The Hawke's Bay Garden Guide

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 198, 4 August 1928, Page 15

The Hawke's Bay Garden Guide

(By

Leonard A. Griffiths,

F.R.H.S. F.N.Z. Inst:)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4,' 1928. ' ’ ‘

“The breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air, Where it comes and goes like the warbling of music, Than in the hand.” Baton.

The Vegetable Garden Tomato seed may he sown in boxes for gardeners who prefer to raise their own plants. Sow the seed thinly in sandy soil and cover lightly, pressing the surface firm with a board or leveller. Small smooth varieties are Carters Sunrise and Holmes Supreme. Large varieties are Klondine Red and Market Favourite. One packet of seed will raise 250 plants. Plant early potatoes at once. Set artichok.s in any corner that cannot be used for growing good crops. Prepare beds for a later sowing of pumpkins and cucumbers. The following root crops may be set: Beet, carrots, swedes, turnips, and onions. For salad crops sow now lettuce, mustard, cross, spring onions and endive and spinach. For spring transplanting sow cabbage, cauliflower, parsley, silver beet and leeks. It is indeed a great satisfaction to know that our efforts respecting this gardening column are not only widely appreciated, but are proving most helpful and instructive to the gardening community at large. Every reader receives our consideration and all his gardening problems are smoothed away in our puzzled Gardeners’ Column.

One of the most important jobs in the kitchen garden i s the setting of onion seedlings. The ground should be well dug and manured before planting. Set the plants about nine inches apart and 12 to 15 inches between the rows. This will allow room for a small hoe to be worked among the plants. Potash is an important food of the onion crop and supplies should be incorporated in the soil. ♦ * ♦ ♦ The Flower Garden

Sometimes wo could add a little more gaiety to our garden of life by acquiring more knowledge of the earth upon which we exist. It would indeed neln us to straighten out the frowns and twisted smiles if we would cultivate joy bv growing more flowers and fruit. As the weather is uncertain most seeds, however hardy, should be first set in a seed pan and covered or shaded where possible. A few hardy annuals that will stand the consistent rains may be planted such as antirrhinums, primulas, malacoides. statice, ageratum, cornflower and larkspur. Cinerarias are a suitable subject for planting under trees and shady corners.

Keep the hoe working through the rose bed and round the various shrubs. Plant new varieties of roses where required and prune old established bushes. Lawns that were sown early in the autumn should be well established now and beds mny be marked out for planting shrubs or hardy annuals.

Continue planting ornamental shrubs and creepers where ground is available. This work is important and every chance should snatched to carry it out otherwise it means a wait till next season. Plant Gladioli bulbs in clumps about the herbaceous border. This pretty, highly coloured flower makes a splendid show iu the summer.

Vegetable Time Calendar

The following vegetables if sown in August will mature in approximately the following number of weeks:— Benns (hroad) 20. cabbage 20, carrot 20. cauliflower 20. cress 4, lettuce 12, onions (early white) 24. parsnip 24, parsley 16, peas 12. spinach 12.

♦ * ♦ * Useful Tips Sent in by Garden Readers Turnips for Slugs: The best method I have found for catching slugs is to place slices of turnip, jin. thick, round the voung plants you want to protect. The slugs hide underneath, and can bo scraped off into a tin of salt water. Asparagus Growing Tip: A dressing of nitrate (2oz. to the square yard) given to asparagus dnee a week during the cutting season, and well watered in. makes the grass grow very quickly, and every part can be eaten. Summer Turnips: These may be successfully grown if a few seeds are dropped here and there in the rows of dwarf beans. The foliage of the latter shades and promotes quick growth of turnips and prevents attacks from fly pests.

Economical Seed Sowing: To sow seeds economically and reduce thinning to a minimum, take an ordinary loz. tobacco tin and bore two holes in each end. The seeds are then placed inside tho tin. The lid is put on, and the seeds are shaken out along the drills.

