THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 127, 2 May 1925, Page 11

THE GARDEN.

Notes are published weekly under this heading', and readers interested in gardening; are invited to send in auestions relating to matters upon which they wish expert advice; answers will be published with the weekly notes. s THE FLOWER GARDEN. The weather has been so good lately that it has been possible to _ a great deal in the flower garden in the way of cleaning up the borders and putting them in trim for the winter months, when it is nearly impossible to get on the ground. Any new work that is to be done should be undertaken at once and continued as long as the weather is dry enough. Seedlings growing from seed sown at the end of last month, or at the beginning of this month, can be weeded and thinned out now and if the opportunity is lost it may mean that they w'ill grow up' spindly aqd weak. The whole secret of growing good seedlings that are to remain over the winter before flowering is to have them as strong as possible. If any of them are large enough they may bo transplanted out to other quarters. One of the best of all flowering plants to grow in shady and sheltered corners is cinerarias, and these should be set out as soon as possible so as to get them well forward before the weather gets too cold. These are probably the best plants that can be got for planting under trees or in fairly dry corners that onty get wet during the rains, of wunter. If they are well forward in the early spring it is a good plan to give them some liquid manure about twice a week, but care must be taken not to give it very strong. Wallflowers are another class of flower than can be grown to perfection under tree nd in shady and dry corners, but .. get them to do well they must be p"t in early so that they have the rains of winter to help them along. They are well worth growing for their scent alone. Cuttings of the best varieties of pentstemons should be taken now ana put in a bed of sandy material where they can root for planting out in the spring, but if it is possible to cover them with a frame they will root ever so much quicker, when the frame should be lifted or taken right away so as to give them all the air that they can get. These plants are coming into favour wherever gardens are made, not only because of their beauty but the length of time they go on flowering. The best way to treat them is to take cuttings of them every season, but if for one cause or another this cannot be done no harm will come to the plants unless it is that they become straggly, when they can be cut down and made like new ones by the young growths that spring up..

GREEN MANURING. Owing to the scarcity of manuring we have been going into the question of how to supply the soil with humus and manure and have made numerous enquiries among those who this concerns mostly. The answers have been very numerous and each one has gone very fully into the question. In asking the question of how to improve the soil in the cheapest way without the aid of stablei manure, we thought that some of the gardeners applied to would say that artificial manures were enough, but not one has done so, althought some have suggested manuring with artificials before sowing a green crop. Five answers give western wolths grass as the best thing that can be sown on vacant ground for digging in. One says that lupins are the best. Another says that he always uses oats and vetches as a manure and the last one prefers peas and beans mixed. One letter in regard to sowing the grass will be enough and so we give it here. The writer says: “In answer to your enquiry about green manuring I am able to say that we have practised it here for a number of years and always find that it improves the crop considerably. If we can get the crop in April we sow immediately but do not plough; just simply scarify the ground with a line toothed cultivator to get rid of the surface weeds, and, as soon as the grass seed is sown, we run the smoothing-board over it and in a fortnight it is as green as any paddock. It will continue to grow right through the winter and about September there is a good covering of gross to be turned under. This has to be done with a heavy chain on the plough in order to cover the grass completely, and then the surface is worked and rolled in order to solidify it. We have found it a good plan to give the soil a dressing of blood and bone when the seed is in the ground,'but beyond that we do not think any other manure is wanted. The land we began to treat in this way was getting poor and would not grow , a crop but, after one or two seasons it is as good as ever. We heartily advise you to give it a trial. It is far better than oats or anything else because, for every ounce of fibre produced by the roots of oats, western wolths will give a pound and this is what you want. Lupins will not grow well unless the soil has plenty of Line in it and if you think of growing this aa a soiling crop sow lime first.’* ROSES. The following letter has been received from a man w r ho has been growing roses for a number of years and is considered fairly successful at the work. He says: “I am very glad to read your articles on roses and rose growing and, if I do not always think the same, still there is room for thought, and I am confident no man can grow roses without giving some thought to the work. The soil which I have at my disposal is fairly heavy, but the surplus water is easily drained away by means of field pipes put down below the soil, generally deeper than I work it. I have not always been able to get cow manure, and have ■ used a good deal of that from a stable near here, and I must say that I cannot see any difference between it and the little cow manure that I have been able to get. At the 6ame time I must say that I have found that chemical manures are not good at all when it comes to establishing new roses, and I would not use any if it was given to me. This is judging from results of some that I have used in years past. If I cannot get animal manures then I would advocate nothing else but the compost heap, which is nearly as good as. the. best animal .manure, and lawn trimmings alone are worth saving every scrap for the purpose of putting down in the subsoils. I have had a good experience with this stuff, as several gardeners around me do not care to have it on their premises, and have allowed me to take it away. This is put into a heap and is allowed to rot down during the season for use now. 1 quite agree that beds should be made up. early in the year and that the present month is one of the best, as it allows the. soil to settle down before the plants are ready to be put into it. I believe that one reason why some growers are not so successful is because they do sot allow their soil

sufficient time to settle before planting, and, again, when they are planting they do not press the soil firm enough against the roots, under the mistaken idea that they will injure them. I often find that roses planted loosely are swayed about in the wind, and when they are dug up, they have very few roots, but those that are planted firmly have plenty of strong roots to hold them into the soil. I like to plant with the union of roots and bud a good inch or so below, and all my best bushes are treated like this. The pruning is done after the plants have been in the ground for at least three months, but my favourite time for pruning is about tho middle of August. I have tried the plan of pruning roses at different times, but do not think it does any good. They rarely begin to grow much before well on in September, and then the late pruned ones catch up to the early ones. Like every rose grower I have my favourites amongst the different varieties, and of these I have as many as four and five plants each. For several years I have kept a detailed list of all the varieties I have grown, and have either dug out or have lost from other causes. My book shows very few losses from deaths, but as some varieties died back very badly these were never replaced. I think that some of my losses as regards dying back were from planting too closely, but as several have died since I planted further apart it may not have been the cause of the trouble. One rose that does very well with me, and which I never see mentioned now, is Baronne 11. Snow. My two plants must be upwards of seventeen years old, and yet they bloom quite freely even now. Mme. Segond Weber is another very old favourite, and it never seems to vaTy from one year to another. None of the reds are really satisfactory from a blooming point of view. George Dickson makes a great show from a distance, but the blooms never bear inspection. They are heavy and coarse. I cannot understand why this rose is such a' favourite. Gen. McArthur, on the other hand, is a far better rose and, while you can never get what might be called an exhibitor’s rose, yet there are plenty of flowers to be got' at any time. I planted Lilian Moore when it first came out, but have ( never found it free enough to satisfy me. There are some wonderful blooms to be got from it, but compared with Ophela there is nothing in it, and I would rather have six Ophelia than a dozen of the other. Margaret Dickson Hamil has some good qualities, but there is one objection to it, and that is mildew. It seems to mildew when the others are quite free. Countess of Gosford is the same, and if it would only keep clean there is no rose like it. For the Duchess of Wellington and Coronation I have .no time at all; they both die if any wet reaches them and are large eabbagy things at the best of times. I do not grow anything until it has been well tried, but last year I got one called Betty Uprichard, and am quite satisfied with it. Hawlmark Cnmson is also doing well, and I am going to get another this season. I grow a few climbers also, and Souv. de Vi@nnett is the best of all, though it only blooms once in the year with a few blooms in the autumn