THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 164, 12 June 1926, Page 11

THE GARDEN

Notes are published weekly under this heading, and readers interested in gardening are invited to send in questions relating to matters upon which they wish expert advice; answers will be published with the weekly notes.

PRUNING FRUIT TREES. The time is coming when fruit trees of "all kinds can be pruned, and it is work that should be done - as opportunity offers. Peach trees should be the first to be attended to, and in many gardens some weird and wonderful specimens are to be seen. They have in many cases carried wonderful crops of fruit, but their branches are getting old and weary, and the only way to treat them is to cut away some of the oldest and get a new crop of wood to work on in future years. With young trees it will be necessary to go over them carefully and to cut out all the dead and dying laterals, and also to cut out the tops of any tall and growing shoots. In the case of plum trees, the Japanese varieties are strong growers and can be pruned into nice Shapely trees with strong well furnished branches. In dealing with those trees it must be remembered that they will bear on the yearling wood as well as on spurs, and if the tree is a good shape it is a good plan to thin some of the fruit away as soon as it can be handled. It' allowed to go their own way they will bear from their earliest stages and do not form good specimens. The English plums do not bear in their young stages and, therefore, they should be trained to the required shape from thqfirst, and as soop as they begin to bear the pruning can be deferred for a few years until they begin to get thick and over crowded, when some branches may be pruned away so as to allow light and air to get to the centres of the plants. Apricots do not grow well or bear well in all districts, but where they do grow well and bear crops of fruit they can be heavily pruned and, like apple and peach trees, can be trained to a sturdy tree with a good number of branches. However, with the apricot pruning is not always one of the most important things as they are very susceptible to soil and climate and, unless they grow and fruit well, they are hartlly worth growing in some parts no matter how much they are pruned or cultivated. Then, again, there are some varieties which hear most of their fruit on the lateral growths and these must be left intact. Gooseberry bushes should be thinned out in the centres and any shoots that are dipping into the earth should be cut off, but the main thing is to cut and thin out so that the fruit can be picked when it is formed. Raspberries have the old and worn out canes removed and new ones tied in their places. These should be shortened back about one third of their growth, and the fruit is then carried on the laterals of the present season’s growth. DAHLIAS. When dahlias are taken out of the ground after a frost has cut them down, they are all the better if they are stood on the ground and a strong jet of water played on them to wash all the dirt away from their roots. They should be allowed to dry off before being put away and some lime sprinkled amongst the roots. This keens slugs and other vermin away and helps to preserve the roots. Another very important thing to do is to label each one vith the name, or if the name is unknown to put a tag on each, with the colour and any other particulars that may be necessary. Through neglecting to do this it very often happens that some that are being discarded are cut up and used again, and then the grower thinks that bis plants aro going back. There are a few varieties that will deteriorate in time and, unless they can be worked up by means of cuttings, they are not worth growing. Geisha is one of them and, from the plants one secs in various gardens, they are very poor specimens of what they should be. After the tubers have been lifted from a bed it is a good plan to thoroughly trench it and to give it a good manuring and liming. Dahlias are about the only plants we know of that can be grown in the same bed for an almost indefinite period as long as manure is added each year. SHELTER FOR HIVES.

“Colony” says: “I have a number of hives of bees but they are in a rather exposed position and I want to grow something that will shelter them and, at the same time, provide flowers for them to draw from. I have ploughed a strip of ground fifteen feet wide around two sides and the land is well drained naturally. I have tried planting tree lucerne and it has failed every time. Out of three hundred plants set out there are only about six that have survived. I believe this plant would be the best if I could only get it to grow. On the other edge, three chains back from the hives, I have planted a mnerocarpa hedge which is doing well and will give a certain amount of shelter this year. The strin mentioned is between this shelter belt and the hives. Can you suggest anything that would grow and he of use to the bees?” There is nothing we can suggest that would he better than the tree lucerne, but it is useless to transplant it and expect it to grow quickly. The best method to get it to grow is to drill it in or to sow it in drills about six feet apart and to thin out the young plants to a couple of feet apart in the rows as soon as they come up. The seed is very slow to germinate unless it is treated to a scalding with hot water. Put the seed in a dish and pour very hot water

