THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 110, 5 April 1930, Page 11

THE GARDEN

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

ROSE BEDS. Next month gardeners will be getting parcels of roses ordered at various times from the nurseries. It is a good dan to have the beds ready for them beforehand so as'to get them in with as little delay as possible. If the plants are wanted for replacing 'some already growing in beds or borders, the situation they are to occupy should be prepared by having the soil removed and the lower spit broken up and manured and the top soil replaced by some fresh stuff that nae. not grown roses previously. The soil taken from the old situation can be used for filling in where the fresh soil was taken from. Half of the failures with new roses in old beds can be traced to their being planted in old worn out soil. When making new beds the soil should be broken up as deeply as possible and plenty or manure worked into the lower spits. If the lower soil is heavy clay it will be necessary to see that the surplus water can be got away quickly and the best way to do this is by means of tile drains which must be carried away to an outlet. If manure is put into ground that is wet and ' stagnant more harm than good will be done, but when the surplus water can get away 'quickly the manure and soil will retain enough to last the plants for a long time. Few people realise the depth to which the roots of roses will penetrate when they get a chance. The hest manure to use is that from cows. It does not heat and has a tremendous moisture retaining capacity. If this cannot be got, sheep manure is very good, but must be well mixed with the soil and not left in heaps. Another thing that is very important is to get the manure well down below the surface soil so that the roots of- the newly planted bushes do not come in contact with it. In some cases animal manures' are not possible and other things have to take their place. The compost heap can be drawn upon and if bone meal is worked in with ii the results will be quite satisfactory. When the digging work is finished give the bed a good coating with basic slag and w r ork this into the sutface of the soil. This manure will take the place of lime and will also eweeten up the soil in the same way. Keep the surface of the bed hoed and worked until the bushes are in position. Beds should never be wider than will allow them to be worked from either side, which means about six or seven feet. This width will accommodate three rows of plants about two and a-half feet apart every way. For a bed five feet wude two rows will be enough and these can be planted two feet apart.

ROSES FOR BEDS. “Rosarian” says: “If you would give the names of about a dozen roses for beds it would be greatly appreciated by myself and several other readers.’’—One of the best roses for bedding purposes is undoubtedly Shot Silk, a pink rose with blooms carried quite erect. Angele Peruit is another good bedding rose, sunflow'er yellow in colour. It is rather a tall grower, Etoile de Holland and General McArthur are two good sweet scented reds that are both good bedders. Hawlmark Crimson is also a good one that is semi-single. It has a fairly good scent and js one that is very much wanted lor . decorative purposes. Yellow is- one of the hardest colours to get a good bedding lose in, but the newer Golden Gleam comes nearest to what is wanted. Mrs E. Willis is .stilll the' best coral pink for this purpose and can be relied upon to give plenty of blooms. Chas. P. ICilham is rather a straggly grower that has a wonderful lot of flowers with long stems, and the colour in the autumn is splendid, something like Mme. E. Herriot at its best. Lady Hillingdon, although it is inclined to hang its head, is a good apricot. Mrs Dunlop Best is another of the same colour with good full blooms. Margaret McGredy is a new rose that gave good promise last season and we think it will soon be a general favourite as a bedder. Radiance is a fine strong growing pink that is always in demand. These are all good roses, but that does not mean that there are no others. The newer types of the polyantha section contain many roses that make a splendid bedding plants. Kirsteen and Elsie Poulsen are unsurpassed for cutting purposes and last well in water. They are singles, but are borne in bunches and can be grown with the hybrid teas. The Orleans rose type give a tremendous amount of bloom, ail through the season, but to keep them ’up to the mark they must be kept picked. Some of the best of this section are Edith Cavell, red, Ideal or Juliana, dark red, Coral Cluster, shell pink, Golden Salmon, orange salmon, Locarno, dark orange salmon, Orange King, orange salmon, Orange Queen is a salmon pink. There are many more of this type of rose that should be grown where plenty of blooms are wanted, but they snould be grown together and not mixed up with the other, classes of roses as they do not fit in with the general order at all well. . SPINDLE-WOOD. Several questions have been asked lately about spindle-wood and why some of the plants do not berry properly. One man said that he thought it was because they required another tree to pollinate them, but we have looked up all the available authorities and find that the plants are self-pollin-ating. They like a damp, almost wet, situation, with a good rich soil to grow in. There are- many forms of the

