Rhododendrons banking a Colonial residence in Salem, Mass. 
The Successful Rhododendron Bed 
SIMPLE RULES WHICH WILL BRING PLEASING AND LASTING 
RESULTS IF CAREFULLY FOLLOWED 
The highest ambition of the plant-lover is to have a successful bed of Rhododendrons 
together with other ericacese and flowering plants that naturally go with them. How few 
succeed is well known. .Many, discouraged by the imagined or hcard-of difficulties, never 
even make the attempt; yet, 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 exotic) plants — grow naturally 
in shady, damp situations, being surface feeders, with fine, hair-like rootlets. Plainly, there- 
fore, dry, hard ground or drought checks growth or kills outright; nature provides against 
this by supplying a mulch of leaves the year 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 sec 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, 
presumably through the medium of a mycelium, which increases rapidly under suitable con- 
ditions; 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 
of sharp s;ind, or even more, 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. 
Planting. Plant the same depth as before (shown by earth line, or "collar" on stem) 
and firmly press soil around roots with the foot, but don't pack the earth too solid — Rhodo- 
dendrons are not telegraph poles. "Fillers," including Lilies and other bulbs and smaller 
ground-co\ ering species should be planted after the larger plants are all in and properly spaced. 
The Great Secret. Mulch, and yet mulch again, all the year round. This is the great 
Rhododendron secret. As soon as planted, cover the entire surface of the ground with a 
vegetable mulching — preferably hardwood leaves — to the depth of several inches when reason- 
ably well packed. Never remove this mulching, but let it remain the year round, and every 
fall add a new layer of similar depth. A foot of leaves in the fall means but a half-inch or so 
of humus the coming season — the future food of the Rhododendrons or Azaleas. A thin dress- 
ing of loam and well-rotted manure may be used to hold down the fresh leaves till they begin 
to decay. The leaves keep the surface cool in summer and warm in winter. This is the great 
secret of Rhododendron-growing. 
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