352 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



July, 1911 



considered, it would seem needless to 

 bother with an arborvitae. 



Out in the Badlands grows a variety of 

 the red cedar which, with its feathery 

 grace and silvery sheen, produces an 

 exquisite effect. A few catalogues list 

 it under the name of silver cedar, or Juni- 

 perus Virginiana, var. glauca, though as 

 a rule, nurserymen are unfamiliar with it. 

 It is slow of growth and in winter its green 

 is a bit rusty. It endures shearing well, 

 being the equal of arborvitae in this respect, 

 though to shear such a tree is like cutting 

 a bird's plumage. Carefully planted, with 

 a sufficient supply of moisture during 

 the first year or two, the trees can be 

 grown on the open prairie and will endure 

 any subsequent neglect. In the Badlands 

 these trees attain some size, though in 

 landscape work they are to be regarded as 

 rather dwarf material with an average 

 height of from three to eight feet. It 

 should be borne in mind that a species so 

 widely distributed as our native red cedar 

 is likely to produce some very marked 

 variations, especially in fitting itself to 

 such unusual conditions of both soil and 

 climate as one finds in the Badlands. 



The common, low-spreading juniper 

 {Juniperus communis) , is a weed for growth 

 and persistency, and of all our evergreens 

 the most indifferent to soil. It is a shrub 

 with a distinct front and back and there- 

 fore well adapted to hillsides where it 

 will thrive on exceedingly little moisture. 

 It ought not to be omitted from evergreens 

 on a hillside for, in a way, it acts as a ground 

 cover and its green is always fresh. Once 

 established, it tends to spread of its own 

 accord. There is a little trailing variety 

 of this juniper, a little creeping vine that 

 serves well among rocks. What Latin 

 appellation is it to have I doubt if the 



% • 



The Colorado spruce is a valuable hardy tree, but 

 not so dense as the Black Hills spruce 



botanists have as yet determined. With 

 the development of the Northwest along 

 horticultural lines there will be found a 

 number of varieties of evergreens so distinct 

 from the species that some varietal name 

 will have to be given each. This is the case 

 with our Black Hills spruce and our Bad- 

 lands cedars, trees of distinctive character 

 that as yet lack satisfactory variety names 

 by which they may be known. 



The foregoing are all the evergreens on 

 which any reliance can be placed in the 

 Northwest, though as already stated the 

 list is not conclusive; as this section of 

 our country demands more landscape 

 material, other evergreens from all manner 

 of sources will be brought in of which some, 

 no doubt, will prove hardy. But aside 

 from their value as landscape material, 

 pines and spruces serve an eminently 

 practical purpose as windbreaks. Win- 

 breaks there must be around the homes 

 of the prairie farmers; a shelter belt of 

 deciduous trees, fronted with low branch- 

 ing evergreens, makes the ideal wind- 

 break. 



Transplanting an evergreen is, by most 

 people, undertaken with trembling and 

 doubt, altogether without reason, for 

 nothing is more certain to grow than an 

 evergreen planted with a ball of native 

 soil about its roots. When the buds 

 of an evergreen start in spring its roots 

 are still dormant and remain so until 

 the beginning of summer; consequently, 

 an evergreen transplanted has in spring 

 an evaporation in excess of the capacity 

 of the roots to absorb moisture, for these 

 can as yet draw only upon the soil moved 

 with them and not upon the soil in which 

 they have been placed. To overcome 

 this difficulty transplanted evergreens 

 should be sprayed a few hours during the 

 hottest part of the day. An evergreen 

 handled thus can be moved at any time 

 of the year except when the ground is 

 frozen. Shipping trees a long distance is, 

 of course, another matter for which pur- 

 pose midspring and early fall are best. 

 However, as far as the Northwest is con- 

 cerned the emphasis ought not to be laid 

 upon the time of planting but upon the 

 proper handling. 



The matter of soil is another phase of 

 evergreen culture that unduly vexes peo- 

 ple. Spading sand into the ground in 

 the hope of thereby making it more con- 

 genial to an evergreen is a waste of sand. 

 An evergreen will grow in gumbo. An 

 abundance, even a surplus, of manure may, 

 however, be spaded into the soil. Manure 

 is unequalled for breaking up a stiff clay 

 and, moreover, nothing will give the soil, 

 light or heavy, a greater water-holding 

 capacity than the humus thus added. 

 On the other hand, the roots of an ever- 

 green will not endure being brought into 

 contact with fresh manure. The food 

 that manure adds to the soil is not half 

 as important as its influence upon the 

 physical texture of the soil. Spading in 

 manure after the trees are planted is a 

 hindrance rather than a help. 



The Black Hills spruce {Picea alba var. compacta) 

 makes a dense growth and has a black color 



Evergreens should be bought only from 

 the man who raises them. The proper 

 way to start an evergreen out on the open 

 prairies is to plant it in the midst of de- 

 ciduous shrubbery; this will provide the 

 protection it requires. When the fall 

 is dry it is a good plan to send the 

 evergreens into winter quarters with a 

 heavy watering. Merely turning the hose 

 on the trees for a few minutes will not do. 

 Whenever it becomes necessary to water 

 an evergreen the ground about its roots 

 as far out as the branches extend should 

 be soaked until it refuses to absorb any 

 more water. Nor should the ground be 

 permitted to bake about an evergreen, 

 but be kept well stirred. And in fall, 

 just before the ground freezes, mulch with 

 straw. Evergreens, as a rule, can take 

 care of considerably more water than 

 nature provides in most parts of the 

 Northwest, so there is little danger of 

 overwatering them. 



The following list gives the evergreens 

 which thus far have proven themselves 

 hardy in the Northwest. It may be super- 

 fluous to add that we can boast of no 

 broad-leaved evergreens: 



POPULAR NAME 



Bull pine 

 Jack pine 

 Dwarf mountain pine 



Tamarack 

 White spruce 

 Black Hills spruce 



Colorado blue spruce 

 Norway spruce 

 White cedar (arbor- 

 vitae) 

 Red cedar 

 Badlands cedar 



Common juniper or 



(dwarf juniper) 

 Trailing juniper 



BOTANICAL NAME 



Pinns ponderosa 

 Pinns divaricata 

 Pinus montana, var. 



mughus 

 Larix laricina 

 Picea alba 

 Picea alba, var. 



compacta 

 Picea pungens 

 Picea excelsa 



Thuya occidental-is 

 Juniperus Virginiana 

 Juniperus Virginiana, var. 

 glauca 



Juniperus communis 



There appears to be no 

 authoritative name that 

 would distinguish this 

 from the preceding 



