GARDENING NOTES

Grey River Argus, 5 September 1939, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. The greenhouse should be gay with the various kinds of primulas, cyclamen, cinerarias, and freesias. These should receive just a little liquid manure once a week, and the watering has to ,be done carefully. Among the coolhouse orchids, the Coelogynes are making a brave show and Cymbidiums are fast developing their flower stems. Continue to make sowings of seeds of half-hardy annuals, to prick out seedlings, and to stand the first and hardiest of the annuals out in a cold frame. Last season’s streptocarpus can be repotted now and cuttings of chrysanthemums and carnations put in.

THE FLOWER GARDEN. The pruning of all kinds of roses should be completed now, and after spraying them with lime sulphur, dust the beds and borders with bone dust and dig them over lightly. Continue to plant roses and all kinds of trees and shrubs, dig herbaceous borders and divide up the more rampant growers. Lawns can be top-dressed and new lawns sown down. 1 THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. Make small sowings of the early varieties of root and pod vegetables, 1 and plant out cabbage, cauliflower, i and shallots. Spray fruit trees and prune peaches and apricots. the vegetable garden. The kitchen garden is often hidden away behind the house, surrounded by hedges or pailing fences as if we were ashamed of it. If properly planned, planted or sown with care and kept well cultivated, it can be made quite attractive with a border or two of flowers suitable, for cuttings for the house decorations. It should be kept tidy, well cultivated, and clear of weeds, and all crops should be removed as soon as they] are past their best, not only on account of their unsatisfactory appearance, but also to make room for another crop. To get the best results; out of the small piece of land usually] set aside for the vegetable garden in towns, intense cultivation is neces-| sary and this means the replacing of the crops which are over with others - to come on and maintain a succession , throughout the year. | While it is desirabla to have a , well kept lawn and well < and attractive flower beds and bor- j ders, it is still more important to have ] a well furnished vegetable garden, f not only from a health point of j view, but also for economic reasons. ]

A new vegetable garden should be trenched if possible, and well manured with farmyard manure or. compost heap. Patil? should be well! formed and the plots well drained. This can be done effectively if the, plot is not too wet by excavating the site of the paths to a depth of two : feet, throwing the soil over the ad- ;

joining plots, laying an agricultural drain and filling up with rubble, or rough clinkers, topping off with fine ashes or fine screenings. A site sloping gently to the north is the most desirable, but in towns the best has to be made of the site available. This should be divided into four plots with a border round the margin to be used for flowers, herbs, or as nursery borders. One of the plots should be devoted to perennials such as asparagus, rhubarb, seakale, and strawberries. In the other three plots a system of rotation of crops should be followed, for it is found that best results are to be obtained by changing the various crops round so that the same kind of plant will not occupy the same, position twice in succession. The only exception to this rule is the onion, and it can be ; grown in the same place for several years, provided the ground is well manured. 1

By following the rotation system —(1) the most economical use for the plant foods is obtained; (2) the most economical working of the soil, provided one of the three plots is trenched and all spare compost heap, grass, or other organic matter buried in every year; (3) the most economical use of manures. Each vegetable can be given the foods most suitable to all its needs, and the soil kept in good heart with the minimum addition of expensive fertilisers. Another important reason for keeping up a regular rotation of! diseases which are peculiar to them. For instance, potatoes are often affected by the disease known as potato blight. This is a fungoid disease which breeds in the ground, and if potatoes are in same plot the! following year they would most like-' ly be affected by it. Cabbages, cauii-, flower, and all members of the bras-' sica family, including turnips, are | readily affected by clubroot a destruc- ] five fungoid disease. If tlie brassicas ■ are followed by potatoes or some other crop which is not affected, thej spores may have disappeared from the ground before another crop to its liking comes along. Rotation of crops, however, has little effect in controlling insect pests which are more able to move about.