THE’ GARDEN MAGAZINE 
If you have an evergreen hedge where heavy drifts accumulate go over them with a rake after every 
severe storm and knock off the snow 
excellent protection, especially in wet, clayey 
soils, as it tends to exclude the water. 
VINES 
Nearly all vines should have some winter 
protection as they are usually trained out 
flat against a building where they have no 
opportunity to protect themselves but are 
swept all winter by fierce blasts and exposed 
occasionally to zero weather — after which 
the first burst of warm sunshine in 
February or March stimulates evaporation 
from the tops while the roots are still frozen. 
Such exposure would mean the death of 
a great many of our hardy shrubs. For 
instance, a weeping forsythia (I’. suspensa) 
is perfectly hardy as a shrub, but requires a 
little protection when trained as a vine. 
Plants that are not natural climbers, such 
as the rose, can be wrapped in straw, because 
the branches can be easily taken down, but 
very tender vines, such as the Indian jessa- 
mine or a climbing La France rose had 
better be taken down and buried as recom- 
mended for shrubs. 
Vines that are perfectly hardy in general 
will sometimes suffer in particular locations. 
For example, drip is very hard on vines, 
especially the English ivy (Hedera Helix). 
To prevent such damage you can tack up 
some burlap or cheesecloth right over the 
vines. It doesn’t matter if you break a 
few leaves, as they can be easily swept off 
with a broom in spring. Of course this 
method is unsightly for a winter home but 
it should be commonly used at summer 
homes. 
Some people take down their vines in 
autumn, wrap them in burlap and then 
put them back against the building (see 
picture of English ivy). I prefer to lay them 
on the ground and cover them with leaves 
or litter. 
Evergreen vines must be protected from 
winter sunshine. English ivy and climbing 
euonymus are the most important. The 
latter can be wrapped in burlap, but cut 
pines will usually give enough shade. Hall’s 
honeysuckle is semi-evergreen. In situa- 
tions where it winter-kills, cover with cut 
branches of pine or spruce. 
Madeira vine is very sensitive to wetness. 
Manure the roots, cover with a foot or two 
of leaves and then put on tar paper. 
You can preserve kudzu vine tops with 
burlap or pine boughs. Give manure also. 
Climbing hydrangea (4. petiolaris) should 
be strawedin. Or make a wire fence around 
it and fill with leaves. 
BULBS 
More bulbs rot from excessive moisture 
during winter than from all other causes 
combined. This danger can be overcome 
to some extent at the time of planting, by 
placing the bulbs in a sand bed, but if this 
precaution has not been taken there is still 
time to fence in the beds and protect with 
leaves as recommended for perennials. This 
plan, however, is suitable only for light soils, 
such as we have here on Long Island. In 
wet, clayey soils it is a good plan, particu- 
larly when setting out new bulbs, to raise 
a pointed mound of ashes or sand over the 
bulbs. This in turn should be covered 
with leaves after frost has caused a good 
crust to form. Old established bulb beds 
should be mulched with well rotted 
manure. This will help to exclude the 
frost and at the same time will furnish 
nutriment to the plants, as the spring rains 
will wash the best part of the manure down 
to the roots. This is important because 
you cannot very well dig manure into a 
bulb bed without disturbing the bulbs. 
Newly set bulb beds should have a good 
heavy mulch of half rotted manure, pro- 
vided the bulbs were planted at the proper 
NovEMBER, 1908 
time and nothing but ironclad varieties used. 
If, however, you planted tender kinds or 
were late in planting hardy varieties, I would 
advise using the leaves as above suggested. 
Speaking of late planting, I had an instructive 
experience last winter with late planting. My 
tulip bulbs were not received until the last 
week in December and they were all Dar- 
wins, May-flowering, and Parrots. Yet I 
planted them, removing the frozen ground 
with. a crowbar, put on a mulch of fairly 
good manure and then piled about two feet 
of leaves on top of this. The results were 
satisfactory. 
THE LAWN 
Don’t think I am going to tell you how 
tender the grass is and that it may get frost- 
bitten; I am going to tell you that if you 
want a better greensward next season now 
is the time to put on a good covering of 
manure instead of waiting till next spring 
as many do. Don’t imagine that this is 
wasting manure because every bit of it 
will find its way to the roots of the grass, and 
what a difference this will make to a lawn 
you cannot appreciate, unless you cover part 
of the lawn and leave the remainder for 
comparison. The most striking illustration 
of the value of winter manuring I have 
ever witnessed was last year. We were 
filling an ice house and to prevent the wheels 
and horses from cutting the lawn I covered 
a strip about eight feet wide with rough 
stable manure, and we can still distinctly 
see the track, for the grass is much darker, 
requires cutting oftener and has kept green 
during the dry spells. In this case the 
manure was put on in January and was 
allowed to stay until March. 
November is also a good month for top- 
dressing a lawn. Mix some good fertilizer, 
bone-meal or wood ashes preferred, with 
some good turfy loam, using three shovels- 
full of loam to one of bone or wood ashes, 
and scatter this lightly over the lawn but 
do not roll your lawn in the autumn as that 
only makes the frost penetrate further. 
For soggy soils or low places in the lawn 
where water settles I would advise the use of 
air-slaked lime. This is a capital remedy for 
sour soils and indeed it is good for any soil. 
Air-slaked lime can be purchased very 
cheaply and you need not be afraid to put 
First step in preparing a strawberry bed for the 
winter. Cover ground with manure 
Cover ‘plants with straw or hay 
to prevent alternate freezing and thawing 
Second step. 
