Spraying Programme For The Flower Garden

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29891, 3 August 1962, Page 6

Spraying Programme For The Flower Garden

Most home gardeners are aware of the necessity of following a spray programme for their fruit trees if they wish for a good crop of clean fruit. Few, however, bother to apply any regular sprays in the flower garden. This is usually left until the pest or disease becomes so troublesome that it can no longer be ignored. A spray programme for the flower garden should be drawn up in the same way as for the fruit garden. Many of the sprays that are used on fruit trees can also be used on many ornamentals.

Deciduous trees and shrubs benefit from a winter spray of red oil as this will give will allow it to be spread more evenly. Where new lawns were not sown in the autumn, preparation should begin now in readiness for sowing as soon as conditions permit. Glasshouse Potting and seed compost should be prepared in advance and pots cleaned, while broken seed boxes must be mended if this has not already been done. Sow seeds of coleus and streptocarpus for glasshouse display later in the season, whilst sowings of lobelia, salvia, Phlox drummondil, petunias, and nemesia can also be made. Seeds of lettuce, leeks, and onions sown under glass and planted when big enough will help to provide a succession. Cuttings of chrysanthemums can be taken starting first with the later varieties Dahlia tubers can be started into growth, the young shoots being taken as cuttings if desired. Prune back fuchsias in readiness for next month when the young shoots produced can be used for cuttings. Prune also leggy plants of regal and zonal pelargoniums and also coleus. Slugs can be extremely troublesome just now, so apply a slug killer if they are noticed. Watch also for aphis, which will begin to build up as the weather becomes warmer.

control of scales, red spider, and woolly aphis. On evergreens, use summer white oil to give control of scale. Apply at least once a year as scale is often present, but while attacks are slight they often remain unnoticed. Apply the spray thoroughly, covering all surfaces of leaves and branches. Where attacks are obvious, more frequent sprayings will be necessary until control is achieved. During the growing season, apply regular applications of lindane to control aphis, caterpillars, including the leaf rollers, and pear slug; this also gives some control of scale insects. Frequent sprayings of Karathane will ensure control of mildew on those subjects that are prone to attack. In the rose garden, regular applications of captan are necessary to control black spot. Captan will also control rGfet. With flowering peaches and almonds, apply bordeaux mixture just before leaf fall to control leaf curl. This should be followed up with another application at bud movement and yet another application 10 days later. Cleanliness and general nygiene have been mentioned on more than one occasion and so has the fact that prevention is better than cure. Do not allow prunings to He around; gather them up with any diseased or pest-ridden plant material and burn it Weed control is also important for many weeds are hosts to pest and diseases that attack our favourite garden plants.