GARDENING NOTES

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4811, 20 February 1936, Page 7

GARDENING NOTES

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Plan now for next summer’s flowers. Prepare for the sowing of Canterbury bells, Sweet Williams, hollyhocks and carnations. Autumn crocus, scillas, amaryllis, belladonna bulbs should be planted now. Dahlias and chrysanthemums now need special attention. Water is most necessary and occasional top dressings may be made. Phlox Drummondi and tree marigolds should be planted without delay. * Strike Michaelmas daisies, perennial phlox, rudbeckias and golden rod. Lift gladioli when foliage turns yellow. Dry and store in a cool place. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. To maintain supplies of beans, keep the plants well watered. This is essential at the present time. Further sowings of dwarf beans and sweet corn can be made. Recently planted celery and ileeks need watering. Plant broccoli, savoys, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflowers. Spray tomatoes to keep them free from caterpillars. PERENNIAL LUPINS. SOW SEED NOW. The wide range of colours in the perennial lupins has endeared them to all lovers of colour. The old blue spikes have been supplemented by every conceivable shade of pink, cream, purple and orange, and under favourable conditions spikes four feet high can be produced. Seed can be sown now in the open and will germinate freely. They thrive in ordinary garden soil provided it is fairly rich and is not lacking in humus. The best flower spikes are obtained from two year old plants, but seed sown now will produce many good flowering spikes next summer. Be sure to' obtain a good strain of seed saved from the newer hybrids, the colours of which are a great improvement on the .older plants. GREENS FOR SUMMER. Radishes and lettuce can still be sown, but they will be of little value as “greens” unless provided with ample supplies of water during dry weather. When sowing these crops in summer it is always advisable to select a position shaded from the direct rays of the sun. A shaded situation will not only reduce the frequency of waterings required, but, as absorption will be less, will enable the plants to develop quickly—an essential requirement where crisp 1 and tender vegetables are desired. AUTUMN-SOWN ONIONS. Autumn-sown onions are very popular. The • great advantage of oniongrowing is that they will grow on almost any soil. On the whole ;they like a firm soil, and yet one that contains sufficient sand grit to keep it open. Autumn-sown onions are usually grown on an area that w T as liberally treated for the crop that went just before. The land should be ploughed over, shallowly. If you plough it deeply it is difficult to get the land firm enough afterwards, and, further, the disturbance of soil to a great depth at this time often makes it difficult to get the ground down to a sufficiently fine tilth for seed sowing. It is a good plan to plough shallowly one way, and then to crossplough it, shallowly, again. This should be followed by a good roll with a ring roller, and perhaps one harrowing, just before sowing the seed. The seed should be drilled in rows 9 inches apart. Never sow onions deeply, but arrange* the drills so rthat after rolling the seed is only just covered. Opinions differ as to when the seed sowing should be done. A good guide is to say that the cooler districts should think about it towards the beginning of February, while warmer districts may like to delay until the end of that month. Directly the rows can be seen hoeing will have to be carried out. A certain amount of hand weeding may be necessary also. Your main idea may be to pull salad onions for bunching early in spring. You can also in the spring transplant some of the largest plants that are left into rows—say, 12 inches from row to row and 6 inches from plant to plant. There are definite varieties grown for spring onions, while there are some that are used by market gardeners for this dual purpose. CUCUMBER. Here arc one or two golden rules for the training of cucumbers, but the subject is one difficult to discuss on paper. Aim at stopping the main laterals at two joints and all the sub-laterals at one joint., Try to have two fruit-

bearing joints on every lateral and not more than three breaks altogeth-

See that all the male flowers are rubbed out directly they appear. Do not be tempted to let a cucumber grow on the main stem. Never let a lateral grow further than the second joint before stopping it. Aim at not taking a cucumber and growth at the same joint. (This is perhaps an ideal, but all ideals are worth aiming at.) Whatever method of cucumber training you believe in all the growths must be tied to the wires loosely. Tight tying in only impedes growth. As the young fruits start to form see that they swing loose of all the Wires and ties. Those that hang low down may be kept off the beds themselves by a broken pane of glass or something similar. As with tomatoes, so with cucumbers. Watering is quite a difficult art. Soak the bed well, twice a week by all means, during the middle of the season; this can be done only if the beds were properly made in the first place. With cucumber watering it is rather important to see that water is at the same temperature as the house.

Do as little leaf-cutting as you can: to cut away foliage only means starvation for the plant. By all means remove yellow leaves or those that are diseased, but apart from this let the foliage feed the fruits.