THE GARDEN

Evening Star, Issue 20020, 10 November 1928, Page 19

THE GARDEN

Oar cOTtribater, a veQ-fcboot gardener, ■win be glad to wmmt questaom, which; mast bo received not later than Tuesday rtf each week. tWHMuftfc icr Ada oohDsra most bo handed in to fha office before S p.tn. on Friday.

SEASONABLE WORK THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Early potatoes that arc well through tho ground should bo earthed up. Draw tho soil well up about them Before doing bo dust along tho drills some artificial manure, such as bone meal and superphosphate mixed, or potash and nitrate of soda. This will greatly increase both the quantity and quality of tho crop. Do not delay this work until tho tops are very large, or they will bo injured in tin process. Almost any kind of vegetables may still bo sown, including tho planting of potatoes, where this work has been unavoidably delayed, but it should be pushed on as speedily as possible. The cool, showery weather of late has been favourable for planting out cabbages and cauliflowers Plant vegetable marrows, custard marrows, and pumpkins on wellmanured or specially-prepared beds, giving them a warm and dry, sunny spot. It is very 'isky tc plant these in cold, damp, shady situations. Sow for succession peas and French beans.

shrubs. Tho beginning of winter or early spring is the most favourable time. '

“ Roslyu.”—You have had four vines (two black and two white) for four years past. As tho bunches turn from sour to sweet they gradually become brown and mildew and rot in tho centre, whilst tho top and bottom of each bunch are all right.—-There aro various causes which may account for the trouble in your vines—water at tho roots, bad drainage causing sourness of soil, cold draughts, u leaky roof. Any of these will bring on mildew, also overcrowding of foliage and not thinning tho berries enough. Attend to the stopping or pinching out of surplus shoots, as advised in my notes. When ready thin the bcnics well and tie out the shoulders of the bunches to admit air and give tho berries room to expand. Avoid a stuffy atmosphere. Keep tho vinery warm and rather on tho dry sido to guard against mildew. Ventilate on all lino days when the gun is warm, and close the ventilators early in the afternoon. H.C. COLOUR PICTURES IN THE GARDEN Take note of plants which flower together, thou- heights and colourings, ft will help you to carry out colour schemes for tho garden. It is not given to everyone, that talent for making garden pictures by using plants of different colours which flower together, but onco tho example has been set for us wo can copy it maybe as well or even better than tho original. For my part, I never travel without pencil and notebook in which to jot down things ( see, and 1 am tho most barefaced peeper over fences at other people’s gardens (says a contributor to an Engfish periodical). One picture which I saw tins year was a stone path leading to tho iront door of a house with long rectangular shaped beds on either side, 'these were filled with pink tulips and for-get-me-nots. The latter were placed at intervals of four inches all over the beds and covered them completely, so that the pink tulips appeared to float upon a sea of palest bine. Perennial candytuft (Iberia sempervirens), with its pure white flowers and rich green , foliage, occupied tho bed along tho wall of tho house, and peeping through it were traces of tho colour scheme iu tho other beds, hero and there a forgot,-me-not and an occasional pink tulip. The effect was perfectly charming. ORANGE AND BLUE.

