GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 56, 29 November 1919, Page 16

GARDEN NOTES

(By "Kowhai.") TVAIjLFIiOWEBS. Wallflowers are indispensable, in tho spring garden, and, in order to ensure a good supply of well-grown bushes thai will be capable of bearing large, nch-loued, velvety-looking flowers, we rauet fcivo srmo attention to tho seedling? now. Aβ a rule, it is best to pull the old plants nnt. and to plain a new lot for the next year, but any favourite ones that are not moro than a year old, and that one would like to retain, may be cut down to within n few inches of the ground. Loosen tho earth round these old root?, work m & little bonedust, give them a Rood watering, and iibw Ki-owth will soon break from the old sterna. But it is better to use tho now growth as cutting.!, and then to dig out the old roots. The ground where wallflowers have been grown should be deeply dug, and should have a. sprinkling of limo and some welldecayed vegetable rubbish worked into it Get tho young planU out of their seed pa.ns as booh as possible, and, when planting thorn out, cut off. with a sharp knife, the long tap root. This encourages the growth of fibrous roots, nnd fives fine bushy plants instead of the ungainly leggy ones that are so often to lie M'en. Seeds of wallflowers may ntill be sown, cither in seed-nans or in the open ground. Some of the n'ewcFt varieties are glorious in colouring, and tho iiaUls <:f the Cowers are thick ami velvety. If :' small part of t.'io garden on be "iwr.jil for raining seedling it is ■■•■ srocl idea to leave oiio o:- two of the fineat wallflower rlnnts to go to teed. As soon as the seed U ripe, pull up the plants. <arry them over to the feed-raising natcli. and shake them vigorously over the fini'ly-worliod ground. One will set in ('tis way a mmil.'i'i , of pno vouiic" seedlings, and with very little trouble. Ac soon no the seedlinjr planls arc bi? enough they should be 1-fti-d. Jiavc their tap roots cut, and le planted out in a. little nursery bed urepirnlory to going into their flowering quarters. itOUTI.NE WORK. Staking and lying up plants is cue of Hie most important onerntiuns in the Power garden at this time of the year. Delphiniums, Canterbury bells, hollyhocks, early-flowering gladioli, larkspur, antirrhinums, liliuuiß, and sweet peas ere particularly liable to be spoilt by the vind just, now, and it is more than provoking to nee tbeee plants dashed to pieces just as we are. expecting our reward for all tho labour spent on them. In our windy (■limale we cannot, lie too genomic willi slakes, even dwurf-growiug lilants such as zinnia*, Frendi nmriiiolde. etc., beiug all the /better for a email one.

Hovering verbenas, petunias, ami all plants that creep over the gru.wd will need pegging down treiiuCM'Jy. The faded flowers should be rctuuvod regul. u'ly to keep up the flowering season :is long as possible. Doth verhi'iias and petunias will go on creeping over the ground and flowering proliiocly if they ri'cclve these liltlo attentions. Teggiiij; down has Ibis iidvanlaj,'o. too, I hat in the bcgimiine of the v inter there will be a supoly of nicely rooted layers lo take the place ot Hie old plants. I find that even pansies are all the better for being fastened down with a. few tons hairpin- , , fn tying up or peguinf down the pkinl should always be made to look as mituivl at possible. Don't msifco oue stake do the work of three or four.

Autumn-sown gypsophila has been flowering over a loH|f period, :im) constant picking o( tho branches has the effect i.fn.:.k--iiiß the plants throw up nmnbere ot new flowering jlioolb, so that the flowering season extends over quite a Ion? period.

A lew of gypsophila, make all the difference to u bowl of sweet, peas. By making successive sowings, aumia! (rypsoplilla may be had in flower nearly all the year round. July neeuis to lie about the only month when the plants llml it impossible to Bower.

