Instructions in gardening for ladies

by Mrs. Loudon

Another use of transplanting is to remove trees and shrubs from the nursery to where they are permanently to remain. To enable this to be done with safety, the trees and shrubs in commercial nurseries are prepared by being always removed every year, or every other year, whether they are sold or not. The effect of these frequent removals is to keep the roots short, and yet provided with numerous spongioles; for as they are always pruned on every removal, and as the effect of pruning is to induce the roots pruned to send out two short fibrous roots armed with spongioles, in the place of every one cut off, the roots, though confined to a small space, become abundant. The reverse of this is the case, when plants are left in a natural state. It has been found, from experience, that plants imbibe more food than they absolutely require as nourishment from the soil, and that they eject part of it; also that their roots will not reimbibe this excrementitious matter, but are continually in search of fresh soil. To provide for this the fibrous roots are possessed of an extraordinary power of elongating themselves at their extremities; and thus the roots of even a small plant, left to nature, will be found to extend to a great distance on every side. It is obvious that this elongation of the roots must greatly increase the difficulties attending transplanting. Where the roots extend to a distance from the tree, a greater extent of ground has to be disturbed, both to take up the plant, and to make a pit for replanting it; the risk of injuring the fibrous roots is increased; and, as nearly all the spongioles will require to be cut off, from the great length of the roots, and consequent greater difficulty which will attend taking them up entire, the plant will be nearly famished before new spongioles can be formed to supply it with food. All these dangers are avoided by the nursery system of transplanting; while the inconvenience of confining the roots to so small a space is obviated, by placing the plant, every time it is transplanted, in fresh soil.

It is customary, when trees or shrubs are transplanted to the places where they are permanently to remain, either to make a puddle for them, or to fix them, as it is called, with water; the object, in both cases, being to supply the plant with abundance of food in its new situation. Care is taken, also, to make the roots firm in the soil, and to let the earth penetrate through all their interstices. To attain these ends, one gardener generally holds the tree and gently shakes it, while another is shovelling in the earth among its roots; but this mode has the disadvantage of sometimes occasioning the roots to become matted. When the tree is to be fixed with water, after a little earth has been shovelled in over the roots, water is applied by pouring it from a watering-pot, held as high as a man can raise it; the watering-pot used being large, and with a wide spout, the rose of which must be taken off. More earth is then shovelled in, and water applied again. This mode of planting has the great advantage of rendering the tree firm, without staking or treading the earth down round it, as is usually done. Other gardeners spread the roots out carefully at the bottom of the hole or pit made to receive them, and then fill in the earth. In all cases, the ground is either made firm with water, or trodden down or beaten flat with the spade after planting, so as to fix the roots firmly in the soil, for the same reasons as nearly a similar plan is adopted in sowing seeds. Newly transplanted trees are frequently staked, but this is not essential if the roots are made firm, and indeed the tree is generally found to do best when the head is left at liberty to be gently agitated by the wind.

It is a great point, in all cases of transplanting, to preserve the epidermis or cellular integument of the fibrous roots and spongioles in a flexible state; and for this reason, the greatest care is taken to keep them moist. This is the end in view in puddling or fixing by water in transplanting; and many planters always dip the roots of trees and shrubs in water before replanting. When a tree or shrub is taken up that is to be conveyed any distance, the roots should be wrapped up as soon as it is taken out of the ground, in wet moss, and covered with bast matting; and where moss cannot be procured, they should be dipped in very wet mud, and then matted up. Cabbage-plants are frequently preserved in this manner; and are conveyed, without any other covering to their roots than a cake of mud, to a considerable distance. In all cases where plants are taken up long before they are replanted, their roots should be kept moist by opening a trench, and laying the plants along it, and then covering their roots with earth. This, gardeners call, laying plants in by the heels. Where this cannot be done, and the plants are kept long out of the ground, their roots should be examined, and moistened from time to time; and before replanting they should be laid in water for some hours, and afterwards carefully examined, and the withered and decayed parts cut off.

In removing large trees, care is taken to prepare the roots by cutting a trench round the tree for a year or two before removal, and pruning off all the roots that project into it. This is to answer the same purpose as transplanting young trees in a nursery; while the bad effects of contracting the range of the roots is counteracted, by filling the trench with rich fresh earth. The removal is also conducted with much care; and either a large ball of earth is removed with the tree, or the roots are kept moist, and spread out carefully, at full length, when the tree is replanted. Some planters, before removing trees, mark which side stood to the south, in order to replant them with the same side turned towards the sun; and this is sometimes done with young trees from a nursery. The reason is, that the tree having generally largest branches, and being always most flourishing on the side exposed to the sun; it is thought that its vegetation might be checked, were a different side presented to that luminary, by the efforts it must make to accommodate itself to its new situation. On the other hand, however, it may be urged that changing the position of the plant, particularly while it is young, will be beneficial in preventing it from taking any particular bent, and in promoting the equal distribution of sap through all the branches.

