THE GARDEN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 65, Issue 195, 31 May 1945, Page 2

THE GARDEN

GENERAL ROUTINE WORK. (Written for the “ Guardian ” by W. B Brookie. N.D.H., N.Z.) PLANTS UNDER GLASS. Cinerarias should be kept growing steadily under cool conditions. Do not attempt to force growth with too much artificial heat; a night temperature of 43 degrees suits them quite well. Give weak liquid manure to those plants that are developing their flowering stems; this should be discontinued, however, when the blooms have begun to expand. Keep a sharp look-out for greenfly and if this pest makes its appearance fumigate the house with nicotine cakes. If any further potting is to be done, use a soil mixture made up of 3 parts brown fibrous loam, 2 parts leafmould and 1 part sand. Chrysanthemum blooms will keep in good condition over a long period if the atmosphere is dry and cool. Those plants that are past flowering should be cut. down to an inch or two from the base of the stems. Stand the pots in an open topped frame. During the coldest month of the year (July) they should he covered with the glass sashes so that the plants will more freely produce cuttings. Top ventilation only will be required during the winter and then only for a few hours on bright days. Any damping down that has to be done should be attended to in the morning so that the house will have-a chance to become dry again before nightfall. Repair glass and woodwork. Clean pots and top-dress ornamental foliage plants with some fresh turfy soil. No general repotting of palms, dracaenas, ferns, etc., should be undertaken until spring when the active roots can make use of the new soil. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Clumps of border chrysanthemums after cutting down the stems, may be lifted and packed in boxes of free soil to provide cuttings in spring. If they are placed in a glass covered frame the cuttings will be obtained earlier than would be the ease with plants left in the open border. Spent annuals in the mixed flower border should be pulled up. put away all withered top growth from herbaceous perennials and dig over the ground between the plants to bury weeds and to give the border a tidy appearance. Dividing and replanting of herbaceous perennials should not be undertaken until late August. Cut over borders of catmint.

Complete the planting of wallflower, polyanthus, forget-me-not and spring flowering bulbs. Now that most of the leaves of deciduous shrubs have fallen, a start may be made on pruning those which require it. All those kinds which produce their flowers on the terminal end of young shoots, such as spiraea japonica, bnddleia variabilis, hydrangeas and caenothus of the Gloire de Versailles type, should have the young shoots bearing the flower heads cut back near to their junction with the older wood. Early spring flowering shrubs such as forsythia, brooms and prunus, are not pruned until after flowering. But many shrubs need no pruning at all except to remove branches that are spoiling their shape, such things for instance as magnolias, cherries, rhododendrons, cotoneasters, berberis and crataegus. Diedvilla, Philadelphia, deutzia and such-like that produce their flowers on short lateral branches in early summer are best pruned immediately after flowering and then only the older shoots that have borne flowers for three or four years are cut back near to ground level or to their junction with a vigorous young branch. The advantage of cutting out old growths after flowering is that light and air is admitted to the younger shoots which in consequence flower more freely. Where summer pruning of this type of shrub has been overlooked, however, it will improve their appearance and promote a freer growth of new r branches if some of the deteriorated older growth are thinned out. A keyhole saw is useful for this work. It may be desirable to get rid of some of the commoner kinds of shrubs such as laurestinas, privet, laurel and such-like and the work of digging them up is best undertaken at the time of winter pruning. All of the larger roots of these shrubs should be removed and the ground they occupied deeply culitivated and enriched with rotted vegetable matter so that the better quality shrubs that are planted in their place will get a good start. After pruning and planting is completed dig over the whole of the border to leave as even a surface as possible—no heaps and hollows- —but the soil need not be broken up fine, indeed it is better to be fairly rough. New rose beds should be prepared as soon as possible. If plenty of good pasture loam is available this should be used to replace all of the poorer lower soil in the bed to a depth of three feet. Mix a liberal quantity of rotted farmyard manure with the lower two feet of the soil. If planting is to be done immediately it will be necessary to tramp the soil firmly as it is filled in. Space the bushes two and a half feet apart and plant them very firmly with the junction of the stock and scion about an inch and a half below 7 the surface. Standard roses should be staked and securely tied before filling the soil about the roots. Rambler roses are used for covering fences, arbours and pergolas and sometimes they are trained to a post and wire structure to divide one part of the garden from another. In the latter case a deep trench is taken out and the soil well enriched with manure. Plant the ramblers four feet apart and cut the top growth back to about six inches from ground level. They will not produce flowers the first year but during the summer the long growths which will bloom on the following year, should be tied in to the wire support, spacing them evenly. Thereafter every summer, after flowering, the shoots that have bloomed are cut back to ground level and replaced with the strongest of the young crop of new ones. Feeding with liquid manure at the time of their active growth keeps the plants in a free-growing condition. THE KITCHEN GARDEN. Work in this section at present is mainly in trenching and digging in preparation for next season’s crops. Deep trenching and manuring the lower soil adds greatly to its moisture holdingcapacity in summer and improves drainage during wet weather. The black humusy soil on the top should, however, always be kept on the top and the humus content maintained by

regular applications of rotted compost or manure. Jerusalem artichokes should have the stems cut down to about eight inches. The quality of the tubers is better when they are lifted fresh from the ground. Potatoes that are'still in the ground should be lifted and baggech immediately. The tubers should be well dried before storing. Stir the soil frequently between the rows of spring cabbage, autumn sown onions, broad beans and peas. Late celery should be earthed up without delay.