The Hawke's Bay Garden Guide

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 297, 1 December 1928, Page 15

The Hawke's Bay Garden Guide

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1928.

(By

Leonard A. Griffiths,

Among The Flowers

The Small Gardener; The garden made by one’s own hands is always the best garden because it is part ot oneself. A garden made by anothei may cause delight but it is another person’s individuality. A poor garden of one’s own is better than a good garden in which one has not helped. Many a soul finds more happiness in a plant grown in a bucket or in window box than viewing' a lovely garden made by others and so, gardeners, no matter how small, persevere with what you are doing.

Rose Bushes: How are your roses coming along? Look carefully and see if there is any sign of Green Aphis on the young tender foliage. Nothing keeps the plants back more than this. If affected spray with Black Leaf 40, a teaspoonful per gallon of soapy water. Bonedust and Potash hoed into the soil will help the growth wonderfully.

Pansies and Violas: Your pansies should now be showing their first spring buds and should be well manured to ensure long and prolific flowering. . They respond freely to stable or any other rotted manure. Failing this, half Blood and Bone and half Superphosphate is a good dressing. Apply before rain and tvell rake in round the roots. If exhibition blooms are required snip off some of the side growths to concentrate the strength of the plant to the one crown.

Spring Seeds to Sow; Do you remember plants that looked like rows of soldiers last season? They are called Kochias and should be sown now. For flowering about Easter time, the following seeds should be planted: Asters, Cosmos. Sunflowers, Phlox, Celosia and Salvia. For quick flowering sow French and African Marigolds, Petunias, Poppies, Virginia Stocks. Lupins, Mignonette, Clarkia. Linarih., and Phlox.

Plants of many of the above varieties are obtainable but there is still plenty of time for seed sowing.

Perennial Plants to Set: The long spurred Aquilegias are well worth of a place in yonr garden. The new colours available the superb. Set the plants 18 inches apart. Do you know Thalictrum, that dainty blue flower that surpasses the graceful Gypsopbilia? Plant the seedlings 1 foot apart. Penstemons and Delphiniums are two well-known old-world subjects that are now available for growing. Pyrethrum, Antirrhinum, Perennial Stocks. Canterbury Bells and Gether,is should all find room in your garden.

Violets: Your violets have finished flowering, and now is the time to attend to them. The best results are alwavs obtained from new runners which should ho removed and planted out in a nice sunny border for next season's flowers. They also succeed well in shaded and damn situations but will not flower early. Set the plants 8 inches apart. ♦ * ♦ ♦ 4re Plants and Animals Alike?. Much discussion has taken place about the members of the animal kingdom and how alike they are in many respects. Both show nutrition and the distribution of food through the body. Both show digestive organs and breathing facilities. Some may say, how about the feeling that animals display and which is not conspicuous in plants. Yet when we begin to think of leaves, rising and falling, of flowers opening and shutting with the dawn and close of day, we see that there is much movement. When we find the way stems bend to the light and see how roots make for moisture we discover there is much feeling in plant life. Like animals, every plant is adapted to its own station in life, and in ite adaptations we see the outcome of the same struggle for existence and the necessary qualities ns in the animal world. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Thinning Tomato Growth Summer Treatment: The pinching out of all unnecessary growth and side shoots of tomatoes i.- an important operation. All laterals or shoots which arise in the axils of the leaves on the main step should be pinched out as soon as they are formed. This stops the plants feeding a lot of useless growth and sends the strength into the fruit spurs For outside tomatoes five bunches of fruit to one plant is sufficient, and any more should be cut away if good. bunches are required. When all five bunches have appeared, pinch oul the terminal In.d and keep all side shmds cut as they appear.

“Adam was a gardener and cod, who made him sees That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his kneel.” —Kipling.

