GARDENING NOTES.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 27 February 1932, Page 3

GARDENING NOTES.

Routine Work in the Borders,

Layer carnations during this month and next.

Keep all dead blooms plucked from dahlias. Where these have suffered badly from drought cut the growths hard back. They will yet have time to make fresh growths with numbers of nice blooms before frost appears.

Plant all manner of bulbous things, either in the open borders, in waste grass plots or in pots. Plant generously of anemones and ranunculi.

Make special efforts to keep down all weeds, which quickly run to seed at this season, remembering that one year's seeding means seven years’ weeding.

Topdress plots of anemones and ranunculi that have not been lifted from the borders, with a dressing of decayed manure. These plants after recent showers will quickly commence active growth. Sow seeds of all hardy perennials. Strike cuttings of violas and pansies, and commence making plans for late autumn bedding out schemes. Continue to strike cuttings of geraniums and pelargoniums, and all succulent cacti types of plants, letting the cut piece dry a day or two before inserting in the soil. Sow seeds of winter and summer blooming sweet peas. Plant calendulas, linarias and Iceland poppies for winter blooming, in sunny, sheltered positions free from cold winds. Give weekly applications of liquid manure to all plants whoso blooms arc intended for exhibition purposes. Stake michaelmas daisies, providing each clump with several light stakes in order to get a graceful effect rather than a “bunched up” one. The Vegetable Gardein. Keep all things well hoed, and root crops well thinned. Crops of turnips, shorthorn carrots, and spinach may follow the spent crops of peas and French beans. Pay particular attention to all winter greens and splay where any blight is seen to be getting a hold. In some districts caterpillars have been very troublesome, and where this is the case, a little arsenate of lead should be &ddod to the general spray used. Where soil lies wet and cold during winter and early spring, special pains should be taken now in remedying this, by providing better drainage, and by digging in plenty of rough, strawy litter, and by raising the beds above the surrounding ground level. Tomatoes arc needing plenty of moisture to swell the heavy crops of fruit. Also see that the tips are pinched out of all the leading growths.

Cabbage Culture. The cabbage is one of the most useful of our vegetables, in that it can be produced throughout out twelve calendar months. , Fortunately they thrive in any locality and are not fastidious as to soil, providing it is enriched with manure. A greater diversity of size is found in these than in any other easily grown vegetable, fully grown hearts varying from the size of an ordinary cocoanut to specimens over a yard across. The smallest varieties, in addition to being of much more rapid growth, are undoubtedly of superior table quality, and for this reason are .much to be preferred by those only having a small family to provide for. In the first place when seed is sown, it should either be sown very thinly, or thinned out early. Overcrowding has a weakening effect on the plants and should be avoided. The cabbage will take any amount of manure, but quite good cabbages have often been cut from plants put out after an earlier crop of something else has been taken, without further manuring. In addition to being rich, the soil should also be moderately firm, a loose porous root run favouring the production of extra large leaves and loose heads. Nitrate of soda, and sulphate of ammonia are both useful for forcing cabbage family. At this season plantings of winter savoy are coming away nicely, while Henderson’s succession and other midseason varieties provide a good supply during autumn. For very early spring use, it is necessary to raise plants now, choosing those varieties which are not liable to bolt to seed as soon as a little warmth is experienced. Then again very early in spring another sowing is made of the same varieties which gives plenty of good heads right up to the Christmas season. In late spring a sowing is made of the hard, drumhead varieties, which keep well throughout the summer and autumn, when the savoys are ready to fill the gap.

—*-■ Layering Carnations.

Layering is a method of propagation largely practised in the case of those plants which are difficult to root from cuttings, such as carnations, clematis, rhododendrons, etc. In the ease of carnations the work is best done in showery weather, otherwise the layered p-ieces will need watering frequently during the first fortnight, and once weekly after. Usually a slit is made half way through the, stem in an upward direction ; of each piece to be layered, and the cut surface kept apart by means of a small piece of stone or wooden peg to prevent the wound closing and healing, and to admit of a greater number of roots being formed. Place a little prepared sandy loam underneath the layers and peg firmly down. Ordinary hair-pins arc useful for the work. At least two months should elapse between layering and transplanting. Then the shoot layered should be severed from the parent plant

with a sharp knife, and a day or two ater should be transplanted to permanent positions, 'or potted up for indoor 'blooming. Carnation Culture.

