Chapter 12

Shrubs, Hedges, Vines and Roses #2

How to Plant Hedges

Hedge shrubs must be planted marcate various areas, and help to screen service areas and vegetable gardens.

The plant materials generally used for hedges are mentioned else­where in this book. They include the tall background hedges of hol­ly, thorn or wattle; the informal flowering hedges of rose, bridal wreath spirea or barberry; Such evergreens as mugho pine, globe arbor vitae, box or eunonymus (most of which are used as low in the same manner as any other shrub, with soil preparation all-important to the continued life of the plant. The main consideration here is the spacing and planning of the plants in relationship to each other.

One way to get a straight hedge is to dig a trench the length of your intended hedge, with one side straight and your plants set against this straight wall. The depth of the plant depends on what you are planting, but privet may be set 3 inches deeper than it was before being transplanted.

How far apart the hedge shrubs are set again depends on what shrub it is, as some hedging ma­terials are spreading and bushy. Privet is usually set 1 foot apart; barberry, 9 inches to 1 foot; larg­er shrubs, 2 to 4 feet.

The way hedges are trimmed has much to do with their health. While a flat top is neat looking, it is easily damaged by snow and ice accumulating on top. A rounded top is better, therefore, for north­ern winters. And hedges should be trimmed to slop outward from top to bottom so that the leaves on the bottom also get sun.

Vines

Vines can be the quick salva­tion of the new home owner. Fast-paced annuals will twine up a hastily erected pergola almost be­fore summer starts, providing a cool, fragrant and beautiful awning. Annuals and perennials (or hardy vines, as perennials are called) are an inexpensive way of softening the lines of new build­ings, linking them to the landscape. Decorative and functional, vines are often the answer for older homes as well, the ground-covering varieties serving as cover for foun­dations and banks, others spread­ing a carpet of flowering greenery over walls, making fences seem friendlier and stone buildings less harsh.

The methods by which vines climb will necessarily influence and determine your selection. Some vines, such as grape vine, have tendrils which reach out and grasp small objects to hold on to; these vines need a lattice or fence. Others, such as Boston ivy, have adhesive discs that fasten on to a brick or stone wall, and still others, such as the climbing hydrangea, hold to a masonry wall with small, aerial rootlets. Finally, there are those that climb by twining around other branches or poles, climbing from left to right, or right to left (like honeysuckle). This type can be parasitic in the worst sense, climbing over small bushes and trees and completely strangling them.

No vine should be unsupport­ed, however, and attractive vines are those which are carefully trained and held up. Supports such as arbors, trellises and pergolas need not be elaborately con­structed, since their function is to display the vine, not themselves.

Wood or other material that does not require painting is ideal, for the natural woods are really more suitable as a background for vines than are the painted ones. If you have a wooden house and want vines on the walls, it is a good idea to construct a detachable trellis, hinged at the bottom so that it can swing outward when painting is going on. There will be sufficient flexibility in the ten­drils to allow this.

Planting Vines

If you are planting annuals, ordinary digging in well-drained soil should suffice. But if you are planting perennials, you will want to plant them as well as any shrub; remember that if they are planted close to the foundation, the soil may be poor initially and may need preparation. The hole should be at least 2 feet square. Break up the bottom soil and mix in bone meal, peat moss, etc. If you are planting near the house, be careful to place the vine far enough from the overhanging eaves so that water will not drip on the leaves. In winter weather, wet leaves can freeze in the eve­ning and crack. Also, if the vines are placed against a sunny wall they will get reflective heat, and so they should receive extra water­ing in hot weather.

Vines Where You Need Them

For covering walls of houses, boulders, stone walls, etc., the ivies are, of course, used more than other vines. Boston ivy is the quickest growing. Japanese bittersweet [Euonymus radicans) is a good vine for walls, too; evergreen, it grows well on the north sides of buildings as well as on exposed locations. Winter-creeper, in both large and small-leaved varieties, is a hardy vine for wall planting, and other vines that can cling without aid to con­crete, brick and stone include Chinese trumpetcreeper, English ivy, Lowe ivy and Virginia creep­er, sometimes called woodbine or American ivy.

Virginia creeper is the ivy that twines around trees and covers the ground in woodlands, and while it makes a good build­ing cover, it does become heavy and require thinning out as it grows older. Virginia creeper is also effective for providing shade. (Other shade-producing vines are grape, Dutchman's pipe and silver vine.)

