GENERAL REMARKS.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14668, 17 May 1913, Page 9

GENERAL REMARKS.

j Planting is now general, and al- ■ ready much work lias been done in relation to roses and deciduous trees. ' Those who started early will benefit by tho rainfall; their newly-planted ; bushes and trees will be making good :at tho roots. On tho plains it is too j early to prune roses. Some amateurs have started to cut their roses back. As stated in previous notes, this work should not be undertaken till August ;in Christchurch and its surroundings. lOn tho Port hills and anywhere on ! Banks Peninsula, and also along the . seaboard, especially in the warm val- ' leys, roses ma3' be pruned now, and i thus ensure early blooms, which genorI aliy speaking, are preferable to thoso I which open in midsummer. On the I plains, however, to prune ' rose.s early lis to develop tho young growths and i buds early in spring, and run the risk iof b-eins destroyed bv the lato spring i frosts, to which the Canterbury Plains • aro so subject. In hot, rlrr situa- j tions, such as Clifton and Cashmere j Hills, it will be wise to prone roses at once. Generally speaking, in, such places, it is not advisable" to prune- | br.ck to the base, but much better to ailow a free growth, which may be cut 1 slightly back, but thd bushes should be frooly thinned out, so as to allow tho light and air to pentrate right through the branches. Such treatment in these situations will givo a ivenlth of bloom and also a well furnished j J plant.