THE GARDENS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18265, 26 December 1924, Page 7

THE GARDENS.

——♦ THE WORK OF 1924.

"The biggest event of the year so far as the gardens are concerned is the gift of the Cuningham Winter Gardens. They are a magnificent gift to the city," said Mr James Young, curator of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, when giving a "Press" representative a review of the work of 1924.

Mr Young considered that the-orchid and palm house had given the public a great amount of ploaauro during the whole year. There had' been a continual display of remarkable colour — the calceolarias particularly presenting a line eight. '' They are equal this year to anything I have ever seen in my life,'' said' Mr Young. The following display will be gloxinias, which, it is considered, will equal in beauty the calceolarias. Hundreds -of new roses have been added to the rose garden during the year, thus bringing it thoroughly upto-date in the latest varieties. They have made a splendid showing throughout 1924. The work of cleaning-off is going on now, in preparation for the second display, which will be ready in about six weeks. The bog garden has been added to by a very fine collection of irises and flowering shrubs. This garden promises to become one of the beauty spots of the citv.

The principal additions to the native section are the celmesias and tree ferns, and the general public are taking an ever-increasing interest in this branch of cultivation.

Regarding the general groundß, large numbers of azaleas ■ and rhododendrons have been planted in addition to other flowering shrubs, Tho work of cloaning off willows which had fully matured and were dying has been going on lately in preparation for the planting of young willows.

In tho city a great' mnay fully matured willows have been cut and cleared, and large sections of the Avon's banks have been re-planted with willows and English birch, placed one chain apart, alternately, thus giving a change of colour. No artist could paint a solid mass of willows. The English birch is recognised as the Queen of the forest so far as painters are concerned, and, judiciously mixed with willows, they present a very beautiful appearance with the graceful droop of their branches. Ornamental and flowering shrubs have been planted in various parts of the city, arid it is hoped to go still further with these planting operations.

In connexion with forest woTk, a good deal of thinning-out of young plantations at Bottle Lake has taken place, the work having been carried out by the unemployed last winter. An additional 100 acres of young forest have been planted, and 50 acres in Victoria Park have been afforested. "With regard to the controversy on the question of stone edgings," said Mr Young, ( ' so far as the letters appearing in the Press arc concerned and the suggestion that I should be sent to England to inspect stone work, I consider that such a trip would be a great waste of public money." England did more rock work in one year than New Zealand would do in 50 years, he continued. When he was in England in 1914 he visited a suburb of Manchester to see a gentleman's estate which had been presented to the public as a pleasure resort. The whole of the walks and edgings in this estate were lined off with beautiful rock work. Rock work was carried out in Britain more strongly now than ever before. In both Sydney and Melbourno also, a iargo amount of this work was in evidence in some of the principal streets, thus adding most materially to the beauty of the city. Like New Zealand, Australia was a young country, and she had taken the rock edgings idea from England. The beauty of the water displays has been kept up to standard, the lakes being covered with lilies and irises near the fountain and kiosk, and the. water in the native section contained many varieties of lilies and a great number of trout. "Xo garden is complete without plenty of water displays," said Mr Young, "and I can state that we have had a most successful year generally in the Botanic Gardens and in the citv.