Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-03-12
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

People want to knew at this time Of
year when you should prune the bush
roses whether you should prune the
climbing roses, II you should take of
the mulch which has been heaped around
plants all Winter, when you should rake
the grass, plant grass seed, spray plants,
plant shrubs.
Right now" is the answer to most Of
these questions, except that as to climb
ing roses, which should not be cut
back until after blooming in June.
The middle OF March is a good time
for beginning most gardening operations,
although due attention must be paid to
the state of the weather, naturally
enough.
In the main, however, the sooner the
better now. This applies especially to
the putting into the ground of all new
plant material. Shrubs in particular
must go in quickly. so that the specimens
will get the benefit Of as much time as
possible before real Spring arrives
Time lost now In the shrub world is
time which is difficult for even the
hardest specimen to make up. Digging
up, balling and burlapping, storing in
hot place, are operations which take toll
OF plant stamina.
The longer the new shrub has to get
over these effects of transplanting the
sooner it will begin to grow in a normal
fashion at the first touch Of real Spring.
Under the term shrub" we include all
hedging material especially the favorite
privet and barberry.
If the time of planting Of these COIN
cides too closely with real Spring, by
which we mean certain continued
warmth and moisture, there will be no
interval Of overcoming the effects OF
transplanting. The thing to do is to get
your shrubby material into the ground
as soon as you can. In such a season
as this February was the best month,
but 1t is gone, and thousands of amateur
gardeners have yet to put in their hedges
and specimen shrubs. What to do? Put
them in as soon as possible now.
Soak the roots in pail OF water over
night and let them remain in until
planting time the next day. This pre-
liminary soaking of the roots is good
procedure since 1t helps overcome the
aforementioned drying out which many
such plants receive as the result of being
on sale.
II the day is windy, as a day is likely
TO be IN Spring, or pre-Spring, do not
remove the plants from the bucket, but
take bucket and all into the yard II
plants OF any type are permitted to
remain exposed for many minutes in a
wind they will suffer severely as result
OF the excessive drying out to which the
roots are subjected Then the planter a
month or two later will think he did not
receive good plants for his money, when
all the time the fault will be his own
carelessness in handling living material
as If it were dead
The only garden which interests anv
one is the living garden, and that word
living" is good to keep in mind all the
time
Seeds plants, bulbs, shrubs, trees
these are all living things, and while they
have wonderful powers of resistance and
do not curl up as quickly as cold or warm
FLOODED animals, nevertheless they are
living things and must be handled as
such. They are not minerals. They are
not even earth. They are living tissue
Hence in every garden task one of the
main things to keep we'll in mind is that
the plants are alive, breathing, eating.
growing.
These functions only can be achieved
at maximum If maximum conditions are
provided for them. Since few amateur
gardeners understand these matters it
is not to be wondered at that most
small gardens seldom show maximum