IN THE GARDEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 20 June 1941, Page 8

IN THE GARDEN

SEASONAL NOTES FOR AMATEURS PLANNING FOB NEXT SEASON Much active work on the soil while it is still soggy from the recent rains and frost is not possible. There is, however. clearing-up to be done and gardeners can be thinking of their plans for the future. To get the greatest amount of produce from a given piece of ground a proper system of cropping must be mapped out. If this is done it will mean that every crop has a different part of soil to grow in from that which it occupied last year. One crop may exhaust the soil of some substance but leave something the next crop requires. At the same time it is not necessary to stop manuring the soil; but if possible do not use any fresh manure where root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, and all deep-rooting vegetables are to be grown. It does not matter if the soil had been manured last season, if will have absorbed all that and will be in better heart for it. There are certain soils where crops come to maturity much earlier than in others, and if you are growing early vegetables this is a great consideration. A piece of ground that is known to be warmer can be manured with some leaves and manure, mixed and well forked into the soil. Leave the soil to settle down for a week or two before planting anything in it. Turnip seed can be sown very early in small quantities in such ground as we have described. Then lettuces can be planted out from the boxes which they have been picked into. It will be necessary to have narrow beds so that they can be worked from either side and in this way you can avoid walking on the bed. Onion plants that are growing in the open ground must be kept clean and free from weeds. THE FLOWER GARDEN

Many Nelson gardeners specialise in growing dahlias of high quality. If 't is necessary to clear the ground that dahlias were growing In these plants can be cut down to about six inches from the ground and the tubers carefully lifted. When you get them, out of the ground, clean as much of the soil as you can from between the roots and then store them under trees in sand. The situation should be one that is out of reach of frost Every plant should be labelled with the name and colour. This will make the work easier when planting time comes again. A dusting of lime over the tubers before the sand is put over them will help to keep them. Chrysanthemum plants must be cut down as soon as they have finished flowering. This helps them to send up suckers which are wanted for next season’s plants. Cuttings rooted when they are large enough give much better displays of flowers than plants torn off the old shoots, and planted. SOME POINTS IN PRUNING To many gardeners the art of pruning remains a mystery. They never seem to get past the stage where prun ing is merely a trimming back process similar to that of hedge cutting, but no* quite so formal. Pruning will always remain the same to them until they discover the exact purpose of it allsomething more important than keeping a plant within certain bounds. The first aim is of course the production of flowers or of fruit —possibly of both If the pruner is to be successful here he must know something of the flower ing habits of the plant he is dealing with. The flowers may be borne on the older growth, on last year’s ripened wood, or on long young growths that will break away in the spring. Careful observation is therefore one of the best aids to purposeful pruning. Rigid rules are few, for each shrub or tree has an individuality of own. Apart from practical demonstrations, skill in the art is difficult to impart Guiding principles can however be stated, and these should be of considerable assistance to most gardeners. Another important aim in priming is the maintenance of health. Crowded growth will always fall prey to disease of some kind or other. The knife can be used directly to cut out diseased stems or branches. Trees and shrubs, the branches of development, will maintain their vigour and health over long periods of time. PRUNING SMALL FRUITS Although they may seem unimportant because they prosper to a certain extent in spite of adverse conditions, small fruits make a wonderful response to proper care in pruning. Once again their fruity habits must be carefully observed. It will be found that the black currant fruits on young growth of the past season. Therefore as much of this as is poss-

ible should be retained . Strong growths should be shortened back by about one third. Crowded stems should be cut out and with well established plants several of the older stems should be cut right back to the base of the plant each season. This will lead to the production of strong young sucker growths, which in their turn will bear heavy crops of fruit. If the bushes are kept renewed in this way they will continue to bear well for many a year. Red currants (and whites) do all of their fruiting on the older wood on short spur growths similar to those of apples. The routine is therefore different. The bushes are grown on one stem like miniature trees, and the older wood must be kept in good condition. Two thirds of vigorous growths should be cut away and more care should bo exercised in choosing the stems that are to build the framework of the bush—in this case the framework is permanent, whereas in the case of the black currand it is temporary. The bushes should bo kept open and small growths should be retained so long as they do not become overcrowded; they will later bear heavy crops of currants on short spur growths. Gooseberries are intermediate in type—the best of the fruit is borne on younger growths, but quite a proportion on more matured wood. The bush is grown usually as a semi-stan-dard so as to make for ease in pruning * , nd in picking the fruit. The centre should be kept open, the number of strong growths should be reduced so as to give ample space for each and as much of the old growth as possible should be removed each winter. With raspberries and loganberries all the fruit is borne on last season’s canes. These should be shortened back for enough to remove any sappy unripened portions.