Sow also scarlet runner and butter Sow broad beans. Those that have set a good crop should have their tops pinched out. By this they will mature and produce more beans. Sow spinach, snowball turnips, and garden swedes. SUMMER SPRAYING Early in the spring mouths mildew becomes very troublesome, especially upon apple i-rees. The young leaves especially are very liable to be attacked by this trouble, and if allowed to go unchecked the damage will be great—a serious matter to those who grow apples to any extent. Trees most likely to be affected are those situated in damp, cold, draughty situations. Those exposed fully to light and air are rarely badly affected. Bordeaux mixture, summer formula, is one of the best sprays for mildew and other fungoid diseases. It may bo procured ready prepared, or one can prepare it himself. Tins formula is made as follows :—4lb sulphate of copper, 41b fresh rock or shell lime, and 40 gallons of water. Dissolve the sulphate of copper in twenty gallons of water. Slake the lime slowly, and make up to twentv gallons.. Strain this milk of lime Into the solution of sulphate of copper, stirring briskly whilst adding the’one to the other. Sulphate of copper is easily dissolved in hot water. _ Where only a few trees are kept it will not be necessary to make the whole amount, but whatever quantity is required care must bo taken to use the proper proportions. Badly affected trees should have two or three sprayings with fifteen days between each. This is an excellent spray for other forms of fu igoid troubles, such as black spot on apples and pears, shot hole fiingUß on plums apricots, und leaf curb and rust on poaches. Tho best time to spray for black spot on apples and pears is after the fruit is well set and swelling For plums and peaches spray early, as prevention is better than cure. When leaf cun or blister appears on peaches pick off blistered leaves and burn them, and spray at once with the above formula. THE VINERY Continue the work if what is termed atopuing, or, in other words, pinching cut, surplus growth. After the first stopping by pinching out the points oi each leading side shoot or branch two eyes heyfmd the bunch of fruit laterals will push awav These should all bo kept pinched back to one eye or leaf except the end one. This should be left to grow and be pinched back one leaf at a time. By the end of the season four or five eyes beyond the bunch will have formed. By lotting the end shoot extend in that manner the sap is kept flowing past tho bunch for its support, and the full development of the leaves _ Still keep the inside border moist to create a soft and humid atmosphere to develop good frit loaves and fruit. Ine ripening or hardening will come later. Give air on sunny days when the temperature has advanced to 70deg or 75deg, and close early in the afternoon to conserve tho heat for the night. THE GREENHOUSE As the heat of the day increases more water will bo required, especially to establish plants in pots. As the pots become full of roots they (the plants) require more careful attention. Pelargoniums in their flowering pots should be kept tied out to admit air and light. When their pots aro well furnished with roots give them a watering with we<lk liquid manure once a week, and a little stronger when flower spikes are forming. Discontinue feeding immediately they show colour, then give clear water only. Cinerarias.—Where an early supply of flowers next season is desired make a sowing of seed now; but about tho first week of December is tho best for a general display. This plant is rapid in growth, and requires generous treatment. But the soil must not be made too rich, or there will be more foliage than flowers. Three parts of good turfy loam with one each of leaf mould, old well-rotted stable or spent hot-bed manure, ami sharp sand will grow them well.

Catmint and Siberian wallflowers, bluey mauve and deep orange, were twocolours 1 saw massed together in a lovely Torquay garden in the spring of this year. These two plants were used for a bed on a sloping bank, so that tho orange wallflower grew a little higher than the catmint. Blue and yellow or purple and orange can always bo used together. Thus the golden alyssum always goes well with blue aubrefcia, and almost as well with forget-me-nots.

Fuchsias that are in full growth should bo frequently syringed overhead. Wlicro largo specimens are desired pinch out the points of each shoot. This should bo done once or twice after they have made growth din long. Then let them grow at will, and they will make fine specimens as greenhouse plants. Few plants surpass the above three for a general display and show of flowers.

Greenhouse ferns should be making rapid progress with their now young fronds. This is a good time to stimulate their growth with an occasional application of soot water one week, weak liquid manure the nest, and clear water the third. An occasional change like this stimulates the growth wonderfully. Nearly all pot plants when tho flowering pots are full of roots are very much improved by occasional watering with liquid manure or Clay’s fertiliser. Provide shade for the plants by stippling the glass with thin whitelead and turpentine. When greenfly thrives or other pests are visible smoke or fumigate the house with, nicoticide or X 4 all. ANSWERS “Anxious.”—You say you moved house and brought with you in Juno a double pink flowering shrub. There is no sign of either flower or leaf since you put it in. You ask what you can do?—I cogjd not say for certain what the shrub is, not seeing wood or leaf, and I am afraid there is no help for it but to wait and seo if it will break out later. We had a very dry and windy period at that time. I am afraid it has suffered badly after shifting, and may not recover. You cannot do anything now, ns there has been lots of 'rain since. Did you water it when planting? Indifferent planting and being dry at the roots, with a severe frost after, may have been the cause of its present condition. Mid-winter is a bad time to shift many varieties of

