40 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[March, 



SHRUBS AND SHRUBBERIES. 



In places of limited extent that do not ad- 

 mit of any attempt at elaborate landscape gar- 

 dening, a great deal may still be done in that 

 direction by a little care in the proper disposi- 

 tion of shrub planting. It is no uncommon 

 error in planting them, either in groups or 

 belts, to plant too closely, or not to pay suffi- 

 cient attention to the relative size to which they 

 attain when of mature growth. 



In purchasing them from nurseries it is fre- 

 quently the case that a shrub of the largest 

 growth can only be supplied of a small size by 

 reason of its rarity, or demand, while those of 

 smaller growth, being more plentiful, are sup- 

 plied at almost the full height to which they at- 

 tain, and being larger in the first instance, are 

 placed in the background, where they are ulti- 

 mately smothered by those of larger growth 

 planted in the foreground. 



Where a fence has to be hidden, or perhaps 

 a carriage road which convenience renders nec- 

 essary to be as straight as possible : or an out- 

 building to be shut out from view, a single 

 row of tall-growing shrubs hardly answers the 

 purpose. In a few years they grow up, having 

 a mass of leafy tops but below a similar mass 

 of bare stems which not only fail to hide the 

 object intended but present an untidy, unfin- 

 ished appearance. A triple row planted with 

 care and with regard to their future growth 

 would remedy this evil and give a variety and 

 finish pleasing to the eye. 



in the background should be planted the 

 taller growing shrubs, such as: Common Lilacs, 

 Altheas, Halesias, Philadelphus grandiflorus, 

 Viburnum opulus, Weigela rosea, etc. In the 

 second row should be planted Deutzia scabra, 

 Philadelphus coronarius, Persian Lilacs, For- 

 sythias, Hydrangea paniculata, Magnolia pur- 

 purea, Spiraea prunifolia, and others of similar 

 size, while the front row would consist of 

 Spiraea Reevesii, single and double, S. Doug- 

 lasii, S. callosa, Clethras, Daphne mezereum, 

 Azalea obtusa and deciduous varieties known 

 as Ghent Azaleas, Deutzia gracilis and all the 

 low-growing shrubs. 



In planting, the common rule is to plant 

 four feet apart in each direction. This rule, 

 however, may be modified somewhat by allow- 

 ing a greater distance between the plants form- 

 ing the back row. As a rule it is not desirable 

 to plant evergreens with deciduous shrubs as 

 the first delight in a free circulation of air 

 around them, and, being smothered by the lat- 

 ter, soon lose their leaves and have a bare, 

 scraggy look in the winter season when the 

 leaves have fallen off the surrounding decidu- 

 ous shrubs. 



In places of a still more limited extent where 

 belts of shrubs are inadmissible, the same care 

 in planting groups with reference to future 

 growth should be exercised, and when the 

 space only allows a limited number of shrubs, 

 a few well grown and attended to properly, will 

 give more satisfaction than a greater number 

 uncared for. 



It is rather a difficult matter to recommend 

 some particular shrubs in preference to others, 

 as varying tastes differ widely in such matters. 

 For a choice selection the following may be 

 recommended: Deutzias, double white and 

 double pink, Viburnum plicatum, Hydrangea 

 paniculata grandiflora, Fxorchordum grandi- 



florum, Spiraea Reevesii flo. pi. Weigela 

 rosea and vars., Deutzia gracilis, Spirsea callosa, 

 Magnolia stellata and Persian Lilac (red and 

 white vars.), Pyrus japoniea and some varieties 

 of Ghent Azaleas. Out of the excellent lists 

 published by prominent nurserymen it is in- 

 deed difficult to confine one's self to a few, but 

 the above named are among the best when but 

 a few are wanted. Newer species and varieties 

 are yearly introduced and some of late intro- 

 duction are not named owing to the high price 

 they command and the improbability of pro- 

 curing them of sufficient size for immediate 

 effect, * * * 



TRANSPLANTING NATIVE SHRUBS, 



Native shrubs may be transplanted in the 

 early spring, as soon as the ground will permit, 

 or if not convenient at this season, the plants 

 should be marked and set out in the fall. In 

 the latter case they are apt to suffer less, and 

 make a better growth during the following sea- 

 son. Where the planting is done in autumn 

 marking becomes necessary from the fact that 

 when the leaves have fallen the-bushes look so 

 much alike that only an experienced botanist 

 can distinguish the different species. 



To designate the shrubs we wish to trans- 

 plant, a wooden label, painted white, may be 

 tied to a main branch of the bush with a piece 

 of wire, — string being apt to rot off. A num- 

 ber written upon the label corresponding to one 

 in a memoranda in which the time of inflor- 

 escence, color and exact location of the shrub are 

 noticed. Thus the position can again be read- 

 ily found, and the plant placed in its new 

 home. The best time for marking .shrubs we 

 wish to move is when they are in flower, as 

 we can then form a better idea of their sym- 

 metry and beauty. In making the selection, 

 young plants only should be chosen and such 

 growing in open places or on the' skirts or 

 borders of woodlands, these, being more hard- 

 ened to the strong sunlight, will not be affected 

 by the change of position as much as those 

 growing in the deep shade of forests, which 

 will not bear removal at all. 



