PLANTING TIME.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 6 (Supplement)

PLANTING TIME.

ADVICE TO ROSE GROWERS.

"Now is the time to plant," is a phrase frequently seen in print, and this is quite true now with respect to roses. But be careful how it is carried out, because the future life of a rose plant depends so much on good planting. Some people stick the roses in just anyhow, expecting them to grow themselves, and then when they turn out failures, blame the grower who supplied them. From the first to last, the two essentials of good planting are thoroughness and attention to details. All the after care will not compensate for careless planting. The first thing, is to decide where the roses are to go and then to prepare the bed. Roses ought to have a bed to themselves, not to be mixed up with other flowers. Provided the right sorts are grown —a proviso sometimes overlooked—roses will flower continuously until May, and in some seasons even later. There is no need to plant other flowers with roses to keep the bed gay; and, moreover, roses seem to resent the presence of other flowers. The next point id to shape the bed, supposing, that is, that you have the choice. Square or rectangular are better than oval or round ones. If the beds are on the lawn or bordered with turf, you can more readily mow the grass because of the straight lines; and wherever the beds may happen to bo the plants can be set out in rows. Roses planted in rows look just as well, if not better, than when dotted irregularly about the bed, and certainly may bo hoed and looked after more easily. Now, as to the depth at which the bed should bo dug. Deep digging affords more room for root activity, and provides for a storage of moisture available for the plants in very dry weather. Although roses should not be planted deeper than 4in to Gin, nevertheless they all liko a deep soil, and therefore the soil should be broken up to a depth of at least 2ft, while deeper still is better. If a large piece of ground is to be given to roses, the land should be diHible trenched to a depth of 3ft. This digging is ail important part in successful rose culture. The initial labour is great, and to some it may seem hardly worth the trouble. Of course roses can be grown in shallow soil just as they can be, and arc, successfully grown in pots, but think of the extra labour entailed after they are planted; think of the constant supply of water and artificial feeding necessary for roses in pots. The soil below, onco it is thoroughly broken up, will last for years, and the roses will fend for themselves. We suy "break up",* but this does not necessarily mean turning the soil right over, the bottom coming'on the top. If we were to turn it over to a depth of 2ft or 3ft, when the surface soil is only perhaps Ift deep, this surface soil would he completely buried and all we should have in which to plant would be what is termed subsoil, such as rank clay, gravel and the like; an unworkable soil deficient in humus and plant food. No; however deep we dig the ground the subsoil must still be retained at .the bottom. Then there is the manure of which there is two methods of application; it can lie put in when tho bed is being prepared. or it can be left until the time of planting. In cither case it sho'ild be in layers just below the depth at which (he roses will presently bo planted. In the case of existing beds and borders which have been, under cultivation for some considerable time, it would greatly improve its fertility if some of the subsoil were brought up and incorporated with tho surface mould. Another plan of renovating an old bed is to remove all the old top mould to a depth of Gin, put in a layer of manure and fill up the bed to the original level with fibrous, loam, the top spit of old pasture land, or any other fresh soil that may be liandy. A mistake in digging tho beds is often made in letting the soil of the bed itself be higher than the ground outside. Raised beds wero wanted when beddingout was in vogue, but it is not so for roses. Of course, in deep digging we must allow for settlement, but when the earth has become consolidated, it should be just a little below the border outside the bed, and level throughout. Raised beds for roses are a mistake; they are liable to become dry, and the roses look better in level beds. Do not plant immediately tho bed is. finished, when the soil is loose and spongy. Wait till it has settled a bit, three weeks to a month will not bo too long. Firm planting is necessary for the future wellbeing of roses, and however firmly we may tread them in on tho surface of the bed, this treading will not consolidate the loose soil below.

HANDY TOOLS. JTcre are three simple but very handy tools which will be found very useful at this season when the leaves are falling about everywhere. One is a sharpened nail in the end of a stick, useful for picking up leaves when not thick enough for sweeping up or in positions such as flower beds or rockeries, where sweeping is impossible. Tho next is two pieces of board with the .bottom edges planed to an angle, far more handy to pick up heaps of leaves or grass clippings on lawns, etc., than the fork or shovel. Two piecee of jin board about 18in long by

Bin wide will do good work and are less expensive to replace than most tools. The third is two pieces of a 9in x lin board, cut and fitted together so as to form a small ramp to protect the edge of the lawns when wheeling the wheel barrow over the edge. Too often is the edge of the lawn cut up and pressed out of line by the wheelbarrow having been run over it. The above device costs little, but means a lot in the appearance of the garden.

OVERHAULING CLIMBERS. When such climbing plants as Bougainvillea pass out of flower an opportunity is afforded of overhauling them. It is not usually necessary nor advisable to take them down completely, but tho growth should certainly be thinned out and all dead wood taken out. The Bougainvillea flowers on the current season's wood and these pieces should be cut back to within a few inches of the old wood. By working out old wood and replacing it with young, we rejuvenate the plants. We imiist arrange to have a supply of potential flowering wood along the whole length, so that there will, when flowering, i>p\pue continuous stream of flowers.