ROCK GARDENS

Rock, Marsh, Shrubs in the Garden
Plants 12

These offsets are growths forming young crowns round the older central crown, and may be care-fully separated from the parent crown, when large enough, and can be potted up into small pots or transplanted. About a month after the plant has flowered will be found to be the best time to accomplish this operation. Alpines are best divided in July and August, or in March and April; the former time in the case of spring and early summer bloomers, and autumn flowerers at the latter period. The clumps should be lifted with glass bells or the lights of a frame, the condensation must be wiped off each morning. Once the cuttings have struck, ventilation must be given whenever possible, and decaying leaves should be removed to avoid any possibility of "damping-off." The great thing is to keep the soil at an even temperature. Too much light, air, water, heat, or cold are alike injurious to cuttings freshly inserted under glass. A close, equable temperature and a moderate degree of moisture should be maintained until the cuttings have "rooted." This condition is best attained by covering them with a bell-glass or hand-light and by shading them if not placed in a shady situation. Once they have struck, which will be in about three weeks, the cuttings should be gradually given more ventilation and hardened-off until they can be potted up singly for the greenhouse, or planted out in the desired situation in the open. Soft-wooded cuttings soon form roots, and can often be potted-off in a month or so's time; cuttings of hard-wooded shrubs, however, take root less quickly and should not be disturbed for at least a year (sometimes eighteen months) after being struck. To give these cuttings ample room to grow, they are usually planted at least six inches from each other in rows ten inches to a foot apart. This is an easy and very sure method of propagation, usually effected about July, though it may be carried out at any season of the year. It consists in the production of roots on one or more of the lower shoots of the plant to be reproduced. An upward cut, just below a joint, is made in the layer or shoot; the incision passes from the underside through to the centreof the shoot, and is from about one inch to three inches in length, according to the size and nature of the plant to be propagated. The aim is to produce a "tongue" of bark and wood that can be wedged open and pegged down into the soil; the more the tongue is kept open when placed in contact with the earth, the better the chance of rooting. The shoots which are chosen for layering must be perfectly healthy, and should be semi-matured.

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