Preparing Garden For Owner’s Holiday

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31564, 29 December 1967, Page 3

Preparing Garden For Owner’s Holiday

Gardeners going on holidayin January would do well to remember that plants do not stop growing during one's absence, and it is not unusual to find chaos on returning home.

It is, of course, not possible to avoid some disruption to the well-kept garden, but such disturbances can be minimised by carrying out various tasks before leaving. » Pests and diseases are as * prevalent as ever and it is (sound policy to give a I thorough application of 'chemicals with a long residual period instead of shortterm, quick-acting preparations. This is particularly applicable to insecticides. For instance, instead of using malathion and carbaryl against aphides and caterpillars, apply menazon and D.D.T. respectively instead. Application should be thorough, wetting agents or stickers should be added where necessary and all subjects of value which are normally sprayed at some! time or another during the season should be treated. One I word of warning: do not be, tempted to increase the dosage with the thought that the result will be more effective. This is not only wasteful, but could prove injurious to some plants. Apply according to makers’ recommendations only. Annual weeds are always a problem when one’s back is turned. Regular hoeing, at least once a week in conjunction with watering, goes a long way towards cutting down this unwanted garden population. The watering assists in constant germination of any weed seeds, and the hoe will reduce the chances of any reaching the seed production stage. Perennials can prove really persistent, and individual plants such as dock should always be carefully dug out, never chopped off at ground level. Apart from the use of the hoe, pre-emergence weedkillers will greatly restrict the germination of annual weed seeds, but it is necessary to have the ground clean and moist and worked to a fine tilth for satisfactory iesults.

Perennials cannot be controlled with currently available pre-emergence weedicides and generally hormone preparations must be used. In this connection gardeners may not be aware that there

is now available combination hormone which is specifically designed for one of our worst weeds, convolvulus. It contains 2,4 D plus dicamba. Again another form of weed suppression lies in the use of mulches such as sawdust. If applied on top of adequately hoed and well watered soil it will suppress a good percentage of unwanted growth. If applied in a fresh state it requires the addition of blood and bone or sulphate of ammonia.

At this time of the year considerable kinds and varieties of plants are flowering and most of them set seed afterwards. Where this is not worked, such as with roses, and as there is anyhow noone about to enjoy the display, all spent heads, currently flowering blooms or coloured buds should be removed before departure on holiday. With the knowledge of the strength, suddenness and destructive power of our winds it pays to check the stakes and I ties of such plants as dahlias, I chrysanthemums and her- | baceous plants; also climbers and trees which have been given support of one kind or another.

Like insect pests and diseases, birds are soon attracted to untended areas and frequently can become a nuisance, as any fruit grower

can readily testify. Where it is not possible to arrange for neighbours to harvest ripening fruit or some form of protection cannot be given it is preferable to pick off all fruits which may ripen while away. This will minimise their attraction to birds and prevent rots, a sure way of inviting disease. The recent claims of a Melbourne salesman of having a lawn seed mixture which provides a grass sward which reaches a certain height and then stops growing was but a ruse to catch the unwary and this seed remains a widelycherished dream. In consequence we must continue to mow the lawn regularly if it is to be kept in good order. Luckily growth is not vigorous over the New Year period and if mowing is left until just before leaving it should not be very much out of hand even after three weeks. Unless the lawn is to be very well watered afterwards, do not set the cutter bar lower than about 3-8 of an inch to | an inch above the ground as consistent hot sun, wind and lack of moisture can readily damage fine turf areas which have been shorn.

The biggest problem will be maintenance of glasshouse, and perhaps house plants, and only some reciprocal arrangement with friends can overcome this one.