WHEN TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO 



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DECEMBER— WHEN WE TALK OVER THE YEAR'S DELIGHTS 



Herein are listed the seasonal activities for the complete garden. Details of how to do each item may 

 be found in the current or the back issues of The Garden Magazine — it is manifestly impossible to 

 make each number of the magazine a complete manual of practice. References to back numbers may be 

 looked up in the index to each completed volume (sent gratis on request); the Service Department will also 

 be glad to cite references to any special topic if asked by mail and to send personal replies to specific ques- 

 tions; a stamped, addressed envelope being enclosed. 



When referring to the time for out-door work of any sort New York City (latitude 40) at sea level in 

 a normal season is taken as standard; but at best dates can only be approximate. Roughly, the season 

 advances northward fifteen miles a day. Thus Albany, which is one hundred and fifty miles from New 

 York, would be about ten days later, and Philadelphia, which is ninety miles southwest, about a week 

 earlier. Also allow four days for each degree. of latitude, for each five degrees of longitude, and for each 

 four hundred feet of altitude. 



(Copyright, 1921, Doubleday, Page y Co.) 



[ONTINUE deciduous planting as long as the ground remains- 

 open. If large trees are to be moved with a frozen ball of 

 earth, cover the ground about the trees with straw, or manure, 

 to make digging easy. Clean up and burn all refuse and 

 rubbish — fallen leaves are not rubbish! 

 Complete mulching of bulb beds, perennial borders, shrubbery, etc. 



as soon as the ground has frozen hard. 



Irregular bumpy patches of lawn, may be given a heavy top-dressing of 



loam 10 parts, to one part coarse bone meal, put on an inch or 



more thick. Mulching the lawn with manure when it is available 



is good practice despite the fact that it may carry some weed seeds. 



Garden refuse composted during the summer will be benefited by being 



turned over and re-stacked, adding a liberal dressing of lime as the 



work proceeds. 



Newly fallen snow to be removed from frames if they are not frozen 



through. 

 Pansies, English Daisies, Forget-me-nots, Campanulas, etc. wintered 

 in frames to be well ventilated until they freeze in for the winter. 

 Then cover with dry leaves and replace the sash. Many of these 

 plants will winterkill otherwise. 



Pruning and Spraying 



While trees are dormant strong spray solutions can be used. Get 

 after the scale in the shrubbery border — Lilacs, Japan Quince, 

 Persian Lilac, Roses, the entire Pyrus family, Evony- 

 mus are very susceptible. Do not spray when freezing. 



Use an up-to-date sprayer, and concentrated commercial preparations 

 ready for use by merely adding so many parts of water. Choose 

 a quiet day, and keep on the windward side of the spray. 



Proceed with pruning when the mercury is not hovering around zero. 



It is all very well to thin out crowded and crossing branches in a fruit 

 tree, but it is not intelligent pruning when the same rule is applied 

 to a. plantation of shrubbery containing plants with highly colored 

 bark, the purpose of which was to create winter effects. Straight 

 line pruning is not an infrequent error. 



Cut back to two-thirds Roses when they are being protected for the 

 winter. Long canes swayed and whipped about by the wind 

 during the winter will loosen the plants in the soil. 



Weak and weather beaten evergreens will be improved by judicious 

 pruning. 



Vegetables 



Further protect Lettuce in frames by banking leaves and manure round 

 the sides; mats, boards, and leaves to be placed over the sash. 



Provide extra covering for Celery, and other root crops that must of 

 necessity be stored outdoors, as colder weather sets in. Celery 

 stored in trenches outdoors and mulched will be safe from early 

 frosts, but with more severe weather to be removed to the cellar. 

 One convenient way is to place an inch or two of sand in boxes 

 (about as deep as the Celery is tall) and transfer the Celery to 

 these, after having given a good watering. 



Vegetables stored indoors to be picked over from time to time to remove 

 bad ones, as they soon spoil the good. 



Bean poles, pea brush, and stakes of all kinds to be looked over and 

 put in shape for another season. 



Trenching and Draining 



Sections of the garden that could not be cleared in time for cover crops 

 to be sown can be trenched if the ground remains open. If 

 manure is available, first put in a liberal application. Dig as thor- 



oughly as possible two spits deep. Start along one side of the 

 plot, throwing the soil out. Spade up the bottom, turning it 

 where it falls, and on top of this, after mixing in the manure, turn 

 the top soil from the next strip — and so on. 

 If crops were backward in spring and the ground wet and soggy, drain- 

 ing is needed. This work can be done any time until the ground is 

 too hard to dig. 



Forcing 



Start forcing in earnest this month. Among the first things to be 

 started are the early Grapes, and early Peaches (pot trees respond 

 easier than those planted in the borders). If started together, the 

 pot trees will give ripe fruit ten days in advance. 



Dark forcing may begin toward the end of the month; and is usually 

 best accomplished under the greenhouse bench. Rhubarb, 

 Asparagus, Mushrooms, Endive, and Sea-kale, are all forced in 

 about the same way: the dormant roots (with the exception of 

 Mushrooms, which are planted by spawn), being planted in a 

 prepared bed, which is darkened by a screen of burlap or boards. 

 With no greenhouse utilize the cellar or a hotbed. 



An early batch of Strawberries can be started on shelves, with the 

 Grapes and Peaches. 



To set fruit on Tomatoes, tap the vines a couple of times during the day 

 to cause the pollen to fly; in very dark, dull weather, it may be 

 necessary to hand pollinate. 



Cucumbers sown the last week of October to go into the fruiting pots; 

 ten- to twelve-inch is not too large. For an early spring crop sow 

 seeds the last week in December. 



Early planted Golden Spur Narcissus should be sufficiently rooted to 

 stand gentle forcing, also the French Trumpet Majors. 



Bulbs for late forcing may still be planted. 



Flower Garden 



Continue to give protection to all the subjects that need it as suggested 

 last month. Standard Roses may be laid over by loosening the 

 roots on one side, and buried with earth. 



Fruit Garden 



Setting out of new trees to be completed as soon as possible now; and 

 remember to mulch all newly planted stock. 



Guard against mice and rabbits by placing protectors about the 

 stems, sinking the bottom into the ground, before it freezes. Some 

 good wire protectors are now available, or they may be made at 

 home of suitable material. Many use building paper. 



Surface manuring of fruit trees is of immense value. Any leafy matter 

 in conjunction with well decayed manure may be utilized. It is 

 seldom that fruit trees suffer from too much surface feeding. 



Raspberries and Blackberries in sections where they are subject to 

 winter killing to be loosened on one side of the roots, laid down on 

 the ground, and covered with earth. 



Inside the Greenhouse 



This is the most trying of all months for plants indoors or in the green- 

 house. The sun is low, with very little influence, and the days are 

 short, which means that practically all the heat required for grow- 

 ing plants has to be supplied artificially. It is good practice to 

 keep temperatures a few degrees below normal, to prevent the 

 plants becoming soft and sappy; especially is this so during excep- 

 tionally dark weather. Ventilate freely whenever possible, and 

 if the desired night temperature can be maintained with one of the 



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