THE GARDEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 228, 26 August 1932, Page 4

THE GARDEN.

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

THE FLOWER GARDEN. Tire rain that fell last week acted as a wonderful reviver to gardens; bulbs of all kinds benefited very much and as there was an absence of wind after it the moisture soaked well into the ground. Those who go in for spring bedding plants can put out anv tnat have been well hardened on. If they have not been hardened, keep them for some time yet. It is better to wait until the plants are ready than to plant out when they are soft. Those that can lie planted are stocks, Iceland poppies, nemesia, antirrhinums, cornflower, pansies, scabious and violas. The main thing is to have the soil in a good state of cultivation and to plant firmly without walking on the bed too much. A board that will reach across the bed is the best thing to use and this will also act as a line when plants are to be set out in straight rows. Delphiniums are beginning to make good growth and require some protection from slugs, which are very lond of them. If slaked lime is dusted amongst the crowns in the evening it will keep slugs away. Onoe the plants get up about six inches or a foot in height they will be strong enough to resist the attacks. If good, large heads of delphiniums are wanted a good coating of manure should be sprinkled over the ground round them, and this should be forked into the soil. Only allow two or three spikes to mature on each plant. When there are a dozen or more the flowers are smaller than they should be and -the spikes are not so long and sturdy. Lupins are good plants to grow in association w!th delphiniums and there are some wonderfully good coloured varieties that can be got now. One of the latest colours that we have seen is almost scarlet with a biscuit coloured keel and is most charming when grown with other plants in the back of a border. Many amateurs have the idea that the autumn is the only time of the

year when perennial plants can be lifted and divided and, not having had time during that season of the year, they leave them alone to become crowded and spoilt. If time Iras not been found for this work before, do it now and you will find that they will do quite well. In gardens where the soil is of a very heavy nature tne spring move is the best, as long as the soil is broken up nicely and the work is not done when it is very wet. In ordinary gardens the usual type of perennial border that is wanted is one that will prove bright and gay over as long a time as possible, and one from which plenty of flowers can be cut for indoor decoration, in suclr a border the plants should not all bloom at one time and it can be arranged to have some flowering at different times.

Michaelmas daisies will bloom earlier if they are planted early, but if thov are put in late the season of their flowering can he extended for a month at least. Another thing about them is that when they send up shoots about a foot high, cut these off and anotjier lot will come which will make them still later. Dahlias and chrysanthemums keep to considerable lengths and a few planted in the herbaceous borders always help to cheer it up. One of the finest things we have seen this winter was a bed of lrelebores or, as some call them, winter roses. The colours ranged from white to deep pink and almost red. These are easy plants to manage as long as they are given enough room to develop and are not disturbed for some years. They will grow dually well in shade or sunshine as long as the soil is well worked to a good depth and some manure worked in. TO GROW BETTER DAHLIAS.

To get the best results from your dahlias you must have good drainage, as they will not grow in a sour, stagnant soil. Drains can be provided by laying field tiles in soil at about two feet from the surface. It will depend upon the soil how far npart these drains shall be, but in very, heavy soil about ten or twelve feet would he enough. An outlet must be found either into a drain or creek or into a sump dug into the ground until gravel is reached. This is the time to prepare your soil for the dahlia planting season, which is November and December. Dig

deeply, but not below the pipes, and work in plenty of well-rotted manure with the surface soil, mixing it in as the work proceeds. It does not matter what kind of manure you use as long as there is enough of it. When the digging work has been finished, give the surface, which has been left rough, a good coating of lime and leave it on tire surface for a few weeks. If you cannot get animal manure, sow a crop of beans or peas at once and dig them in a week or two before you are ready to plant. As lime is required for these crops, it will be necessary to give the bed another dressing. Mark out the places where the plants are to go and drive a good stake into each; the plant can then be set out close up to it and as they are very fast growers they can lie tied up as required. When tire plants are in the ground, give a dressing of bone dust and potash at the rate of two ounces to the square yard, and work this well into the soil. Some growers recommend taking the tops out of the plants as soon as they are about a foot in height, but we have never been able to see that anything has been gained by doing this. Let them break natnrallv. QUESTION. “Gladiolus' 1 says: “I have written to you before about gladiolus and must thank you for your hints. The idea of growing the corms in sand has proved very satisfactory and I have a lot of splendid bright corms to plant up this season. Now, I want to see it I could grow some blooms lor exhibition. Woiud you kindly tell me if there is any way in which I can time the blooms so that they will come in for that purpose? The shows are generally held in March, nnd I would like to get them ready about that time?”