European species and some are noted for their wonderful foliage colourings and variations. Some of them have different coloured berries also. Some of the strongest growers are found amongst the Japanese and Chinese varieties. Another thing that is often asked is whether they need pruning and this is a question that is best answered, by the trees themselves. If they are compact and strong we would advise leaving them alone, but if weak and straggly a certain amount of pruning would be the best thing that could happen to them. We have never seen them used as climbers, but there is a variety of Enonymous that makes a good climber, especially over old stumps, and the aerial roots take a good hold of anything wooden. One variety with variegated leaves is beautiful and bears large quantities of pink pods with orange seeds. , QUESTION. “Amateur” says: “Could you tell me what vegetable seeds can be sown this and next month. I have a large space of ground ready to plant my seeds in, but am at a loss to know what to plant.”—This enquiry was received fast month, but too late to include in last week’s notes. There are not many vegetable seeds that can be sown now. Winter spinach is one: si Iyer beet can also be sown and used for the same purpose. April is generally considered the beginning of the gardening year when the soil is trenched and manured in readiness • for spring work. Ibe re are a certain number of plants that can be set out now. Cabbages and cauliflowers can be planted in wellmanured ground and we would advise rather closer planting now as the cabbages can be used when they are about half grown. Leek plants can be set out, but they will not grow very large. There are eome seeds that should be sown now for spring planting such as cabbage and cauliflower and onions. These are .grown in beds for planting but at suitable times in the spring. Some of the lettuce varieties can be sown now. The one known as Siberian does not make a head, but the leaves can be cut when they will grow again. See also last week’s notes about trying a few rows of peas in a sheltered part of the garden. If vou have any spare ground sow it down with a cover crop until wanted. CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Chrysanthemum ■ plants require _a good deal of looking after in the dry weather and care must be taken to stop caterpillars from eating the leaves and passing from the leaves to the flowers themselves. Spraying* the undersides of the leaves with arsenate of lead will keep the caterpillars at bav, but the flowers will have to be watched for caterpillars and hand picked. Some provision should be made for covering the flowers, especially, at night, since frosts have begun. The general rule is to cover the flowers some time about the first week in April. The way to cover them must be left to the ingenuity of the grower. When benzine tins were plentiful they were often used for the purpose, but they are harder to get now and other ways must b© devised. When the petals of the flowers begin to unfold, watering must be carefully done to stop the blooms from damping. If the plants have been well fed from the time the bud w-as taken, there will be no need for any to be given this month. Keep the surface of .the ©oil round the plants lightly forked so as to allow the air to get into the soil. If any blooms come too soon they can be kept for a considerable time by being cut and kept .ijn w,ater Which should be changed daily. Keep the flowers in the dark. LAWNS. Lawns should be prepared ns soon as possible so that they may be sown with grass as soon as possible now. Autumn sowing is preferred by many gardeners, and as long as they can get it in during April they have a good chance to getting it to take well. To prepare land for grass seed it is necessary to roll it well and then rake it over to find out the uneven parts. The higher places require well breaking down with the rake to give the seed foothold. Much of the unevenness in germination is often due to the lack of this precaution. For autumn, sowing it is better to do all the rolling before the grass seed is sown, rather than afterwards, because the heavy rains of winter beat the surface down hard, and if the ground is heavily rolled the soil will cake badly. Leave the surface finished with the rake and the grass will have every chance. The quantities of grass seed allowed for lawns are half an ounce of the seed per square yard of lawn. One pound will sow thirtytwo square yards. Knowing this formula, you will only have to measure up the size of the lawn to find out the amount of grass seed required. If you have any seeds or plants over give them to the children for their own garden plots. Of course, all children have their own little corners where they will try and grow something. Show them how seeds should be sown, but leave them to do their own work. It is wonderful ho\fr quickly they will learn from failures and the lesson will last them all through tlieir lives. It is said a gardener is “born not made, but give ‘the young things a chance and you will find that more gardeners are made because they have had a reasonable chance of meeting nature on her own ground.