IN THE GARDEN.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19690, 6 August 1929, Page 7

IN THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. ..spiciALL* T*rnev FOB TB*

[By «T. T. Sinclair ]

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT. Olivia.—Wood ashes will rot harm lily bulbs. If your ground is inclined to be sour hoo in a little lime around your plants. Any good garden soil will grow passion fruit plants, providing there is .-tmple drainage. Strong loams product- much growth at the expense of flower-. It you have no heat in your greenhouse wait until the end of this month before you repot your hydrangeas and geraniums. Jf your geraniums have blight un the leaves prune them fairly hflfd back a week before you repot ; they will soon break away again and make nice bushy plant?. "Always cut back to au eye or bud.

VEGETABLES. Peas.—Apart from generally good cultivation, three things are- necessary to secure a continuous supply of peas throughout the season from a small piece of ground. The young plants must be carefully protected from slugs and birds by soot and lime and wire or cotton. If the varieties are tailgrowing they must bo staked early or supported by strings to keep them from falling over and damaging their haulms, and when they begin to bear the potts mast not be allowed to grow big and coarse. To keep the plants growing and bearing you must prevent seed from ripening; that is to say, you must gather the peas whilst they are rather young than old, once a week at least, or the plants will .-"go off." It is desirable to emphasise this fact very strongly as many begiuners are unaware of its extreme importance. A sowing of an early dwarf variety can be put in now. The easiest way to sow peas is to draw wide drills with a draw hoe and then to spread the j seed regularly over the bottom of these. Seeds are often sown far too thickly, especially the marrowfat | kinds. Ft is essential that plenty of light and air should be allowed to any pea plant with a good branching habit. The Seed Bed. —We would warn readers not to be in too great a hurry to commit to the soil many seeds during this month. All sowings, with the exception of peas and broad beans, should be made in small lots. During a spell of fine weather one is tempted to sow on a rather lavish scale, but as we are almost sure to experience rough weather, it would be folly to do such sowing, except on warm borders, I during the next fortnight or so. The art of sowing is not difficult; but like all garden operations it can be done well or ill. Much the most | important point is a finely-crumbled and powdered soil. The finer the soil I the better the germination is a good general rule. [ Some people are in favour of very thin sowing, and if the seed-bed is very perfect and the seed of the very best, thin sowing is wise. But in less perfect conditions it is better to be more gaperous with seed and to thin out /rtfterwards. Besides, in some vegetables. especially carrots, nothing is better to eat than these thinnings. An onion seed-bed must, of eourse, be fairly hard and tight, and in all cases the amateur gardener is apt to keep soil too loose. When the soil is right a shallow drill may be made with the corner of almost any tool. For reasons of space and ease of hoeing it is often better to adopt the American method and make the drills the long way, not the short way of the bed. All smaller seeds should be sown almost as shallow as is consistent with a regular unbroken covering of soil, which will not be washed off by rain or watering. In sowing peas and beans it is important in some gardens to take precautions against rats and mice, as well as insects and slugs. Soot and lime are useful protections, even against tbese enemies and are, of course, good manures. In all cases sow in drills, not broadcast, and be careful that the seeds are spread evenly. It is worth while taking a long time with the sowing. The degrees of evenness make a great difference. For small sowings the fingers are the best instruments.

