sad 
experience. In a third attempt to use 
the Scrub Pine as a hedge I planted it 
in the spring, following my second fail- 
ure at summer planting. The pines 
grew and flourished, only two dying, 
and for some years this hedge has 
served to shield the coldframes from 
the north winds and to act as a screen 
from the main driveway leading to the 
house. 
If I had had no other experience with 
transplanting evergreens than this one 
hedge, I would feel justified in urging 
people in the middle South to plant 
them only in the spring. 
The reasons are obvious. After the 
long hot Southern summers the. ground 
is dry to quite a depth, then September 
is usually a month of drought; October 
is a cooler month but there is little rain- 
fall; the high winds come in late fall; 
the alternate freezing and thawing of 
winter follow, and the plant is loosened 
in the ground before it has gotten well 
established, and so nine times out of 
ten it succumbs to the hardships of 
winter. 
After digging up the plant cover the 
roots immediately with burlap or heavy 
cloth, it would be even better to wet the 
29 
burlap. The Cedar has a long tap root 
with short hair-like roots as feeders; 
the pine has more lateral roots and the 
tap root is not so long. A careless 
workman is apt to break the tap root 
and it is most essential to the life of the 
plant to keep this intact; but if the 
roots should be torn or bruised, cut 
them off clean and straight. 
The holes to which the conifers are 
to be transplanted should be made be- 
fore the trees are dug in order to plant 
them quickly. Fill the hole with water, 
put in the trees and then the top soil, 
holding the tree straight; it takes two 
to plant the tree properly. Put in the 
soil gradually, a little on each side; and 
after the water has soaked through 
thoroughly more can be put around the 
plant. The next day this soil should be 
packed down closely, flat and solid with 
the stub end of a heavy post. 
I have transplanted successfully Ce- 
dars five feet in height, but it is far 
better to put in those two feet high. 
They need less moisture and less nour- 
ishment, therefore, it takes less time for 
them to regain their poise in a new 
locality and they are not so easily 
tossed by the wind and thus loosened 
in the ground. If the ground is occa- 
