THE HOME GARDEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20508, 8 March 1930, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE HOME GARDEN.

THE FLOWER GARDEN.

PROGRAMME OR .WORK.

Attend to tying up chrysanthemums and pick of! superfluous buds and side shoots. Spray with arsenate of lead for caterpillars, and add Bordeaux mixture to make a combined, insecticide and fungicide. Dahlias are now at their best. Pick off superfluous flower buds, cut back some of the shoots, attend to tying up and spray with arsenate of lead paste to combat caterpillars. lift gladioli bulbs as soon as the stems have partially ripened of!. Allow them to remain on the surface for a few days to dry before cutting back the old flower stems. Anemones, ranunculi, narcissi, - freesias, Spanish iris, tulips, ixias, sparaxis, babianas, tritonia and other hardy flowering bulbs may be planted. Richardia elliottina, the golden-yellow calla lily, and other kinds that remain dormant during the winter, should be dug up, dried, and stored in dry sand. Summer-flowering annuals that were planted over beds ol! narcissi and ixias should ba cleared off and the surface so}l lightly stirred. .Gailiardias, calendulas and Iceland poppies should be bedded out now for winter flowering. The, first sowing of nemesias should now be made. Sow 'beauty stocks in seed trays placed under glass. Rose-budding should be completed this month. Loosen the ties of those budded early last month. Defer the sowing of grass seed on lawns and other places uatil April. A dry period would cause failure.

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN.

Scarlet and other runner beans are among the most profitable of vegetable crops, and with an occasional watering with liquid manure will continue to grow good crops until well into the autmn. Keep all superfluous growths removed from tomato plants zird shorten back the tops of any foliage shading the Itruit. In selecting the fruit of tomatoes for seed choose only fruits of the best type and that are free from disease. See that the trenches of celery are kept free from weeds and well supplied with moisture. Keep a close watch upon the potato crop and dig as soon as ready for lifting. Attend to harvesting onions, shallots and garlic as the bulbs mature. As soon as any ground is cleared of crops the soli should be deeply dug and any that has become poor from constant cropping should be renewed by trenching and applying a liberal quantity of manure. Gardens that have been cropped for several successive seasons will not yield satisfactory crops unless the most liberal treatment is given, and even then much will depend upon the variety of crops grown. If at this time any alteration In the garden Is required, such as rearranging the paths or plots, it should be done when much of the ground is free of crops. Continue to sow crops for autumn and winter use. Plant out cabbage and cauliflower as soon as plants are procurable.