Practical Gardening

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 70, 15 December 1933, Page 2

Practical Gardening

S.y

"The Hoe"

. TIMELY TOPICS ■ Hints for Amateurs Owe of the great secrets of success in securing a non-stop show, of roses is to remove all blossoms as they fade. « « « The secondary spikes of delphiniums will be far liner if the mail) spike is cut baek when its Howers are past their best. ' To obtain a second crop of Canterbury bells, , pick off the dead bells individually. ' To check the tendency of sweet peas to die down after the height of summer, water the plants thoroughly once a week and feed freely with soot water and guano. The removal of fading leaves- and all strong "tendrils also helps. KITCHEN GARDEN Cultivation of Vegetables Beans, both climbing and dwarf, must be regularly watered and sowings made about once a ; month. Tomatoes are growing strongly; Stocky, hardy growth is the aim of the successful grower until the flowers appear. Present treatment Is to hoe the beds over onc£ a week Do not over-water, but give. suflicient to keep growth stead- | ily moving. As soon as they commence to flower they may lie heavily, fed by spreading a liberal dressing o£ manure on the surface soil and around the J plants, and by giving occasional applications of liquid manure. Staking arid supporting the plants provides the cleanest and earliest crops, and if they are grown to supports anil tied lightly as they grow, all side shoots should be nipped out between linger and thumb, and the plants allowed to develop oa two main branches only. THE FLOWER GARDEN Work for the Week The plants that must have.water at present are the shallow rooting annuals planted last autumn, and coming into flower now. These include godetias, the blue-flowered nigella (Love-in-the-mist), and elarklas. Carnations, like the majority of grey-foliiiged plants, have a strong resistance to dry weather, and, with stocks, have flowered ve.’y freely. Hydrangeas are approaching the flowering period, and must be lib: erally watered. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and citrus fruits are surface rooting ’Hants, and will not curry over a long-sustained period of dry weather without regular watering. An additional strain on rhododendrons through November and December is the formation of the Hew season’s growth. It' seriously cheeked they take years to recover. They should be watered at intervals of about .10. days. But iierhaps (he -greatest difficulty is being experienced In the planting of summer annuals. - ■ Many are being lost because the young seedlings cannot survive the check of transplanting. Seedlings growing in seed beds in the open ground in the liome garden require more careful attention. Tlie ground- in which the young seedlings are to be planted should be ready before the seedlings are lifted from tlie seed bed, and a minimum of time should el.ap.se between lifting and planting. Keep the seedlings'cool and (lamp bv placing I hem, as soon as lifted, between the folds of wet hessian bag. The evening is the best time ’i'or planting, and the young plants will require to be watered morning and evening until established, or rain falls. Petunias. zinnias, verbenas, ageratmn, seedling dahlias, antirrliiuinns (.snapdragons). blue butterfly delphiniums, asters, pentstemons. cosmos, marigolds (tall, medium, and dwarf), celosias, and amaranthus are among summer flowers for present planting.

TIPS .ABOUT WATER Mistakes to Avoid Never sprinkle, the soil at the base of plants on a slope. You must water them higher up the slope' so that as the water soaks in it reaches the roots. Don't apply water to surface caked ami cracked soil. Between the waterings stir up the soil to. reduce the surface to a loose state. ■’’ Avoid watering plants when the sun is shining on them. This leads to many troubles, including quick wilting of flowers ami scorching of roots and foliage. The cool of the evening is far and away the best time. Never hurry round the garden, just’ wetting the soil, in order to get the whole lot done. If there is much garden to water, one part of it should be well watered one evening, another section the next evening, and so bn. Sui> face sprinklings at any time are worse than useless because they draw the plant's roots to the surface, and the sun then burns them up. ■Remember to firm the soil around the base of seedlings and small plants partly moved out of position through the flush of water around them. Allow the soil just a little time to drain, though, after the watering so that when the soil is firmed it is not turned into a pasty mass.