The time of blooming is easily affected by the difference in seasonable conditions, and even the most experienced growers have a difficulty in timing their flowers. The length of time a plant will take from the time it is planted until it comes into flower will vary with the variety. Given good conditions, some will come into bloom 90 days from the time of planting and others will take as long as 120 days. To get flowers for March, you would have to plant about the end of November or the beginning of December, hut then a hot summer will hasten the blooms and a cdol one will retard them. It would be a good plan to make successive planting over n period of three or four weeks and then you could he reasonably sure of getting some flowers for the purpose. It would l>e necessary to give the plants plenty of water during the dry jrenods, and to keep the soil moist enough some sacks could be split and laid on the ground between the rows

dinjing the hottest part of the season. To keep the corms for late planting they must be kept very dry and cool or they will shoot prematurely. “An Invalid” says: “I am anxious to grow some plants in window boxes and in a warm room and would like to know what you would suggest for the purpose. 1 have a few geraniums and find a great deal of pleasure looking after them. They stand the dry air of the room very well and when these frosts are over they will be moved to a sunny, verandah partly closed in with glass. Are there any other plants J could manage?” We would suggest that you went in for succulents of the cactus family. The plants are well adopted for growing in a dry room where the atmosphere is not humid enough for ordinary plants. What they want is plenty of light and the more direct sunshine they get the better they will flower. The most suitable compost for cactus can he made with good wellrotted loam in which should lie mixed some well-broken bricks and coarse sand. The loam will supply all the manure that is required. Watering must bo sparingly done during the dormant season, which is generally the winter time. At other seasons the soil should be kept moist, but never wet and the drainage must be examined occasionally to make sure that the soil is not becoming sour. It would be easy enough to make a collection of different varieties by growing them from seed, but if this is too slow there are nurserymen who go in for certain varieties which are not very dear. It is said that the subclass Phyllocacti is the best for window culture. They are of fairly tall growth, with the largest flowers, which are born during the summer months. By growing some of the taller ones in a window box you can work in a lot of the smaller ones below. There is a climbing form of cactus which is very fine when in flower, but it should be handled with gloves.

THE CARE OF SHRUBS. During this month a good deal of general attention should be given to shrubs. The care and work that is done amongst them now will have much to do with the way they shape in the next flowering season. It is necessary to look them over and to remove any dead and broken branches. A long crack occurs sometimes that disease can get into and the whole life of the tree or shrub may l>e shortened. A clean cut will soon heal over and there will be no chance of disease entering. There are very few shrubs that require a regular pruning at this time of the year, but there are some that should be cut hack directly they have finished flowering in the sirring. That fine buddleia salviafolia is in bloom now, and if it is cut hard back as soon as it has finished flowering it will immediately throw out long strong shoots lor next season. The lemon-scented verbena (Aloysia citridora) is a plant that should be cut back every season to keep it fresh and green and it will give more pleasure from its scented leaves and flowers than anything else in tfte garden. Tamarisks are often allowed to grow long nnd leggy, but if they are cut back each season they will keep their shape and the flowers will be far better for decorative purposes both in the house and the garden. Flowering plums get a good deal of cutting when the flowers are picked for decorative purposes, but they are liable to get too high and should have some of the tops cut out to keep them within bounds.

All surface-rooting shrubs should have a good dressing of well-rotted manure. Rhododendrons and azaleas suffer very much from the dry weather and a good supply of wellrotted rubbish forked in amongst them will help to keep the soil moist. We know of a garden where the owner likes to get a good old stack bottom i and spread this over the soil round I the bushes. He does not dig it in I until late autumn, when he begins to collect for another mulching. It is ! not everyone who can got old stack 'bottoms, hut they can make a good ' compost heap and this will do for the | purpose quite ns well and will keep j the roots cool and moist during the 'hot weather. I Camellias like a good mulching and will respond to plenty of soil cultivation but they seldom require any pruning. It is not generally known that boronias should lie cut back directly they have finished so that they will have plenty of nice young wood for next season’s flowers. These plants in some cases are not long lived and their deaths are often put down to unsuitable soil, but in many cases it lias l>een found that a small red mite is responsible for it. Daphnes, when once they are established. are very impatient of root disturlmnoe. and the weeds should be scraped off the surface round them and a good mulch applied around them. The soil they are growing in must lie well drained.

It is impossible to go through the whole list of flowering shrubs, but any one can soon find out the treatment to give them. The new brooms should l)e cut back directly they have finished flowering. If this work is neglected for a year or two it may mean that the plants will get too leggy and to cut them hack then will kill them. They can be grown in the driest soil of the garden and will flourish on a stoney bank where little else will grow.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. An old gardener says that there are indications that spring is going to be early this season and that it will be quite safe to planting seeds early next month. Wo do not think that there is anything to be gained by being in too much of a hurry to sow such things as parsnips and carrots, but there are quite a number of plants and seeds that can be sown now, and even if the spring does not come quite as soon as you expect it will be early enough for them. Cabbages and cauliflowers can fie

planted now for succession. Make a ridge and pfunt along the top. Lettuces can also be put in now either as seed or from plants. The bed should be raised a few inches above the surrounding soil to allow the water to get away quickly, and as soon as the young plants begin to make growth give them a light dressing of nitrate of soda. Sow or transplant onions. This is always a useful cron and one cannot have too many of them.

Peas should be sown now using one of the dwarf kinds still. Even if peas are dwarf growers it pays well to stake them with nice twiggy sticks to keep them up from the soil. Many good crops are spoilt by lying about on the ground. Another tiling is that they are easier to pick when they are raised and can be hoed and kept much cleaner. Next month will be early enough to sow tomato seed. Many gardeners put this grop out too early under the mistaken idea that they are going to get early fruit, but they will find that if they plant out in November they will get fruit quite as soon. The main thing is to have good, strong, sturdy plants.