Making the best of difficult conditions

Press, 5 March 1982, Page 13

Making the best of difficult conditions

GARDENING

by

M. Lusty

Gardeners’ queries

Please could you tell me through your valuable Gardeners’ Queries column how to rejuvenate a 50-year-old apricot tree, growing on very light Sumner soil? It bears well though the fruit is very furrowed. Can I feed it by means of a trench at drip radius? The foliage looks miserable. A well meaning friend dug out its soft rotten wood in the trunk.leaving two holes the site of cricket balls—what can I do to fill these? My philodendron has three cord-like roots hanging down. Should I tuck these into the pot. P. N. (Sumner). Apricot trees in local soils are inclined to be vigorous growers and bard cutting back usually results in strong regrowth. These trees fruit predominantly an two-year-and-older wood, so the objective in pruning procedure should be a continuous process of renewal of the older and particularly the unfruitful wood. Spurring back and some thinning of shoots may be desirable, but really one cannot give specific advice on this issue as individual tree characteristics will dictate what should be done, in .each case. The cracked fruit is most likely due to the presence of scab. This can become a persistent disease unless control measures are taken. Bordeaux

mixture or copper oxychloride should be applied at leaf fall, during the winter again at bud movement and then ten days later. Feeding can be done by spreading fertiliser on the ground around the tree to the vicinity of the drip line, in August. The holes' in the trunk should be cleaned out fully and then filled with concrete. The aerial roots of the philodendron should be tucked into the pot. Would you kindly give me the name of the enclosed blue flower? The truss of semi-double flowers have stalks about two feet long this year and the leaves are taller still. The colour of the flowers is deep blue. I would also be grateful if you could tell me when and how to prune gooseberry and blackcurrants. “Anxious” (Chch). Winter is the best time to prune gooseberry bushes, and blackcurrants can be done at the same time, although they can be tackled now if desired. Gooseberry fruit on one-year-or-older shoots. However, the best fruit is obtained on spurs up to threefour years old. The objective should be to make the bush easy to pick from by removing overlapping. dense growth at source. Avoid low shoots by providing a clean trunk for at least 0.25 m

from, ground level. Renew old shoots, and shorten long young growth. Blackcurrants fruit most heavily on one-year-old canes and spurs formed on such wood in the following year. A process of continuous renewal of spent wood is therefore necessary by cutting all old shoots right back to point of origin. The blue flowered plant has not yet been identified but I will advise you if this becomes possible. 1 have a rose geranium, which has fragrant leaf and cyclamencoloured tiny flowers. What is its history? My Etoile de Holland a prolific bloomer and ten-year-old, is a standard. The enclosed leaf and bark is peiling from the stem. What ails it—would it be very hot sunshine and terrific winds? M. R. (Amberley). The rose requires nothing more than a good clean-up spray. Repeated treatment with the combination of acephate and triforine,' at fortnightly intervals over the next six weeks should improve its appearance immensely. The development of bark on standard roses is a natural process and should not give concern. I am unable to provide the information you require regarding the geranium, but perhaps a reader of these comments may be able to help.

To say that prevailing weather conditions in the past few months have been trying for both gardener and plants alike is a rather mild understatement.

Fluctuations in growth, the damage and demise of many plants ranging from longestablished trees to newly established plantings, influxes of diseases and pests, which required extra perseverance to control them, drought conditions and some surprisingly variable diurnal temperatures are but Some of the problems with which we have had to contend. And wasn’t it just so noticeable how last week’s rain coupled with warmth caused such immediate growth response, such as is never matched by even two weeks careful watering? Well, such are the vagaries of the weather over which we have (luckily?) no control but just have to accept and make the best of.

Again it brings into focus the need to avoid complacency when growing plants. Adequate provisions for moisture conservation and utilisation, good staking, sound pest and disease control, weeding, selection of the right kinds and varieties of plants to grow, are but some of the factors which can help to reduce losses, and the often bitter disappointments which result from time and effort, not to mention expenditure, all for nought. Vegetable section It is advisable to have a close look at all plantings of winter greens to see just how far they are advanced. The chances are that premature development will mean much of what has been planned for harvesting in the months ahead will be. ready very considerably earlier. Prompt action now can still remedy the situation so that there need be no gaps in the continuity of supply, but attention to this matter needs to be very prompt indeed. Harvesting of such crops as beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers should be maintained without leaving the

individual fruits and vegetables to get that little bit bigger. Under the present circumstances this will give a better end product while reducing the stress on the plant and thus also giving encouragement for further production. Fruit section Battering winds, dryness, and health problems will have had variable effects on fruit crops in most gardens, depending on site, situation, and the amount of attention given to the individual fruiting subjects. .Sun scorch will be very evident on much of the fruit, particularly on apples, Such fruit should be kept separately, when picked and used first as it will often deteriorate within a week or two afterwards. The main thing now is to ensure that the late maturing varieties receive plenty of water and are kept healthy. Some further thinning out of late apples may also pay dividends, even at this stage. Ornamental section Watering will form a major activity in this part of the garden. Other effort should be directed towards keeping pests at bay, deheading and disbudding various ornamentals such as roses and chrysanthemums, bulb planting and lawn maintenance. Winter annuals such as allysum, calendula, cineraria, lobelia, nemesia, pansy, poppy, sweet William and stock, should be sown or planted now. Anenomes and ranunculas can be started off in trays to minimise loss and give them a better start.