WHEN THE GARDEN IS DRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21640, 4 November 1933, Page 8 (Supplement)

WHEN THE GARDEN IS DRY

HINTS FOR AMATEURS Among things to suffer first from spring and early summer dryness arc newly-planted roses. Until tho new roots penetrate into the moist depths they can only survive if moisture is supplied by rain or watering. How and when to water plants raises a difficult problem for some amateur gardeners. The only rules that can bo formulated for beginners' guidance are:—(l) If in doubt whether to water a plant do not water it; (2) When watering any plant give it a thorough soaking. In adopting these two simple rules no ono will be likely to commit either of the two great errors—that of watering iu driblets or that of over-water-ing. A plant will always indicate quite plainly when it is thirsty. Moisture is an imperative need of plants, because they can only take their food by drinking. The little grains of fertilizers one feeds to them must first be dissolved and after that bo taken in as liquid. EVAPORATION OF WATER The escapo of water from gardens is not entirely due to tho fact that after rain it runs off in the drains and ditches. Much of it is held in the soil as water is held in a sponge. If only it would stay there until flowers and vegetables require it there would be 110 dry weather problem. But instead it rises, especially in hot weather, and escapes through tho surface, in other words, it evaporates. There is a simple means of preventing, or at least checking this waste of valuable moisture. When one hoes dry soil he blocks the mouths of the water pipes which lead from the hidden reservoirs to the surface. Moisture is thus prevented from escaping.

To test the truth of this on a hot, dry day lift a piece of tile or a stone embedded in the garden. There will be moisture beneath. In the same way the looso mulch of earth left after hoeing holds down the moisture. The capillary tubes or water pipes before mentioned will push through again in a few dry days unless the hoeing is repeated. Hoeing is the most helpful thing one can do to plants in hot, dry weather.

APPLICATION OF MANURES Liquid manuring is an intensive form of feeding usually reserved for plants reaching maturity. For example, cucumber plants beginning to bear, tomatoes setting their fruits, flowering plants in bud and vegetables and plants which are rapidly developing their leaves are all at a stage when they benefit most from the assistance of soluble food in liquid form. Seedlings are well able to fend for themselves and to obtain all the nourishment they want from the garden soil or prepared compost used in pots or boxes.

DISCRIMINATION IN WATERING One good shower of rain will do more real service to plants than the most elaborate set of watering pots and sprinklers. The successful gardener is he who can judge how long it is safe to wait before beginning to apply water artifically. It is remarkable that plants can be ruined by too much watering, which in normal circumstances are not injured by rain, however abundant. At this season of the year some people meet troubles with their lawns. A roller is a useful and valuable aid in the maintenance of a good lawn. An occasional rolling when the turf is neither wet nor dry—just nicely damp does a lot of good. Some soils are compressed as hard as cement by rolling in wet weather. This is a common fault. An enormous acreage of turf is annually killed by misplaced kindness.

BOG GARDENS

PLANTS THAT LOVE DAMPNESS If there is a very damp position in the garden, it may be used as the site of a bog garden for the cultivation of those plants which grow in moist or swampy ground in their native habitat. If no such site is present naturally a bog garden can be constructed; it may form a separate feature or bo an adjunct to the rockery, qt water garden, or it can be made" on the swampy ground by the margins of a stream. In gardens whero swampy spots are formed naturally very little preparation is needed for the cultivation of bog plants, although provision must be made for an adequate supply of water during dry we.ither, and an overflow must lie constructed for the draining away of water to prevent it becoming stagnant. The site for the bog garden should be forked over and all weeds eradicated, and liberal quantities of leaf mould dug iuto the soil. If the area is of considerable extent, stepping stones are required to give convenient access to the plants and to facilitate their management and inspection.

ARTIFICIAL GARDENS - Where swampy spots are not available an artificial bog garden can be constructed. Tho area is marked and the soil dug out to a depth of about HOin. The basin so formed is then puddled with a thick layer of clay or lined with concrete. When dry it is filled with garden soil to which leaf mould has been added freely, or a mixture of loam and leaf mould. The water supply can be arranged by a small pipe from the garden mains, or from a storage tank; an overflow pipe is fixed level with the surface on one side to carry off surplus water. The entrance to (his must be covered with perforated zinc to prevent its becoming blocked. The plants are best arranged in irregular groups, tho lowgrowing kinds in groups of at least half-a-dozen, the larger kinds in twos or throe®.