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Show Suggestions On How To Plant Evergreens Evergreens linve a root structure that varies greatly from , that of tlie oilier groups' of plants. Tlie roots are slow to cow anil slower to re-establish themselves when moved The three important planting and cultural "points" to be carefully watched are: (1) the right kind of hole; (1) correct planting; (3) water. There are two important facts that must be remembered when preparing the site for an evergreen shrub. The first is that roots must be encouraged to grow thick and rapidly and in doing so they will spread far out beyond the original jjole so, dig a wide, deep hole and prepare the soil for the shrub's future roots. The other important planting rule is that the shrub's roots, when you buy it from a nursery, are growing naturally at the correct depth. It is very easy to see the soil mark on the stem and to plant it at exactly the same depth again is important. The soil under and around the root ball should be rich, well-fertilized and capable of holding plenty plen-ty of moisture. By digging a deep and wide hole, one may make space under and around the shrub for plenty of fertilizer and peat moss. The drainage also is automatically improved, and may be made perfect per-fect by the addition of sand if needed. If the soil feels hard and the spade cannot be thrust in it easily, when spading, then the soil is too lightly packed and is not right for the plant's roots. i If the soil for shrubs should get muddy or stick to the spade when digging the hole, this is a definite indication that some coarse sand should be added. As a general rule, at least three or four buckets of peat moss and two pounds of a good organic fertilizer should be mixed thoroughly in the hole. Peat Moss Cuts Water Bills . . . The . chief value of peat moss, when it is thoroughly MIXED with the garden soil, is its ability to absorb and to store the soil moisture in that part of the soil where the plants' roots are growing. grow-ing. In so doing it retains the water in which is contained 'the valuable mineral plant foods that are so necessary to the growth, health and vitality of the garden plants. Peat moss or other humus has the effect of providing a reservoir reser-voir of soil moisture which, being always readily available, will prevent pre-vent the plants from suffering from insufficient moisture during the time when most gardens would suffer from drought. Be quite sure that the root ball is thoroughly wet before an attempt at-tempt is made to plant any evergreen ever-green shrub. Some nurserymen recommend that the burlap be left on when planting. They do this for fear that, through carelessness, the soil of the root ball may be broken off or disturbed. Provided the gardener uses ordinary, or-dinary, good care, the burlap should be removed, because when left on it forms an air pocket around the roots, which cannot bridge this gap with any degree of success. Stand the shrub up in place and turn it around until it "faces" correctly. cor-rectly. Although most shrubs are equally good all around, there is always al-ways one way that they look better bet-ter than the others, so keep twisting twist-ing it around until you are satisfied. satis-fied. Next, cut the string, and remove re-move the nails from the burlap. While still in the hole, tip the shrub over on its side, to take the weight off the root while you remove re-move the burlap. Take great care that the soil around the roots is undisturbed while doing this. Check to see that . the soil-line on the shrub is at exactly soil level. 'Then let the hose run gently into the hole, around the root-ball. While the water is running, fill in the space, shovelling a little soil at a time into the place where the hose is running. , ' Because of the soft soil in the mud-puddle in which the shrub is set, it is likely to lean or even fall over, so if a tall shrub is being planted, use a stake of a couple of pieces of rope to hold it in place for the first month or two. Every day for at least the first two weeks after planting, both the shrub and the soil should be thoroughly thor-oughly soaked. Water regularly during the summer. sum-mer. Best time is early in the morning or on a cloudy day. Sprinkle the shrub as well as the soil. |