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THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



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PRUNING EVERGREENS. 



Pruning Evergreens has undergone a com- 

 plete revolution within the past few years. 

 Who ever heard of the old gardeners pruning 

 back this class of trees to compel them to form 

 dense compact round heads ? With the ex- 

 ception of the old-fashioned Box-bush, and 

 Holly, no other species ever felt the knife. 

 On account of the Pine family proper never 

 showing buds except terminal ones, it was 

 thought to be simple destruction to cut off a 

 shoot ; and now not the least attention is ever 

 paid to buds or shoots of any description, but 

 the tree is sheared into the proper outline ac- 

 cording as the eye dictates. 



There are numerous undeveloped buds that 

 are only awaiting proper conditions to force 

 them into active growth, and thus evergreen 

 trees are not only made to assume a regular 

 outline, but to become very compact as well. 

 No class of cone-bearing trees are more bene- 

 fited by close pruning than the Arbor Vitass 

 and the common Hemlock Spruce. The dif- 

 ference in these, between the pruned and un- 

 pruned specimens is so marked as to enable 

 the first to command double the price as the 

 latter in the nursery row. 



ASPARAGUS AS A LAWN PLANT. 



A friend of the "London Garden" suggests 

 a very good idea as to Asparagus: "Of 

 course the old plan of sticking the plants in 

 close beds is all wrong. There are many bits 

 of fine soil in gardens, even the so-caUed 

 pleasure grounds and hardy plant borders, 

 where a strong clump of the common Aspara- 

 gus would be a great ornament, as well as of 

 use. I shall plant a hundred or more good 

 clumps of Asparagus in our borders here, 

 partly for its tender shoots in spring, partly 

 for its spray for cutting during the summer 

 and autumn months, but mainly for its feath- 

 ery grace as a beautiful hardy plant. In many 

 a villa garden, even where good Asparagus 

 may never be seen raised in the ordinary 

 way, a capital supply could be obtained by 

 simply dotting a few plants here and there in 

 borders, and on the margins of shrubberies, 

 not only as single specimens, but as groups and 

 masses— never, however, nearer to each other 

 than four feet." 



Lawns are much benefited by an application 

 of bone dust, or superphosphate of lime, fol- 

 lowed by a dressing with fine manure at this 

 season of the year. The protection thereby 

 afforded to the grass roots, especially in cold 

 winters without snow, will be well repaid in 

 the luxuriance of the grass, and the dark green 

 color of the lawn during the following summer. 



Where the making of new Lawns is contem- 

 plated, all available manure should be spread 

 over the surface, as soon as possible. The 

 winter rains and snows will carry the soluble 

 parts into the soil, and prepare them for im- 

 mediate assimilation by the young grass roots. 



Evergreens and other trees, and shrubs with 

 brittle wood should have the snow shaken 

 off their branches after every heavy snow fall. 

 Many valuable trees become permanently dis- 

 figured from the bending or breaking of their 

 limbs, by heavy masses of snow and ice. 



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ANO GMEMN JIOUSIE. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



During cold weather, care must be taken to 

 prevent freezing and sudden chills on the one 

 hand and on the other not to allow the room 

 to get too warm. In extreme cold, plants are 

 better removed from the windows and placed 

 on the floor, into some warm corner ; sheets 

 of paper pinned over them will afford a great 

 deal of protection at any time. Watering 

 should be carefully attended to, avoiding ex- 

 tremes and remembering the more heat the 

 more water, and vice versa. Occasional wash- 

 ing of the leaves, either by syringing or spong- 

 ing, will greatly assist in keeping plants in 

 good health. But little can be done just now 

 in repotting or changing, this is better deferred 

 until the return of lengthened days. 



All Bulbs intended for early blooming should, 

 toward the middle of January, be placed in 

 sunny windows, and kept constantly moist ; 

 those in glasses should have water just touch- 

 ing the base of the bulb, and a few pieces of 

 charcoal will keep the water perfectly sweet. 



Green Hause Plants require about the same 

 care for the next two months, after which cut- 

 tings of many plants such as Fuchsias, Petu- 

 nias, Geraniums and other soft wooded plants 

 can be put in. choosing the warmest place and 

 if bottom heat can be had so much the better. 

 By the first of February repotting may be 

 commenced, beginning with those plants that 

 have their pots well filled with roots, but in 

 all cases where plants are not commencing to 

 grow, it is better to defer this operation. Only 

 clean pots, well drained, and good soil should 

 be used at any time. 



SOIL FOR POTTING PLANTS. 



