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House & Garden 
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The Last Rites for This Year’s Garden 
(Continued from page 72) 
by a third or so before putting on the green boughs are good for this purpose, 
mulch. This applies particularly to the or clean, long, rye straw; and tarred 
stronger, taller growing roses, as it not string may be used. A good way of put- I 
only makes them less in the way, but 
wards off the danger of their being 
whipped about and beaten by the wind. 
Of course, the regular pruning is not 
given until the spring. Hybrid tea and 
tea roses, that require more mulching 
than the usual one affords, may be put 
into winter quarters by running a strip 
of wire about the bed, as already de¬ 
scribed, and then filling it with leaves 
to a depth of T or so. This method, 
with evergreen boughs placed over the 
top, will carry through most tea roses. 
The shrubbery border should be 
mulched, particularly the first winter or 
two after planting. For doing this 
work, it is best to use rough manure 
or leaves instead of straw, so that the 
mulch can be worked into the soil in 
the spring, making a drought resisting 
summer cover. As the mulch for shrubs 
is to keep the soil from heaving, rather 
than to serve as a protection for the 
plants, the soil around each shrub should 
be well covered. Do not crowd the 
mulch, however, around the stem or 
trunk of the plant, where it may fur¬ 
nish protection to field mice or other 
destructive rodents. 
Some of the native hardy lilies are 
safe with no protection, but most of the 
others, like the hardy Japanese sorts, 
the candidum or Madonna, the longi- 
florum and the speciosum, are safer with 
a protection, particularly if they are 
growing in raised beds. Any plant or 
bulb that is naturalized among shrubs 
or grasses is mulched by Nature to a 
certain extent. 
For Vegetables and Fruits 
In the vegetable and the fruit garden 
mulches are also required. Nothing is 
better than clean marsh hay for straw¬ 
berries, as it is free from weeds, stays 
well in position, and makes a dry, clean 
ground covering for the fruiting season. 
Straw is more likely to blow around the 
surrounding garden in spring, and to 
be a constant bother by catching in the 
teeth of the wheel hoe during the sum¬ 
mer. In cold parts of the country, the 
ground between the rows as well as the 
plants should be covered. In more 
southerly places, mulching over the 
plants alone will be enough. 
The small fruits—the cane fruits, 
gooseberries and currants—are benefited 
by winter mulching, which in their case 
is of double value, as it may be used 
over again as a summer mulch, when the 
plants have been hoed out or cultivated 
in the spring. All plants of this kind 
suffer from dry weather at the fruiting 
season, and, as it frequently happens 
that one is too busy to prepare a mulch 
just when it is most needed, it is a good 
plan to put it on now and have it ready, 
as well as in this way getting the benefit 
from it during the winter. Late plant¬ 
ings of spinach or onions, to be car¬ 
ried through the winter for spring use, 
should also be mulched; straw or hay 
is better in this case than manure or 
leaves, as it may be taken off more 
easily in the spring. 
All newly planted trees or shrubs, or 
newly made beds, should be mulched. 
See to it that the surface of the bed, or 
the soil about the trees, has sufficient 
slope to drain itself readily before the 
mulch is applied. Otherwise water may 
collect, with the result that a frozen mass 
of ice and mulch is made which injures 
the plant or keeps the ground around 
it frozen in spring until long after the 
rest of the garden has thawed out. 
Protecting Tall Plants 
A great many plants need a different 
protection from that given by mulching. 
Some of the shrubs and more tender 
roses, which might be harmed by severe 
weather, are jacketed with straw. Ever¬ 
ting on a jacket of this kind is to have 
a number of adjustable corn ties to use 
while setting the straw in place. Then 
wind the straw securely with tarred 
twine, when the corn ties may be taken 
off and used for the next plant. Other 
plants, like hardy azaleas, or fruits 
trained against a southern wall, may 
need to be protected from the sun and 
to prevent premature swelling in the 
spring. A mulch on the ground will 
tend, of course, to hold the roots back, 
but sometimes a sun shield is also need¬ 
ed. Sun shields may be manufactured 
by putting up strong posts, of any height 
needed, stretching across these a few 
stout wires, and interlacing evergreen 
boughs. A fence like this may also 
be made to serve as a good wind shield. 
The standard or tree roses, and more 
tender roses, which are more susceptible 
to winter injury than the similar varie¬ 
ties grown in bush form, may be given 
sufficient protection in severe climates 
by being taken up, roots and all, and 
wintered over in a trench or deep frame, 
with straw or hay placed over them 
and T or so of soil on top. Give the 
soil around each plant a thorough soak¬ 
ing with the hose the day before taking 
up, if the ground is very dry. Cut 
down about each plant with a sharp 
edger or spade that will cut the roots 
clean, and leave a good ball of earth. 
Climbing roses may be laid down, hold¬ 
ing the tips in place with earth or a 
notched stick, and covered with mulch 
or dirt. Many of the beautiful semi¬ 
hardy climbers may be kept quite far 
north in this way. 
The tender hydrangeas and the old- 
fashioned Century plants should be put 
in a cool greenhouse over winter, or in 
a partly lighted cellar or cold room, 
where the temperature averages 35° to 
40°. Give them only enough water to 
keep the soil from drying out completely. 
Preparedness for Next Spring’s Garden 
One of the greatest opportunities is 
to prepare such parts of the vegetable 
garden as may have been occupied by 
late crops and could not be sown to 
a winter cover crop, by manuring and 
trenching them late this fall, just be¬ 
fore the ground freezes. Manure ap¬ 
plied now will be in a better condition 
for the plants to use in the spring than 
if not put on until then. Apply the 
manure, which should be fine and well 
rotted, evenly over the surface. Put on 
as much as possible, as there is little 
danger of getting too much; 3” or 4" 
thick will be about right. Instead of 
spading this under in the ordinary way, 
however, proceed as follows: 
Start at one end of the side or strip 
to be dug, but instead of turning the 
soil over and putting it back where it 
was lifted from, throw it clear out onto 
the ground, leaving a trench several 
inches deep and about the widdi of the 
fork or spade. Then break up or pul¬ 
verize the soil in the bottom of this 
trench, unless it happens to be very 
sandy or gravelly so that the natural 
drainage is about perfect. Next take 
the top soil and manure from the suc¬ 
ceeding strip of ground, about the same 
width, and turn it over into the trench 
already dug; this will leave a second 
trench like the first, while the first is 
filled up to die ground level or a little 
above. Repeating in this way until the 
whole plot has been dug over, you will 
have your garden dug to twice the usual 
depth with die manure thoroughly 
spread dirough about 6" or 8'' on top, 
which will rot or decay through die win¬ 
ter. The ground thus prepared will not 
only be ready for use much earlier than 
usual in die spring, but the plant food 
will also be in such a condition that 
the new growth can make immediate 
use of it. 
