50 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
YOUR ALL-YEAR 
GARDEN 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
I F you have not already attended to it, this is 
about the last chance to get the garden ready 
for winter. Indeed, it may already be too late to 
do the work successfully, as no definite date can be 
set for it which will be always reliable—conditions 
vary greatly from place to place and from season 
to season, hardly any two being just alike. 
The first step is to get clearly in mind the gen¬ 
eral principles underlying this work. The first of 
these is that, in nine cases out of ten, mulching is 
put on not to prevent the plants from freezing in 
the soil, but to keep the soil, once it has frozen up 
in the fall, from alternately thawing out and 
freezing up during the wfinter and spring. Many 
plants are susceptible to injury from the heaving 
and loosening which obtain under unmulched con¬ 
ditions. Small plants may be thrown entirely out 
of the ground during such a process. Many 
others, particularly those which bloom early in the 
spring, are apt to start prematurely if there is a 
spell of extra warm weather in March or early 
April, followed by killing frosts later. Mulching 
keeps the ground frozen until late in the spring, 
thus holding these over-impatient plants back until 
it is safe for them to renew their growth and to 
push their leaves and flower buds up through the 
warming soil into the sunlight. 
From the above it will be clear that mulching 
material should not be put on until after the first 
real freeze of the season. But everything should 
be ready before that so that the work of putting 
it on can be done promptly. Beds and borders of 
hardy perennials should be cut over with a sickle 
or scythe about 6" above the ground, leaving this 
much stubble to permit the plant to ripen up nor¬ 
mally, and also to hold the mulch in place, as well 
as to mark just where the plants are when the bed 
is cleared off in the spring. 
Different Kinds of Mulch 
For the hardy border or bed of perennials 
strawy manure will serve the double purpose of 
being a good mulch which the stubble will readily 
hold in place, and of enriching the soil, the fall and 
spring rains soaking through it and carrying the 
plant food down to where it will be available when 
root growth is renewed in the spring. If no manure 
is available, leaves or straw may be used, but to 
prevent their being blown about it is advisable to 
lay boards or evergreen boughs over them until 
they are thoroughly settled, when they will stay in 
place quite satisfactorily by themselves. 
For mulching the rose bed, leaves are as satis¬ 
factory as anything that can be used. In this case, 
protection from hard freezing is required, particu¬ 
larly if there are teas or hybrid teas in the col¬ 
lection ; and this can be obtained most effectively 
by using a light, porous material which can be 
packed up closely about the stems of the plants 
without injuring them. 
With tender varieties, or in very severe cli¬ 
mates, it is well to pull the soil up in a rather 
steep cone about each plant, before the ground 
freezes. This furnishes extra protection from 
both frost and rodents, and prevents the forming 
of collars of ice around the plants, which some¬ 
times injure them. To hold the leaves in place 
and to make a neat job, a piece of 12" chicken 
wire can he run around the edge of the bed and 
held in place with small stakes. 
Other Protection 
Before the hilling-up is done, it is a good plan 
to go over the rose bed with the pruning shears, 
cutting long, new growths that would be likely to 
be whipped around by the winter winds. Shorten 
these half their length or more, and trim back 
other growths which you will want to cut at the 
time of the annual spring prun¬ 
ing. Do not cut these latter 
now, however, as the canes are 
pretty apt to be winter killed 
for some distance hack from 
the cut. Climbing roses and 
ramblers in sections where the 
winters are too severe for them 
to survive if left as they are, 
can be loosened from their trel¬ 
lises and “laid down” and cov¬ 
ered with burlap pegged down 
or with evergreen boughs. 
Many of the ornamental ever¬ 
greens need some winter protec¬ 
tion to come through without in- 
(2iG3) pan pipes to 
h is goats on a 
weat.hervane for 
the garden house. 
36" ivide, $35 
(2185) For the junior gardener comes a 
wicker basket lined with lohite oilcloth 
and equipped with tools and flower and 
vegetable seeds. $2.25 
( 2166 ) 
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( 2169 ) 
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TEN GIFT BOOKS FOR GARDENERS 
The Landscape Gardening Book. Grace Tabor: $2. 
The Practical Book of Garden Architecture. P. W. Humphreys: $5 
Gardening Indoors and Under Glass. F. F. Rockwell: $1.20. 