CARE OF GLADIOLI

Producing Bigger Spikes The time to start giving your gladioli additional iioiirisiiment, to induce them to bring lorlh better spikes ot flowers, is wiieu the leaf sheaths arc beginning to bulge, ami you can wita gentle lingers led the flower splkei terming in them. . Liquid manure is the best food to give. Make this up by soaking in water any rotted manure, soot, poultry or. pigeon manure you may have. Al-ternatively,-mix one of the well-known chehiical foods in water. But remember that the manure water must be very weak. Dilute animal manure or soot-impregnated •liquid until it is- the colour of very weak ten, A’jvz 16 163 of cheiiiidal ■fertiliser to a gallon of water will be about right. In this condition the. liquid can be given to Lite gladioli twice a week if rite weather is unusually dry—once a week ordinarily:—without any additional watering. Take care not to splash it on the foliage. The liquid would burn the letlves. . There are various foods which may be applied direct to the soil. Where liquid manure is not available, soot is as good as anything; it should be sprinkled around the plants at the rate of a good handful per plant. Bone-meal also gives good results. Apply it at the rate of loz per square yard, sprinkled around the plants. Sulphate of ammonia is a specially good fertiliser'to apply at the rate of loz per square yard, if the leaves of the gladioli are getting blotchy or streaky. This strengthens the foliage as well as encouraging the production of better flowers. Whatever the chemical, it should be worked in just out of sight, and, if the weather remains dry, a good watering should follow .to wash tlie stuff down to tlie roots. Then the plants will soon begin to benelit from the application. HANDLING BULBS . Lift Them Now When the daffodils, tulips and similar bulbs have completed their bulb growth and all top foliage lias died down they may be lifted ami handled with impunity, and any necessary or desired changes of planting made. If it is not desired to move the bulbs and the daffodils flowered well last season, they may remain'where they are for another year, but daffodils require fresh , soil about every three or four years, depending on the original suitability of the ground for bulbs. The bulbs of tulips, on the other lifinil, require lifting every year, and this fits in well with garden planting, for, whereas daffodils are usually planted in the retired parts of tlie garden, tulips lire used in tlie forefront, where (heir brilliant colours are grouped in combination with other spring flowers. Gardeners who have had little success with tulips limy trace the cause frequently to neglecting to lift tlie bulbs in summer, planting other summer annuals over Lhe.'top of them ami by the continued use of water rotting the doriniint tulip bulbs. Any types of bulbs may be lifted now to make place for the planting of slimmer flowers. Those that still require a little further drying off may be planted in some spare part of the garden where watering is not in practice. The maxim for retaining healthy bulbs pfiall kinds is to replant as soon as possible after lifting. 'Tulips are the exception, and when lifted now should not lie replanted until April. They should be kept'in a dry, airy, and fairly dark place. Daffodils and other bulbs may also be stored, if necessary, then replanted at the first opportunity when ground is’ available, preferably February or March. If lifting daffodils now, and replanting within a few weeks, tlie ground should be dug deeply and a liberal dressing of bonemeal or bonedust added to the lower stratum.

Helpful H ints for Amateur Growers

CORRESPONDENCE

F.lt. (Halconults); If you want 1sized fruit, all tlie energies of tlie plant should be directed to tlie formation of fruit. Cut oft' all runners until crop is ha i-vesleil.

K.»S.C. (Olaki): You must lie guided by tlie weal tier in watering tomatoes when bearing fruit. As a general rule, plants at fruiting stage should bo kept healthily dry—that is. tlie soil should be friable and break to pieces in the hand; not really dry, but most assuredly not wet. When you find it. necessary to water, give plenty; lint you'll probably llnd, twice a week siiltieienl.

BROMPTON STOCKS Sow Seed Now Broinpton Stocks afelamong tlie most beautiful of/early suinmer flowers. In all but the coldest' districts they are hardv. Their fragrant spikes of bloom, whicit last well when cut,' open when flowers are scarce. . Seed should be sown now': the'young "plants h v >U l,c '- come' strong and established before winter. . \ ' -Sow the seeds in boxes in a cold frame or in a sheltered position out of doors. Make the soil moderately'; lit””, sow the seeds thinly, and-cover with about i inch of fine soil; Wflen the young plants are lj-2 inches • high, transplant them 6 to 8 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart. Hoe between the plants frequently to conserve mois-ture-in the soil and to keep down weeds, and water during hot, dry periods. By the end of March they .should have formed sturdy, bushy plants. If vour garden is expose: it will 'be advisable now either to plant them in a sheltered position or in a cold frame. In the latter case the "lights” should be placed on only during the severest weather. To secure the fnest spikes

“Pansies” (Kurort): The present Is a good lime to sow pansies for transplanting in autumn, t’se a compost of loamy soil 2 parts, peat, diist'l pari, and coarse sand 1 pari. P.oxes about lain, by 'din. by 2111. are best, lor both sowing and transplanting. Sow thinly, just covering tlie seed witli line soil, and keep moist and shaded until the seedlings appear. . Prick out—3 dozen plants per box—whim tlireo leaves have formed, using a'similar compost as before.' Keeji elose for 3 or 4 days until re-estalilisiied, then ventilate freely. If kept in a frame all winter, shelter only from heavy rain or very severe frost.

of bloom, the plants should be set out at least IS inches apart each way—more if the ground can bp spared—in soil which has been enriched with manure and wood ashes. . A packet of mixed seeds of a good strain will provide a wide range of colours; but distinct shades are also obtained separately—scarlet, white, rose, mauve, dark purple, ami crimson.

Even in the best strains there will be a small percentage of single flowers; these plants can be distinguished even in the seedling stage by their foliage, which is coarser and of a lighter green. These should not he discarded as their (lowers are valuable for cutting. The true Brompton Stocks attain a height of about 2 feet and form bushy plants.