, am P n ess is the greatest enemy of 8 c ' ar nation, and to avoid it great Ca ?j e I^ lst taken in preparing the so - The ground should be trenched t + <i n St a fortn % ll t before planting is ° a. v.e place, and then moulded up and ma e very fi rm . To light soil add wcllto CDW maillirG °r farmyard manure. a e manure is best for heavy clay s QI s j to which plenty of sand and mortar rubble should also be added. Failing the latter, use lime in generous The sand used will be all tie better if procured from the seasl e. The roots of the plants should on no account be allowed to come into contact with fresh manure. Cut carnation growths well back after they have finished blooming, and during their growing season stir' in an occasional light droissing of superphosphate «crr basic slag, not forgetting an annual app ication of lime, which is best applied m ate autumn or early spring. Flower stems must be disbudded rigorously if it is intended to exhibit. Even for 01 c mary purposes varieties which produce half a dozen buds close together at the top of the stem require to be disbudded. But an increasing number of modern varieties produce bloomy ;atli even distances down the stem, and those require little or no disbudding except for exhibition. A good potting compost is composed of four parts loam, one part leaf mould, one part manure and half part ground oyster shells or coarse sand. Both loaf mould and manure must be thoroughly decayed. In hot weather care must bo taken that potted plants do not become too dry at the roots; on the other hand, in cool weather 'the soil should not be too wet. Very firm planting is necessary both in the border and in potting up. As soon as flower buds begin to show colour, those varieties which tend to split should have elastic biands placed round the buds in order to keep them shapely.

Chrysanthemums, Most varieties have now made what is termed their first “break,’' and if this has not occurred naturally, pinch out the tip, which will have the effect of making the growth form side shoots; then select the strongest one on each of the three ami train up again. Place some rich soil round about their roots. The chrysanthemum is heir to two insidious diseases during a hot summer, which, if not taken in time, arc very dangerous to the ■welfare of the plants. Fungus, {rhich attacks the underside of the ower leaves, assumes the form of rusty brown rings, -which increase and spread until the foliage goes off entirely as if it had been scorched by fire. Rust is another disease, which is very similar in character to fungus, but is caused chiefly by overcrowding, whereas the other disease will appear in \ the best regulated garden, where 1 everything is done to ensure the good health of the chrysanthemum plants. Mildew is also a disease to be reckoned with, but seldom causes trouble in any but a very wet season. Applications of sulphur will keep this in check. In the case of the other diseases, weak solutions of bordeaux mixture are useful, and all badly infected leaves should be removed. There are . other remedies specially prepared for the chrysanthemum, which some growers prefer to use. The leaf miner has also to be reckoned with, and wherever a curled leaf is noticeable, an early examination should be made, as a tiny caterpillar will bo found to have taken up its quarters there, and is quite capable of totally destroying the minute bud. For this reason many gardeners growing for exhibition purposes prefer to train up two side shoots for awhile, in case of unnoticed damage being done by these troublesome, little insects. The easiest way out of the difficulty is to examine the growing shoots at least weekly.

Tulips. We all love the tulips, and now is the time to plant the plump, brown bulbs which give us such gorgeous and glowing effects in late spring. When planted generously there is nothing to equal them and they at once arrest attention. Tulips are extremely hardy and of easy culture, flowering freely in either sunny or shaded positions, but are partial to a soil that is slightly on the heavy side. Light, sandy soils need plenty of well decayed cow manure placed well down, where the roots will go in search of it. Like the hyacinth, they love a good rich soil, and where it is found that existing clumps are producing smaller and smaller flowers, they should be lifted, the clumps broken up, and plenty of manure placed well down for, the roots to feed on. Tulips arc also lovers of lime, and basic slag suits them well. Four ounces of bonemeal (rfot blood and bone), to the square yard can also be used with excellent results, and this may be mixed in with the top spit of soil. The bulbs should be planted at least five inches deep, measuring from the top of the bulb. Too shallow planting has destroyed more tulips than planting too deep, and early plantings always give the best results. Although the-stately Darwins still hold pride of place in popularity, the early single tvpc is gaining steadily in public favour. These are of lower growth than the Darwin Cottage and Rembrandt tulips, but come into bloom much earlier. They are admirably suited for the small, formal type of bed, for pot cultivation, and for growing in fibre in low bowls. Rembrandt tulips is a name given to a class of tulips with beautifully coloured flowers, which are generally in delicate shades with stripes of darker colours forming love:

ly combinations, which give a very gay effect in the garden. Being tall growers the flowers are well adapted for decorative jpurposes. Both these and the tall self-coloured Darwins are ideal for massing pi spare places among the herbaceous subjects. There they will bloom satisfactorily provided thesoil is dug out to a fair depth, some manure put in, and the balance of soil enriched with bonemeal. There are many such places which will hold half a dozen bulbs, and the low-growing types are beautiful when massed in the pockets of the rock garden, or placed here and there among some carpeting plant. The one spot in the garden to be avoided when planting the tulip is that, which lies wet and cold, as they love a sweet, well drained soil.