Pollination: Often people see with dismay quantities of flowers dropping off their vines. This may be caused through drought or non-fertilisation. To assist pollination go over the plants with a camel haired brush, gently touching the blossoms and so assist Nature in its work and help .he fruit to set. Manuring: Tomatoes require a cettain amount of water, but should be free from excessive moisture, as this is injurious to them. As the fruit is set the plants should receive a dressing of potash applied to the soil round the plant and watered in. This stimulates the growth aord gives size and colour to the fruit. Potash is certainly most essential in their treatment. Avoid giving the plants too much nitrogen as this weakens the growth and makes them very susceptible to the blight. ♦ ♦ * ♦ Celery PLANT NOW FOR WINTER SOUPS. Celery (Apium graveoleus) is a native of Europe, where it was first found growing wild by ditches and swampy situations. Lt was first cultivated by the ancients many years igo. The young plants should not? be set. A light, rich and slightly moist soil is must suitable. If plenty of manure is on hand a poor light soil is better than one stiff and rich, for the growth can be made to depend on the manure supplied. Celery is one of tho most important kitchen garden crops, and also improves the land. Celery is best planted in trencheabout 15 inches wide and about IS niches deep, well broken up at the bottom and nlentv of decayed manure added, filling the the trench up to about eight inches from the original surface with good scandy soil. Plant out the young seedlings about 12 inches apart, leaving as much of fhe original soil on the roots as possible. Press the soil firmlv round the roots and water well. Further cultural notes will be published as the growing season continues. ♦ * ♦ ♦ Brassell Sprouts and Borecole Brussel Sprouts and Borecole are highly esteemed for boiling during late fall and winter months. The sprouts reoemble miniature cabbages growing closely on the stalk of the plant, produced in abundance from top to ground level. The plants are hardy and improve with the cold weather and frosts in winter. Borecole, or Scotch Kale, is a popular boiling green for winter and early spring use, tasting like spinach. The plants are cut off for use when the leaves are Sin. or more in length; these also improve with winter frosts. Brussel Sprouts should be planted in rows two feet apart each way. They should be watered and hoed well during the growing season. Any varieties growing extra tall should be firmly staked to prevent being blown over with the winds.

Spinach all the Year Round

In very many gardens the supply of spinach is not equal to the demand, and, sometimes, the little that is grown lacks quality, it is not always regarded in a-serious light; not infrequently the planting of it in tile garden is an afterthought, and it has to make shift with what ground happens to be vacant. To grow spinach well it is not possible to give it too much manure. The procuring of stable manure is still a problem with many, and if this is the ease something should be substituted to provide humus. Blood and bone manure is very serviceable, and also leaves, road scrapings and any old i egel able infuse which cat) be

dug in. From now onwards sowing can be made every three week%. Round, or summer, is a well tried variety, and is good for sowing at all seasons. In April space ought to be reserved for a sowing of pripkly variety for winter. If shallow trenches, four to five inches deep, are made for the summer crop, one gains an advantage should the weather become hot. Copious supplies of water and liquid manure applied during the dry weather will prevent in a large measure their premature seeding. Seed is best sown in drills, or. as suggested, a shallow trench. Space is sometimes available between rows of peas or dwarf beans, and use can he made of this for spinach. Thin sowing is reccn,mended.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Correct Hedge Trimming A neatly-trimmed hedge is a splendid set-off to a garden. Many hedges are spoilt from want of proper and seasonable clipping and trimming. It is generally when hedges are voung that they are permitted to ran riot and grow out of shape. If the hedge has been well planted and is growing well, it will not be at all difficult to keep it in proper form, if trimmed carefully once it twice a year with the shears or hedge bill. The shears 'make the better job, especially in the trimming cf privet or tecoma, but an expert applying the hedgebill will make an admirable job, nevertheless. For the first few years the young growth should be cut fairly hard in, especially on the sides. If the young hedge looks thin and irregular, it must be cut well down to induce a thicker growth. The late autumn is doubtless the best time to trim hedges, hut they may also be trimmed dur.'ng the summer, though not quite so se v erely as in the autumn. The hedge is clipped more easily if done before the wood gets ripe and hard. The hedge looks neater too, and is in less danger of being broken down. * * ♦ ♦

How to Use Fowl Manure

A number of readers who have been storing up their poultry manme uunn" the past two or three mom is .have been asking us how they should use it.

Weil, the best use to which poultry manure can be applied is as a top-dressing for growing crops, scattered among the rows after it has been allowed to become thoroughly dry. It is a powerful manure, however, and dos. per square yard will be strong enough. Poultry manure is a valuable fertiliser for crops of all kinds, including potatoes but on no account must it be used fresh.

A useful liquid manure can be made from poultry droppings. Place half a peck of manure and an equal quantity of soot in a piece of sacking, tie the corners of this together and suspend it in a tub holding 36 gallons of water. Let it soak for five days, giving the bag an occasional poke with a stick so as to help in extracting as much of the goodness from the manure as possible.

Editorial Advice England's greatest statesman assures us that there is no truer economy than the cultivation of the soil for food production. Gardening is the ideal recreation. It’s pursuit rewards the worker with absorbing interests and limitless pleasures, for “as ye sow shall ye reap.” Gardening is not a gamble, a game of chance, or a lottery, it proves the mettle of the worker and rewards fairly, justly, according to his work. The information imparted in these columns is .gathered from practical experience and we always strive to help our readers in this beautiful hobby.