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Employ a deeper container filled with moist peat. Plants do particularly well in such containers if the pot is plunged to the rim in the peat. The individual requirements of each plant can then be checked.

People fortunate enough to inherit a garden which includes mature specimens of this genus should be thankful at being so singularly blessed, for the yew is an ornamental evergreen of great worth. In the woodland near my home they seed themselves under oak and birch, seeming to like the shade which few trees do. in the open they make a dark background for the gaily flowered deciduous shrubs. As a hedge its value has already been noted in the chapter on hedges.

A polythene sleeve, made by slitting a suitably sized bag along the bottom, is then slipped over to enclose the wound and firmly bound at the base with electricians’ tape. Pack moist sphagnum around the wound then seal the top of the bag. By moist I mean that a handful of the moss when squeezed just oozes water. To make certain the weakened stem does not break I tie the whole contraption firmly to a cane.

The buds of ornamental trees and shrubs are made in the same way as for roses, starting an inch below the leaf stalk and emerging an inch above. Flowering crab apples do not mind if the slice of back wood is left but with cherries this must be removed.

I always buy the best tools which available funds permit, especially when it comes to secateurs and pruning saw, but the best is not always the most expensive. Find out which secateurs the nearest professional is using, then buy those. A good knife is something no eardener is ever without. I have one purchased many years ago which will give me a lifetime service.