164 
THE GARDEN M A GAZINE 
April, 19 17 
4 
door jobs that can be pushed on the disagree- 
able days. First of all clean up anything in 
the way of out-door work left over from last 
month. Look over last month’s Garden 
Magazine and check up the different jobs 
suggested. One thing frequently overlooked 
is the pruning of late summer flowering shrubs. 
Attend to it now, before the new growth, on 
which this summer’s flowers will be borne, 
starts. Shrubs that have been allowed to go 
for several years without pruning, and are 
beginning to get “brushy” and overcrowded, 
will be improved by cleaning out the surplus 
old wood, cutting it clear back to the ground, 
and leaving room and light for the new growth 
to develop freely. Be careful not to merely 
“trim”such a plant, which will merely aggra- 
vate the trouble which it is sought to remedy. 
The “heading-back” of a shoot or branch 
stimulates the production of side growths 
below the point at which the cut is made. 
Most shrubs are far more beautiful when al- 
lowed to assume their natural habit of growth 
which they will do if they are thinned out 
instead of being cut back. Spring flowering 
shrubs had better not be touched now; wait till 
just after flowering. 
KEEPING THE HARDY PERENNIALS HEALTHY 
/"\FTTIME hardy plants which do finely for 
the first few years gradually “run out” 
without apparent cause. The most general 
cause for this condition is the overcrowding 
of the plants due to the production of new 
centres or “crowns” in the clump which the 
plant forms, and a gradual reduction of the 
plant food in the soil within reach of its roots. 
The remedy is simple. Any plants in this 
condition should be taken up now, as early 
as possible, and “divided” and replanted. 
Each clump or crown will give you several good 
small plants. Separate the old clump into 
parts with the aid of a transplanting fork and 
the hand, or a spading fork, rather than by a 
knife or sharp spade, as the natural lines of 
breakage or cleavage can be followed more 
closely. If the plants are to go back into the 
same position, manure and bonemeal should 
be dug into the soil before replanting. This 
treatment will take only a few minutes for each 
plant, and will restore its vigor and size of 
bloom for several years. Many perennials, 
such as phlox, which increase rapidly should be 
taken up and divided every two or three years; 
while others, such as peonies, will go for much 
longer periods. 
SPARE THE ROSE BUSH AND SPOIL THE BLOOM 
A NOTHER “first early” job for outdoors 
is the pruning of the hardy Roses. You 
can attend to the hybrid perpetuals (and to the 
rugosas if they were not trimmed last fall) at 
once. The teas and hybrid teas it is better 
to leave until the buds begin to swell, as the 
winter killed wood can then be more easily 
distinguished. Don’t be afraid of severe 
pruning! To get the biggest and the best 
flowers, a plant should be cut back with what 
to the beginner would seem brutal ruthlessness 
— that is, cut out everything but from four to 
eight good-sized branches or canes, and cut 
these back to three to six buds. Another 
thing, which seems somewhat of a paradox to 
the beginner, is that weaker growing plants 
should be pruned back more severely than 
strong growers. For the most effective dis- 
play in the garden, cut out the surplus and 
weaker branches, leaving about twice as many 
as you would to get the biggest flowers, and 
cut back those that are left from a third to a 
hall. In short, the more severe the pruning 
the better and bigger the flowers, but the fewer 
of them. 
CLEANING UP WALKS AND DRIVES 
A S SOON as the soil dries out enough to be 
firm and solid under foot, get at the trim- 
ming up of walks, roads, drives, etc. This is 
work that can be done a little at a time with- 
out serious disadvantage. Where the coal 
man has driven over the edge of your lawn, or 
some one has shaved a corner too close, and 
cut off a slice of sod, get busy just as new 
growth starts. Such damages can often be 
repaired with the back of spade. Where they 
DO THIS MONTH 
Plow, spade, or rake all ground that is to be 
planted as soon as soil and weather permit. 
Get ground ready for setting out fruit trees, orna- 
mentals and other nursery stock to be received. 
Transplant, or divide, hardy perennials, flower- 
roots, etc., requiring attention. 
Top dress all lawns and renovate where neces- 
sary. 
Prune Roses and late flowering shrubs only ; do 
not touch others. 
Trim up and edge all walks, roads, beds, and 
borders. 
Remove mulch from bulbs. Rose beds, hardy 
border, etc. 
Re-pot seedlings and cuttings to be used for 
setting out later; also young plants to be grown 
on for next fall and winter use. 
Attend to any grafting or budding as soon as 
weather conditions are favorable. 
PLANT THIS MONTH 
Roots , bulbs and tubers; Anemones, Gladioli, 
Irises, Incarvillea Delavayi, Montbretias, Ranuncu- 
lus, Zephyranthes; also Cannas, Dahlias, and Tigri- 
dias, toward the end of the month after danger of 
frost. 
Shrubs and Trees; nursery stock, including decidu- 
ous shrubs and evergreens, as early as possible. 
Fruits; all the orchard fruits, apple, pear, peach, 
cherry, plum, and quince; and the small fruits — 
currants, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc., 
and strawberries, the earlier the better. 
