Stream Corner

It is also important to know which shrubs do well in dry locations and which require greater moisture. The first group of barberry, golden rain, bladder senna, box thorn and Japan rose, the second willows the shrub height, the alder buckthorn, red dogwood, French tamarisk and other shrubs.

Shrubs multiply naturally by means of seeds and may also be propagated vegetatively i.e. by suckers, cuttings, grafting or budding. Various methods are suitable for the various species of shrubs, each method having advantages and disadvantages.

Tender young seedlings require great care during the first two years, and plants from such seedlings may also grow slowly during this initial period, so it is some time before they can be transplanted to their permanent site. However, seedlings usually have good root anchorage and attain a greater age than alternatively propagated plants.

Garden hybrids and forms with differently coloured flowers or foliage, larger fruit and different habit of growth cannot be relied upon to come true to type when raised from seeds.

The surest way of propagating such forms is by vegetative means, either by division of roots, cuttings, layering, grafting or budding. This assures that the Propagated variety will be the desired one.

Shrubs may be propagated by vegetative means with varying degrees of ease. In some species all one need do is cut off a branch, insert it in the ground and within one to two years it will grow into a young shrub that can be transplanted. Other species are better multiplied by summer cuttings of soft leafy shoots. Some shrubs cannot be multiplied by stem cuttings at all. In such cases it is necessary to use root cuttings.