44 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
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The nurseries class shrubs and trees as large, medium and 
small. This should be taken into account in sketching the 
plan for mass planting and in ordering 
Shrubs should be ordered by their age and 
height, especially should the height of ever¬ 
greens be given. The heights should be 
specified so that when the planting is com¬ 
pleted it will be uniform. I have often seen 
arrangements with the larger plants in the 
front and the small ones 
in the rear; this looks 
unnatural, even though 
the plants were properly 
selected and their in¬ 
equalities to be remedied 
by time. Shrubs seldom 
get too old to plant; the 
tendency is more and 
more to plant for im¬ 
mediate effect. 
All catalogues desig¬ 
nate shrub sizes, listing 
them as either large, 
medium or small, or by 
the abbreviations L, M, 
and S. Large shrubs 
may require a facer or 
they may not; medium 
ones may be facers or 
non-facers, while the 
small ones may be used 
alone or as facers. 
When a narrow planting 
of the large kind is 
needed it may be as A, 
B, C or D, according to 
the width of bed de¬ 
sired ; in the case of 
medium-sized plantings, 
either E or F may be 
used as the width of bed demands. Depth 
is given by the addition to either height 
according to the width desired. 
The Actual Planting 
In plantings to be seen at a distance, trees 
are often used in the same manner. Shrubs 
should be planted just far enough apart so 
that at the medium stage of their develop¬ 
ment they will form a mass. Often, when 
an immediate effect is desired, they are 
placed closer together than is usually the 
case. No set rule can be made as to the 
distance in planting, and the plants must 
be known to a certain degree in order to 
space them properly. 
As soon as the plants arrive they should 
be heeled in. This is done by digging a 
trench and placing the 
bundles in it, one after 
the other, and covering 
them with earth. In 
this way the shrubs are 
kept damp until they 
are needed, and when 
planting is commenced 
they can be more syste¬ 
matically handled. 
Shrubs and trees 
be damp until 
they are planted i n 
their permanent holes; 
they should not be ex¬ 
posed to sun or wind. 
Instead of digging 
individual holes at 
once, the beds in which 
the shrubs are to be 
planted should be 
spaded up and such 
fertilizer added as may 
b e necessary. Then 
dig the holes larger 
than the spread of the 
roots and with enough depth to allow for 
the addition of black dirt, if necessary. The 
roots should be examined and any bruised 
ones trimmed, while all the long roots are 
clipped at the ends. This should be done 
with a sharp knife, as pruning shears often 
A planting such as this defeats its own end. Its outline is 
and flashy. The plants have been chosen for their individual 
not for their merit in massing 
too, that your feet do not touch the shrub, 
else it may be barked and die. 
Now water the plants and fill the holes 
with loose dirt, which will act as a mulch 
and hold the moisture in the ground. The 
water will assist in firming the dirt around 
the roots and the shrub should do well. If 
planted in the winter they should be handled 
as described, but the bed should be mulched 
with well-rotted manure, leaves or anything 
that will form a good ground covering. 
When manure is used it may be spaded-in 
in the spring; the mulch, however, is used to 
prevent alternate freezing and thawing in 
the spring, which is disastrous to plantings. 
Subsequent Care 
In transplanting a tree or shrub, the 
fibrous roots which supply the plant are left 
in the ground, thus naturally weakening the 
specimen. For this reason the plants should 
be pruned down to about two-thirds their 
original size. All dead branches should be 
removed and the natural form preserved. 
During the summer daily watering is 
unnecessary; about twice a week is suffi¬ 
cient if done thoroughly. The soil in the 
border plantings and around the trees 
should be loosened every week or ten days; 
not deeply, but enough to make a mulch 
which will conserve the moisture and allow 
the roots to get the air which they should 
have. The beds should 
be worked the day after 
they are watered. 
The subject of select¬ 
ing definite sorts has 
purposely been omitted 
here, for it is one which 
really deserves an article 
to itself. Nearly every¬ 
one who is at all inter¬ 
ested in gardening mat¬ 
ters knows the general 
appearance of a few of 
the best standard spe¬ 
cies, and this knowledge, 
together with a study of 
some of the large nurs- 
erymen’s catalogues, 
should be sufficient for 
a start in the right di¬ 
rection. Once so started, 
there will open out a field 
of delightful study and 
experimentation. And 
of what interest would 
landscaping be if it were 
all done by rule of thumb 
jagged, freaky and assured ? Uncer- 
uniqueness and tainty is half the fun.j 
bruise and otherwise injure the roots. 
With everything ready and good 
dirt in the bottom of the hole, set the 
tree or bush in the center, straighten 
out the roots and put in some 4" or 6" 
of good soil. Move the tree up and 
down until the dirt is filled in all 
around the roots; then step in the hole 
and tamp it thoroughly with your feet. 
If airholes are left around the roots 
the plants will seldom succeed, and if 
planted in the fall it will be killed dur¬ 
ing the winter. Do not crowd the 
roots in a bundle, but allow them to 
assume their natural position. Do not 
be afraid to pack the soil firmly around 
the plant, for it will get along far bet¬ 
ter then than otherwise. Take care, 
IL C V A T 10/1 
Gl&VAi HA/1 
Ground plan and elevation sketches always 
help to visualize the planting in position, and 
prevent mistakes in the actual work 
