In the Garden

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 51, 28 August 1926, Page 26

In the Garden

BY "PRACTICAL"

SHRUBS & PERENNIALS

SEASONABLE WORK

MANY TASKS WAITING FOR THE

AMATEUR,

"U.K.," Island Bay.—The little green insect on your pot-plants will be the green aphis. You evidently made the kerosene solution too strong, and as you say the plants have died it will be useless to keep them. You should not have any difficulty in keeping the date palm (Phoenix dactylifora), proTided it is properly potted, and kept in proper condition. The cause of so many casualties among pot-plants is incorrect watering. Water should not be applied until absolutely necessary, and then the pot should bo stood in water, almost up to the rim, for half an hour or so. Boom plants are rather hard to manage on account of the varying temperatures and the presence of sulphur fumes from coal fires. A good fertiliser for pot-plants is 2 teaspoonsful of nitrate of soda, 2 teaspoonsful of superphosphate, and 1 teaspoonful of sulphate of potash, to 4 gallons of water, applied once a month. The plants should be watered before giving the fertiliser^ Palms, aspidistras, and other pot-plants with large leaves are greatly improved if the leaves are kept clean jby sponging with niilk and water. PLANTING SHRUBS. Any tree or shrub planting to be completed should be done as soon as possible, as most of these are starting into growth. Preparation of the ground, which will be occupied by shrubs and trees for many years, should ,be thorough, as once planted very little can be done in the way of feeding beyond top-dressing. Be sure to make the holes large enough to allow of the roots being spread out, and cut off with a sharp knife any roots which are broken or torn. After placing the plant In position, and before covering the roots, a stake should be driven in as close to the stem as possible. Fill In with fine soil, and tramp it firm, leaving the surface loose. Before filling in the hole completely give a bucketful of water to wash the soil in among the roots. Sesbania trepctii, a little-known plant, is worthy of being more widely grown. The growth is rapid, the shrub attaining a height of four or five feet in the second year from seed. It has a graceful, spreading habit, the branches being decked with numerous trusses of pea-shaped flowers of a striking shade of orange. Being leguminous, it takes very little from the soil, as it has practically no surface roots. Unfortunately, this splendid shrub has proved with me to be a bi-ennial, but whether it is truly so is hard to say. I should be pleased to hear if any reader has found it to have a perennial habit. Foinsiana, a shrub sometimes known as the Bird of Paradise tree, is another excellent garden subject very seldom grown. The mimosa-like foliage alone is charming, while the blooms, which are produced in corymbs at the ends of the branches, are yellow, with long, red stamens, giving a most gorgeous effect. The plants are n6t quite hardy, and therefore requiro some protection from frost during winter, and shelter from cutting winds. MANAGEMENT OF PERENNIALS. Borders of perennial plants are apt to become very crowded unless attended to periodically. Many of this class spread rapidly, and soon become overcrowded unless divided. Michaelmas daisies, Heleniums, Helianthemum (perennial sunflower), and Shastor daisies are among those which are the better for being lifted each year, and the young portions replanted. When overcrowded they never produce such fine blooms, besides doing damage to surrounding plants of less robust growth. 3?here are many of the perennials, however, which resent disturbance, and these should be allowed to remain once they have become established and are doing welL Among these are Paeonies, Eilleborus, Aquilegia, Anemone, Japonica, Lily of the Valley, Gippsophila, Oriental Poppies, and Eryngium (sea holly). Perennial borders require manuring each year during digging. This is best done in the autumn or winter; stable or cow manure being the best manuring medium if procurable, failing which some superphosphate and bonedust should be worked in, and as much decayed vegetable matter as can conveniently te dug under. Once in, every three or fours years it is advisable to entirely renew such borders, removing all plants, and, if possible, renewing *fcfl soil, or at least trenching the ground to a good depth and thoroughly manuring it. PLANTING OUT ANNUALS. As opportunity offers, hardy annuals, inch as Iceland poppies, nemesias, larkspurs, stocks, cinerarias, pansies, and violas, should be planted out. As the beds of narcissi finish flowering, the ground should be forked over and weeded. If the spaces between the rows are then planted with annuals much of the untidyness of the narcissi foliage will be disguised, and a gay show throughout the summer obtained. On no account should the narcissi foliage be cut off as this feeds the bulbs and makes them capable of producing good blooms next season. If the foliage proves a trouble it may be doubled over and tied neatly. Land for sweet peas should be deeply dug and plenty of humus bo workedinto tho lower spit. These are deepxooted plants, and unless they can obtain the necessary food and moisture during the dry summer months tho results will inevitably prove unsatisfactory. With lengthening days and increasing warmth, weeds arc coming away fast. Every effort should bo made to keep these down, and on no account should they be allowed to seed. Frequently forking or hoeing around growing plants will have aa beneficial reBults as manuring in many cases, as this allows the warmth and air to penetrate to the roots of the plants. LAWNS, NEW AND OLD. Frequent mowing will be necessary from now on, and if tho ground is not jtoo wet rolling should be done. New lawns should be cut with a scythe for ;the first time or two, as the mower is apt to pull out the young grass. Aniseeds, such as daisies, dandelions, flocks, etc., should be dug out or cut below the surface, and some weed-killer applied to tho remaining root. Avoid putting the weed-killer on the grass, otherwise you will kill it. The edges of lawns should be kept neatly trimmed. Many a lawn is spoilt by neglect Jo keep the edges neat. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. All vacant ground should be dug over and broken up as soon as in fit condition for working. Ground for seeds. must be worked to a fine tilth, otherwise it is impossible to cover the seed evenly. .Early potatoes and peas should be earthed up as soon as they are a few inches through the ground. Cabbage and cauliflower plants are also benefited J»y this treatment, and if a little nitrate of soda is sprinkled round the cabbage and cauliflower plants before the earth if drawn up it will be an advantage. Peas should have supports as soon as (they, are three or four inches through

' the ground; even dwarf varieties do better if kept off the ground. Further sowings of peas, broad beans, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, radish, and beet may be made. Sow thinly and protect the seedlings from slugs by dusting lime, soot, or alum along the rows. Peas should have black cotton stretched along the rows about an inch or two above the ground to keep the birds oiT. This is better done when the seed is sown. Clean up established beds of asparagus and top-dress with good stable manure. After removing tho weeds, a dressing of kainit is good for asparagus, but this is best applied in the autumn. Plant out onions in beds of rich soil, inserting the roots only, leaving the bulbs on the surface of the soil. Onion beds should be tramped firm. Sow seed of onion. To ensure thin and even sowing, the seed should be mixed with sand, or dry, fine soil before sowing. Rhubarb may bo planted now. The ground should be rich—the best soil available—manure or decayed rubbish being worked in to a depth of three feet at least. Stable^ manure is best' for rhubarb, but failing a supply of this work in some bonedust and fowl manure. The roots should be set with the crown just above the soil, each croivn will make a plant. Old roots may be cut into suitable sizes with a sharp spade. Parsley may be sown now—the seedlings being thinned out to a foot apart. Leaving the young plants crowded up is a mistake, good results being obtained only when the plants have ample room to grow. Parsley is best sown where it is to grow, as it is taprooted, and somewhat difficult to transplant. The seed is rather slow in germinating.