Garden

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3309, 1 April 1926, Page 15

Garden

(BY “LORNA.”)

With the approach of colder yiveather all seasonable work should bo attended to as soon as possible. Where new hedges arc to bo planted, prepare the ground now, as all evergreens transplant successfully during the early autumn months, take pains when preparing tile soil,, a much more rapid growth will repay the labour expended, even the slow growing holly will make a good yearly growth, if it is well planted. It is much pleasanter to prepare and plant us much as possible during the autumn months. Spring is more often than not, accompanied by heavy rains and the enthusiastic gardener is often forced to discard some well thought out plan which would add beauty to the garden on this account. Finish tho sowing of hardy annuals. Japanese irises may be planted, carnations and in fact all perennial border plants.

The Vegetable Garden.

Seasonable seeds to sow in the /vegetable garden include onion for Spring transplanting, winter spinach, parsley, cauliflower, cabbage, shorthorn carrot, white turnip, lettuce, endive and radish. Clear away exhausted crops of all kinds, burn all rubbish and tidy up generally. Plant Strawberries, loeks and celery; and 'lay down lawns.

i Ppimingj Black and Red Currants

Many owners of a few Currant bushes are at a loss to know just how to . prune them. Black Currants bear their fruits on ths wood made •the proceeding year, the most advant-. ageous method in pruning, is to cut out some of the older growths, each year, preserving the strongest of the younger groryths, but shortening them back a little when they are unduly long or project much beyond the other shoots.. It is the suckers from the bottom of the bushes that one wants to encourage, and if they are too crowded it is an easy matter to thin them. Red Currants grown as bushes on a short clean stem should have the centre kept quite open, the main branches being about one foot apart. To have the branches well finished with;' fruiting spurs, the leading shoofs' on each should be shortened to about one third its length, and If there is room for another branch, reserve a well placed shoot, which shorten to about one third its length so as to gradually build up a strong bush. All the side shoots should be spurred back to about half inch of teh old wood, the fruit being generally borne in clusters round these spurs, Paeonies for Shady Borders. The herbaceous Paeonies rank among the best of hardy border or shrubbery plants. There are generally to be found, even in gardens of limited size, spots so much shaded that scarcely any flower will thrive in them In such places the Paeonies grow luxuriantly, the colour of their blooms in many cases being more intense, with the added advantage of the blooms lasting much longer than when exposed to the sun. The large handsomely formed flowers ranging from white to deepest crimson are invaluable for lighting up these sombre hooks. Another point in their favour is their perfect hardiness, in the severest climatis the plants require no protection, and each succeeding year ■adds to their size and ; beauty. The foliage is beautiful at all times, in the Spring with their bright colourings, which gradually changes to largo glossy leaves of a beautiful deep green thus rendering the plants very ornamental even when out of bloom. They do not like being disturbed and when planting this fact should be borne in mind, an annual top dressing of manure proves very beneficial. The PaeS a„ exquisite similar to that of tea roses. Many charming single varieties have been raised which display handsome con tres, and a great variation of colon is to be found among them, and every gardener who possesses an unsatisfactory shady border should give the hardy paeonies a trial. Standard Koses. Standard roses are becoming more popular each year, and many favourites are being worked hp to this method of culture. Probaoly three most successful varieties are Fran Rare. Druschki, Caroline Testout and Hugh Dickson. The wellknown white, first-named, is represented by fine examples. The second in pink, seems to be always in bloom, and the latter in crimson, seems to put on a better habit of growth on a stem than on that in dwarf bush form. There are also many other kinds equally as good. Superb, for example, is Betty Uprichard, the free branching style of this pretty carmine sort lending wonderfully well to this form of culture. General McArthur also makes a mde standard, while Golden Emblem is just beginning to show itself in very nice samples. Bady Pirrie, Lady Hillingdon and Lady Roberts are thrice that do exceptionally well, providing charming colourings. Mai-g-arct Dickson T-Iciniill is <i conipcirJttivelv recent gain. A talcing standard is Mmo. Abel Chatenay. It is so free in providing the lovely salmon pink flowers for which the .variety is famed., So, too, is Mmc. Edouard Herriot; Indeed the terracotta blooms arc richer ,or appear to be, when well up in the air. Ophelia is wonderfully effective with its pinky flesh-coloured blooms, and makes on o of the best in standard roses. The free growing Wlchwaianas are popular and pretty as standards, which include Dorothy Perkins, Excelsia. Haiawatha, Mlnnohake and Sanders White. These are all very showy and of graceful habit. There seems to be a, difference of opinion as to the most suitable stock on which to grow the standard rose. The common briar ana rugosa have their followers among the 'expert producers of the trees for sale. The latter is certainly a free-rooting fos-ter-parent which seems to do well in any soil, but there is something about the briar which seems to make It more natural