Making the Garden Snug for Winter— By Arthur I. Blessing. 



PROTECTING ROSES, VINES AND BERRY PLANTS FROM WINTER 

 COLDS -DIGGING AND STORING TENDER ROOTS AND BULBS 



Burn up rubbish in an im- 

 provised furnace of brick 



THE gardener 

 could be sure of a 

 heavy fall of snow 

 early in Decem- 

 ber and that the 

 snow would remain 

 on the ground 

 throughout the 

 winter, he would 

 need to do little in 

 the way of protect- 

 ing his plants and 

 shrubs. 



Nature is so 

 whimsical, how- 

 ever, that she 

 never can be 

 trusted to provide 

 this natural and most efficient blanket 

 and so artificial protection is given as a 

 wise precaution. 



On the whole, though, it is not advisable 

 for the amateur to grow many tender 

 plants, which must be coddled and fussed 

 over. There are so many hardy kinds 

 that it is scarcely worth while. Of course 

 roses will be grown and many kinds (teas in 

 particular and most hybrid teas) need 

 some protection if growing in an exposed 

 place. Some people tie them up in paper, 

 but so treated, the plants are far from 

 ornamental during the winter season. 



An excellent plan in very cold regions 

 is to cut off the long branches and then lay 

 the plants bodily on the ground, covering 

 them with straw or with several inches of 

 earth. Another way is to drive a stake 

 beside each plant to hold it upright and 

 then tie long straw about it, beginning at 

 the top, with the straw doubled over the 

 rose bush and held in place by a string tied 

 to it and the stake. Some people use eoig 

 stalks, standing them around the plants* 

 closely. A heavy overcoat is not needed, 

 for it is detrimental in stopping all circula- 

 tion of air around the plants. 



Rhododendrons need protection in the 

 Northern states, which is best given in 

 the form of evergreen boughs set around 

 them. This plan is recommended, for it 

 does not give the garden the unsi htly 

 appearance which follows the use of boards. 

 Tender evergreen trees and various shrubs 

 are sometimes protected by a few boards 

 nailed together or by a box set over them, 

 The boards should be set on the southwest 

 side, as their mission is to shield the plants 

 from the rays of the sun, which might tempt 

 them into unseasonable growth. 



Beds of perennials, lilies and pansies 

 need a mulch of straw, leaves, old manure 

 or other litter, but not too deep, or the 

 plants will be smothered. Leaves pack 

 down more firmly than straw and so should 

 not be used so freely. 



The time to apply this mulch is after the 



ground has frozen a little, and its purpose is 

 to keep the plants in cold storage all winter. 

 It is the alternate thawing and freezing 

 of the ground which causes harm when 

 plants are not protected. Damage may 

 also be caused by water settling around the 

 roots of newly set shrubs and plants, so that 

 it is well to have a little mound of earth 

 around them in the fall. Kept from this 

 danger and with a mulch three inches or 

 more deep, around the tender plants, all 

 ihe garden treasures will go through an 

 ordinary winter safely. 



A mulch around even the hardy plants is 

 an advantage. Nature often supplies it 

 by causing the leaves to drift into the hardy 

 border, where they pile up in a thick mat. 

 It would be foolish to remove them. 



A heavy coating of manure over the 

 lilies of the valley will be welcomed by them 

 and will feed them liberally in the spring 

 Peonies like this sort of attention, too. 



The dahlia, canna and gladiolus bulbs 

 should be dug before hard frosts and stored 

 in a cool, dry place for the winter. The 

 cellar is used, as a rule, the bulbs of the 

 dahlias and cannas being buried in sand 

 on the floor or in a box. The best way of 

 storing gladiolus bulbs is to place them in 

 common paper bags, a dozen or more in a 

 bag, and hang them from the rafters. If 

 the small bulblets are separated from the 

 parent bulbs, several hundred of them may 

 be placed in a bag. Great care should be 

 observed not to bruise the bulbs, for they 

 are likely to rot at bruised spots. 



Geraniums, tuberoses, begonias, prim- 

 roses and other plants may be brought into 

 the house to bloom, if taken up before they 

 are nipped by the cold. One often finds 

 seedlings of various plants in the borders, 

 very late in the season which may be taken 

 \ into the house and which will grow into 

 blooming plants in a few weeks. 



"While the work of cleaning up the flower 

 garden is under way, it is a simple matter to 

 make cuttings of many of your shrubs and 

 there is no easier way of increasing your 

 stock. Let the cuttings be ten or twelve 

 inches along and bury them about half 

 their length and at a slight angle in a 

 nursery bed somewhere in a secluded spot; 

 but be sure that the bed is high enough so 

 that water will not stand on it 



For the rest, the work in the flower 

 garden will be mostly cutting down old 

 stalks, cleaning up the rubbish and making 

 all things tidy. It is well to burn the 

 rubbish, and a simple little garden furnace . 

 is made by placing a number of bricks in 

 circular fashion as illustrated in the ac- 

 companying photograph. When the work 

 has been done, the bricks may be piled in 

 an out-of-the-way corner until needed agian. 



Clean up the vegetable garden just as 

 thoroughly as the flower garden. Old \dnes 



150 



and stalks should be burned, for in this way 

 the number of insect pests is lessened to 

 some degree. All the leaves should be 

 saved, though, whether in the garden or 

 on the lawn. If they are not needed for 

 protection in the garden, or for a litter in 

 the poultry house or to bank the owner's 

 residence, they may be thrown into a hole 

 in the ground and allowed to decay for 

 they will be valuable as a garden ferti- 

 lizer. It is not a good plan to rake the 

 leaves too closely from the lawn in the fall. 

 They will help protect and nourish the 

 grass roots. 



It is not a bad plan to plow the ground 

 in the fall, especially if the garden is level, 

 leaving it in rough ridges. Many garden 

 pests will be exposed and will perish, if this 

 plan is followed. If the hens are allowed 

 the run of the garden at this time, they 

 wil. help to get rid of the bugs. 



Rhubarb is a gross feeder and needs a 

 heavy coat of manure piled around it in the 

 fall. The asparagus bed should be cleaned 

 up and fertilized, also. Asparagus and 

 rhubarb roots for forcing may be dug before 

 the ground freezes hard. They should be 

 stored in a cool place and started in the 

 cellar, as wanted. If the cellar is warm and 

 a corner kept dark, excellent winter crops 

 may be grown. 



Spinach, salsify and parsnip may be left 



Straw wrapped around slim, semi- tender plants will 

 keep them safe as a rule 



