38 
House & Garden 
FALL PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING 
Garden Operations this Month Which Will Give } on More 
Perennial Flowers Next Season 
T O some it may come as rather a surprise, 
this idea of planting the garden in the 
fall. We are prone to think of spring as the 
period preeminent for the sowing of seed, the 
setting out of bushes and young trees, of cre¬ 
ating a garden from the union of soil and the 
literal fruits thereof. In some ways such an 
attitude on our part is justified, for vegetable 
seeds and those of practically all of the annual 
flowers are planted in the early part of the 
year rather than the later; but there are many, 
many other plants which do best when fall- 
planted. Roughly speaking, these are the 
perennial flowers, and the deciduous shrubs 
and trees. 
The reason for fall planting is simply 
this: it enables hardy things to establish 
their roots in their new sites before freez¬ 
ing weather and without check in growth, 
with the result that they will be ready to 
start active life with the first warming 
of the soil in the spring. Were planting 
postponed until March or April, a de¬ 
cided delay in development would occur 
because of the inevitable shock which 
comes with moving a growing plant from 
one place to another. 
T AKING up the perennial flowers 
first, we find this situation: while in 
the majority of cases their seeds should 
be sown in the spring or summer in order 
to yield blossoms the following season, 
the setting out of young plants and the 
root division or replanting of old ones 
are best accomplished in the autumn. 
With one intervening transplanting (or 
without even that, in many* cases) the 
hardy young plants which you have 
started in your seed bed can go into their 
permanent places now. A light mulch 
applied after the ground freezes will help 
them to come through the winter safely 
and develop into strong blooming plants 
next season. 
Such transplanting follows the generaj 
rules of all such operations: you take the 
youngsters up with plenty of earth 
around their roots and without injury to 
the latter, and water plentifully as soon 
as they have been reset and the soil well 
firmed around them. New plants re¬ 
ceived from some other grower should be 
treated in the same way, unless they are 
in the “division” class which will be 
considered presently. 
Root division in the fall can be practised 
successfully in the case of large, well estab¬ 
lished clumps of the majority of perennials 
listed in the accompanying table. The true 
bulbs, of course, are not handled in this way. 
They must be dug up and moved complete, 
though the offsets which the lilies form can be 
separated from the parent bulb and planted 
by themselves. 
T HE time to divide and reset perennial 
roots is after they have ceased to bloom 
and have entered into a semi-dormant state. 
Most of them can be divided by hand, but 
care should be taken to have each section carry 
ROBERT STELL 
a few strong buds or crowns. Do not let the 
clumps be too large, and do not place them too 
close together when resetting. Perennials as 
well as other flowers do best when not over¬ 
crowded. A sharp spade can be used to 
divide into smaller clumps the roots of such 
plants as cannot be separated with the hands. 
This root division has another value than 
merely increasing the number of plants in your 
garden. Many of the stronger growing per¬ 
ennials form such large root masses after a 
few years that they exhaust the soil, and this, 
together with the more or less unhealthy con¬ 
dition of the older roots which comes with 
age, shows in the fewer and inferior blooms 
which are produced. A clump which has 
reached this state needs division for its own 
sake. Cut out and discard the superannuated 
parts of the roots, and replant the healthy 
parts in enriched soil. 
AU HJMN is the best season of all for plant- 
jfjLing hardy bulbs. They should be set with 
their crowns from 3" to 5" below the surface, 
depending on their size. The larger lilies can 
be planted as deep as 10" or even 12". It is 
perhaps unnecessary to add that all bulbs 
should be placed with their tops, which are 
clearly distinguishable by their pointed ap¬ 
pearance, uppermost. 
Shrubs and small trees set between now and 
freezing weather should come through well. 
The holes dug for them ought to be large 
enough to accommodate their roots without 
crowding. Any broken or badly bruised roots 
had better be cut off before the plant is set in 
the ground. Thorough and firm tamping 
down of the soil around the roots as it is filled 
in is essential to full success, and, particularly 
if the weather is dry, abundant water at the 
time of planting and for a few days afterward 
will help a great deal in enabling the roots to 
re-establish themselves. As with all rooted 
things, shrubs and trees should be left out of 
the ground as short a time as possible, and 
their roots kept protected from the drying 
effects of sun and wind. 