Watering is a most essential branch of culture. It has been already fully explained that the seed cannot vegetate, and the plant cannot grow without water. Carbon, and all the other substances that form the food of plants, must be dissolved in water to enable the spongioles to take them up; and the spongioles themselves, unless they be kept moist, will soon lose their power of absorption. Nothing indeed can be more evident, even to a common observer, than the necessity that plants feel for water; if a mimulus or a pelargonium in a pot, for example, hang its head and droop its leaves, what an extraordinary and rapid effect is produced by giving it water! In an almost incredibly short time its leaves become firm, and its stem erect; and the plant is not only preserved from death, but restored to full health and beauty.

Watering appears an extremely simple operation, yet nevertheless there are several points relating to it that it is necessary to attend to. One of these is, never to saturate the soil. Water, to be in the best state for being taken up by the plants, should be kept in detached globules by the admixture of air; and it should be only slightly impregnated with nourishing matter from decaying animal or vegetable substances: for, as already observed, when fully saturated with nourishment, it becomes unfit for the food of plants. Nothing can be more admirably and wonderfully adapted for supplying plants properly with water than rain. In falling through the atmosphere, it is thoroughly mixed with the air; and in sinking into the soil it becomes slightly impregnated with nutritious qualities, which it is thus enabled to convey, in the most beneficial manner, to the plants.

It is a very common mistake, in watering, to pour the water down close to the stem of the plant. This is injurious in every respect. Water, when poured profusely on the collar of the plant, which is the point of junction between the root and the stem, is likely to rot, or otherwise seriously injure that vital part; while the spongioles, which alone can absorb the water, so as to benefit the plant, being at the extremity of the roots, are always as far removed from the stem as the nature of the plant will allow. Thus, the distance from the stem at which water should be given varies in different plants. In those that have tap-roots, such as the carrot, and many other culinary vegetables, the lateral fibrous roots are short, and the spongioles are comparatively near the stem; but in trees, and most plants having spreading roots, the spongioles are generally as far distant from the stem as the extremity of the branches; and the water, to be efficacious, should be given there.

The quantity of water to be given varies, not only according to the nature of the plant, but to the state of its growth. In spring, when the sap first begins to be in motion, and the young plant is every day unfolding fresh leaves or blossoms, it requires abundance of water; as it does when in flower, or when the fruit is swelling. In autumn, on the contrary, when the fruit is ripening, and in winter, when the plant is in a state of perfect rest, very little water is necessary, and much is positively injurious, as being likely either to excite a morbid and unnatural action in the vessels, or even to bring on rottenness and decay. Water is necessary for seeds to induce them to germinate; but much of it is very injurious to young plants when they first come up, as it unsettles their roots, and almost washes them away. The roots, also, are at first too weak to imbibe water; and the plants feed on the nourishment contained in the cotyledons of the seeds. It is when the second pair of leaves has opened that water is required, though it should at first be given sparingly. When the plant begins to grow vigorously, it requires more food; and if it be then kept too short of nourishment, it becomes stunted in its growth. The quantity of water requisite also depends on the kind of leaves that the plant unfolds. A plant with large broad leaves, like the tobacco, requires twice as much water as a plant with small pinnate leaves, like an acacia. Plants exposed to a strong light, also, require more than plants grown in the shade.

The time for watering plants varies according to the season. In spring and autumn it is best to water plants in the morning. But in summer, the usual time is the evening; while in winter, the very little that is required, should be given in the middle of the day. Many persons object to watering their plants when the sun is upon them; but this is not at all injurious, so long as the water is not too cold, and is only given to the roots. Watering the leaves when the sun is upon them will make them blister, and become covered with pale brown spots wherever the water has fallen. It is much better to water plants during sunshine, than to suffer them to become too dry; as when the spongioles are once withered, no art can restore them. When plants have been suffered to become too dry, the ground should be loosened before watering it; and water should be given a little at a time, and frequently, till the plant appears to have recovered its vigour. A great deal of the good produced by watering depends on the state of the ground; as when the ground is hard and compact, it is very possible to throw a great quantity of water upon it without doing any service to the plants.

The kind of water used should also be considered. The best is pond-water, as it is always mixed with air, and is, moreover, generally impregnated with decayed animal and vegetable matter; and the worst is clear spring-water, as it is always cold, and is seldom impregnated with air, or with anything but some mineral substance, which, so far from doing good, is positively injurious to the plants. Rain-water collected in open cisterns, and river-water, are both very suitable; and when only spring-water can be obtained, it should be exposed for some time to the air before using it. It is always advisable to have the water at least as warm as the plants to be watered; and for this reason the water to be used in hot-houses and green-houses, is generally kept in an open vessel in the house some hours before using. Watering with warm water is very efficacious in forwarding the flowering of plants. This was one of the things that was most repugnant to my prejudices in the course of my instruction in the art of gardening; and when Mr. Loudon had some nearly boiling hot-water poured on some boxes of hyacinths that I was very anxious to have brought forward, I could scarcely refrain from crying out when I saw the steam rising up from the earth. The hyacinths, however, so far from being injured, flowered splendidly; though such is the force of prejudice, that I could never see the little tin vessel containing the heated water carried out to them without a shudder. The effect of hot-water, not heated to above 200°, in forwarding bulbs is astonishing; but it must be observed that it should never be poured on the bulbs, or on the leaves, but on the earth near the rim of the pot. Hot water is also very efficacious in softening seeds with hard coverings when soaked in it; and some of the seeds of the New Holland acacias will not vegetate in this country till they have been actually boiled.