THE GARDEN

Evening Star, Issue 21090, 30 April 1932, Page 18

THE GARDEN

SEASONABLE WORN

should start from the middle of August to October. ■ Plant ranunculus in deeply-dug and well-prepared ground, also anemones and other spring-flowering bulbs. Propagate pansies and violas from cuttings, ro take up and divide the old plants, making sure to take the parts with young growth attached, as the old flowering wood is of very little good. It is hard to make the ground too rich for pansies. Continue to propagate cuttings of geraniums of various kinds. As it is getting late to propagate cuttings of these outside, they should bo put into a light, dry frame. Any good light, sandy soil will be sufficiently rich for geraniums. Hardy shrubby calcelarias may still be propagated by cuttings, keeping the frame close and shaded for these. Make th j soil richer than for geraniums. Boxes about 3in deep are suitable for putting cuttings of this nature. Dahlias are still fresh and flowering when writing this, but they may be cut down or blackened at any time by frosts. When this happens cut them right down and lift and store them away for the winter whore frosts cannot injure them. Putting a little line dry soil about their roots prevents the roots from becoming too dry. , Continue to mow and roll lawns. Chip verges. Dig and prepare beds or borders. Herbaceous plants may be lifted and divided and transplanted. Take up dead annuals. Prepare the ground and transplant with wallflowers, antirrhinums, polyanthus, or other hardy plants. Prepare beds to receive roses as previously advised. Clip off dead flowers or seed heads from roses, and as soon as flowering has ceased cut or prune away all dead wood and useless growth. This will give the good wood more light and air to thoroughly ripen up the wood for next season’s flowering, and put it in fine condition for pruning in August. THE GREENHOUSE Pot on cinerarias before they become the least bit pot bound, or they will not make good specimens. Good turfy loam, sand, and one part leaf mould will be quite rich enough for cinerarias. Too rich soil tends to produce more foliage than flowers. Pot on primulas Cyclamen, for early flowering, should have their final shift. Good rich, broken-up turf, with some old manure and clean, sharp sand, will grow them well. When potting these care must he taken not to cover the crowns of the tubers. Give good drainage, and pot firmly. Make a sowing of that delightful little flowering plant the schizanthus, or butterfly flower. Schizanthus westoniensis is a good strain. Any good potting mixture will suit for sowing the seed. When sufficiently large prick out six or eight of the young seedlings into a Gin pot. These will make quite nice sized specimens. Heduce the water on begonias that are going out of flower. Water the plants with care. Those with their pots full of roots will require more than those newly potted, llemove all dead leaves and flowers to give a clean and tidy appearance. ANSWERS 11 New Ground.” —You ask what you should grow as a first crop on a new piece of ground. You cannot do better than put the first crop down in early potatoes. Trench and manure your ground well with a good dusting of lime on the surface. Then procure some good early sets, pack them in shallow boxes, singly, eyes uppermost, to sprout, and place them in some cold light shed or under a hedge or tree to protect them from frost. By the time they are nicely sprouted you may plant them in the new ground. With anything like fair treatment you should have quite a payable and useful crop. “ R.M.M.”—The begonia leaves arrived quite safely, but I could not tell by them the cause of the buds dropping belore they were propeily matured. What will cause the buds to drop is excessive dryness at the roots or on the other extreme bad drainage or excessive moisture. It is too late to do much with them this season. What I should advise you to do is gradually to withhold water until the tops have ripened off properly,' then store the pots away where frosts or damp cannot reach them. When you see growth starting in spring pot them up in not too large pots, so that they may be potted on or into their flowering pots in spring. Write again and 1 will give you more particulars. ti.C.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Clear away all spent crops and dead leaves to enable ground to be (lug or trenched and manured, and to keep things sweet and clean. It is most unsightly to see a lot of dead leaves and rotted vegetation about. Lift potatoes whilst the ground is dry and workable. Pit or store them and do not omit to pick out set sizes and box them up to sprout for future planting. Ply the hoe freely among growing crops to stimulate growth and keep down weeds. Peas that are well through the ground should have a little earth drawn up about them to make them secure for the winter. As soon as asparagus tops have ripened off or turned yellow, cut them down. Those that show a lot of seed should bo removed altogether before the seeds fall, or they grow and cause a lot of trouble by disorganising the bed. Prick out or plant cabbages and ca«liflowers from the autumn-sown seed, and when ground is scarce plant the cabbages close —under what is called the crowded system—that is, 12in apart and when they have grown to a useful size in spring, cut evei'y other one and leave the rest to grow to full size. Plant garlic and shallots in shallow drills Gin apart and 12in from row to row. Those situated in a warm locality would do well to make a sowing of lettuce to stand the winter in the seed bed, or make a sowing in a cold frame or what is better still, when tomatoes are going off under glass, pull up the stems with the fruit attached, cut off all leaves, and hang the stems and fruit up on the back wall, or to wires or supports to finish their ripening; then dig and manure the ground and sow lettuce in drills under glass. If these are carefully attended to and kept watered, they will most likely turn out a profitable and useful crop. Keep celery well earthed up as a protection against severe frost, and have the plants properly bleached. Earth up leeks as growth demands. THE FRUIT GARDEN Prepare ground for future tree planting. This work should be well done. Even if it should be for a few trees only, let it be deeply dug and well manured, for we must remember that trees are planted to fruit and last for many years. Half-prepared ground is not to be thought of when planting fruit trees. Planting may be done immediately the leaves have fallen. Plant strawberries in rich, wellmanured ground. The sooner they are in the ground the better chance of a first crop of fruit. Late or spring planting is all right, but is not so good for a first season’s picking of fruit. The pruning of fruit trees may commence as soon as the leaves have fallen. I shall be touching upon this subject shortly. THE FLOWER GARDEN We may look for cold nights and probably sharp frosts any time now, and those who have chrysanthemums in pots and begimng to show colour should be prepared to have them put under cover, and made secure against damage of this kind. Lift gladiolis, even should their tops be a little green. Cut this back to about Gin, name them, and hang them up in a dry shed to ripen. When ripe and dry rub off the loose skin and the old bulb, or shield at the base of the new bulb, and put them away in paper bags until planting time, which