The difficulty of transplanting large, full 

 grown shrubs in the ordinary manner is so 

 great, that it is but seldom attempted. Yet we 

 find sometimes an exceedingly beautiful speci- 

 men of Rhododendron, Azalea, Kalmia and 

 other native evergreen shrubs for which we 

 would willingly pay a large sum if we could 

 have it removed, as it stands, to our grounds, 

 and would do a great amount of work to accom- 

 plish our object. Every lover of plants and 

 natural beauty has, we are sure, just such a 

 shrub in his mind, which he has longingly 

 desired to see placed in a certain shady corner 

 of his lawn. 



To accomplish this object some patience, 

 work, and a year or two of time are necessary. 

 In early spring as soon as frost is out of the 

 ground, dig a ditch around the selected bush 

 about one foot from the stem and more in case 

 of very large specimens. Expose all the roots, 

 without disturbing the inner soil, then cut 

 every root with a sharp knife, the larger ones 

 with a saw, close to the ball, and fill the ditch 

 again with loose soil. During summer these 

 severed roots will throw out a great number of 

 small fibrous roots, and in the following spring 

 the shrub may be removed with safety, if care 

 is taken to preserve all the young roots. With 

 large specimens and when many large roots 

 have to be cut, it is necessary to defer trans- 

 planting two years. C. R, Hexamer. 



ROCKERIES. 



A correspondent, tired of the "stereotyped 

 shrubbery, "asks for some advice as regards the 

 formation of rockeries, which we give, but 

 without much hope that it will be serviceable; 

 for among the many strange perversities of the 

 human mind there is nothing more sad than 

 the turn it takes when directed to the forma- 

 tion of a rockery. It is generally constructed 

 in such a way that the plants can neither be 

 seen upon it nor grown upon it. Perhaps the 

 difficulty arises from the fact that so few peo- 

 ple really notice what they see in countries 

 where the rock crops out naturally, and where 

 what are called alpine plants grow. A vague 

 notion has been instilled into their minds that 

 the. right thing is to form a hybrid between a 

 bank and wall of scoria, burnt bricks, or any 

 rubbish which they can get hold of. When 

 the material is better the same idea is faithfully 

 carried out ; there is no evidence that anybody 

 remembers the fact that alpine flowers, like 

 other flowers, grow in the grass or in the level 

 soil, in the great majority of cases, and that 

 comparatively few of them care for a dusty 

 hole between two stones in a lowland country. 

 Frequently the rockwork is made without any 

 space for soil, or, if there be soil below, proba- 

 bly there are dry interstices which prevent the 

 roots getting to the soil ; but in the Alps we 

 find alpine flowei-s growing on the level ground 

 by thousands, and on this level ground they 

 get many months of snow and many rains in 

 spring ; but where there may be no snow, but 

 on the contrary very often a drying time in 

 winter and autumn as well as in summer, the 

 surface exposed to all sorts of vicissitudes, peo- 

 ple act as if the plants could live on air and 

 dust. When the masses of artificial cement 

 work are made, the pockets, as they are called, 

 at the sides are far too small, and as the edges 

 project the plants are often starved. 



The conclusion from all this is that we ought 

 to make fewer rockeries, and make them with 

 about one-sixth of the material that is generally 

 used, and dispose of that material in a wholly 

 different way. The rock or stone should crop 

 out of banks or masses of suitable soil, more 

 rock being supposed to be hidden. This, at 

 all events, is the best way for the beginner, 

 who is likely to make a mistake ; this also is 

 the true way for allowing plant beauty to be 

 seen, inasmuch as so grown plants can be seen 

 in little colonies or carpets of each, and their 

 bright colors enjoyed ; whereas, stuck in holes 

 between masses of petrified rubbish or stone, 

 the plants cannot be seen. Five or six stones 

 of mossy or worn millstone grit, or any other 

 suitable stone, half buried in a mound of earth, 

 make a far better rockery to begin with than 

 many a pretentious affair, costing much money 

 and time in its formation. Our advice to those 

 who love plants, but are without good stone 

 easily obtainable in their neighborhood, and 

 have not some idea, from their own observa- 

 tion, of rocks or alpine flowers in nature, 

 would be to do very little, or nothing at all, in 

 this way. Every plant they want of the char- 

 acter usually placed on these structures can be 

 grown as well on the level ground or on a 

 raised border where the soil is favorable — that 

 is to say, free or sandy. An immense number 

 of kinds can be grown on stiff soils. 



In making artificial landscapes, and all that 

 sort of work, people forget the real beauty 

 which may be obtained on the level ground by 

 a sufficient number of beautiful trees and other 

 living objects. — London Garden. 



