The Home Garden

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23115, 13 August 1938, Page 10 (Supplement)

The Home Garden

FLOWERS

By KEPOS

Keep the flower beds looked over and stir the soil between the plants to prevent it caking after heavy rain. Perpetual carnation cuttings rooted in autumn can now be -lined out or potted off. Insert chrysanthemum cuttings as they become available. Plant out pansies, violas, nemesias, cinerarias, and make up any gaps in the bedding plants. Choice varieties of lupins and delphiniums can now be propagated by cuttings. This will ensure their being true to type. Scabiosa Caucasia needs lifting and dividing every third year. This is done just as growth begins. The Greenhouse Pot hydrangeas which have been resting should now be overhauled. Remove all weak growths and give a topdressing of rich soil, then place in a temperature of about 55 degrees. Crotons, dracaenas and other warm house subjects can be increased by cuttings of the tops. Caladiums and gloxinias should be shaken free of old soil, then placed in trays to start into growth. All available space will be needed from now on, but avoid overcrowding, which will only bring disease and insect pests.

Working Guide for the Week

VEGETABLES

Make successional sowings of peas when the soil is dry enough to work. Prepare all available ground for seed sowing; work to a fine tilth. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, onions and herbs. Sow carrots, parsnips, turnips, spinach, beet and onions for salads. Plant out rhubarb and asparagus roots in the prepared beds. Any root crops left in the ground are best lifted and stored before they commence to grow again. Give frequent dressings of lime to keep down slugs. Make up beds for starting kumara plants. The Orchard Old strawberry beds will benefit by having basic slag forked in; apply at the rate of four ounces per square yard. Spray the peaches and nectarines at bud movement with Bordeaux mixture, winter strength, to combalt leaf curl. Make a sowing of melon seeds under glass for early crop. Complete planting operations as soon as possible. . Late-planted fruit trees will need careful watching for moisture during the summer months. Apply a topdressing of nitrogenous fertiliser to the citrus trees. Do any pruning of citrus as soon as the fruit has been removed.