FLOWER GARDEN.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9603, 18 December 1896, Page 2

FLOWER GARDEN.

All bedding out should be finished ere long. Before putting out the plants give a thorough watering and when planted make the soil firm around the roots. The border will also, unless aided by a shower of rain, require a gqpd wateiing. If after this the surface becomes' hardened and dry, it should be loosened and raked moderately fine. Annuals will require thinning out, as it is very important that they should not be crowded together or the size and general quality ef the bloom wiil be poor and the blooming period much shortened. Strong growing perennials must be prevented from speading too far or becoming crowded with shoots. Leave only the sturdiest and best situated shoots. In planting out young stuff do not set out the plants too close together, but allow them sufficient space for proper development and at the same time plant so close that they may in about a month o* , thereabouts from the time of planting cover the intervening space with foliage. Keep the growth of climbers thinned out and secured in the proper place. Support Carnations with stakes. Peg down Petunias and Verbenas. Stake and tie all plants that need support.

Writing in the Gardenei''s Chronicle under the heading " A New Idea in Ornamental Gardening," one of the contributors to that journal says :—" Some people spend thousands of pounds on Orchids, some their hundreds of pounds ion rockwood or American gardens, but I think my garden would prove more interesting, more beautiful, and less expensive in maintenance than any of the above. Of late I have visited many private gardens and nurseries, and have been so delighted with the flowering shrubs and trees, and also with the variegated varieties of some, that I am convinced a garden consisting exclusively. of flowering trees and shrubs, both evergreen and deciduous, and of variegated and handsome faliage, berried trees and shrubs, would be most enjoyable. I was struck with the beauty of a large Gum-cistus bush, some twelve feet high, which I recently saw growing in a small garden. Until some trees and shrubs have attained a considerable size, their beauty is not developed; take, for instance, the Venetian Sumach, the Judastree, the Acers, or the Tulip-tree, &c. How beautiful this season have been the Golden Elder, the Acers, double-dowered Thorns, Almond, &c. * and now in the autumn the bright scarlet and yellow berries of the Mountain Ash. In recalling to mind some of the nooks contained in some of the more extensive gardens of which I have had charge, I remember a visitor's surprise when a mass of Gueldres Rose, Pyrus, Berberis Darwini, Lilac, &c, came suddenly into view, although they had passed without notice the same kinds of shrubs and trees before amongst other evergreens. Now a garden planted entirely with flowering trees and shrubs, and species with variegated and coloured foliage, with berried trees", &c, I think, would be charming and interesting. There would be something to admire each day'in the year, from the common Gorse and Broom to the stately Magnolia. Some of the most telling I would plant in group* to produce effect, and others should occupy borders varied in shape, so as to form recesses, prominent positions, and curves, and others again as single specimens. A garden tastefully laid out and planted in the above manner would have a grand effect. There are very many suitable places to be found for such a garden. Many gardens possess an arboretum and pinetnm, the former interesting, the latter stately and pleasing, but both of them lack the daily variation that would be seen in the garden I propose." To the many who have, often, large -pieces of ground attached to their houses, and who, while they may be desirous of seeing the vacant spaces made ornamental, are yet not willing to enter upon the cares and responsibilities of a flower garden, the plan suggested by the Chronicle's correspondent offers an easy plan of garden decoration. Both small trees and shrubs give little or no trouble after, planting, while the variety of colours of bloom and foliage is endless. The few plants enumerated by the writer quoted above cannot be taken as even an indication of what may "be grown in a New Zealand garden. Numerous Australian shrubs', such as the Bottle brushes and Diosmad, some of the hardier palms, many .of the Acacias, Bamboos, Dentsias, Myrtles, and a host of subjects only known in English greenhouses, will do well in the open air in this country, and afford a field ot choice unknown to the European gardener. Many growing perenials will be found to_ requirestbpping where the growth has been favourable. This should be attended to so as to induce the production of a bushy plant. Tall plants intended for the centres of beds should be neatly secured to painted sticks, leaving space in the ties for the natural growth of the plant.

Sheltered by an old frame or planted in a shady spot, many hardy shrubs can be struck from cuttings of the young growing shoots taken during summer, and by thus early striking a great part of a season is gained. These cuttings should be shoots past their succulent stage, but not hard or woody. They should be cut off cleanly at a joint and

be dibbled in rather firmly without delay. If they can then be kept from drooping it will be a great advantage. Pinch out the points and peg out the branches of all such plants as Verbena and Petunia. Remove the blossoms from such small bedding plants as Cerastium and Sedum.