BASIS OF SUCCESSFUL GARDENING

It is essential that all vegetable plots —save those occupied by such permanent crops as rhubarb, seakalo, mint, etc—be dug over once a year. As a general rule the nearer-May the digging the better, for the longer loosened soil is exposed to the action of 1 rests, heavy rains, snow, and keen winds, the sweeter and the freer Irom insect pests and the spores of disease it will be. Also soil that is dug early in the winter will “handle” lunch more freely when it is being prepared in spring for sowings and plantings, the clods pulverising at a touch, and a line tilth resulting with a minimum of labour. This is particularly advantageous when dealing with a heavy clay. For the same reason, however, very light soil is best dug in spring, for winter digging would facilitate the draining away of any manures that were applied to a level which might ho beyond the reach of the crops. Before dealing with the different stvles ot digging it is necessary to enumerate certain guiding rules which have always to be borne in mind, no matter what style is resorted to. (1) Use a clean, bright, sharp, unworn spade or fork, preferably the former. Have the spade as wide as possible, but no heavier than can be wielded with a minimum of fatigue. Keep the tool clean during the digging by frequent scraping. When working on a clay soil a spade is less liable to become clogged if it is dipped frequently into a bucket of water. (2) Never attempt to dig when the soil is not in a tit state, when the surface is crusted with frost, for instance. (3) Always have the spade or fork upright when driving it into the soil—to slant it means a loss of two or more inches in depth—and drive it in to its full depth. (4) From the moment the digging commences until the work is completed have a trench at your feet. Tills is accomplished by depositing each spadeful of soil some six inches from your feet, instead of merely inverting it and replacing it in the same position from

1 [ WORK FOR THE WEEK. IS Our contributor, a well-known gardener, will be glad to answer ques- S ||| f tiens, which most be received not later than Tuesday of each week. [ft. L -j h~ L. i iiii' d-P —ffjj Advertisements for this column must be handed in to the office before ®1 2 p.m. on Friday, hs

WHEELBARROWS

A HEW BLOOM

which it came. The trench enables the digger to keep his work straight and do his digging thoroughly. It also ensures the proper burying of organic manures, weeds, etc., which, of course, are placed in the trench. (5) Always break up the lumps in the 1 er part of the soil, but except when the digging is being done immediately before sowing or planting, leave the surface rough. (G) Bury annual weeds deeply, so that they will decay, but pull up and burn all of a perennial type, especially those those that are of a deep-rooting or creeping nature, such as couch grass or docks. It is a good plan for the digger to have a basket at band in which to deposit the pieces of root removed, for any overlooked and left lying on the surface will bo certain to grow again. It is only by the painstaking removal of every particle of root brought to light during the annual digging that land badly infested with deeprooting weeds can ever be cleaned.

