Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-28
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

+, climbers, and thereby deprives himself
| of most of his flowers, often enough he
| is blindly ignorant Of II, and swears
| that there must have been something
| faulty in the stock.
Pruning the various teas and hybrid
| perpetuals Is to the newcomer COM
| plete mystery. The more he reads about
| the process the more confused he be-
| comes. After he has cut away at bushes
for several years he begins to see some
reason in it, but 1t is only after at least
| five years of experience that he begins
to really grasp the true principles Of
pruning.
Let no amateur gardener despair,
| therefore, If the pruning shears worry
| him. There is many an experienced
| gardener who will confess as much.
When one recalls that entire books-and
| very lengthy ones, too-are devoted to
the theory and practice of pruning, 1t
is not to be wondered at that this art
and science seem perplexing to the new
conner.
Watching the leaves come to the rose
bushes, an observer will begin to see
something of the necessity for pruning
| them, in order to keep them from be-
coming "leggy," or bare at the earth,
| and too top-heavy.
Yet in contemplating the bush he
will still be puzzled at the ramif1cation
of the branches. and the necessity for
| choosing, out of so many, the exact
| ones which should have been cut away
early in March. for the pruning of bush
roses In this locality should be done
ordinarily the last of February or early
in the present month.
There Is no time quite so good as the
present to study the growth of leaves,
especially in relation to the necessity for
careful and conscientious pruning.
Shortly now, If this weather keeps up,
many of the early blooming shrubs will
be in flower. This includes the lilacs
and the spireas. Forsythia is blooming
at this writing.
The forsythia should be pruned i'm
mediately after Towering, but should
never be cut back at the ends of the
twigs, as many amateurs attempt to do.
The Older stems should be cut back to
the ground. The same procedure goes
for the spireas. To cut of the ends of
twigs tends to spoil the symmetry Of
the bush, which constitutes one Of its
main charms. What is prettier In Spring
than a spirea with its load of white
blossoms? The proper way to prune
them is to wait until the florets turn
from the group. or STOOL" as 1t is
called. Unless this annual pruning is
done the bush will become crowded at
the bottom and there will not be enough
nourishment available to provide good
blossoms This Is the theory. It must
be confessed that every one knows
spirea bushes which, although never
pruned, nevertheless appear bright and
beautiful beneath their blanket Of bios
SONS year after year. So much for
theory and practice. No doubt they
would do better properly pruned.
One important thing to keep in mind
at this season Of the year is the neces-
sity for keeping ones eyes open to the
seasonal changes. 1t will not do simply
to accept Spring as Spring. This is so
joyous a season that one may well in
cline to be somewhat piggish in rela-
ton to It, We who rejoice In the season
want to watch It bit by bit, as the
changes appear, and we want to I'M
derstand them as we'll as we may and to
appreciate them to their full as they
come along. one after another. In the
worlds most beautiful and interesting
pageant-Spring.