A newly planted tree or shrub is likely to wilt in sun or dry wind unless you provide some temporary shelter or shading. This is rather simple to do. An upturned basket over a small shrub, or a screen of light cheesecloth, or an old window curtain, or a piece of burlap suspended on stakes will suffice.
Soil
What you do to enrich or condition topsoil depends on the existing soil, and on each plant’s individual preferences. Add sharp sand to heavy, clay-like soil to improve the drainage. If you have extra-sandy soil, add moisture-holding peat or leaf mold. Almost any soil is improved by mixing in liberal amounts of organic matter such as leaf mold or well-rotted manure. We seldom add fertilizer for miniature trees and shrubs.
If your soil is alkaline, and you are planting acid-loving varieties, use liberal quantities of well-rotted cow manure, acid peat, or woodsy soil from under pine, beech, or oak trees. To neutralize, or alkalinize, acid soil, use horticultural lime.
Watering and Mulching
Transplanted trees and shrubs should be watered with extra care during their first growing season. Soil should be kept moist constantly, but not muddy, to the full depth of the roots. Don’t rely on light rains that moisten only the surface. During hot, dry periods, spray the foliage with the garden hose as often as possible. A light, airy mulch—buckwheat hulls, crushed sugar cane, or something similar—will help keep the soil from drying out and keep it cooler, too.
Established trees and shrubs are kept moist during the spring and summer growing seasons. But in August and September, when the year’s new growth is maturing and hardening for the winter, less watering is needed. Resume watering in October, and keep it up until the ground freezes. It is particularly vital that evergreens—both needle-leaved and broad-leaved—should never go into winter with dry soil about the roots.
Fertilizing
Feeding miniature plants too heavily sometimes can cause them to outgrow miniature size. Actually, they don’t need a rich diet. An annual top-dressing of well-rotted, or dried, cow manure, or a light sprinkling of balanced commercial fertilizer, in early spring is usually sufficient. Fertilizing in late summer or early fall dangerously promotes soft new growth that is susceptible to winter damage.
Pruning