THREE LOVELY CAMPANULAS

We are indebted to the genus campanula for many a floral gem. _ Some can be grown indoors, others in the herbaceous border, but the’forms which are suitable for growth on the rock garden are the loveliest of all. All of them are perfect! v hardy and do not impose a great demand on cultural skill. They appreciate full sunlight. In shade, or partial shade, the growths are liable to become attenuated and the flowers lack clearness of colour. The soil should always be well drained, fairly rich in plant food, and, above all, should contain lime. When the substance is given in the form of lime rubble it is more appreciated than when it is given in any other form. Assuming that the average pocket contains half a bucketful of soil, it is advisable to mix a bin P9t of broken lime rubble with it—if limestone for the puipose is not to hand; unburnt lime is the nest best. The three campanulas that I recommend will give infinite pleasure. First there is the variety, Norman Grove, which bears soft blue flowers and reaches a height of Gin. It is a very profuse bloomer, and holds captive all who see it. The variety Miranda, which attains the same height and blooms just as freely, has petals of a delicate light blue shade. The artist would say that it shows to best advantage ’neath the shadow of a stone. _ Halli, though a very diminutive hybrid, is vigorous in its growth for all that, and covers itself with white flowers of a purity for which campanulas are famous. — 1 Manawatu .Daily Times.’

The garden wheelbarrow be light, strong, and not too large. The frame ought always to be made of some hardwood and the “ box ” pine, on account of its lightness, but it should be put together very strongly with_ the sides and front neither too upright, nor with too wide an inclination outwards. If there is to be only one barrow on the place it should be of moderate size, but be fitted with loose or movable boards to fix on the sides and render the “box” larger and deeper for use when moving grass, leaves, hedge, cuttings, or similar light material. These movable boards should he fitted with long steel or iron pins to run into corresponding slots on the fixed hoards. An iron wheel is best, but if of wood it should be stout and bound with iron on its wearing surfaces. The spindles ought always to be run into iron eyes or bearings at each end.

CHRYSANTHEMUM SPORT An interesting little story is unfolded in the discovery by an amateur chrysanthemum grower in Wanganui of a “sport” in his collection. Mr Dalzieil started growing chrysanthemums as a hobby last year, and produced some beautiful blooms. This year ho went in for his hobby a little more intensively, and among other plants were two healthy “ Edith Caveils.” It was noticed that one bud was decidedly darker in appearance than the others, and as it gradually unfolded it aroused much interest in the many growers who went to see it. It is now half-open, and is recognised as a true “ sport,” the first grown in Wanganui. The sport is real red, with rich bronze reverse. There were two other blooms on the same stem, but following tho usual practice for show blooms they were cut off. One of the chief exhibitors in Wanganui intends planting the shoots from the branch, as well as the branch itself, in an endeavour to “ fix ” the new variety, which is to lie called “ Louise Carter.”

POTATOES FROM SEED

The raising of potatoes from seed should prove of more than ordinary interest and become quite as absorbing to the enthusiast as any other form of horticulture. Although the raising of new sorts of potatoes seems to bo confined mainly to the North of England and South-west of Scotland, there is no reason why just as good results should not be obtained elsewhere, and the seedlings would probably prove more suitable to the district where they were raised than would imported varieties. It has long been evident that success in future production and freedom from disease can only bo obtained constitutionally. The remedy to combat the several diseases of the potato is raising new varieties and using discretion and forethought in hybridisation and selection of seedlings. Hand fertilisation in most cases is essential, and the best way is to gently lift or tilt up the flower with a forked stick and apply tho pollen. There is no need to let the seed pods or apples remain until they are dead ripe. Once the pods arc developed they can bo picked green and allowed to ripen in a warm room. The seeds will readily leave the pods, and if squeezed out and dropped on a piece of blotting paper or_ newspaper they can bo 'taken oil quite cleanly in a couple of days. r i bey should be stored in paper bags and treated in a similar manner to that given in raising tomato plants.