For general purposes the best soil for pot- 

 ting plants is simply turves of fresh loam, taken 

 from old pastures, or the road-side, when not 

 otherwise to be had. Now is a good time to 

 lay in a store for future use. The turves 

 should be cut thin, not more than one and a 

 half inches thick. When cut, pile away in a 

 dry place under a shed or in an out-building, 

 placing the grassy surfaces together in layers 

 one above another to a convenient height. 

 Between each layer of turves place a layer of 

 cattle droppings. These can be easily pro- 

 cured and are the best substitute for leaf 

 mould when thoroughly mingled with the soil. 



Placed in a dry place the grass and its roots 

 speedily decay, and in the course of a few 

 months will be fit for use. When wanted for 

 use take a sharp spade and beginning at one 

 end of the heap pare down the surface from 

 top to bottom as thinly as possible, and when 

 a sufficient quantity is cut, mix up well togeth- 

 er. It will then hardly need any other prepa- 

 ration, but it may be well, for using in sruall 

 pots, to pass it through a very coarse sieve to 

 remove large lumps and undecayed roots. 

 Should the loam be heavy, a portion of sand 

 (not gravel) may be added, thoroughly mixing 

 it with the loam. 



It is impossible to accurately describe what 

 constitutes a heavy or a sandy loam, but on 

 an average one-sixth part of sand may be ad- 

 ded with advantage for Geraniums, Fuchsias, 

 Heliotropes and Abutilons, and in fact the 

 greater portion of greenhouse plants. For 

 Cacti a larger portion may be added, or better 



still pieces of broken flower pots to insure 

 thorough drainage. For Azaleas it is desirable 

 to add about one-half of good peat soil, or 

 leaf mould well decomposed. The first is not 

 always to be had at hand, but without it, ex- 

 cellent results in cultivation are to be had. In 

 conclusion let me impress on your readers the 

 necessity of firming well the soil in potting as 

 essential in successful culture, especially of 

 hard-wooded plants. 



PROPAGATING GERANIUMS. 



When the beds commenced to get thorough- 

 ly shabby in September we dug the Gerani- 

 ums up and heeled them in, in a dry place for 

 a day or two, keeping them short of water. We 

 then had a load of soil from the woods hauled 

 and some road sand, these mixed with some 

 old cow manure will be useful in season, but 

 we only used the sand, with soil enough to 

 color it. The Geraniums were then cut into 

 three inch lengths and laid in a row on the 

 porch to allow the wounds to dry. Next 

 morning we filled our box, (a dry goods box. 

 with sides cut down to one foot, and a tin bot- 

 tom in, half way down, the wooden bottom 

 being removed. ) This box stands on trestles 

 in the bay window, and we have a coal oil 

 stove just barely lit on the ground under it. 

 It is astonishing how soon our cuttings struck 

 and when they had put out shoots half an inch 

 long, we put them into thumb pots with a lit- 

 tle more soil, and a small proportion of cow 

 manure in the sand. Then in went more cut- 

 tings. Where did we get them ? Out of the 

 cellar ; we just bunched the plants, like boys 

 string their fish, and hung them up, roots up, 

 in the cellar, with no dirt on, and when we 

 had exhausted the bright days of the Indian 

 summer, we filled our plant case with bulbs, 

 and put our plants in the cellar, pots and all. 

 In the spring we brought up our old Gerani- 

 ums from the nail. Most of them had put 

 out long white shoots like Potatoes sometimes 

 do. We planted them in earth, and gave them 

 a little bottom heat for a few days ; no direct 

 sun light, and they commenced growing. 

 Then as soon as the spring growth tendency 

 was strong, we cut them up and made a num- 

 ber of spring cuttings. 



A few nails are driven round the moulding 

 where the bay window opens into the room, 

 one or two curtain rings are sewed'on blan- 

 kets, and with our coal oil stove we can defy 

 "old Zero" and his anti-horticultural designs. 

 Nothing new in all this, and yet some of your 

 readers might not know how to raise a couple 

 of hundred cuttings in the window, and save 

 them over winter. 



Plants for Hanging Baskets. — Plants of 

 a compact, trailing or drooping habit are most 

 desirable, and with proper care many beauti- 

 ful plants, generally not used for baskets, can 

 be grown in them. There is nothing more 

 graceful than some of the smaller Ferns, Ge- 

 raniums, Centaureas, Sedums, Troppeolums, 

 Ooleus, Achyranthes, Begonias, Tradescantias, 

 Gnaphaliums, Saxifraga sarmentosa, Lysim- 

 achia nummularia, Ivies and many others are 

 suitable. Most florists furnish assorted "Bask- 

 et plants." 



In purchasing cut flowers ask for bits of 

 vine, snips of green, and add sprays of f oliage. 

 These, if gracefully added to the bouquet,, 

 make it far more attractive. 



