XX 



SOME GENERAL GARDEN TALK 



THE person who is beginning to garden does not 

 always want to begin at the actual beginning 

 of gardening — obviously. Even though he is willing 

 to pass through all the long apprenticeship which 

 the craft demands, there may be things, requiring to be 

 done at once, that are way in advance of the first year's 

 work. These we will try to consider here. 



Let us suppose that an old lilac bush is in the wrong 

 place; what is to be done to get it into the right one, 

 without killing it ? If the time is summer there is just 

 one thing to be done, above all others — that is, wait for 

 the falling of the leaf and ripening of the wood. Never 

 move any old and established woody plant while it is 

 in leaf; move such things only during their dormant 

 season. 



Then first of all dig the hole to receive it — big and 

 broad and deep. Be generous about it. After this 

 is done, to the plant itself: in digging it up, work 

 patiently. Here the pick will be most serviceable; 

 loosen the soil thoroughly with it before taking any 

 out with the shovel. Work always parallel with the 

 outstanding roots of the plant — that is, parallel with a 



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