These plants are so easily raised roni seed and so hardy that one can use them as ordinary bedding plants and discard them after flowering in favour of antirrhinums or asters. An important thing to remember, if you have three or four beds on a lawn, is to carry out a similar colour scheme for all of them, especially if they are close together. SPLASHES OP COLOUR. Do not plant each one differently or you may find the colours dashing. A .scheme "which might be used for next year would bo blood red wallflowers and yellow tulips with forget-me-nots growing between them. As soon as these have finished flowering, plant with pink and scarlet antirrhinums Another equally charming scheme would be cream-coloured polyanthuses, forget-me-nots, and red tulips, followed in the summer by white and mauve asters, with an edging of tho little ageratum called dwarf blue. The merits of the dwarf nasturtium shouid not bo overlooked for .summer bedding if soinething_ really cheap is required. It coinejl into flower_ very early , and goes on blooming until tho frosts cut it clown. I saw_ a scheme carried out with these midgets last year which looked perfectly wonderful. Four beds were planted with them as a groundwork, and through them were grown rose-coloured Tom Thumb antirrhinums. WONDERFUL WALLFLOWERS Remember that biennials require a long season’s growth if they to flower successfully next year. Wallflowers are amongst them, and the seeds should bo sown now. A spring garden without wallflowers would bo almost ns queer as a summer one without roses. They are just one of the indispeusables, so much so that people do not ask their friends “ Have you any wallflowers? ” —but, “ How are your wallflowers? ” Pew plants lend 1 themselves so readily to colour schemes, either with members of their own family or in association with bulbs and forget-me-nots (says ‘ Homo Chat.’ London). Vet, in spite of their popularity, I. have seen some sorry specimens this spring which hear evidence of misunderstanding on tho part of their growers. Wallflowers, to be really effective, need to be grown massed together, so that they present a vivid splash of red or yellow, orange or flame, when the eyo beholds them. Tho plants must be bushy and hold their flowers erectnet, as 1 have seen them, loaning towards tho earth with stems too spindly to support them. EARLY SOWING. And it is so easy to have them right, if only you remember to sow the seeds at the proper time, and look after them for a month or two as seedlings. Some people say July (January in Now Zealand) is early enough for wallflowers, but 1 have found, from many experiments, that sturdy plants cannot be obtained by the autumn unless the seeds are sown about tho middle of May (November). Let. mo beg of you, therefore, to send for your seeds at once. If the soil is dry, give it a good watering before you begin, and remember to sow the seed thinly in very shallow drills a foot apart. I know some people who will maintain that wallflowers need not be more than 3in or 4in apart in the drills, but to sow them in the wider space which 1 suggest will enable you to run the hoe between them while thoj are still youngHOEING HELPS GROWTH. If every gardener realised how important this hoeing is to plants in every stage of their existence it would bo practised more diligently. Sufficient it is to say .that plants cannot grow without air, ami hoeing enables them to get as much as they really need. Transplant the seedlings before they become leggy—very often they are left too long in the seed bod—and give them plenty of room. I have seen many a nursery bed of young wallflowers in which the plants stood about 3in apart. In nearly every instance they wore mildewed and unlit for bpdding out, their unhealthiness