FLOWERS. Hose Pruning.—Although there is not much difference of opinion as to the time of pruning in the case of rambler roses of the wichuriana type and some others, there is considerable diversity of view among rusarians regarding the time when the dwarf kinds should be Eruned —that is, the hybrid perpetuals, ybrid teas, teas, and several others. In the case of the ramblers of the wichuriana type and others, there is no fixed time of the year for pruning, as they are not perpetual flowering. Their flowering periods, which last only for a limited time, vary, some being much earlier than others. Pruning consists mainly in cutting out to the ground level the shoots which have served their purpose, so as to throw the whole vigour of the plant into the younger shoots, from which the best flowers are produced. In the case ol the wichuriana, and others of the same type, this should be done a month or so after the flowering period is over in order to afford sufficient time during the growing season for the younger shoots to make as much growth as possible, and not to waste the energy of the plant in producing material which is not wanted. When we come to" 1 deal with the dwarf roses, which are more generally j grown than any of the others, no j matter what the type may be, we are faced with a different problem. _ln the ramblers the main shoots, which are j produced from the root or from the shoots near the root, in one season, produce flowers from their lateral shoots the following season. So also do the dwarfs. But as the desired object in the case of the ramblers is a mass of bloom, there need be no restriction of the natural growth of the main shoots. It is true that in the case of some of the dwarfs, such as Hugh Dickson, the same practice may be followed, and in many others of the stroiig-srrowing varieties it is advisable to allow them free scope, merely removing dead, worn out, and useless shoots, and cutting back a little the shoots that are left. It is sometimes folly to strong-grow-ing kinds, as this sometimes induces them to produce still stronger shoots, with little or no flower. In order to avoid this, the pruning should he as lightly done as possible. A better plan is to peg down the shoots (by driving stout pegs into the ground and fastening the extremities of the shoots to them), and thus, causing the buds along the shoot to develop as flowering shoots.

On the other hand, if the plant is a weak grower the buds which are allowed to remain must be small in number, for if the plant has an inherently weak constitution it would be folly to lay it under the exhausting tasfi of producing a larger number of shoots than it can carry. If the plant has a weak constitution, it will give evidence of this in its behaviour, and the pruner must act accordingly. The whole art of rose-pruning consists, for the successful amateur, in exercising a courage tempered bv prudence. That he must retain his prudence is proved by the sight of these exhibition boards to which much of the pure pleasure of rose-growing has been sacrificed in merciless pruning only suited to the production or "show blooms." That he must possess courage is evident from the masses of ill-ripened wood and trails of staggling growth which are the heritage

of him whose strength of purpose has failed to come up to the scratch. The following, which sums up the wisdom of many generations of rosarians on the subject of pruning, will, however, be found useful aids, even by those who are no longer beginners in the art of rose cultivation. Newly-planted roses, whether they be planted in May of August, should be pruned severely. Established bushes and standards should be cut right back to a dormant eye or bud. In a mild season roses often produce growth rapidly, and to cut back to a dormant bud may seem drastic advice, but its wisdom will be apparent before many weeks have passed. ' Prune strong-growing shoots lightly; cut back weak shoots nard. Alwavs bear in mind when surveying a rose-bush and deciding how it shall be treated, that the centre of the plant requires light and air._ Begin operations therefore by removing all exhausted wood and superfluous centre shoots. Never leave in-growing shoots, and take special pains to see that the topmost bud 'eft to develop on any shoots points outward. Only by taking these precautions can a shapely plant be secured. If you desire exhibition roses, do not spare the knife. If, however, vou wish a full crop of blooms for decorative purposes in the garden or home use less drastic methods. Treat your roses with svmpathy and intelligence at pruning time, and you will not be disappointed with the results. Study the character of each variety as regards its constitution and habit, and apply the kind of pruning which will produce the desired result, and the weaker the constitution, other things being equal, the more severe must the cutting back be. In every case the shoots that are to originate the new growths must be carefully selected, and all the others, including all weak, spindly growths, should be excised. j Standard and half standard hybrid perpetual, hybrid tea, and tea roses j are pruned in precisely the same way , as dwarfs. „ . Roses on walls and pillars are apt | to became bare underneath, and when j this occurs the only remedial measure is to cut one or more of the miam stems over near the ground in order to induce the formation of fresh growth. This requires to be done witn some judgment, and it must not be overdone, unless the plant is in an unhealthy condition, when the of the stem may be cut over. Inis treatment applies more especially to the climbing teas, hybrid teas, and hybrid perpetuals. Other ramblers usually send up plenty of basal shoots. Pruning can be carried out any time during this month, but when early pruning is done the plants selected for the earliest pruning should be ot a hardy constitution, such as tne hybrid perpetuals, following on I ** the hybrid teas. The teas can be J e '' ; till the last being the most tender. Late frosts do not affect or check tne young growths. The most critical time is about October 20th, when we so ™f" times get a frost which damages tne buds at the top of the shoots, w ere it not for late frosts damaging the young flower fyuds pruning could take place much earlier with all safety.