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Planting and Transplanting (Harrow or cultivator can pass)

harrow or cultivator can pass, the maintenance work becomes a question of hand work instead of team work. TRANSPLANTING SHRUBS EFFICIENTLY. In transplanting shrubbery the stock should be left out of the ground as short a time as possible. A crew of two or three men under one competent planting foreman is as many as can be operated to good advantage in planting shrubbery and perennials according to some definite plan, unless the men are thoroughly familiar with methods of planting, and the required location for the plants. TRANSPLANTING VINES. The transplanting of vines is similar to transplanting shrubs. Vines are very often planted too close to foundation walls. Care must be taken not to set plants against a wall, but rather three or four inches away. All foreign material, such as lime, bricks, etc., should be removed from the ground to a depth of at least twelve inches, and the vines placed in excellent, fine soil. Vines should not be planted against walls or buildings where the overhang of the eaves or other features of the building will deprive them of the normal amount of rain; otherwise great care must be exercised in artificial watering.

TRANSPLANTING PERENNIALS. The season for transplanting perennials is not quite as definite as the season for transplanting trees and shrubs. Under normal conditions of cloudy days and good mulching protection to prevent later evaporation perennials can be transplanted during their growing period, except when they are nearing their maximum of growth and blooming condition. It is preferable, however, to transplant perennials as soon as their maximum growth is completed for the season, and at the time when the newly transplanted material can obtain a slight root growth in its new location before winter conditions commence. There are some types of perennials, as indicated in group No. XL-A, Page 289, which should be transplanted in the fall, and others which should be transplanted in the spring. For most perennial stock, however, there is no difference between fall planting and spring planting, provided the proper time is selected at either season. The principal objection to transplanting perennials in the fall is that in heavy clay soils and in the colder climates the plants, if not carefully mulched during the winter months, are apt to be heaved from their new locations by freezing and thawing. Perennials should never be transplanted when the ground is frozen, even slightly. Do not move perennials when it is impossible to provide the plants with rich topsoil in which to continue growth. Perennials may be "heeled-in" in the same way as other plants, with one difference. Perennials must be removed from the bundles in which they are shipped and each plant "heeled-in" separately. Unless this is done the plants are apt to mildew or rot. Perennials "heeled-in" during warm weather should be covered with a light litter of straw for further protection against drying out. When transplanting perennials, especially those which have been growing for two or more years, it is quite necessary to "divide" them. This operation of dividing plants is explained in the chapter on "Maintenance-Perennials" (Page 88). Dividing should be done whenever the plants become too thick. The reason why many perennials purchased from nurseries do not do well during the first year is because the plants which are sold by the nursery are often the result of too frequent subdividing of the parent plants and the young plants are not given sufficient time to establish themselves before being sold to the prospective purchasers. The result is that those who purchase these plants must wait at least during one growing season before the perennials will develop normal flower growth. No one who is developing for the first time a perennial flower garden should expect a normal development of good flowers from perennials supplied by the average nursery. Such persons should be prepared to wait until the second growing season before expecting a normal flower effect.