The Garden Magazine 



Vol. XVII— No. 3 



Published Monthly 



APRIL, 1913 



One Dollar Fifty Cents a Year 

 Fifteen Cents a Copy 

 [ Double Numbers Twenty-Five Cents 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' differ- 

 ence for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



What You Can Do in April 



THIS is surely the " month of months " 

 for the amateur gardener. Everything 

 for the future success of the garden is 

 in his own hands now. So much to be 

 done — what shall be done first? Take 

 these things and consider them in order: 



i. Plant any kind of fruit tree, bush or 

 plant. 



2. Plant any kind of ornamental bush, 

 tree or vine. 



3. Plant any hardy annual or herbaceous 

 perennial. 



4. Plant any summer flowering root, tuber 

 or bulb. 



5. Plant outdoors all hardy vegetables. 



6. Plant indoors all half hardy and 

 tender vegetables that can be transplanted. 



7. Make a new lawn or repair the old 

 one. 



8. Wage active warfare against several 

 important insect pests. 



9. Prune all dormant trees, shrubs and 

 vines except those that will bloom within 

 three months. 



10. Divide and multiply established 

 hardy perennials. 



n. Uncover strawberry beds and orna 

 mental borders. 



12. Rake off the coarse manure and litter 

 from the lawn. 



13. Make new driveways and paths. 



14. Build and repair trellises and sup 

 ports. 



15. Finish that drainage work. 



16. Put pea brush in place. 



17. Get bean poles ready to hand. 



18. Fit the ground for all tender crops 

 that cannot be planted yet, e. g., corn, 

 squash, melons, tomatoes, etc. Some indi- 

 vidual frames or forcing boxes may be set 



in place in anticipation of later trans- 

 plantings. 



19. Take cuttings of geranium, begonia, 

 carnation and all such bedding plants that 

 have been carried through the winter. 



20. Begin to harden off house plants that 

 will later enjoy a summer rest plunged in 

 the garden. 



21. Complete all grafting work and do 

 any necessary budding. 



22. Propagate blackberries and rasp- 

 berries by tip-layering — that is, by bend- 

 ing down a cane, fastening it with a peg 

 or stone and covering a joint with earth. 

 In a few weeks it will have rooted and can 

 be cut loose, just as strawberry plants are 

 increased by means of runners. 



23. Hasten the asparagus and rhubarb 

 with a dose of nitrate of soda scattered 

 thinly along the row or sprinkled in weak 

 solution, say one ounce to six gallons. 



24. Cut back undesirably long vines, 

 both fruit and ornamental, and train the 

 main stems where they are wanted. Some 

 of the best materials for fastening them are 

 staples, raffia, surgeon's plaster and narrow 

 strips of strong cloth. 



Planting Ornamentals 



PLANTING is like painting a picture. 

 J- Trees and shrubs are your colors and 

 must harmonize to form a unified land- 

 scape. These principles may help you 

 avoid the pitfalls of unsightly results: 



1. Group shrubbery in masses and bor- 

 ders, leaving open, unbroken expanses of 

 lawn. 



2. Use vines and shrubs, not to display 

 their own characters, but to mask sharp 

 lines of buildings and to frame distant 

 vistas. 



3. Forsythia, magnolia, witch hazel, and 

 other shrubs that flower before their leaves 

 open, should always have an evergreen 

 background. 



4. Locate paths, garden seats, sundials, 

 pergolas, summer houses, etc., only where 

 they have an obvious purpose. An isolated 

 pergola in the middle of a lawn is a useless 

 inconsistency. 



5. Use specimens of unusual color and 

 form, such as silver-leaved, weeping, and 

 cut-leaved varieties with restraint, as 

 occasional high lights, not as frequent punc- 

 tuation marks. 



6. Avoid color discords, by keeping 

 simultaneous bloomers well apart unless of 

 harmonious shades. 



7. Cover bare ground between larger 

 subjects with such carpeting plants as 



165 



daphne, shortia, galax, arbutus, partridge 

 berry, vinca, etc. 



8. Plan for winter effects with evergreens 

 and such shrubs as have brightly colored 

 bark and warmly tinted berries. 



9. In starting vines over dead trees, use 

 the loose drooping types, such as Virginia 

 creeper and wild grape, leaving the close 

 clinging ivy and euonymus for buildings, 

 brick walls, and fences. 



10. Don't try to establish grass on steep 

 banks. Use ground covers, vines, or the 

 trailing Wichuraiana rose. 



Plan the Fruit Garden 



HPHE home fruit garden should be planted 

 ■*■ according to a plan no less carefully 

 made than that of the vegetable and flower 

 garden. Here are some principles that ex- 

 perience has approved: 



A. In choosing varieties: (a) select a 

 generous number; (b) make quality the 

 chief consideration; (c) be sure early, 

 medium and late season types are all 

 represented; (d) don't omit a variety or two 

 for culinary as well as desert uses. 



B. In limited space: (a) don't reduce the 

 number of trees — plant dwarfs; (b) train 

 trees on walls and trellises like grapes; (c) 

 keep the heads low and open. 



C. On larger areas: (a) make a map 

 locating each tree and each variety of 

 berry, bush and vine; (b) allow plenty of 

 room for standard trees, using temporary 

 fillers of short-lived varieties, berries, and 

 vegetables. 



D. Be sure to interplant varieties of such 

 fruits as may be self-sterile, e. g., pears, 

 strawberries, etc. 



E. Buy only the best stock from only 

 well known, well advertised, well estab- 

 lished nurseries. 



Rules for Tree Planting 



ALL trees, whether fruit, nut or orna- 

 mental, need the same sort of treatment 

 until it comes to pruning. The steps are: 



1. Unpack the material at once. 



2. If to be planted immediately, stand 

 it in pails or barrels of water. If not to 

 be planted at once, heel it in; that is, place 

 in a reclining position in a trench, laying the 

 trees closely together and packing soil over 

 and around the roots. 



3. Prepare the soil as for any other cul- 

 tivated crop, then — 



4. Dig the hole large enough to give 

 plenty of room for the entire root system, 



5. Throwing some of the richer surface 

 soil back in the bottom. 



