GARDEN NOTES

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24582, 2 June 1945, Page 5

GARDEN NOTES

(Specially Written for "The Press.”) [By T. D. LENNIE, F.1.H., N.Z.I

THE FLOWER GARDEN Use spells of fine weather for urgent jobs. Digging is not advisable in cloggy ground. Herbaceous plants can be divided. Dahlias can be lifted and stored. Alterations to the garden layout can be planned. Plant lillums, nerines, and amaryllis. . VEGETABLE GARDEN Ground for early potatoes can be prepared. Sprout potatoes in shallow boxes under cover. - . . Seed rows of onions and carrots should be weeded. • ■ . Plant cabbage, lettuce, garlic, and shallots. ■ „ Plant rhubarb In well-manured soli. . Trench ground for next seasons root crops. FRUIT GARDEN Look over stored fruits for decay. Strawberry planting should be hastened. Pruning can be commenced: start with stone fruits, gooseberries, and currants. Spraying can, be commenced when the leaves have fallen. It is important to dig In all fallen leaves,. mummy fruits, and small prunlngs. GRAPE VINES Many readers of “The Press' have small greenhouses In which a vine Is planted or other suitable stock Is grown. This week I would like to refer to the vine, be it Black Hambourg or Albany Surprise, for •in wet spells such as 'we are likely to get frequently now, there are jobs In the greenhouse that can be seen to. The first thing Is to clean up the litter of fallen leaves, and as these may be mildew-infested, burning should be done. Then release all wires attachIng the rods to the roof and allow the growths to sag. Go over the main rods, picking off the lobse old bar)c, with finger and thumb. If there is any red scale present this will get rid of most of It, This also had better be burned. A spraying with red oil at one in 20 will leave things snug for the present. LIME ’ Soil acidity Is detrimental to the health and well-being of most plants, and Is a condition favoured by many fungi, mosses, and insect pests. The remedy for soil acidity Is lime, and winter Is the best time to apply it. For one thing, access Is easiest, as so much of the garden is empty of crops or , will shortly be dug over. Some doubts exist as to the relative merits of quick-lime or farmers' carbonate of lime. ■ The former is preferable, as It also Is fatal to many soil Insects, but is more costly. Ground lime or carbonate is the type most often used. It can be surface sown at the rate <of four to eight ounces to the square yard, and lightly forked over. There is no advantage in digging it in too deeply. It will not evaporate, but rather tends to work down. Lime is of . little use in sandy soils, but In the heavier type, of clay or peat it works wonders, not only in breaking down the solid particles, but in dissolving mineral elements, otherwise insoluble, puts much plant food at the disposal of searching roots. Lime should never be applied with organic manures, but when digging in leaves, compost or green crops it will be very beneficial. WOODLICE Woodllce are destructive creatures, and do much damage, to seddling plants especially. They can be trapped with slices of potato and destroyed, or will go elsewhere if horticultural naphthalene is spread on the bench under the seed boxes, ’ DAHLIAS Many. people are in doubt whether to lift their dahlia roots. It depends entirely on the grountf they are in. If well drained they may be left, but if in a position likely to be saturated during the winter, the roots should be lifted and stored under cover from frosts. In a shed where they will not dry out, or in boxes under a macrocarpa hedge, they should be safe If covered by sacking. Of course the names should be secured to thg flower stumps. GLADIOLI By this time, too. all gladiolus corms should be gone over In store, removing the cormlets if wanted and the rough outer peelings. If well dried the corms can be put Into paper bags and boxed In safety for the winter rest. Keen growers sow the cormlets In row* shout August for future stock. Some will flower In the first season. A WINTER-FLOWERING SHRUB Winter has no effect on some flowering plants, which go blithely developing their green growth in summer, but reserve their flowering to the colder seasons. Such a one Is the Japanese allspice, known to nurserymen as chiomonanthes fragrans or wintersweet. It Is just coming Into flower now, the yellow flowers clustering closely on the bare branches. It has a very strong perfume, and is a lasting flower for the h °As C ’ashrub growings rounded bush six to eight feet in height, the chlomonanthes is not fastidious, but prefers a welldrained position in full sunlight.