Many vines which are not self-supporting can be trellis-trained, and can add color and beauty to a house. Among the more showy varieties are wisteria, with its clusters of white to purple blossoms; clematis, which has a large flower appearing from early sum­mer until fall; and trumpetcreep-er, with its tropical-looking clus­ters of big scarlet and orange flowers during late summer. There is also trumpet honeysuckle, which has clusters of red and yellow perfumed flowers; and climbing hydrangea, with its large white clusters. Some of the annual vines, such as the hyacinth bean which grows on strings and has many flowers, or the scarlet runner bean which has showy flowers, are good for shade, too.

For covering banks and ground where you have difficulty with grass, you might try periwinkle (also called running myrtle), an evergreen which has blue flowers all summer. Another evergreen is pachysandra, mentioned elsewhere; and there is moneywort which flattens against the ground.

Some attractive and fragrant-blossoming annuals that you might also consider are: nasturtium; bal-foon vine, which is good to cover fences; cypress vine, with a large number of small star-shaped flow­ers in orange, red and white, and the familiar morning-glory and moonflower plants.

Roses

If you enjoy roses, you can use them functionally as well as decoratively around your grounds — as creepers, shrubs, vines, climbers, hedges or just as beds of pure color. Rose originators are enthusiastic and tireless, and every year new favorites appear. Most recently the headliners were the bright floribunda rose, Jiminy Cricket; the soft, pure-pink hy­brid tea rose, Queen Elizabeth; the bright" yellow peace rose. There are over 5,000 varieties of roses in the United States, and once you start growing your own you are apt to change your pref­erences from season to season.

In selecting roses, it is im­portant to get healthy plants. Stems should be green and un-shriveled, roots moist and partly fibrous. The most expensive rose is not always the best rose; it may be only a newcomer, much discussed and, therefore, a favor­ite.

In general, there are two types of roses: bush roses (similar to shrubs) and climbers (producing canes that require some sort of support). In the bush classifica­tion, the predominant type is the hybrid tea; it accounts for over 60% of all roses grown in Amer­ica. The other major bush types are the polyanthas (roses in large clusters), the fioribundas (large-flowered polyanthas), and the hy­brid perpetuals (vigorous growers with a great crop in June and continuous blooming throughout the summer). The climbers in­clude ramblers, whose long pliant canes have large clusters of small roses that can be used for cover­ing walls, fences and banks. The climbers also are pillar roses, adapted to growing near buildings and on posts and the climbing hy­brid tree.

Planting Roses

For planting roses a good gar­den loam with organic matter is important. It must contain peat moss, leaf mold, compost, rotted or commercial manure, and the bed should be prepared as far ahead of planting as is feasible in order to allow for settling of the soil.

Fall is the best time for setting out roses, but you can plant in spring. When they arrive from the nursery, plant at once. If they have dried en route, soak the roots and put the tops in a bucket of water before planting. Trim back any roots that are weak, long or broken at this time. Dig a hole that is wide enough to allow the roots to spread without crowding. The rose is prop­erly placed when the bud (the point where the top joins the roots) is just under the ground surface. Space hybrid teas about 18 inches apart in any direction. Prune the branches 6 to 10 inches from the soil.

How To Plant Rose Bush

To grow good roses it is neces­sary to cultivate, to prune and to spray. If you have a well-cultivated bed you need not worry about watering. But if you start to water in hot weather, you must keep it up, soaking the roots thoroughly about once a week.

Spraying every 10 days guards against the diseases and insects that attack roses. Nicotine sulphate wipes out the green lice; arsenate of lead is used against chewing in­sects; or sulphur and arsenate of lead may be used in a dust, as may DDT dust.

Winterize your roses by mound­ing sod around them after the first frost, or mulch with straw and ever­greens. In cold parts of the coun­try, remove the supports from the climbing roses and place the canes on the ground, peg them, and cover with soil mounds.

In spring, cut back your roses to within 6 inches of the ground. Ruthlessly lop off all but three or four canes on hybrid teas. This pruning will give you strong plants. When your plants grow out from spring pruning, you will have to disbud, cutting off all the buds ex­cept the top ones on the cane. This is the way to grow large blossoms.

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