Home Vegetable Gardening. F. F. Rockwell: $1. 
The Garden Primer. Grace Tabor: $1. 
The Practical Garden Book. Hunn and Bailey: $1. 
Book of Garden Plans. Stephen F. Hamblin: $2. 
The Garden Bluebook. Leicester B. Holland: $3.50. 
Garden Making. Bailey: $1.75. 
Continuous Bloom in America. Louise Shelton: $2. 
Winter Coverings for the Garden 
and Grounds—Sprays, Pruning 
and Other Timely Activities 
jury to their looks, and either a shelter of burlap 
nailed to sharp posts, or evergreen boughs woven 
through a trellis made of stout posts and four or 
five lines of strong wire, will keep them sheltered 
from prevailing cold winds. Other plants of vari¬ 
ous kinds, not hardy enough to survive in certain 
localities, can be protected by straw jackets tied 
about them. While these are effective, they are 
anything but pleasing in appearance. Evergreen 
boughs will answer the same purpose, are much 
less conspicuous, and can be put in place more 
readily. Spruce and hemlock are both good. 
For the strawberry bed, clean salt or bog hay is 
ideal. It makes a springy covering which will 
stay in place and not blow over the grounds and 
garden as straw is apt to do. It should be spread 
on 3" or 4" thick over the row's, after the ground 
freezes, and not quite so heavily over the ground 
between the rows. It can be distributed evenly 
with a fork, and should not lie in bunches. 
The Winter Spray 
When winter weather actually sets in and the 
garden and grounds have been cleaned up, get 
ready to begin your winter spraying when bright, 
warm afternoons are still to be expected. One of 
the reasons for “dormant” or winter spraying is 
that when the foliage is off and the trees are dor¬ 
mant, much stronger and more effective mixtures 
can be used than during the summer months. In 
very cold or windy weather it is difficult to do a 
good job—to say nothing of the unpleasantness. 
The sprays used for winter work have as their 
basis lime-sulphur, kerosene emulsion, or miscible 
oil. For convenience, the home gardener who has 
only a few trees to spray, will find it cheaper and 
better to buy his sprays already mixed. They may 
be had in handy and reliable forms ready for use. 
If you have not had experience with winter 
sprays, a line to your State Experiment Station, 
stating your particular problem, will bring you 
information as to just what spray would be best 
for the purpose. In any case, follow directions 
carefully, for unsatisfactory results are more fre¬ 
quently due to neglect in this respect than to poor 
spraying material. 
Be sure, too, to make the job a thorough one. 
Get a spray outfit adequate for your needs. For 
the small place, a compressed air sprayer, with an 
extension pole that can be carried over the shoul¬ 
der, will be adequate. If you have much spraying 
to do, by all means get a portable hand sprayer 
that can be wheeled about from place to place. 
These are not expensive and are powerful enough 
for all ordinary uses. To make sure of the work, 
it is best to go over the trees twice with the wind, 
if there is any blowing, in a different direction 
each time. It will be worth the extra trouble. 
Proper Pruning 
One of the most important factors in getting 
good fruit is keeping your trees, young or old, 
properly pruned. The outfit required is very 
simple: a pair of pruning shears and a small prun¬ 
ing saw—do not be talked into buying a double- 
edged one, which is apt to do more injury with the 
side you are not using than it will do good with 
the other. Do not let the trees get loaded up with 
too much wood; yet, on the other hand, have a 
definite plan of pruning to follow out. 
In pruning young trees, of which you are still 
forming the head or skeleton, avoid having 
branches spring from the same point on the main 
trunk, as this will make a Y crotch which is 
almost sure to cause trouble later when the tree is 
heavily loaded. All branches that are broken or 
diseased should be cut back to sound wood. 
Branches that cross or are likely 
to rub against each other in the 
wind are also undesirable, and 
usually it is best to cut out one 
of them, if it can be spared. 
Young trees and dwarfs should 
be “headed in” slightly at the tips 
of the new'growth—enough to 
keep them in shape or down to 
the size desired. 
If you have old trees which, 
through lack of attention, require 
severe pruning, remember that it 
may not be wfise to accomplish it 
all at once. Several years may 
be needed to complete the w 7 ork. 