Use For a Worn-out Fork: If you happen to possess an old fork wiin the prongs worn too short for digging, remove the wooden handle, and heat where the prongs join the haft; put tlie prongs in a vice, and bend haft down at right angles with prongs. A broom-handle will now convert this old fork into a first-class tool for earthing up potatoes, cultivating, etc.

To Get Rid of Ants: Cover a sponge with treacle and lay at entrance to ant-hill. The ants' will congregate on the sponge, which should be plunged into hot water, the process being repeated until the colony is exterminated.

To Catch Snails, Beetles, Etc.: Get an empty syrup or treacle tin which does not leak. Nearly fill it with water and add some kitchen salt. Now sink the tin level with the ground. Next get a small piece of wood, on which put a small heap of bran, and let it float inside the tin, being careful not to spill much of the bran in the water. If this trap is set where the snails are working, it should not fail to catch twenty or thirty per night; as I have seen it worked in the garden here with great success. * * * ♦ The Care of Seedlings How to Grow Them Successfully: Many thousands of seedlings are lost every year through not knowing how to treat them, and many more are not grown successfully, that is, not

brought to.that state of perfection to which every plant is entitled in order to show off its fullest beauty. The followiiig few hints may help to give them, .a good start, in lifq which in the case of annuals means everything between success and failure, as their season is comparatively short.

Situation: All seedlings will not grow in the same position they all want, and must have their own particular place in the garden in order to grow successfully, and eventually' show off their individual charm. In other words they must be made comfortable. While the poppy, with its gaudy flowers will delight in full, sunshine, a Cineraria revels m a cool shady position, so also do Polyanthus and the Primrose family. Pansies love a position shaded from the midday sun, so do forget-me-not, Lobelias, the pretty mauve Primula Malacoides. and Columbines.

On the other hand Antirrhinums, Asters, Stocks, Salvias, Sweet Peas, Delphiniums, Geums, Gaillaria, Petunias, Phlox. Marigolds, Zinnias, delight in aiiv open situation. At the same time strong winds should always be guarded against, the plants get broken and blooms are' easily bruised.

Care should always be taken to avoid planting a dwarf-growing variety behind a taller, thus hiding it from view. Such plants as Lobelia, Myosotis (Forget-me-not), Poppies, Primulas, Polyanthus, Pansies, Violas, etc., should always be well in front. Carry in the mind’s eye tho approximate height of the varieties being planted, and above all do not overcrowd. Massing does not mean crowding the plants; far from it. Plants such as Salvias, Snapdragons, Stocks, Asters, and Petunias, show ,to much greater advantage if planted in massed formation, but care must be taken with regard to the background. For instance Salvias should never be planted against a red brick wall, the reason is obvious, the colour will clash, rather choose a bed in a lawn, or border with hedge as a background. The same thing will apply to other plants, blend the colours nicely, and you will have more satisfaction when they come into flower. Soil: Soil in flower beds will naturally be of a more or less consistent nature, and therefore will not suit all classes of seedlings. Whilst such plants as stocks, dianthus, carnations, and wallflowers revel in a good, dressing of lime, pansies, delphiniums, violas, etc., require a liberal supply of well-rotted manure icow manure for preference); antrrrhiums (Sundragons), and poppies dislike it, unless applied some time before planting—nt last three months.' Asters will often go blind if heavy applications of manure are used. ' Mignonette and sweet peas to be grown well require very rich soil indeed, large quantities of good cow manure being absolutely nececsary, whereas phlox drummondi will succeed in any garden soil. So that summed up. it is well to try to give to each variety of seedlings just what they really like, a simple matter, especially if the varieties are grown in masses. In all cases the beds or borders must he well and deeply dun beforehand, bringing the surface soil to a fine tilth. It is courting disaster to attempt to plant. seedlings in rough ground, as their roots are very fine and require a fine soil in order to grow quickly and make strong plants. It is therefore time well spent to pronerly prepare the soil. We make our homes comfortable to live in. whv not make your seedlings’ homo comfortable too?