GARDENING NOTES.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 26 April 1928, Page 3

GARDENING NOTES.

Seasonable Routine Work. Clear away all hardy annuals planted last spring if winter bedding >s to be undertaken. Plants need to get well rooted before the severe" weather is with us.

Dig and .manure the plots before replanting. Plant till kinds oi winter bedding stuff, alyssnm, arabis, for-get-me-nots, and aubretia for bordering work. Plant all kinds of bulbs in the borders, in the rock garden, in the grass, and in the wild garden, including all dwarf plants inch as scillas, aconites, crocus, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, etc. Plant all kinds of spring colour beds—tulrps make some of tho best subjects for this work. Cut down perennial plants as soon as they go out ot bloom, clearing away the. refuse. Continue to cut the flowers of plants still in bloom as freely as possible with a view to getting fur ther flowers. Make a start on all kinds of structural work, such as making new paths, building garden steps, erecting poles, pergolas, and arches. Apply basic slag to lawns and greens at the rate of four ounces per square yard. Top dress pockets in the rock garden with fine soil, loaf mould is excellent. Seasonable Subjects to Plant in the Rock Garden Anchusa (dwarf) anemone, aubretia arenaria, aster, alpinus, hepatiea, primula, eboris, audrosaee, dianthus, alpine phlox, silone, saxifragas, sedum, gentiana. Many of those may be planted among other existing subjects to help till all bare spaces, also plant, freely of all dwarf growing bulbs. These will tuck away into any liny space.

The Vegetable Garden. Owing to the prevailing line weather “fly” is still troublesome among (he “winter greens” and spraying or dusting with tobacco (lust, suet, etc., is still necessary in order to keep the plants in anything like condition. Bow lettuce and spring cabbage seed. It is safest to sow these in boxes or pans as birds continue to be troublesome, also woodlice often make war on the tiny seedlings as soon as they appear above ground. Continue to clear away all garden rubbish, and replant or sow with early spring vegetables. Expose the fruit on tomatoes to as much sunshine as possible in order to ripen the crop before frosts sot in. Prepare rhubarb, stiawberry, and raspberry beds. Starting a Hardy Flower Border. In these days few gardeners practise the old-time bedding out of more or loss tender plants, and rightly so, for hardy plants arc not only less expensive, but they much more interest and charm to the garden. No garden, largo or small can afford to be without its herbaceous border of hardy plants, for it is in this border, that something bright is to be found throughout the year. And if hardy bulbs, annuals, and biennials are mingled with them in certain suitable parts tins mixed border will become one of the finest features in the garden. 'The secret of success in starting such a border is the ‘ thorough and proper treatment of the soil before plan ling, otherwise disappointment is the only result. Some favoured spots will grow anything with very little soil preparation. But in localities where there is only a medium depth of good soil some labour is involved to get it into decent condition. If plants are hardy they yet need a well tilled and well enriched soil to enable t’ucm to root freely, therefore french the border quiic throe feet deep. Take out a trench two spits wide and one in depth, and remove the soil to the opposite end. Well break up the soil at the bottom with the spade, working in some manure at the same time. Over the broken up soil place a layer of manure and dig over the next spit of top soil on to it. Proceed in tlds way until the end of the border is reached and the soil from the first trench ready to fill the last, and the job is finished.

, The border is now tilled to tin depth required without mixing the layers of soil, which is of some importance. It is a mistake to 'put the goo’d surface soil at the bottom and bring the sub-soil—which is almost always sour —to the top. If care is taken to properly carry out the operation we shall obtain a greater depth without «T.xing the top soil and subsoil.

Where possible use the manure most sui'tablc for your particular soil. Heavy clay land benefits most from stable manure mixed with the sub-soil and some •-.veil rotted manure with the top soil, also road grit, leaf mould, sand, or any burnt refuse that might bo available.

