The spring season is overcrowded with gardening work, and the soil remains wet and cold for a long time in some years.
By contrast, in most years, the Fall period is a pleasant time to work in the garden, and it is possible to relieve some of the pressure of the Spring rush by doing as much of the planting as possible at this time.
Soil moisture and temperature conditions are ideal in the central states from about mid-September through October and sometimes into mid-November. Still, there are fewer weeks of good transplanting weather in the northern tier of states.
Time to Plant Evergreens
Evergreens have completed and matured their growth by late August, and since they are always moved with a ball of soil, early fall is an excellent time to plant them. They represent a considerable investment and should be given the best care in handling.
The planting of evergreens should be completed by the end of October, as there is the possibility that unseasonable weather will occur before the plants become established in their new location.
Since evergreens are always in leaf and are constantly drawing moisture from the soil, they suffer a shock if new roots cannot grow because of frozen soil, and they will gradually turn brown and die by spring.
The Essentials of Planting
The manner of planting an evergreen is fairly simple, yet certain details should not be slighted. The hole should always be wider and as deep as the soil ball.
If the soil needs improvement, humus, peat moss, and sand, if it is clay soil, should lie mixed with the topsoil and also forked into the subsoil.
The amount of organic matter to use varies with the soil type, but the rate is about one-fourth of humus or peat to three-fourths of soil. After firming the soil in the hole, measure the depth of the root ball to prevent the plant from settling and have the hole only slightly deeper.
Carefully lower the evergreen into the hole; center it, then loosen the burlap around the ball and roll it down, but do not remove it. Draw some mixed topsoils around the ball, firm it, and simultaneously check to see that the plant stands erect.
Add more soil, and tamp it until the hole is filled about two-thirds. (A piece of two-by-four lumber makes a good tamper.)
Initial Soaking
For the initial soaking and to settle the soil, give each plant at least a bucketful of water and, a day or two later, water the evergreen a second time.
This second watering is important in a dry period but is unnecessary in cool, moist weather. Draw the remaining soil around the plant, but leave a slight depression for subsequent watering.
Good Mulching
Evergreens transplanted in the fall benefit from mulch to conserve moisture and prevent rapid changes in soil temperatures during the winter.
Good mulching material is usually scarce, particularly in the small garden. Straw and sawdust can be used, and coarse leaves (oak and sycamore), held in place with a few twiggy branches, will do if nothing else is available.
Still, other mulching materials are tobacco stems, spent hops, and ground corn cobs. Sawdust may be purchased in any industrial city and is sold by the sack or truckload.
Selecting Evergreens
Our gardens would lack interest in Winter if there were no evergreens to relieve the monotony of the hare trees and shrubs.
However, there are so many kinds that one must choose wisely to secure the type best suited to a location, not one that will outgrow its allotted space in a few years.
If only the juniper group were considered, one would have a choice of dwarf and creeping kinds, like the Andorra, Bar Harbor, Japanese, Green Sargent, or Waukegan junipers.
If plants of intermediate height are needed, the Pfitzer, Savin, or Vonehron junipers may be used; and for tall, columnar plants for accent or windbreaks, one can use forms of the native red cedar like the Burk, Canaert, Keteleer, and Silver varieties.
Japanese yew, in its various forms, is an excellent evergreen that has become very popular in recent years.
It is hardy, is seldom troubled by insects or diseases, and will grow equally well in sun or shade. It should always be planted in good, well-drained soil.
For Hedges and Specimen Use
For larger evergreens to be grown as specimen plants or in hedges and wind-breaks, one has a choice of fir, hemlock, pine, and spruce.
Pine and spruce are popular, followed by fir, and hemlock will succeed for a semi-shaded area with ample moisture.
The fall planting season need not be confined to the evergreens, for numerous shrubs can be moved into the garden or obtained from the nursery when they have matured.
Since the plants are dormant, they may be planted as long as the soil is not frozen. They, too, need care in planting in good soil, water to settle the soil, and mulch during the first Winter.
Since lilacs grow so early in the spring, it is better to plant them in the fall to establish them in their new location before growth commences.
Everyone associates the common lilac with some old farmstead where it has grown unattended for many years. Such a lilac is well established, but newly-planted lilacs need watching the first year, for they are the first shrubs to wilt in a dry spell.
For Variety and Interest
If a hedge is to be planted, one is faced with the problem of what type to use. Will it be an evergreen or deciduous hedge, and what is to be its ultimate height?
Barberries and privets have been the two commonest plant materials used in the past, but others can be trained into suitable hedges.
Some of the following are suggested:
- Acanthopanax sieboldianus, for sun or shade
- Euonymus alatus, for its beautiful Autumn coloring
- Euonymus kiautschovicus (E. patens) for its fine glossy, green leaves
- Carpinus betulus and Viburnum lantana for tall hedges
Soil Preparation for Spring Planting
If the hedge is to be evergreen, then the fall would be an excellent time to prepare the soil for the hedge so that it can be quickly planted in the spring.
Much time is also gained if the soil is prepared for those plants that one intends to plant in the spring.
From the experiences of many gardeners, we know that spring is the ideal season for assured success in moving evergreen hedges.
Some of the choicest plants are in this group, and the fall season is not too soon to prepare the sites for them and avoid all that additional work in spring when there are so many things to be done.
Trees usually reserved for spring planting are beech, birch, dogwood, magnolia, oak, redbud, red maple, silver-bell, sweet gum, sycamore, and tulip tree. In the shrub group, we have abelia, buddleia, hibiscus, pyracantha, and vitex.
Broad-leaved evergreens include the evergreen barberries, boxwood, hollies, leucothoe, mahonia, mountain laurel, pieris, rhododendrons, and the leatherleaf viburnum, Viburnum rhytidophyllum.
44659 by Paul A. Kohl