over it and allow it to soak for 12 hours, then sow. It must not be dried off but must be sown at once. Well cultivated it will soon grow five feet in a year. PLANTING PINES. The various kinds of pines are’ most useful as shelter trees and, therefore, a few hints on planting them may be of use at this time of the year when planting should be done. \ One thing that should be avoided is to plant too close to a house. The idea, of getting quick shelter is right enough, but in a few years’ time’ they will have grown so large that some will have to be cut out, if not altogether, then partially so. One mistake that many planters make is to put in trees that are too large, it is better to get a young tree about two feet in height than it is to put in larger ones. The smaller one will soon catch ui) to the larger and in time will pass them. As a rule pines make a branch growth which is out of all comparison with their roots, and this is one of the reasons why large trees fail to establish themselves. When preparing the land for planting pines it is a good plan to thoroughly loosen the soil below them to allow the roots to penetrate deeply. We have often seen the advice given to stake each tree as it is planted, but we are of the opinion that to plant small trees firmly and well is far better than staking. When the tree is placed in the hole to receive it fill in some fine earth into the roots and tread this down firmly, on top of this put some more earth and tramp it down. The firmer the soil is made the better, providing it is net wet. GLADIOLI. The following lias been writter for us by an enthusiastic grower of gladioli. He says: “Probably excepting the rose, there is no flower is our gardens that is so popular at the present time as the gladiolus. The charm about them is that they can be had in bloom from December until very late in the autumn by judicious planting. For December flowering it is necessary to begin planting in September and, if this planting is followed up by planting once a fortnight until Christmas time, the result will be that there are bowers until late in the season. Igo even further than this and plant right up till the end ol January, but then I have to cover the last lot to got good blooms. If a planting is made in September as suggested, it often happens that some lag behind a long way. This cannot be avoided and does not make much difference. I am often asked to classify the different varieties, but I must frankly admit that I cannot, and anyone who says that ho can do so is talking about tilings that he does not understand. Modern gladioli have been so much inbred that the old and perhaps correct classifications have to go by the board, and I venture to prophesy that, in a few years’ time, the classification will be even more difficult. There are ,types on the market to-day called primuliniis, which are no more like the true primuliniis than the old Colvillei types are like the modern ones, and I do not think that hybridists have,reached the end of their resources by a long way. There are a few true species that have not been used yet, and when they are it remains to be seen what will bo the outcome. However, I am departing from my subject. As soon as gladioli corms are taken up from the ground, and they must be taken up every year, they should be dried off as soon as they can and kept where a current of dry air will pass over them. Unless they aro kept dry they are liable to shoot at once and then they must be planted. Even it timy are/ kept dry it is quite possible that some of them may start pointing or growing, and the only way to deal with these precocious corms is to plant them at once. Those that do not grow must be reserved for future work. Taken as a class the gladioli are a thirsty one and their requirements in this matter must be satisfied. My own way of keeping the soil moist is to mix up all the leaves I can get with cow manure and to work this into the lower spits when trenching the ground for them. As far as I know they do not like lime in any quantity, but if there is a little in the soil it will do no harm, but do not put it there for the purpose of growing them. Now I have said that I cannot classify them, but there are some types such as primulinus, ruffled and the plain edged ones that are best when kept apart if possible, but they will not swear, at one another if they are planted in the same bed. I believe a light sandy soil, with plenty of cow manure and "leaf mould mixed up with the lower spits, to be ideal for them and it is certainly one-in which they can be planted at least five inches deep. A heavy soil is different in some respects and in this class of soil I think that three inches is quite enough to bury them. I believe the strength of the flowers is considerably improved by having the earth pulled up to them with the hoe in much the same way that vegetables are earthed up. 1 have done this in the past two or three yeais and recommend it to your notice. In the case of large plantations staking is a big undertaking, hut it must be done if good straight heads are wanted, and I find bamboo sticks make the best stakes that can be got. They are thin and stiff and the nodes keep the ties from slipping down, which they will do on most plain stakes.