Light soils will benefit from cow or pig manure mixed with the subsoil with a little sulphate of potash and bone meal added to the top sod, about one ounce of the former and four ounces of the latter to the square yard. As each autumn comes round dress the border with four ounces of ground lime per square yard, and one barrow load of rotted manure to every ten square yards, then in November fork in two ounces of a good fertiliser to every square yard. Carry out this treatment and you wall secure a fine display of bloom from spring to late autumn.

What to Plant. Planting depends on the size of the

border, in most amateur gardens borders are on the small side and definite colour schemes are not so easy to manipulate. A nice mixing of colours is usually preferable, taking care not to plant near each other two colours that do not harmonize. Plants of different kinds must be selected m order to give a display all the year round. The first flowers will be in spring when all bulbous things will be blooming next will follow delphiniums, lupins, and flag irises with tulrps to follow. Oriental poppies, geums, and verbenas brighten up the next period together with any annuals and biennials which arc used. Gladioli are useful for filling in bare spaces throughout the season. Phloxes and pyrethrums . are useful and a host of other favourites. In a small border 2 to 3 feet wide and say 40 feet long plant not less than three of each kind in order to form a bold group. Avoid planting in straight lines, but have some m oblique strips, some in elongated ovate masses, and others in a free and natural way. There must bo no arrangement in order of height from the dwarf to the highest, but let some kinds come well and boldly to the front, forming bays of irregular formation in which the dwarf kinds can be planted. If the border is planted, on these lines it will be far more interesting and beautiful than lines of equal height or a mere jumble of colours. Such a border must also contain its autumn fioworing plants such as dahlias, chrysanthemums, michaelmas daisies, lieleniums, rudbeckias, etc. Carefully choosing •what you have room for and the colouring required. Plan, ami utilise your space as much as possible as for instance a dozen or so bulbs of any of the narcissi family may be planted here and there among a clump of, paconies, or among anything that, does not bloom at the same time. Paeonies are just throwing up spikes of reddish tinted foliage when the daffodils bloom. Eariy Rhubarb.

To obtain supplies of rhubarb one need not bo in possession of heated greenhouses or even cold frames. Khubarb growing in the open can bo forced into growth by merely placing some temporary protection over the crowns such as benzine tins, old wooden tubs or boxes. If heating material, such as fresh stable manure, can be had tins sliouhl be -.la ced thickly over ami around the boxes, but even when leaves, ashes, or soil, and no heating material is used the plants tpenally commence to grow. Broad Beans for Early Use. The broad bean is a hardy plant and passes through oven a severe winter well. Where the broad bean follows a potato crop additional manure is not needed, but they like a firm soil, and this firmness is better secured now bcfor the ground gets moist. They are lime lovers, and wonderfully good crops result from the autumn sowing, this however, is not the chief advantage, as, sown now the beans are ready for use before we are able to cull our supplies of the first green peas, and are particularly relished on that account. Cotoneaster Horizontalis. Now that “autumn” is creeping into this lovely species of ('otoneaster to turn it shortly into a picture of vivid red berries and foliage of the same colour, it impresses one more and more that tins cotoneaster holds its own as one of the tirst shrubs which should be planted for autumn effect. Except for a brief period when its leaves are fallen. Cotoneaster Horizontaiis is always attractive, with its nice compact habit, its branches growing more or less horizontally with the main stem. It is sometimes used as a wall shrub, but better still, being a hardy shrub, plant it in the open, preferably on a high place in the rock garden. There, it is at its best. This cotoneaster, like most of its species, will thrive in sun or shade and in almost any kind of soil, but where possible, plant it in good soil and in full sun, then it will prove one of the thrills of the garden in the late autumn and early winter. It is easily propagated by layers o.’ •uttings in early autumn, also from seed. Bulbs for the Window Garden.

Those may include hyacinths, tulips, frcTsias, ciocusos, seillas, anemones, snowflakes or daffodil-!. Soil to Use.

Throe parts of fresh turfy loam pulled to pieces with the hands, two par-*--leaf mould, one part coarse sand. The addition of a five inch potful of bonw meal of each barrow load of soil is beneficial. Mix all thoroughly together and before filling the boxes arrange a layer of rough material in the bottom to ensure perfect drainage.