Vegetables Under Glass; for forcing: pole beans, 
cucumbers, melons, summer squash, sweet com, 
frotn seed : tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, cucumb- 
ers, and melons from pots. 
For transplanting outside: pole and lima beans, 
sweet com, cucumbers, gourds, okra, pumpkins, 
squash, summer and winter. 
Vegetables Outdoors; seed: beets, carrots, corn, 
(extra early), kohl-rabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, pars- 
ley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radish, salsify, swiss 
chard, spinach, and turnips. 
Seeds for plants to transplant later: asparagus, 
brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, leeks, 
lettuce, cos lettuce. 
Plants from frames, and roots: asparagus, beets, 
cabbage, cauliflower, horse radish, kale, lettuce, 
onions, onion sets, sprouted potatoes, rhubarb. 
Flowers Outside; from seed: Asters, Candytuft, 
Carnations, Celosia, Centaurea, Eschscholtzia, an- 
nual Hollyhocks, Marigolds, Morning Glories, 
Nasturtiums, annual Poppies, Sweet Peas, Sweet 
William, and others of the hardy perennials or 
biennials. 
Growing plants from frames or florist: Ageratum, 
Asters, Sweet Alyssum, Antirrhinums, Beilis per- 
ennis, Dianthus, Forget-Me-Nots, Pansies, Paris 
Daisies, Petunias, Stocks, Verbenas, and other 
hardy perennials and biennials (These may also 
be started from seed in the open). 
Hardy Perennials: from the nurseryman; 
Aquilegia, Anemone, hardy Asters, hardy Chrysan- 
themums, Delphiniums, Iris, Peony, etc., etc. 
are too severe for that, cut out the damaged 
part to a clean edge and fit in pieces of turf, 
being sure to tamp them down very firmly. 
Ruts and hollows can be evened up by filling 
in with a mixture of half good garden soil and 
half humus, and seeding on the top. If you 
have much edging to do, by all means get an 
edging tool. I his costs but a few dollars; 
it is made on the principle of a wheel hoe. If 
you haven’t enough work of this kind to get 
one of these, there is a little hand tool, some- 
what like a scuffle hoe but with one edge 
turned up vertically, which does very quick, 
neat work. While the eye must be trusted 
to ascertain extent in trimming and edging, it 
is better to assist it with a line. 
REMOVE THE WINTER OVERCOAT BY DEGREES 
TN 1AKING off the mulch from the bulb 
■*- bed, hardy border, rose bed, etc., don’t 
be in too much of a hurry to get busy at the 
first sign of spring, but be still more careful to 
avoid leaving it on until the plants have 
started beneath the mulch; when removing it 
exposes the tender growth to late frosts. It 
is better to take off only from a half to a third 
at first, and remove the rest one to two weeks 
later. Save the old mulch for summer 
mulching, or for the compost heap. Where 
manure has been used, do not pick it up too 
clean, but dig into the soil the small fragments 
that remain, using a wide tined fork. 
KEEP ONE EYE ON THE GREENHOUSE AND 
FRAMES 
VI/'HILE the work of repotting and shifting 
v v the young plants, cuttings, and seedlings, 
which have been started during the last two or 
three months, may be done on rainy days, it 
should not be left for a rainy day after they 
need attention. A few days’ neglect may 
mean serious damage. Young plants that 
have been potted up into two or three inch 
pots, and even plants that need transplanting, 
can be held back a while, if you are too rushed 
to attend to them, by withholding water to 
some extent, and also by shifting them, and 
giving them more room. With small pots, for 
instance, that were placed “edge to edge” you 
can take out every other row, thus preventing 
the tops from crowding and getting weak and 
spindly. Even flats of plants which are 
moved so that there will be two or three inches 
between them each way, may be “held” for 
several days. The shifting gives the growth a 
temporary check, and the added space and air 
will brace them up very perceptibly. 
ARE YOU GRAFTING? 
jC'RUIT trees (apple, pear, peach, plum, or 
cherry) which, though healthy, do not 
bear, or bear fruit which is not satisfactory in 
flavor, may as well be worked over to better 
quality. The cost is next to nothing, and even 
if you have not attempted this kind of work be- 
fore, if you will study directions, and follow 
them carefully, at least a part of your attempts 
should be successful. If your place is so small 
that you have room for only a few trees, there 
is no reason why you should not have several 
varieties of fruit on each. This work should be 
done before growth starts. If you don’t care 
to try it yourself, get some local gardener to do 
it, and by helping him you can learn more in 
fifteen minutes than you can in half a day’s 
reading. 
don’t sacrifice your plants 
T) EMEMBER that everything you are 
going to set outdoors, from a cabbage to a 
Coleus, should be well hardened off before 
you shift it from the frame to the garden. 
This is of the greatest importance, even where 
you do not have to anticipate trouble from 
late frosts, or expect to use plant protectors. 
They should be given full air day and night 
for several days — better a week — before being 
put in the open. This hardening off, of course, 
must be done gradually. Plants taken from 
the greenhouse and put in the frames will get 
almost as much of a shock as in being changed 
from the frames to the field. Keep them 
rather close for a day or two, but give more 
and more air as rapidly as they seem to be able 
to stand it, until you can leave them fully 
exposed. 
