Thousands of plant-lover* would make a Rhododendron bed or planting if they felt assured of successful 
results 
SUCCESSFUL RHODODENDRON 
BORDERS 
SIMPLE RULES WHICH WILL BRING PLEASING AND LASTING RESULTS 
Main- discouraged bv imagined or heard-of difficulties, never even make the attempt to grow 
Rhododendrons; vet. under average conditions, success is as simple and sure as with ordinary shrubs. 
It is a question of doing the right thing before, during, and after planting. „ . . 
Nature Knows Best. Rhododendrons— and I include under this term. Azaleas. Kalmias, 
Leucothoes, and other ericaceous genera and similar native (and i exotic) ' Plants-grow naturally 
in shady, damp situations, being surface feeders, with fine ha.r-l.ke rootlets, ."f™^ 
dry hard ground or drought checks growth or kills outright. Nature provides against this by supply- 
ing a mulch of leaves the vear round; very few gardeners have learned this lesson. ___♦« 
First Excavate the Bed, unless conditions are already favorable. A deep, porous soil prevents 
drought; excavate 2 to 3 feet or more, and see that in clay soils good drainage is provided, so that 
water will not stagnate in the bottom and make "sour ground." 
Material for the Bed. Rhododendrons live largely on vegetable mold and humus, presum- 
ablv through the medium of a mycelium, which increases rapidly under suitable conditions; therefore 
fill in the excavation with woods' or leaf-mold, good loam, rotted field sods and a third in bulk of 
swamp muck or pulverized peat; while filling in this mixture one-tenth o J***^JS 
should be added; if any manure is used, it must in every case be well rotted and practically reduced 
to humus. The center of the bed or plantation may be raised 6 to 12 inches above surrounding ground, 
after allowing for natural settling. ,. „ „,.„„,•, __j 
Planting. Plant the same depth as before (shown by earth line, or collar on st m) and 
firmlv press soil around roots with the foot, but don't pack the earth too so ld— Rhododendrons 
are riot telegraph poles. "Fillers." including Lilies and other bulbs and smaller ground-covering 
species, should be planted after the larger plants are all in and properly spaced. . . 
Water. Soak all plantings with all the water they will take, for there is no other satisfactory 
way to settle the earth firmlv and bring it into physical contact with the roots. , . > 
The Great Secret. Mulch, and vet mulch again, all the year round. As soon as planted, 
cover the entire surface of the ground with a vegetable mulching— preferably hardwtKxl leaves—to 
the depth of several inches when reasonably well settled. Never remove this mulching, but let it 
remain the vear round, and every fall add a new layer of similar depth. A foot of eaves in the tall 
means but a half-inch or so of humus the coming season— the future food of the Rhododendrons or 
Azaleas. A thin dressing of loam and well-rotted manure may be used to hold down the tresti leaves 
till they begin to decay. The leaves keep the surface cool in summer and warm m winter. 1 111s is 
the great secret of Rhododendron-growing. . . _ „ 
Winter Protection. If convenient, protect them with pine or other evergreen boughs, par- 
ticularly where exposed to the sun and wind; yet Rhododendrons rarely sutler in the latitude ot 
Boston or Buffalo, if properly planted and mulched. 
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