46 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY 
extent reduced, and results obtained which should be 
almost, if not quite as satisfactory. The remaining soil 
left in the beds, no matter how poor it may be, can soon 
be made rich enough for either herbaceous or bedding 
plants by a liberal use of manure. 
When the beds have been prepared for the reception 
of the trees, planting should be at once proceeded with, 
provided, of course, that the planting season be at hand. 
Like all other forms of tree-planting, it should be done 
as soon as possible after the proper time arrives; or, to 
be more explicit, from the middle of October to the 
middle of November. 
Although the work of lifting and transplanting yew 
trees and box can be carried on with perfect safety up 
to the end of the year or even up to the end of January, 
the earlier season is undoubtedly the better. The soil 
has then more chance to get settled about the roots 
before the advent of hard weather. I have seen yew 
trees lifted and transplanted even in June, but do not 
consider it to be by any means a suitable time for the 
work, and it is not a practice to be recommended. If 
left so late in the year as June, constant attention must 
be paid to watering, else the result will be disastrous. 
If the trees have been growing for a few years in a 
reserve nursery-garden close at hand, they can be lifted 
and replanted without undue exposure to the open air 
or drying winds; but if they have to be brought from 
afar, and have had to undergo a long railway journey, 
they are almost certain to be found on arrival to be dry 
at the roots. In this case, they should be at once un- 
packed and submerged in a tank of water for a few hours, 
and then heeled into the ground as near as possible to 
the place where planting is to be carried on, and after- 
wards lifted and replanted as required. 
No rank manure of any kind should be used either 
mixed with the soil, or applied to the roots of the trees, 
