HOUSE AND GARDEN 
October, 1912 
209 
new leaf buds for the following year to mature as they should. 
Be governed at all times — spring as well as fall-—in the selec¬ 
tion of trees especially, by what grows naturally in the locality 
for which you are selecting as well as in similar spots in the lo¬ 
cality. Because a certain kind of tree flourishes on a hillside not 
fifty yards away, do not make the mistake of assuming that one of 
the same variety will thrive on the flat and perhaps heavy land at 
the foot of the slope. There are some trees to be sure that will 
do equally well on uplands or lowlands, but this is not usual; and 
every little variation in level, moisture and soil texture may count. 
Remember that nothing is too 
small to note and be guided by. 
Dampness and alternating cold 
and warmth are the most serious 
menace to autumn planted gar¬ 
dens, but both of these may be 
overcome without any very great 
effort. Deep preparation of the 
soil, with a loosening of the hard- 
pan beneath that retains the mois¬ 
ture, is usually all that any but 
actually swampy land will need to 
overcome the first. If this will not 
assure a fair elimination of mois¬ 
ture, give up all idea of fall plant¬ 
ing; it is courting almost certain 
failure to plant in the fall in such 
a spot—or even in a less moist 
one, if the soil generally of the locality is heavy and wet and cold. 
Be content with fall preparation of the ground in such a locality, 
turning it over to a depth of eighteen inches to two feet and leav¬ 
ing it for the action of the weather. 
This helps to secure mellow earth to 
work with when spring and planting 
time arrive. 
Alternating warmth and chill or 
frost are taken care of by proper 
mulching; and this brings us to a mat¬ 
ter of the very greatest importance. 
Unless it is fully understood that 
every single tree, shrub or flowering 
plant that is fall planted must be pro¬ 
tected through its first winter, and 
that its protection must be applied in a 
certain way and just at the precise mo¬ 
ment when conditions demand it, there 
is bound to be a very considerable loss, 
if not a total one. Do not attempt sum- 
mer’s-end gardening unless it can be 
followed up with proper care. It is 
not so much a question of what kinds 
of plants as it is of what kind of a 
planter, and the work is not more than 
half done when the things are in the 
ground. They must be blanketed and 
bedded down, and this means vigilance 
as well as willingness on the part of 
their caretaker, else all the earlier work will come to naught. 
With the work all rightly done, however, nearly everything suc¬ 
ceeds as well when planted or transplanted in the fall as in the 
spring. But there are certain exceptions which must be noted. 
Rhododendrons and all the broad leaved evergreens, are one; 
these should not be newly set out from the nursery or even moved 
a short distance in the garden, excepting in the spring. Some 
claim to be able to handle them with good results in the fall, to be 
sure; but the best growers do not approve it. Other evergreens 
usually do best when shifted in August or September—too early 
to be called fall, yet decidedly nearer fall than spring, planting. 
Roses should be planted in the spring and spring planting is con¬ 
ceded to be better for magnolias, the birch, beech and members 
of the poplar family; also for the stone fruits—that is, the peach 
and its kind, which grow around a pit. And some perennials are 
regarded as doubtful candidates for moving in the fall; but proper 
protection during their first winter will carry any of them over, I 
am convinced, unless their location is particularly unfavorable. 
The operation of planting is of course the same, whether it is 
performed in spring or autumn. A hole as large as the full spread 
of the roots of tree or shrub or 
herbaceous plant must be dug, and 
this should be made deep. Usually 
I have all holes to receive trees or 
shrubs made from six inches to a 
foot deeper than the roots require; 
then over the bottom a layer of ma¬ 
nure is spread, and over this, well 
pulverized earth. Let this be raised 
a trifle at the center, making a low 
pyramid; this forms a bed con¬ 
forming to the natural incline of 
the roots downward, as they radi¬ 
ate from the bole out, and will be 
found to facilitate the work of set¬ 
ting and securing the tree very 
much. It leaves less opportunity 
for settling later, too; and does 
away with the necessity for working quite so much earth down 
through the roots immediately beneath the tree trunk. 
The protecting mulch of leaves or straw litter should not go 
on until the ground freezes; then it 
should be applied at once, before the 
frost has an opportunity to escape. Its 
purpose is to keep a steady, even tem¬ 
perature, not to induce warmth; to 
keep the sun from thawing what in the 
night has frozen. Thawing and 
freezing are the fatal things, fatal be¬ 
cause they almost invariably throw a 
plant clear of the ground when re¬ 
peated many times, as well as because 
they submit it to extremes which it is 
not prepared to endure unless it is 
fast-rooted to the earth—which of 
course it is not, immediately after be¬ 
ing moved. The mulch around every 
tree and shrub must be broad enough 
to cover the full spread of the roots 
and six inches beside. A uniform 
depth of from six to twelve inches is 
advisable, with branches or slats laid 
criss-cross to prevent blowing thinner 
and thicker, here and there. 
Peonies, iris, pyrethrums, phlox all 
the spring bulbs—hyacinths, tulips, 
narcissi, jonquils, crocuses, snow¬ 
drops, glory-of-the-snow, squills—all lilies, and all early flowering 
plants are especially adapted to fall planting, for this saves their 
bloom of next season; all of these will blossom next year unless 
something goes radically wrong. And this is equally true of the 
early flowering shrubs as well; forsythias, spiraeas, lilacs, weigelas, 
viburnums, cornus, all will bloom their first summer in the garden 
of which they are given possession in the fall. 
Flower seeds and vegetables too, of a certain few kinds, may be 
sown in the open any time before the middle of October, with a 
(Continued on page 241) 
offhand. With modifications this scheme is adaptable to 
many places of various sizes 
A detail of the flower garden shown above, illustrat¬ 
ing bed, group and border planting. The key is 
given on page 242 