Apple, pear, quince and crab-apple 
trees may be fall planted, as well as the 
bush fruits such as currants and goose¬ 
berries. But the so-called “pit” fruits, 
like peaches and plums, had better be left 
until early spring. If you have the 
available space and are in no great hurry 
for results, it will prove an interesting 
experiment to plant some pits of these 
latter kinds in the open this autumn, 
and raise trees of your own. The action 
of the winter’s cold and moisture will 
split the hard pits and they will sprout 
in the spring. They do not need to be 
planted deeply—an inch or two is enough 
—and after the seedlings are a couple of 
feet high they can be transplanted like 
other small trees. 
And now a word in explanation of the 
accompanying table. The number of 
plants designated as sufficient for a cer¬ 
tain area of ground is based on the first 
season's effect only. The second year of 
bloom will find many of the plants so 
large that division and a general thin¬ 
ning out will be necessary. It is not an 
easy thing to create a complete, mature 
looking perennial garden in one year, 
but you can at least help to approximate 
it by close planting while the stock is 
still small. 
O NE more flower might be added to 
this list for fall planting—the 
sweet pea. In the North they can be 
planted about six weeks before the first 
frost—about the middle of October—if 
one uses a glass frame to cover them dur¬ 
ing freezing weather or as late as the 
end of November when sown in the open. They 
should be covered over the plants with 3" of 
soil. 
The purpose in open fall planting sweet peas 
is to sow them late enough so that the seed will 
germinate but not come up above ground be¬ 
fore frost. It is held in this condition until 
the weather opens up again. 
Both the frame and the open sowing will 
give sturdy plants early in the spring and 
blooms much sooner than if the seeds were 
planted in April. 
By doing some of the work in the fall, the 
plants will be hardier and will be more ready 
to start active life in the spring. 
SPACING KALI. PLANTS 
Aconitum (monkshood) . . . 
2 
small plants 
to 
1 
sq. ft. of soi 
Adonis (pheasant’s eye) . .. 
4 
1 
** ** “ 4 * 
Asters (hardy). 
7 
44 << 
1 
«. t. .. <■ 
Astilbe . 
1 
“ 44 
44 
1 
** . . 
Alyssum saxatile . 
4 
“ “ 
1 
44 44 4 * 44 
Aquilegia (columbine).... 
3 
44 44 
“ 
1 
** ** ** “ 
Anthemis . 
6 
it a 
2 
** ** * 4 44 
Beilis (English daisy).... 
6 
i 
tt it a 
Campanulas (except Can¬ 
terbury bells). 
3 
V 
•< - “ “ 
Convallaria (lily-of-the- 
valley) . 
6 
.. 
“ 
i 
“ - “ “ 
Delphinium (larkspur).... 
4 
i 
“ *• •* “ 
Dianthus plumarius (grass 
pink) . 
5 
“ 
i 
Funkia (plantain lily) .... 
i 
<. a 
2 
44 44 44 44 
Gypsophila (baby’s breath) 
i 
44 
i 
44 44 44 44 
Helenium . 
i 
a a 
44 
i 
44 44 44 * 4 
Hemerocalis (day lily). . . 
i 
44 
1 
tt a a a 
Heliopsis. 
i 
44 a 
44 
i 
44 44 44 44 
Hibiscus (mallow). 
i 
“ 44 
i 
44 44 44 44 
Iberis sempervirens (hard}* 
candytuft) . 
2 
■■ 
“ 
1 
« .. « 
Iris. 
2 
a c 
i 
44 44 44 44 
Lupine . 
7 
i 
44 44 44 44 
Myosotis (forget-me-not).. 
2 
44 44 
“ 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Peony . 
i 
“ 44 
44 
7 
44 44 44 44 
Phlox . 
7 
“ 44 
Veronica . 
1 
“ “ 
44 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Salvia . 
7 
1 
Spirea . 
l 
44 tt 
44 
1 
a a it tt 
Crocus . 
8 
bulbs to 
1 
sq. ft. of soi 
Hyacinth . 
8 
“ 44 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Lilies . 
2 
44 44 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Narcissus . 
6 
44 44 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Scilla (squill). 
8 
“ 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Snowdrops . 
8 
44 44 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Tulip (May flowering).... 
5 
44 « 
1 
44 44 44 44 
Deciduous shrubs and ornamental trees. 
Fruit trees except cherry, apricot, plum and peach. 
Seeds of “pit” fruits (peach, etc.). 
