Working Guide for the Week

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23773, 28 September 1940, Page 9 (Supplement)

Working Guide for the Week

By KEPOS

FLOWERS The planting of evergreens can still be undertaken, but planting should be firmly done and attention to water given frequently. Many herbaceous plants throw up too many shoots; thin these out now, using the shoots as cuttings if more stock is desired. Asters can be sown in the open ground at the end of the month. Canterbury bells need a long season of growth; the seed should be sown now for next season's flowering. Sweet peas are growing rapidly and will need constant attention to disbudding and tying when required for exhibition; do not feed until the buds appear. Mow the lawn at regular intervals; remove large weeds and give a topdressing of fertiliser. Plant climbers, preferably those which have been'grown in pots.

The Greenhouse The early batch of' hippeastrums should be encouraged to grow freely; give weak liquid manure when the flower spikes are developing.

Liliums potted for early flower should be brought into the greenhouse and the pots filled up with good compost. Insert cuttings of begonia weltoniensis and fuchsoides for next winter's flowering. Sudden bursts of sunshine may do. damage to flowering plants under glass; apply some shading to the glass.

Give the seedling cyclamen a cool, airy position out of the full sun.

Greenfly will be troublesome on cinerarias and calceolarias; fumigate weekly. Hydrangeas in pots should be fed with liquid manure when the flower trusses can be seen.

VEGETABLES Seeds sown recently will be showing above ground and, as soon as the lines are visible, the hoe should be employed. Celery seedlings should be ready for pricking off into a frame. As one sowing of seeds appears above the ground, sow another to keep up the supply. Dwarf French beans may be sown where the soil is warm and friable. Sow seeds of outdoor cucumbers in pots or boxes. Make a sowing of round spinach between the rows of early peas. Lettuce plants raised in frames can be planted out when ready. Plant out tomatoes, but keep some shelter handy for cold nights. Make frequent sowings of radishes as catch crops between peas and beans.

The Orchard Unwanted sucker growths of raspberries should be pulled out, not cut off with the hoe. A good dusting of old soot between the strawberry plants will compel the slugs and millipedes to seek fresh quarters before the fruit forms.

Keep down the seedling weeds among the fruit trees; the hoeing will also expose harmful insects to the attention of the birds. Where the birds strip the blooms from fruit trees, spray with a weak solution of tar disinfectant.

Aphis will soon be making an appearance on the fruit trees, especially peaches and nectarines; spray with insecticide as soon as detected.

Cut-back trees should be looked over and any surplus shoots rubbed off.