ROCK GARDENS
Dwarf Flowering and
Ornamental Shrubs and Trees for Rock
Gardens 5
If these seed-heads are allowed
to remain in position in rock gardens, a
poor crop of bloom will result in the following
year. Disbudding, the removal of superfluous
buds, is also looked upon as pruning, for
it increases the size of the flowers in the
rock garden. More or less tender shrubs grown
in the open in sheltered positions should
never be pruned in autumn. This would lay
them open to attacks by frost; they should
be pruned in April, or even later, when danger
of severe frosts is past. Seeds. Seeds saved
from the garden should not be gathered too
early, but must be allowed ample time to
ripen, and should be cleaned before being
sown. The seeds of most shrubs are best sown
under glass, in well-drained boxes of sandy
soil, in February or March, and when germinated
and sufficiently high, should be thinned
out to one and a half to two inche apart;
the less hardy kinds being hardened-off in
a cold frame and the hardy kinds planted
out in nursery beds in the open. The seeds
of most shrubs and trees germinate in a month
or two; some, however, like the rose and
thorn, take a year and even more. The seeds
of most conifers must ripen in their cones
on the trees for about a year, some require
to hang for quite two years. When the cones
have been gathered, they are stored in a
warm and dry place. The dryness opens the
cones and the seeds are liberated, and should
be sown thinly in the rock garden in the
open in March or April. They should be only
just covered with fine sandy soil, seeds
from healthy trees only being used. Transplant
from the seed-beds to rows in the nursery
garden as soon as the seedlings are large
enough to handle, usually from one to two
years after sowing. It is wise to shelter
the young seedlings from the sun and from
the frost in winter.
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