WORK FOR THE WEEK, .«6==®==B.«

being brought bout entirely by overcrowding. Let thorn stand 12in from each other, and the same distance apart in the rows. When they have become established pinch out the leading shoot in order to induce them to make side growth. Plant them oui as soon as the beds are cleared or their summer occupants, and let them stand fairly close together. THE STATELY HOLLYHOCK This old time perennial has been cultivated for hundreds of years. As a garden flower there are few to equal it in its hold and stately habit of growth. It is very handsome when seen in full bloom in the shrubbery or backing the largo borders, while new colourings and types have done much to promote its popularity. Besides the _ single and double varieties, there is a specie called tthe fig-leaved hollyhock. The foliage is. figlike with single or double flowers of yellow, red, or orange. The growth is bushy, the flower spikes attaining a height of from 6ft to 7ft. Then there is the American fringed hollyhock, which has large semi-double flowers, with beautifully fringed petals. The tints and colours are very fine. Groups of hollyhocks associate well with phloxes, michaelmas daisies, and grey foliaged plants, Something should always bo planted fronting them, in order to hide up the rather bare appearance the sterns bear until nearing the flowering point. To grow the hollyhock to perfection a deeplydug and good loamy soil, well enriched with decaying manure, is required. In heavy soils it is advisable to mis in some leaf mould, sand, etc., to lighten it a little. GARDEN HOSE COST MONEY LOOK AFTER THEM. If the garden be large enough to warrant the purchase of a garden hose wo would advise the amateur to avoid the larger sizes, which arc not only more expensive and cumbersome, but the wear and tear is considerably greater than one possessing smaller dimensions. With a good waterpressure a half-inch hose will give all the flow necessary for the average home garden, particularly when the sprinkler is extensively used. The length of hose required will ho dependent upon the position occupied by the taps in the garden. Provision should be made in this direction that every plant in the home plot is within easy range of the hose nozzle, without causing any unnecessary inconvenience. It is false economy indeed to purchase a short* length of hose. Give a care to your hose, and thus prolong its life and utility. Never drag it from one place to another particularly where paths and drives are to bo traversed. Coil it up and carry it.

When it springs a leak got, it repaired immediately. .Adopt ‘lie beat iiose mender tor this purpose, otherwise there will be further trouble from the same quarter. Drain the h ,ae immediately after use, and keep it from the sun as much as possible, particularly when it is free of water. Coil it up neatly, before placing away, and store in a cool place away from the action of both wind and weather. A hose is a costly commodity, and the life of rubber is shortened considerably with ill-use. PYRETHRUMS The Pyrethrums are deservedly popular plants, he single and double varieties contributing much to the beauty of the hardy ilower border during the summer months. They Ilower very profusely, produce a splendid display of glowing colours, the stout, wiry stems carrying the flowers well above the elegant, fernlike foliage, and besides being attractive in the border, they arc extremely useful for cut flower work. The colours range from puro white to delicate pink and rose, and from scarlet to the deepest maroon Pyrethrums are extremely hardy, and to cultivate them successfully it is necessary simply to plant them in good rich loamy soil, and to lift and divide every third or fourth year. They quickly suiter from drought, and on a very light soil some heavy farmyard manure should bo dug in before planting. The roots are long, and deep digging is therefore necessary._ They arc little affected _ by sun or rain, and maintain a creditable display when many other border plants have become stained and worn from adverse weather conditions. There is a largo number of both single and double varieties, and the neat low-growing habit of the foliage renders them fit for border work. Slugs attack pyrethrums as they do delphiniums, ana so tnc plants need some protection. As the young growths .appear, sings ruthlessly destroy them, until llio plants, in despair, refuse to grow any more. But, if they arc cared for during these few important weeks, the _ gardener may bo assured of success with them. GREEN MANURING Soiling crops, or green manuring, as it is often known, is don© by sowing a catch crop, letting it grow till the ground is ready, and then digging it in. Alter early peas or potatoes, mustard or rape may be sown and dug in when a foot or so high. Field peas, vetches, and clover may also be used. In deciding what to sow, remember that the rains during the winter rob the soil of much of its nitrogen. Much of the nitrogen in. the soil is in the form of nitrates, which .are easily dissolved in water. .The chief value of the autumn sown soiling crop is that it absorbs the nitrates from the soil, and locks them up in the roots, stems, and leaves, and prevents this washing out by rains. Peas, clover, and vetches actually increase the amount of nitrogen in tho soil, and so are particularly valuable for a soiling crop. While it is often only, possible to cope with an insect attack on one’s garden crops by spraying at the right times thoroughly and persistently, quite a lot can be effected in the way # of prevention by adopting certain general rules of practice. For instance, the elimination of all weeds, refuse, and rubbish from the.garden destroys many breeding and harbouring places. Handpicking is an invaluable aid in the home garden, though it is treated with more or less scorn by many amateurs who do not understand its effectiveness and usefulness. Anything which promotes rapid and, healthy growth of the plants makes the plants, stronger, and so better able to_ withstand the attacks of insect enemies.