GARDENING NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 52, 29 August 1925, Page 17

GARDENING NOTES

PLANTING ASPARAGUS

PREPARATION OF THE BEDS

ADVICE TO AMATEURS,

(By "Practical.")

There has been more inducement to take interest in garden work during the last week or so. The increasing warmth and consequent growth gives renewed encouragement to push on with spring work. The northerly winds which we may expect, while being unpleasant, will have the effect of warming up the soil and drying up surplus moisture, thus helping to make the ground workable. All delayed planting and sowing will have to be done with as little delay as possible to make up as far as possible tor lost time.

The planting of new beds of asparagus is best done at the end of the month or early in September, as a greater measure of success is likely to result when planting is done after the plants have started into growth. At this period the ground is warmer and the plants take root quickly and soon become established. Thorough working of the soil to a depth of at least two feet —three feet is better—) 3 essential for successful asparagus growing. The plants succeed best in a deep, rich, sandy loam, but almost any good garden soil will grow asparagus if properly prepared. The ground should be trenched to the depth required, and a good layer of green rubbi|h put- on the bottom, and each spit of soil should have some manure and gritty matter incorporated with it. Beach • sand is the best substance to use where obtainable, but road grit and burnt rubbish are good substitutes, and help to keep the soil open and porous. Thorough drainage is essential, as this crop cannot suceed if stagnant water is allowed to lie at the roots. If there is not natural drainage, some method must be adopted to allow surplus water to get away freely. Raised beds are a dncided advantage for this reason. Tho preparation of the bed should bo attended to some time before planting to allow the different constituents to become thoroughly incorporated and the ground to settle down before planting. Immediately before planting the beds should be well forked over. Trenches from three to four inches deep and wide enough to allow of the roots being spread out evenly, should be taken out and the plants placed in position. The roots should be carefully covered with the best toil available, which should be in such condition that it will readily run in among the roots. Good strong one-year-old plants are the best, and the roots should be as little damaged in lifting as possible. Replanting should be done as soon as possible after lifting, as the fleshy roots suffer if allowed to become at all dry. Set the plants bo that the crown is just below the surface, and give a good mulch of well-rotted stable manure. During the growing season occasional doses of liquid manure should be given. No picking should be done the first season, and very little the second, after which the beds will be well established, and, provided reasonable attention is given them in the matter of weeding, mulching, and liquid manuring, should remain profitable for many years. The tall growths must not be removed until they commence to turn.yellow, but the bernjes must not be allowed to fall on the beds, otherwise seedlings will come up and the bed become choked with surplus growth. ORANGES AND LEMONS. It is not generally known that citrus fruits can be successfully grown around Wellington, at least in the warmer parts on the coast. Apart from the utility aspect there is a fascination about growing plants which are generally considered as tropical. The following advice on the cultivation of these fruits is from a Northern paper:—"During the present; and succeeding months is the best time to plant lemons and other citrus fruits In localities that are at all subject to ■evere frosts. Planted at this time, providing the ground has been well worked and placed in the best possible condition, thero is naturally some warmth in the soil, so that root action is rapid and the plants soon become well established. This, however, is not always fol- ; lowed by immediate top growth, as thfl peculiarity of most varieties of citrus fruits is that, though healthy root action is taking pla.ee, the plants often remain almost stationary until late in the/ summer or early autumn, when they start into healthy, vigorous growth." It is always advisable, when planted In situations liable to severe frosts, to give some protection until the plant* become well established and hardened to.the locality. As already stated, the soil for citrus trees cannot bo too well prepared, and if the subsoil is at all of » stiff nature, thorough drainage must bo provided for, for while a reasonable | amount of moisture is essential to health^ growth, an excess of it is fatal to these plants. Many failures result through citrus trees being placed too deep in the soil, or being planted in soils of a stiff clay nature, with little or no provision being made for, the outlet of surplus moisture. In planting citrus trees the portion of stem where tho bud had been inserted should in every case' be kept well above the soil. In most nurseries the lemons are worked upon the orange stock and budded at sufficient height to enable the planter to do this. Shallow planting, in any case, is advisable. The plots where the trees are to be planted should be made up with the, best soil obtainable. "Well decomposed manure or any decayed vegetable matter is excellent for the purpose. Before planting cut back any portions of the roots that have been injured by the spade in lifting, as well as any strong roots forming a tap root. When planting spread the roots out level with tho surface, bo that when the roots are covered the plants stand upon a slight mound. This not only gives added warmth to the roots, but assists to prevent an excess of moisture. As soon as planted they should be securely staked, placing a band of cloth or other material around the stem where, the tic. is placed. Established trees should have nil dead ;»hoots removed, and any irregular branches cut, back. The tree, at this time, should be thoroughly sprayed with lime sulphur solution, and an application of immure applied to the soil ond Lightly forked in. WORK FOP THE WEEK. Afi opportunity offers, the sowing of vegetable swds should be proceeded with iis'lidvised l:ist week, also tho. planting o{ potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, onions, etc. When ground is of a sandy nature thero is little difticully in carry 1115; out ordinary operations, as water drains away almost immediately, making it quite possible to work the soil as long as it is not actually raining, but soils of a heavy nature cannot be worked with any measure of success until the surplus moisture has had time to drain away. The season has been a difficult one for outdoor seed sowing, as the surface soil becomes so caked after the heavy rain that the young growth is un.ible to push through. Some light scrub placed over the seed beds helps to protect the young seedlings' and at the same time breaks the force of the rain. The planting of roses, shrub*, and tress ihouid be, completed v 10011 a* pcwibl*.

Propagation of chrysanthemums should be pushed on with so that the young plants may be weD-rooted by the time they have to be planted out. Ground for sweet peae should be well prepared by deep trenching and incorporating plenty of decayed rubbish or manure. These are deep-rooted s'jjijects, and must .have good «oil to push their roots into.

_ Plant out seedlings of pansies, violas, cinerarias, etocks, nemesiu, larkspur, and. Iceland poppies.