THE NEED V'OK UJjWIUS. Humus in a very imnort-int rart of the toil; indeed, it is a I sir more important part than many gardeners tlvink. What js humiiß? It is simply the organic mattor in the soil derived from decomposing plant and animal product?, and la not true humus till it is in an advanced state of decomposition. It ie then brown in colour, and, when present in large i/uantitics, imparts a. dark colour to the soil. As humus is capable of holding nearly double its weight of moisture, one can readily Bee how vital n part it is of a sandy soil, for it retains in the soil moisture that would otherwise drain av.ay too quickly. jWso, during its decomposition valuable plant food ia liberated which heljiß to make tho soil much more fertile. By tho addition ol humus, a clay soil is made nioro porous, eo that water passes through more readily, and air is more freely admitted. Thus, by its addition, a. sandy soil which is naturally too well drained, ia made capable of holding much more moisture, and a clay boil which is apt tab» sticky and hard to work, is made friublo and capable of Treely admitting air and water without being too tenacious of the latter. .Moreover, soils rich in huiuim do not become bard -and rampsicl. The ideal eoil is a mixture of equal parts of sand sind clay, with a fair pioporoion of humus. This is called a loam.

Wllien n gardener speaks of a soil an being "rich," he eimply menus that it is well stocked with liutuup. A poor soil is one that is deficient in huinuf. Having digested these tew tacts, the aiunteur gardener will lio-v fee that the condition of his soil depends largely upon himself. The one with a stiff day eoll libb the hardest, problem to fare, but by persistently breaking up the soil H.ud working in 'leeay»d animal and vegetable matter, and coarse eand or grit, be will eventually have a noil that ifi hard to bent. Tho who begins with sand tins to bury, a.nd to keep on burying, quantities of vegetable matter, and such animal matter as cow or pig manure, nnd to incorporate with his soil many loads of clay before he can hope to ha.vc a really profitable garden.

But. having worked the soil to the desired state of "richness," the amateur gardeuer must not think that, his labours are at an end. In the bii»h, where leaves are constantly dropping and are left undisturbed to decay, the soil i« ahra.y/i rich in numuß. But. in a garden, where veods a-ro quickly destroyed, leaves are carefully raked up, and crops ore eouutnutly gathered from the soil, the humus in time rots away, and the soil become* poor. To maintain its richness, we must then take steps to replenish the nece-Bary humus at regular intervals, and this is done by digging in auinial manure or decomposing vegetable matter. In a garden nothing should he wtlsted. Weeds, gra;*, soft hedge clippings, leaves, and everything l.hat is capable <f being rotte'd nown should be returned to the soil s_« supply the organic matter thsit will bocome humus. Ho often one sees gardenem actually burning leaves and vegetable matter while tho soil is crying aloud jt« puterty in every stunted plant. If you wereto remonstrate with him, he would teli you tha.t the ash is good for tho soil. But he overlooks this important fact; ltaves and stems, etc.. are composed largely of ash and organic matter. '■! he buries them ae they are (he soil gets tho benefit of the ash plus the urganic matter which decomposes into tho all importa,nt humus; if ho burns them, the 'oil get« only tho ash. and the plants go hungry for the plant foods thai are liber, ated when organic matter is being decomposed. The things ihnt should be burnt are docks, cabbage leaves iind HtuniDu hard stems, and wends that have cone tb aeeu.

1 once had a neighbour who lovwi gardening, but hated work. She thought it wna finite sufficient to merely scratch the surface soil before planting the seedlings she had bcßged from me. She watched mV trenching and manuring with scorn- the results with envy. But, silways •verlooking tho fact that our soils were exactly alike to begin with, consoled herself with thiß remark; "Wo!!! you <io get your things to grow. But then you have eueh good soil I"

One of th« best ways of maintjunins humus in the Boil is by means of ween manuring. Oats, must led, turnips, and peas are all suitable crops for » recn manure. • Garden Xctes next week will contain eeawmable notes about ■.-Cam.Uions, routine work, and vegetables.